RebekahsZ

I tried 2 new clutches, 4 new clutches, and 6 new clutches. The outcome was always the same=spool. Tried flipping the spring plates and tried putting one on the inside and one on the outside. Nothing seemed to matter. Oh well, on to droop limiters.

I guess if I strip 'em, I strip 'em. I tried using all six new clutch discs and stacked it all up as described and it was a spool. I can't imagine what I did that was wrong. If each big spacer is the same thickness of two clutches, it should work, but for some reason it didn't. It was fine on my other diff. Maybe I was drinking beer on the first one do I was better lubricated.

PM me any pictures you have of that-no need for me to reinvent the wheel!

I never really understood the role of the air correctors. Unfortunately, I never have really understood how a carburetor works! I'm kind of a plug and play hack.

I had either 125 or 135 mains. Best i could figure, the main jets only really matter at foot-on-the-floor wide-ppen throttle. Homestly, how often does that occur? And for how long? That is why the mains are selected pretty much based on venturi size. Most of your pain will be spent tuning the low-speed or idle corcuit. I think I ran 60s on the low speed circuit. I bought 55s and 50s-no real chang in how the car ran. Car ran rich with 60s, 55s, and 50s. Went down to 45s and it popped. Tried dropping venturis to 28s and it didnt help. Went back to 30 venturis. I think a pretty easy way to tell if you are in the ballpark on idle jets is this: if you can't make it stumble by screwing the bleed air screws in all the way, your jet is too rich. If it back fires you are too lean. Unfortunately, the "idle jets" control not only idle but they also control part-throttle operation. Think of this as everything between start up and full-wide-open throttle. You will spend most of your time selecting idle jets and messing with the bleed air screws. In order to not backfire regularly, I ran 60s and adjusted the air bleeds for fastest idle on each throat. The result was a car that drove smooth but was always a little on the rich side with a black tailpipe and pretty bad gas mileage. We chose between the main jets by using a stop watch to determine which jet gave us the fastest time full-throttle between two highway mile markers with a rolling start from a specified speed. My favorite: trial and error with a hillbilly dyno! Funny-my auto correct changes dyno to dunno-how appropriate!.

Wrapping it up for the night (is it still night?). Gonna summarize the past 3-ish day's work on this diff. This is my second R200 CLSD build up. First CLSD was last spring: a 3.90 out of a Z31. Car is a drag/autocross/sunny-day commuter. I read all over this site and decided to swap out the 2 clutches for 6 clutches from Savage42. Cut 4 shims of .004 and slapped it all together=62# breakaway wet. Put it in car and couldn't tolerate the banging on slow turns. On advice, drained the diff, started over with 3 tubes of Trans-X and topped it off with Synthetic LSD 75W-140 oil. Still banged-a lot. Felt like I was living out a Ricky Martin song. Did about an hour of circles both ways in a parking lot-that helped a lot, so now the diff only bangs about once in a commute. Decided the 3.90 is perfect for 1/4-mile (one track in the state), but kind of in-between shifts for the 1/8-mile (4 tracks within an hour). So, I got a 3.54 open from one member and a 3.70 Z31 CLSD from another member and put them together. Put the 3.54 ring gear on the CLSD carrier and plugged it into the 3.54 case. Now the fun starts. In order to have lots of clutches, but no banging, for this diff I wanted to do something different from my 3.90 diff. Here is a review of the options I tried. 1. 6 clutch mod + 2 shims = spool, which means that I got to 120# breakaway torque before quitting. 2. 6 clutch mod + no shims = spool 3. Stock configuration: 2 clutches and put back big spacer washers = 13# breakaway. 4,5,6. Tried different combinations of Datsun clutches and Savage42 clutches=spool every time. Threw in the towel for the clutch mod. 7. Stock configuration + 2 shims (phillips head screws only, ring gear not installed-this was the only trial that didn't include torqueing the ring gear to 60#) = 19# 8. Stock configuration + 2 shims (installed and torqued ring gear) = 24# 9. Stock configuration + 4 shims = 32# breakaway. Thought about trying 5 shims, but I've had enough. Wet bench testing was done with synthetic LSD 75W140 gear oil mixed with 1 tube of Trans-X. Gonna run straight synthetic LSD 75W140 with no Trans-X until first oil change, which will be pretty quick if this one bangs too. Cleaned up, cleaned the ring gear bolts and ring gear and put it together with blue locktite, 60# for each ring gear bolt and 70# for the bearing cap bolts. It seems that this project, for me, defies a "cook-book." The real miracle is that I didn't bust my azz walking around in all that oil. None of my tools should rust. Justification for all this: all the cool kids are doin' it.

126mph in the 1/4-mile at Alabama International Dragway. Please be careful, my friends-what if a deer (especially one of the red-nosed variety) ran in front of you while you are rolling along at 147-183mph? I'd hate to lose one of you. Save it for the track.

That would make sense if the Nissan clutch discs are thicker. I don't have good enough quality calipers to measure an appreciable difference but that would make sense. In my other diff I used all 6 new clutches. I will try that again and report back. I want this diff to be a good bit looser than the other one. My target is 30-40 pounds. That is a SWAG- I just know I didn't like 62. I do so need to invest in some good calipers and dial indicators. Santa?

