JMortensen

I don't think there is a reliable way to tell what's inside. The main indicator to me would be the 2 piece driveshaft, but I've seen them with a one piece driveshaft, and I've never seen the CV driveshaft. In fact I had both a two piece driveshaft and a single piece driveshaft comp trannies at one point. I gave them to a friend in need, and he assembled the main shaft from the one piece driveshaft with the gears and countershaft from the 2 piece (closer ratios in that one) then installed it all into a standard ZX 5 speed case. I think the original case for the comp 5 speed is different from a standard 5 speed, but I only had the guts from the two so I never saw the difference in the case or bell housings. This stuff interchanges too easily. Unless you could see a synchro I don't think you can tell. If you can see the synchro (maybe through the fill or drain plug) then you should be able to tell. The brass synchros are yellow and that is an obvious giveaway. If you've felt them both shift you can tell that way too. The brass synchros pop into gear with one solid click. The steel synchros have a longer throw, and almost feel like two clicks, or one and a half maybe... Sorry I can't pinpoint that a little more for you... I sold my spare ZX 5 speed before I moved two years ago for $150. Jon

I don't think anyone is trying to make fun of you, but damn, I mean DAMN dude... You ever read the children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day??? Maybe you should get rid of it...

You gonna bail him out again Tim?

If you pulled it back apart and sectioned (agreed not exactly a 10 minute job), you wouldn't need to purchase anything, just cut and weld. Jon

IME you've made the right choice on the pressure plate and clutch. Like I said, I've only seen damaged thrust bearings on puck clutch equipped L series. Going to super cheeseball hack mechanic mode-- Couldn't Bastaad just pull the middle main and replace just that one? That's where the thrust bg is. Mark the cap so you don't flip it around when you reinstall it. I'm sure you already know that it's better to fix it right Bastaad, but maybe this would just get you back on the road... Jon

Ross, I thought the 280 rear strut tubes were taller. So you could lower the perch, but you'd still end up with less travel. Hence the need to section. It looks to me like Juan could slap some 8" springs and get close to the ride height he wants, but that's no good if he's driving on the bumpstops... Is that right? Jon

Sprint turbo 3 cyl with a front drive swap?

I thought it was the violent grab on the clutch disk from the bronze or iron pucks that took the thrust bearing out. The pressure plate is attached to the crank via the flywheel, so I don't understand how it would cause more wear if it gripped hard but didn't chatter like a puck disk does. EDIT--just figured it out. You're pushing on the end of the crank when you press the pressure plate. Still, I've known LOTS of guys with heavy pp's on L series, and the only ones that have had thrust bg probs were the ones with the puck clutches. There has to be something about shocking the crank with the clutch that causes damage, especially when they start to chatter. Jon

Bee guy showed up today. 2 or 3 days and I'll be back in the garage! I guess it takes that long for the bees to all come back into the hive and get their medication. FINALLY!

Either will work, but it will be less grabby and easier to drive and won't wear into the pp or the flywheel and still hold the power (to a point) with the strong pp and stock disk. Jon

Happy to help!

http://www.aurorabearing.com/ I think you need a 5/8 high misalignment, and I would definitely go with the Teflon liner. On my GC camber plates the bearing slides into a machined "cup" and then is retained by a inside snap ring. Good luck.

Juan, be CAREFUL!!! The insulator flexes and allows the strut to change its angle when it compresses. Unless you put a monoball in the top to allow the strut angle to change, you're going to end up with a broken suspension. Basically look at a set of camber plates to see what you need to do, because eliminating the rubber and not providing some way for the angle of the strut to change is going to BREAK stuff. Now is the time to develop that cheap badass camber plate for those who don't already have them. Put a set on your car then sell them to hybridz'ers who need them. Or just buy some... Jon

I think you might be surprised what a strong pressure plate with a stock disk is capable of. My all stock setup started slipping REALLY bad when I got the trips, now it holds good even going to 4th at 7000 rpm with ACT and stock disk. No matter though since I guess you've already got your replacement. I thought the Daikin stuff was similar though. Strong pp and stock type disk. Never heard of a cracked pilot, but at least it made removal easier, right? The L series cranks are really strong, if you're really low on cash get new bearings on the mains and recheck the endplay would be my suggestion. Jon

