RebekahsZ

I feel confident that JMortensen's shortened shafts will not work with the Q45 swap. With the Q45 swap, you use an outside CV on each end, so the snap rings are different. Those Q45 swap axles that MM makes are really short when compared to the Z31 axles. I'm confident that you can't mix and match the combo. It will be a while before I can confirm that the Shiro axle shafts are the same as the Z31 axle shafts. I will want to actually try it out to ensure that the splines and everything are compatable before I put out info that is not correct. So, I'll be waiting for two things before I can start into that: a set of shafts from JMortensen, and time to get it done, competing with gettin my R200 swap done.

Go to my build thread for any pointers - it is a novel located in the Gen III forum. My personal opinion is that the radiator portion of these builds is overemphasized. I think any radiator in good condition that fits would be fine. I have an ebay Champion 3-row that came with dual fans. It is nothing special and was not specially engineered for the V8, it is just a replacement and I only got it because it had a shroud that was made for electric fans and I didn't want to have to build any brackets to mount fans on my old radiator. Welcome to the world of LSx - you will love it.

Finished product. Sub assemblies ready to be installed next weekend. Will try to yank down the R180, axles and control arms this week. I was hoping to drill the axle bolts and driveshaft bolts for safety wire this weekend, but just broke all my bits. Gonna treat all bolts to some blue locktite and mark them to show wheather they have broken torque or not. Used 2 quarts of Valvoline synthetic 75-90 for LSD and one tube (7oz) of CLSD additive. By the way, how do I distinguish transmission clutch chatter from CLSD clutch chatter?

R200 CLSD subassemblies rebuilt, painted, filled with oil and ready for installation. Used 2 quarts of Valvoline synthetic 75-90 for LSD and one tube (7oz) of CLSD additive. Gonna jack up car tomorrow night and try to have all the old stuff off during this week so that I can start re-assembly next Saturday. Anybody know for certain which side gets the short CV axle? Otherwise, it is measure and trial and error for me!

The sticky thread on shimming the CLSD was very helpful, and so was JMortensen's thread that further discusses the subject of adding clutches. Using shims to replace the two stock CLSD spacers is described, but no pictures were provided, so I had trouble getting my head around the process. My contribution is these photos from my R200 CLSD upgrade. When I ordered my CLSD clutches from Savage42, I forgot to discuss the shimming with him. After discussing this with other forum members, I ordered 0.004 shim material from McMaster.com I put them all on one side to make future adjustments easier. With the shims and additional clutches made it impossible to get the Phillips head carrier screws on, so I used 1" long 1/4" bolts to compress the springs until I got the Phillips head screws in and torqued. I supported the carrier by mounting a stub axle in a vice. The additional clutches increased the break away torque so that I could retorque the ring gear with lock tite to 70#, inserted the carrier and torqued the retention yoke bolts to 70# with red locktite, then installed a new gasket and torqued the rear cover bolts to 17#. Then lots of scrubbing, wire brushing and cleaning before paint.

Thanks zgeezer. I've got pictures of that very same technique posted on another thread. It is the only way I can get them out. OK. I just broke a stack of drill bits trying to drill the grade-8 axle bolts for safety wire. I tried 2 different types of safety wire drilling fixtures. Tried hardened bits and lots of oil and a drill press. That aint happening. Looks like its gonna be red lock tite for me! Then maybe some aviation torque seal for visual inspections.

It is ok. This is a PARTS WANTED ad. Any confirmed 3:36-ish R200 will help. I don't really care what it is out of or currently in.

I've got the axles totally rebuilt off the car using a vice and getting help from my daughter. JMortensen, we are on the same basic sheet of music. In the axle rebuild, the main problem was my lacking the confidence to strike as hard as necessary with a 3 pound sledge. Once I committed to that it wasn't a big problem. I just fought and fought with inadequate hammer force because my dad was a rocket scientist and I'm an eye surgeon. The concept of pounding something into submission is just difficult for me to face up to. Once committed to the amount of force required, it was a breeze, just like you said it would be. I put my daughter on a stool and had her do the hammering while I massaged the c-clip and kept constant pressure on the shaft. My neighbors were probably spreading rumors after hearing me yelling: "Hit it harder, sweet-heart! Harder! Harder!" People always assume the worst in Alabama. It was a little scary with her swinging a 3 pound sledge right over my head-I'm surprised she didn't take advantage of the opportunity to give me a little attitude adjustment. I and others have had some trouble getting the (already assembled) inner CV end of the axle to pop in and out of the diff, once the diff is installed in the car. That is what I'm referring to. I'm sure that too, is just a matter of me being a sissy. And the lack of a chassis lift doing this on my back. I'm getting a pretty good cussing vocabulary, which always helps just about everything. It is almost 1200-noon, I need a beer just thinking about it. When you discuss checking for CV axle bind, I think you mean to unbolt the OUTER CV (typo?). You can't unbolt the inner CV; it has no bolts.