The first "clutch upgrade" I did was on my 3.90 CLSD. Used 6 new clutches from Savage42 to replace the 2 old ones, removed the two outer spacers, installed 4 shims. Bench tested wet to 62#. Chattered (banged) like crazy in car-went to three tubes of Trans-X and it only chatters occasionally. Built-up a 3.54 this week using the carrier from a 3.70 CLSD into the case and ring gear of the 3.54 open. Used 4 nissan clutches and 2 clutches form Savage42. No shims to try to avoid ratcheting or chatter I have in the 3.90. Just put it all together, back in case for wet test. Its a spool. Back to the drawing board.

Oh, cool. My bad. Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas to hybridz.org. Admins-thanks for what you do! I'll be in Harrisburg, PA between Christmas and New Years if there are any members close by, give me a call and we'll share some eggnog. Keith Thompson RebekahsZ 256-366-4685

Yeah, I understand. I don't want to make this into a classified, but if you add up all your time and trouble and find yourself interested, just PM me. Shipping on my diff/axles would be about $100, but the required money above that would be the best deal I've seen lately-I'd let you lead with an offer-the parts aren't perfect and I know it, but there is some value there.

This thread has some dam n nice cars on it. ktm-I noticed you kept your clutch pedal-keeping your options open?

Screen name "rags" had a pretty good experience with kooks headers for a custom long tube fabrication. But, he's located in new jersey. That car got flooded in Sandy, so check with him in case he is parting out. I personally wouldn't fool with Blake any more. I really appreciate what 1tuffz got done, and Blake is an artist-his headers are beautiful. But, with all artists you have to put up with more idiosyncracies than I'm usually willing to tolerate-like selective phone answering and going dark-ops for months at a time. Blake just kind of went "Modern Motorsports" on us in the middle of the project. The Sanderson headers sold thru JTR are just super easy to install, but the angle on the collector is a little difficult to deal with (just hard to get a wrench on the collector bolts). Otherwise, there are zero fitment issues so long as you remove the required aluminum "bosses" from your engine before you drop it in and you are careful locating your oil pressure sender. If you want new shorties, I really recommend buying from JTR directly. He is easy to deal with, provides responsive customer support, and we want to keep him in business. I have his ceramic headers and they are great. That being said, over the next few months, I plan to order a set from JTR that is bare metal or painted. I'm gonna get a v-band flange welded on them instead of the 3-bolt collector, then have them ceramic-ed. My current JTR headers will then be available for sale very lightly used sometime before spring. PM me if you decide you want them before I put them in the classifieds. I haven't yet thought about how I'd price them. I don't know anything about the JCI headers-they may be even better than the ones I have. I dare you to copy wfritts911's system, but add stacks like the "Little Red Wagon!" IMO: these cars are so fast right out of the box (even un-modified),that unless you are competing for a national championship, it really doesn't matter what headers you strap on them for that last 1-2 percent of power.

Thanks for the advice and for sharing your experience. Anybody else? Bueller?

After 24 years, I've convinced my wife that 90-weight oil smells sexy. She loves it when I'm working on a rearend late at night...

Huge fan! Absolutely Awesome. Looks like you got that line lock working good, or is that left-footing? The tires seem to fit inside your wheel wells really well - what size are your QTPs on what rim (width and backspacing)? How big of a shot are your spraying? When you change from all-motor to spray, what do YOU have to do to tell the computer that you are changing-just let the Lingfelter box work automatically, or do you select a different tune using your dataport and a laptop/hand-held device? I friggin' hate Pro-tree. Awesome-simply awesome.

Looks Great! I think you need more rivets.

I've seen Shiro Z31 VLSD axles on ebay a few times from $175 to $400, so be sure to check there. I have a Shiro R200 VLSD complete with axles that I'd sell VERY reasonably, perhaps for less than your machine work would cost-PM me if that would help you. I want to keep it all together: diff and axles.

The T56 in my LS-swapped car leaks just a bit from the seal where the driveshaft inserts. Not enough to drip. It just leaks enough that it puts some residue on the sides of the transmission tunnel (underneath the car). I can sometimes smell the oil fumes wafting (sp?) up thru the "modified" shifter boot seal on highway driving. Whenever I'm under there, I just clean it up with a little Simple Green. My question: How much are you other T56 guys leaking from that seal? I'm just trying to figure out if it is worth the trouble of replacing that seal when I have the driveshaft down for a diff swap in the next week or two. I don't want to change the seal - if I can expect the replacment to leak just as bad. I guess I'm trying to figure out just how "sealed" that seal should be in normal circumstances. My driveshaft is the JCI model. The experiences of others on this forum have been super helpful for me to know what sorts of leaks are acceptable. Somebody on here talked me out of replacing the rear main seal when I did a clutch. The main seal basically just had a bit of sweat on it - I didn't replace that one.

Paint thinner works good on the tar residue.

Springs too stiff to eat or drink. It all winds up in my lap or on my shirt. On trips I only buy bottled drinks with a screw on cap and between sips I just toss it in the passenger seat cause nobody will ride in my car cause it is too hot and loud.

Haven't heard from you in a while, Jim. You didn't wreck it did you?

Sorry off topic a bit. But, I have switched from metal brake lines back to rubber due to a recent fire. I had a friend doing some welding on my suspension and a spark flew up and landed on the rough surface of the braided stainless brakeline. The line burst into flames and was pretty hard to extinguish and brake fluid drained out all over everything. Switched back to rubber as a knee-jerk reaction to try to avoid that happening again. Soooo, I sure wouldn't try to polish them with anything that gets hot. Can't you just lower your car a little more so nobody sees them?

John, does the inside radius shrinkage that a muffler shop bender makes disqualify the cage?