Jersey

Thank for the replies guys. So...i picked up the new ACT PP today, slapped it in and yup, same-e-same. It takes the entire pedal travel form top to bottom just to barely get that clutch dis-engage. Exactly how you explain in Bastaad. I have to screw the clutch pedal stop as far as i can in the adjust the MS rod as far as i can out with out it falling out then i can just get it to dis-engage. That's ridiculas with a "performace" clutch. I'm sure it'll hook the trans to the flywheel with no slip because of the increased pressure but, i'll end up losing 3 seconds on my 1/4 just because i'll need to do a full stroke of the clutch in order to shift! I would have never went with ACT if i knew this was the end result, and now, after i've exhausted every option, i know this is how it's suppose to be and is going to be. BUT, i have a solution i'm working on right now...All the master cylinders i know of that i have are 5/8" - the one off of my '73 was, the '78 280 and the '82ZXT and..all the slaves are 3/4". All the same proportion. What i'm going to do is either figure out what uses a 3/4" master that i could use in conjunction with my 3/4" slave or, find a 5/8" slave to use with my 5/8" master. This way, the amount of fluid displaced will be the same so, as much as the pedal moves, so will the slave. Right now, the slave isn't moving far enough, fast enough to dis-engage this ACT plate but it will if you move more fluid in less stroke. Even if the master is slightly larger than the master, that would just make it a shorter stroke to dis-engage it although, you couldn't have the ratio that way too far off or could bury the throwout into the PP fingers or bend the shift fork out of the trans. Would have to put a stop behind the pedal if it travels too fast and too far. Sorry, just thinking out loud. Ok so, I need to find what uses either a 3/4" master cylinder (or a little larger, maybe 13/16" or 7/8") or, a 5/8" slave. Anyone with info on what any of the 300ZX or ZXT's use? Bastaad, we need to shift these things much quicker than using the entire stretch of our leg at the track. I'll sleeve the slave down to 5/8" if i have to but would rather find an easier option for anyone with this same senerio. Thanks for keeping my sanity. I thought i was the only one having the problem using the ACT system on a 240 with the L28ET and the BW. I didn;t read any other posts about this and figured i must have slipped up somewhere. But now, since i did everything at least twice and replaced everything, this is she way it is...for now. We'll fix it. Joe - The only difference between the 280ZXT clutch components and the 240's is the master cylinder rod on the ZXT is shorter than the 240 rod. And i definitly need the longer rod right now because i'm using every inch i can as Bastaad is. Master and slave are the same between all the years i know of ('73, '78, '82ZXT) - 5/8" master - 3/4" slave. Thanks for the ideas. BTW - by hook or by crook, i'm going to Island to run this thing Wednesday night. And i WILL have this clutch working!!! Any plans? J260Z thanks for the thought but the plate could really only go on one way. One the Z's, if you had the plate on backward, I dont think you would be able to bolt down the PP because the raised face of the plate with the springs would ride on the fylwheel face and make the plate hover off the flywheel by about 3/4". You probably wouldn't be able to even start the PP bolts. Thanks anyway. Guys, thanks for all the thoughts and keep bouncing ideas off of me. I will figure this out and running at the track by Wednesday, weather permitting. Need to figure out this clutch thing, make a driveshaft loop, install the fuel pump and take a look at the front brakes, She wont hold while heating them up at the line! ha. O'well, I've got 3 nights to do it. plentyof time right?? Sure. Any ideas on what Z's or other cars use a 3/4" or slightly larger clutch master cylinder or a 5/8" slave cylinder will do the trick, I THINK, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Whatta saga! Only me. Later.

Welp, replaced the slave with the new one, bled it to heck and still no good. Rebuilt the 2 month old master cylinder, bench bled, in-car bled, still no good. So...just got out of the garage from yanking, once again, the T5, ACT PP/clutch out. And of course, everything seems to be fine and was installed correctly. Cannot see anything visually wrong with the PP but I'm picking up a new one tomorrow and will try that. I have nothing left. I know ACT makes a good product, just hoping this PP was made on a Monday by someone with a huge hangover or something. I'll post back with results tomorrow night or Monday morning. Later.