My LS2 oil pan hangs about an inch below my crossmember and is the lowest point on the car above the tires. I have already high-centered on my oil pan once coming out of a friend's driveway, so I'm with you. I'm spot welding a "brush guard" onto the bottom of my front cross member that drops it as low as the pan-but that still won't keep me from high-centering. My friend just ruined his oil pan on a beer bottle, thus the brush guard plan. I guess if you hit is just right? I plan to be really careful. If I put a skid plate on, I lose even more ground clearance - so that's out! If in doubt, go around. I knew the driveway was going to be close, so I went really slow and stopped as soon as I felt contact and backed up, then found another route out. Jumped right out to look for damage/leaks. I drove my car in and out of my own driveway a few times before I bought the house! Z-car wins over house - everytime!

I had good luck with the thin polished stainless sheetmetal clamps that overlap the step joint on my last L24 exhaust system. They are low profile and seal well. There was just enough leakage over a 10 year period to cause a sooty spot where the clamping mechanism is but never enough to stink or make a ticking sound. I would use the stepped kind (they make them for butted joints too), use antiseize like johnc said and wipe off any excess. Mine never leaked and came apart easily after 10 years of use (race car/storage car-not very many miles). I think speedwaymotors.com stocks them. Summit and Jegs probably do too. I was skeptical of them at first, but they were great and I think they would have lasted a long time trouble free. I used one to join my header to my 2-1/2" exhaust tube. Header was steel, exhaust tubing was stainless. I had 3 of them along the main exhaust pipe in case I needed to service any of it - never had a problem. Johnc - I have no experience with bolted slip joints. Would you recommend them on a daily driver?

I have some experience on this issue. I would maintain your mechanical, if it were me. Very little to gain by going electric, except additional opportunity to get stranded. I understand, though, if you have a space problem, or something like that. The electric fuel pump has to have a return line somewhere in the system to allow fuel flow to continue all the time to avoid overheating and seizing of the pump. Initially, the seizing will be reversible once the pump cools off, so just waiting for the pump to cool will get you back on the road, if only to get stranded a few miles further down the road - this can be pretty frustrating. If your fuel system is "dead-headed" (that means no return line) you will have pump overheating and reliability trouble. That doesn't happen with a mechanical pump for some reason. If you need to go electric, look for a fuel pressure regulator with a "bypass" port - I think mine was from Holley. That "bypass" port meters the amount of return that is allowed so you don't have to worry about return line diameter going back to the tank. You do hook a return line to the bypass port - I just used the stock metal return line that Datsun put in my car when they made it. That solved my electric fuel pump overheating problem. More than you asked for (and you may already know this stuff), but a few other issues I encountered along the way: Clear glass in-line filters are nice because you can see any crap in your fuel filtration, but they leak and shatter, so use them or avoid them with that knowledge. I use them if I have a dirty tank - once my tank is clean, I avoid them. Put them before the pump so they are subjected to low pressures. The cheap Mr. Gasket-style adjustable fuel pressure regulators (I think that is what the previous poster has on this inner fender) fail catastrophically and blow fuel mist everywhere when they do (I've had this happen). Ran one for years without any trouble, then all of a sudden, I had fuel EVERYWHERE-soaked entire engine compartment. I don't know how I didn't have a fire. Never thought that 3 psi could cause such a mess, but it did. My Holley bypass regulator was from Jegs or Summitt and was either $29 or $79, I can't remember - local parts house did not have one. Do yourself a favor and put a gauge on your fuel system near the carb - very helpful for trouble shooting later. Good luck. Keith I just looked at your pictures better-my previous discussion was somewhat theoretical. From your pictures you can simplify a lot. Keep your mechanical pump-you can dead-head it without a return line and it won't hurt it. You can dead-head to a 4 barrel, so you don't need a return line there either. All that return line stuff is related to the old Datsun dual carb setup that you don't have anymore. You should be able to just have the one filter before the pump. Then, run a line from your pump to your carburetor (run whatever line fits the fittings). Take the second filter off and throw it away along with the associated return line, cap the stock metal return line with a vacuum cap from the part store just to keep dirt out of it. Fire it up and look for leaks. You can do all that simplification in under an hour. If you insist on an electric pump, all that return line and regulator stuff above applies.