The acceptable limit for crank end play is .012 according to How to Rebuild. Why don't you just roll in some new main bearings? Not the easiest job getting the main caps off, but not impossible, and you know you've already got good rod bearings in there. One thing that will help it keep from getting worse is to run a stock clutch disk. You can run your big pp, but run a stock disk. Much less thrust bearing wear. Jon

Did you swap the big rubber insulators on the top of the coilovers? The 280's are much thicker than the 240's. I guess you didn't section the struts, since you were asking about the spacers the other day. I know the 280 struts are different diameter, possibly longer??? You might NEED to section the struts to run the 280 stuff. I think there were some recent posts on that topic. Here's one: http://hybridz.org/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=33097 Maybe talk to Tim240z and see what he did. You could run a shorter spring too, but I think to fix it right you'll be back in there again... Jon

At least the goggles will catch his eyeballs when they get blown out of his head!

You might consider swapping the head from the 260 onto the 280 block. That will up the compression and you'll need high octane gas (92), but you'll get a little more out of the swap. Regardless, you'll feel a noticeable difference from the displacement increase. The driveshafts should be the same, so keep one as a spare. Jon

I would imagine the torque would be pretty similar to a pinion nut. Someone came up with that torque a while ago, so you can dig for it or look in a manual if you have one. Never seen the CV style driveshaft. Value of a good condition comp tranny is probably in the $1000 range. Jon

It's time to re-evaluate our involvement. Every day there are news reports about more deaths. Every night on TV are photos of death and destruction. Why are we still there? We occupied this land, which we had to take by force, and it causes us nothing but trouble. Why are we still there? Their government is unstable, and they have no leadership. Why are we still there? Many of their people are uncivilized, or at least don't speak English. Why are we still there? There are more than 1,000 religious sects and almost as many languages and dialects, many of which we don't understand. Why are we still there? We can't even secure the borders. Why are we still there? They are billions of dollars in debt and it will cost billions more to rebuild, which we can't afford. Why are we still there? It is becoming clear. We must abandon California.

Bastaad, I've got a couple questions for you: I have the ACT pressure plate in my Z. I think they only have one pressure plate for the Z in the 225mm and one for the 240mm. Which are you running? My 225 doesn't seem all that stiff at all, but it holds the power down MUCH better than a stock pp. I'm wondering if maybe you didn't clean and grease the shaft where the t/o bearing slides inside the bell housing? If you don't then not only will the clutch feel very stiff, but you'll wear that shaft since there's no lube on it. Always lube your shaft. It's just common sense... Also should mention that you don't want to use white grease or any grease that will coagulate on the shaft, since that will make it really sticky and increase the pedal effort.

Just to give you an idea Bastaad, when I first got on the slicks I traded my very heavy Shelby 15x7 mesh wheels to a friend and took her 6 spoke ZX rims. I warned her repeatedly that the Shelby wheels were heavy, but kept saying she had to have 15's. Put them on her car and she drove home to LA from San Luis Obispo, where I lived. First thing she does when she gets home is calls me up and says "Something doesn't feel right. The car feels slower and the brakes don't work like they used to." I told her to get used to it, because she now had 40 lbs more unsprung weight, maybe a tad more. You CAN feel it. Jon

Sounds like Steven Wright. "I had some powdered water, but I didn't know what to add."

I've had their coilover and "roadrace" camber/caster plate for ~8 years or so. It works fine. The one bitch I have is that the camber plate was too big to get all the way up inside the strut tower and there is NO caster adjustment, because there is no room to move the plate at all. I had to grind a little off the corners of the plate just to get it all the way up in there, so there is NO room to adjust caster on mine. Maybe a later 240 or a 260 or 280 would be different. Other than that they work great, but I haven't been able to see a significant difference in design between the GC coilover stuff and anyone elses. It is a threaded tube with an adjustable perch, and it slides over the strut tube. AFAIK, they are all basically the same. I'd like to know what significant differences there are between makes though, if there are any. Jon