Funny, i just got back from picking up a new salve. This morning, i took the old one out and put a big adjustable wrench on the arm out of the T5 and completely disengaged the clutch. It's hard to disengage for the first half of it's throw and then gets to a breaking point and then gets easy, as soon and the fingers get past a certain point so now i know i did everything right on the install. Thanks god because i rolled over it in my head about a thousand times and couldn't figure out what i possibly could have done. So, what i think is, with this new increased tourqe it's taking to get over that hump and fully disengauge the clutch, something from the slave to the master is just not strong enough and or just plain worn out. It was probably fine with the stock PP with less tourqe but now have exceeded it's limit. I'm going out soon to see if it's the slave and will write back with what i find out tonight. Another thing it may be that i thought of was, air caught up in the master and somehow i can't bleed it out without bench bleeding it. We'll see. LockJaw, that's what's driving me nuts, something so simple and it's giving me this much trouble! oh well. Live, learn and tell everyone what you found so hopefully they wont go though all the headache, right? ha. Guys, thanks a bunch.

Hey. Thanks for the input. Sleeper - It's a 2+2 flywheel from a '78 280 - it's 240mm like the Turbo's but just has a little more surface area on the inside. Yes, Lockjaw's using a 300ZXTT pressure plate and had to grind ribs on the inside of the T5. I bought the ACT Kit for a '82 280ZXT which the motor and T5 came out of and it all just bolts right up. BayZT - I did adjust the freeplay to zero just to get as much throw as i could, but still no good. Cody - Clutch pedal fully adjusted. I think (hope) i found the problem tonight. I was getting ready to drop the trans and just wanted to double, triple check the slave cylinder again so i had my wife doing some pumping (easy guys) while i watched it. The travel seemed good but i noticed with the increased PP tourqe, the slave was shifting just a little bit when under the new pressure. So i ripped it all apart and realized that the slave isn't extending itself all the way to the end when the pedal is to the floor. I took it apart and it has some rub marks on one side of the piston so i'm wondering if it's binding up when it's bolted to the T5 and not going through it's complete stroke. I'm going to pick up a new SS tomorrow morn and try it. With the stock clutch it may have been fine but possibly with the increased force on it with the HD ACT plate, it's just too weak and worn. I'll write back with my findings. Thanks again guys. Appreciate the time taken to respond.

John, looks great! Very nice job.

Thanks guys for the responces. I know i've got a few of you confused on what i'm talking about so i'm trying to find a picture to post. Sorry for the confusion.

Guys, i need a few ideas bounced off me. I have nothing left. Put in the new ACT PP & clutch last night. All went smooth as normal right up until the point when i wanted it to disengage. I had to put the pedal ALL THE WAY to the floor to just get it in gear. This was a standard clutch install, nothing special, just like i've done probably 20-30 times thoughout my life. I just dont get it. Flywheel perfect, clutch plate on correctly (only one way it can), PP bolted up to flywheel correctly, T.O. bearing installed the right way and slides easily, never changed the T.O. bearing collar, release arm on it's pivot point, T5 splined right in the new ACT clutch and slid right into pilot bushing, bolted up easily...i mean, normal install, everything went smooth. What i did notice is that it takes A LOT more force on the pedal to disengage, and the pressure just increases as you get closer to the firewall with the pedal...almost like i'm bending the fingers on the PP but it's not releasing for some reason. I understnd it's a much stronger PP but, i wouldn't want to be caught in traffic with this thing!!! And other competition PP's i've installed and ran don't feel this tough. I bled the slave cylinder, watched the arm move from underneath and it's moves a good distance, at least as far as it did before with the stock clutch that disengaged fine. I even drained everything to make sure there wasn't any kind of restriction in the clutch line somewhere. Nope. I have the pedal adjusted right now without one bit of freeplay and i know the TO bearing is resting on the PP fingers at pedal rest. I also know that as soon as you start pressing the pedal, the slave cyl starts moving and has a good long throw. It really feels like i'm bending those clutch fingers and it's not disengaging like there's something caught between the stationary part of the PP and the part that gets drawn in when disengaging. I'm all out of ideas except to rip it all apart again tonight and look around. If it happens to be a bad PP, i probably wouldn't be able to tell anyway since i have no way to check it out of the car. And i know ACT is a good brand and wouldn't think it was the product but, i'm really out of ideas. Anyone with a similar problem ever or is just me having BAD LUCK this month? Did i miss something? I even pulled the FSM out last night around 3:30am just to see if something popped out at me, nothing...just a basic clutch install. Any ideas are appreciated. Here's the ACT part #'s i used: N-013 - Pressure Plate NSD007M - Clutch RB016 - Release Bearing All 240mm, bolted to a '82ZXT L28 using the BW-T5. Simple, right? Unreal...