I want you to build my cage when I make my new tub (after I build a 5-bay garage, which is after my wife's pool!). That is one of the nicest cages I have ever seen! I bought an Autopower cage once and I wound up cutting it up. (No knock on Autopower, it was a bolt in, non-custom cage, so I got what I asked for - didn't know what I really needed). I just love the way the door opening has been totally preserved, especially since I will be looking for a cage that will be for a mostly street driven car. I couldn't get in and out of my Autopower cage. Great work! Major-like.

SUNNY: Don't change your mind - you have all the parts already and got them cheaper than I did. Stay the course! I don't know why, but the Q45 R200 diff has a much better reputation than the standard R200 (I've never held one in my hand to know the differences). You are a way-better fabricator than I am - whatever you put together will be top notch. Plus, this way we can compare notes. I think with bolt-on axles without any snap rings to overpower while under the car, your Q45 axles will be a little easier to deal with. I will still have to wedge my inner CVs out to remove my axles and I anticipate a little cussing under the car when doing that. With outer CVs on each end of the Q45 axle you will also be able to feel for available end to end travel/bind. When I get my Wolf Creek axles off the car, I will post some pics of them too. They use a totally different type of CV joint. On the Wolf Creek, the length adjustment (thru range of travel) is in the axle splines, whereas in the Z31 CVs, the length adjustment occurs in the outer CV joint as the CV balls move in the grooves in the CV housing. It is pretty interesting stuff. One cool thing about the Wolf Creek, is that you can actually reach up and feel how much travel you have left with your hand. Because there is no "wiggle" in the Z31 inner CV, it is much harder to know if you have any travel (slop) left in the system. You have to make that determination before you bolt them in. The trade off I see between the Wolf Creek is this: when rebuilding the Z31 axles you have these snap rings to deal with that are a real PITA, whereas with the Wolf Creeks you have none of those snap rings, but 20 bolts per axle to tighten, trust and inspect and 12 to safety wire. Greasing and prep-ing is easier on the Wolf Creek, but I think on-car installation and subsequent maintenance is going to be easier with the Z31. As far as durability, I've spoken with folks who have broken both and I've talked to guys who have gotten years of faithful service from both. But those comments/comparisons also apply to stock u-jointed axles too! Headed to garage now to finish the pumpkin up.

Good to know, I always thought I was just being lazy when I crimp things!

I just saw a 3.70 CLSD se on eBay for $300. Of course that was the morning after. Damn sleep! Why do we need it? I took some photos of the chisel technique. Put the chisel between the axle and the case. Strike the chisel with a straight blow to get it started out, then strike the chisel with a glancing blow to pop it all the way out. Try to catch it so you don't goof up the splines when it hits the concrete. Pictures posted out of order.

I'm keeping an eye out for a 3.36 R200 open differential, reportedly only found in a 260z 2+2. If anybody has a parts car of this specification, please contact me for the diff.

Hard question because costs vary so much and we all get the "while I'm at its." I think you are looking at at least $3K. Figure 1,000 for parts, 1,000 for electrical/ computer and harness mods, 1,000 for exhaust and misc. I wouldn't even start until you have that kind of money. Do lots of searching - this question is all over the forum. PM wfritts in Conway, Arkansas - he did a budget swap in a litte over a month so he will have a good idea - but he did all his own fabricating and he is really sharp.

I can't believe this is all the feedback I'm getting - anyone else?

I really am sorry for being a jerk and running my mouth instead of sticking to the facts.

Companion flanges for stub axles?

I need help. My rear hatch is driving me crazy squeeking all the time. I adjusted the latch and that tightened the hatch up and that helped a little, but the problem persists. Lubing the hinges hasn't helped. I think the latch is just scratching on the little peg on the tailgate. Anybody got a good fix. I can hear this hatch over a straight-pipe V8 and it is driving me nuts like finger nails on a chalkboard!

I have ordered a set on johns next batch. I plan to build it up and let folks know. I think lots of length will be consumed inside the l s d.

How did it go? What finally worked?

Ok. I will put a little paint on that shiny metal instead of polishing it off.