Thanks for the replies guys. Unfortunatly, i'm still not clear on how it works. Ok, scenerio - I'm boosting say 10psi...air is rushing out of the T3 and through the J-pipe. Right after the first bend of the J-pipe is a port, a 3/4" nipple with a hose attached to it going to a metal tee on top of the manifold. One side of the tee is from the Air Regulator. Dead opposite of that is the AIC Valve. Now the other two sides of the tee, which are opposite of each other are - one from that 3/4" J-pipe nipple and the opposite side goes to that VCV. Now under boost, some air must be pushing through that nipple so, why wouldn't that valve open and have a good amount of unmetered air rushing into the intake, if you say it lets air INTO the manifold? I trust what you're saying is right, but i'm just not fully getting it. If you can't explain it any easier, i understand, somtimes it takes a while to sink into my damn Italian head! ha. Thanks again.

Thanks Lockjaw for all the information. I just got back from picking up an ACT Kit, with the street modded disk. I was going to go 6 puck but the Z is mostly for street use and i figured the 6 puck would be to on/off for semi-traffic driving. I'll have the clutch in tonight but wont be able to push it because of this damn rain. Seems to be raining every other day here in NJ for the last 2 months! Walbro pump to come in tomorrow and will be in by the weekend. I'm hoping the rain will let up for next Wednesday night and i can get to the track. I'll let you know how the Act PP and clutch hold up. And oh yeah, i wouldn't consider a damn thing what Alex says. Nothing against you. Thanks again for the reply.

I put in all new pipes for the I.C install and replaced the stock J-pipe with a 90deg 2" piece and didn't blow an extra hole in it and weld the 3/4" nipple on like the stock J-pipe had. I just plugged that side of the "t" that went to the stock j-pipe. Just can't understand what that valve would do? Mix warm air from the J-pipe in with the intake air? Doesn't make sense. The valve opens when there's positive pressure (boost) and flow back to the J-pipe to get rammed back into the throttle body...and only from the 4rth intake runner? That doen't make sense either. Strange.

Congrats on firing her up! There's a good article on swapping out the alternators on Zhome.com. Go down on the left to the "Z technical Library" section and look for "index of Technical articles" Read it first then do it because at the end, there's a special note explaining how you have to add a diode so you can shut the car off. Good luck.

Hey all. Question: What does the VCV do and when does it open/close? It threads right into the 4th intake runner and the hose coming off the other end runs to a hard line that's t'd with the hardline behind the Air Regulator then continues straight to the J-pipe off of the T3. Couldn't find anything last night in the FSM about it. '82 ZXT motor. Thanks in advance.

Thanks Nathan. Apprecite it.

Is the MSD-2225 fuel pump actually the Walbro GLS-392 fuel pump with a different label on it? A simple yes or no will do. An explanation of why you answered the way you did, with any proof that you may have, would be even better. Thanks to all in advance that take the time to read and reply to this.

Alex does not carry the Walbro line.

Thanks Cody for the info. The post i found from Lockjaw - "I had my turbo pressure plate redrilled to use the 300ZXTT pressure plate and use the 89 300ZXT disc, and I have not slipped it under boost yet" - i'm assuming he meant he drilled the flywheel as you mentioned. I'd rather not drill my 2+2 plate, but just find out which 300ZXT or TT bolts up to my flywheel, is 240mm, has the 44mm side surface area and has a stronger clamping force. There's got to be one!!! haha. BTW - the '86 300ZXT PP does line up bolt wise (all 9) with my flywheel but does not have the surface area of the 2+2 PP and doesn't seem to be any stronger. Was '90 the first year of the TT's? Did they make them right up to '96? Sorry, i'm not up on my 300 knowledge but i will be searching for info after i post this. I would have to bet that Nissan up'd the clamping force on that PP Lockjaw is using and is why he is having luck with it. Do you know what year TT PP he's using? Asking because possibly the earlier ones, like '90-'91 may bolt up. I do know it's a '89ZXT clutch from his post. Hmmmmm.....Tanks again.

Hey guys. Happy Fathers day to all fathers or soon to be ones I'm loving the new found power that i could jack the PSI to with the I.C. Although, i only drove the Z for only about a total of 45 minutes and now just finished pulling the trans/clutch/PP out about 15 minutes ago. The clutch that i pulled out is fine. Basically no real signs of wear. So.....I'm thinking it's definetly the PP being to weak. I figured out some more information on the different clutch/PP sizes - The 240Z ('73 240) coupe PP/clutch is 225mm and each side measures aproxiamtely 39mm. The 280ZX turbo ('82 ZXT) coupe PP/clutch is 240mm and each side measures 39mm. The 300ZXT ('86) coupe PP/clutch is 240mm and each side measures 39mm. The 280Z 2+2 ('78 ) is 240mm and each side measures 44mm. So, the best solution that i found so far IMO, is to go with the 280Z 2+2 PP/clutch because of the 240mm overall size and the added 5mm per side for the larger surface area contact. Now i have to find which PP out of the 300ZX or ZXTT that has both the 240mm and 44mm sizes and see if their PP are stronger. I would think that they would be considering the power increase compared to the earlier versions of the Z but, the '86ZXT didn't seem any different than the '78 2+2 PP. I'm wondering if any of the 2+2 versions of the 300's, either N/A or T or TT, are both the 240mm and 44mm? Cody, i think a grabby clutch would grab a bit better but i think the majority of MY problem stems from the PP. I wonder which PP Lockjaw is using. I did find an old post of his but i think he may have re-drilled his flywheel to accept a 300ZXTT PP. Not sure if this is his most current setup. If anyone has more info on PP/clutch's, it would be appreciated. Hopefully i'll get what i need tomorrow and back on the raod by Tuesday morn! Thanks in advance and thanks for the replies guys.

Alex - no thanks. BTW - the 86 ZXT PP is 240mm, as does the 2+2 PP, but the surface area of each individual side is about 39mm. The 2+2 PP/clutch/flywheel measures approximately 44mm, 5 more mm than the 300zxt PP which means, the 300ZXT PP would be using the outside of the 2+2 clutch of 240mm, but the inner 10% of a wider 2+2 clutch would never be touched. Not the solution i was looking for. Doug71ZT - Thanks for the info. I will have the BW out tomorrow night, pick up a clutch combo on Monday and back in Monday night. Tuning Tuesday night, track wednesday night. I've pulled those same 2-3am nights for about 4 weeks straight for the turbo swap about 2 months ago, what's 2 more nights matter??? haha. Wife understands, hey, it is fathers day Sorry to hear that you didn't make it with all the hard work. Hope i do... Yo2001 - Thanks, will do. I had the '86 300ZXT PP and the same 2+2 240mm PP side by side and the finger strength didn't seem to be any different, and like i said before, the 300ZXT PP has a smaller surface area than the 2+2. I wonder if the N/A 300zx that Lockjaw is using is any different than the T? I'll do a search. BayAreaZT - Thanks for the suggestion. Act is recommended alot. Guess they make a good product. Appreciate it.

Isn't this always the way? Unreal. Last night, finally finished plumbing I.C. in around 2am, tightened up on the new downpipe and took her out for a test ride. PSI was set @ 9 before I.C. install and now was pulling strong to about 7 1/2psi. Lost about 1 1/2psi due to I.C. I'm figuring not bad. Pulled stong and clean, so i upped the boost to 10...same thing, pulling clean and hard, no detonation.WOOHOO. Cranked her up a little more - 12-13psi....pulled stong in 1st, 2nd and then...slllliiiiiiiiiippppp of the clutch at the top of third and top of 4th! UG!!! Now i'm in a jam because i'm suppose to race this thing at the track this coming Wednesday, I don't have the $ or time to get the clutch which i know is right for ME (ACT) so, here's what i'm wondering: I'm using a $140 stock (not nissan) '78 2+2 240mm clutch set in there now. It was fairly new - 3 months old? It grabbed fine until the last run i made at the track about 3 weeks ago. On the last run of that night, the 14th run, she started to slip. I had just made about 4 continuous runs and just figured i heated it up too much because on the way home after she sat a bit, grabbed fine. I did do a lot of sliding of the clutch off the line that night. So, here's my questions: 1: Do you think i wasted my clutch at the track last time and a new replacement of the same kind will be fine or is the clamping force of the '78 2+2 PP just not strong enough to hold the new I.C. HP? 2: I read a few posts about the 300ZX Turbo clutch. Does anyone have any solid information about putting a 300ZXT clutch setup in a first gen Z with a BW-T5 using a 240mm flywheel? Does it bolt up to the 2+2 flywheel? Is the 300ZXT PP stronger than the 2+2? If yes to both, what year 300ZXT clutch/pp should i order? 3: Am i just wasting my time not using a performance clutch at this part of the game? I can order another part store 240mm 2+2 or 300ZXT clutch setup today and have it by Monday, put it in by Tuesday and get to the track by Wednesday, which i'm dying to run or, just park it in the garage until i can convince the wife that i NEED $300 more for my TOY??? That could take a while Sorry i'm so long winded but i like to post all the info i can and the dilemma i'm having so others can share my pain. haha. Any suggestions are welcome. Appreciate it in advance. BTW - Alex, it seemed she started to run out of fuel around 12psi. I'll let you know if the new Walbro pump you hooked me up with helps me a little past this by itself. Thanks again.

come on guys...take this outa here. topic has been answered, right? thanks.

Sleeper - Thanks. I thought the air for idle up came from the 3/4" inlet on the front side of the Air Reglator, not hot air coming out of the T3? Learn something new every day i guess. Guess i'll try just plugging that hose that went to the original J-Pipe and see how she runs. If no good, I guess i'll have a little more welding to do and put that nipple on the new pipe!!! Thanks again Sleeper.

Sleeper, or anyone...what does the 5/8" or 3/8" line that comes off of the J-Pipe, right after the first bend out of the T3, do? What's its function? You may have answered my question in one of your posts already Sleeper, but i'm just not getting it. Thanks for the replies.

Thanks. So what's that hose that goes from the J-Pipe that's T'd into the hardline after the air regulator used for? I understand what the air regulator does by opening to allow air to bypass in cool weather for idle up but, this hose T's into that hardline after the air regulator and before the AAC (Auxiliary Air Control) valve.

Ok, i forgot to bring my FSM to work to check on this so, you guys are the next best thing...ok better Here's where i'm at: I made all the I.C. pipes ready to go in for tonight and i am replacing the stock J-Pipe with my own 2" bend. The stocker has a 3/4" (?) nipple off of it that a short hose runs from there to the hard lines after the air regulator on top of the intake. I'm not using the AAC or EGR. Question is, do i need to weld this 3/4" nipple to my new pipe coming off the T3 and re-attach the hose or can i leave it out of the mix, not hack the new pipe and just plug the other end of it? Sorry i'm asking when i probably could search the FSM about what this does, just don't have it with me. Thanks in advance.

Funny, i just ordered one from Alex yesterday, overnighted, to be received today and installed this weekend. I'll let you know how i make out.