mikeatrpi

As long as we're recommending sealers - I used aviation form a gasket... coated both sides of my felpro gasket, let it tack, and installed. Torque'd to 7 ft lbs... 84 in lbs. "no leaks" http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/automotive_gasketing/gasket_sealants/auto_Permatex_Aviation_Form-A-Gasket_No_3_Sealant_a.htm

You need to lift the motor slightly for clearance on a 280zx.

Re the pedal feel - I installed an aftermarket clutch MC too. The push rod is too long on the aftermarket product. I swapped the push-rods this afternoon and the pedal feels much better! Here is a photo of the relevant parts, plus the two rods side by side: My last problem is smoke coming from the bell housing. Its wispy white smoke and definitely smells like clutch. At this point I have much less than a mile on the new clutch. Is it normal during the break in period? I better research that.

I believe its an indication that oxygen sensor is operating correctly. http://www.zcar.com/forums/read/1/113267/113269

Good reminder technique, John. I also forgot to tighten my lugs once. Thankfully I realized my error before anything bad could happen.

You should verify that the clutch master and slave cylinders are "doing their thing" first. Check the level in the MC, and crawl under the car and watch the slave move the fork when someone pushes the pedal.

Here's the BCA bearing. As you can see, its just six little ball bearings suspended in its retainer slathered in thick grease. It was easy to hammer apart. Perhaps I'll try to disassemble my old nissan throwout bearing... however that one is definitely worn out! Link this time, too many photos in here already... LINK

I did some more research on the bolts - the 240mm flywheels have 9 holes but the 225mm's have only 6. I upgraded from 225 to 240 - which is why I only had 6 bolts in my bucket. I read that if you take a 240mm flywheel from a nissan truck (forget the model) it works with these cars but only has the 6 holes. I can't find anyone saying that using 6 of 9 bolts caused problems. I guess I'll buy some bolts anyway and shelve 'em for when I have it apart again?! Raff - the BCA bearing is in this picture. The plastic seals holds about 8 ball bearings inside a ring, inside the bearing. I know because I accidentally knocked it into two pieces with my hammer... let me know, I'll happily pry it apart tonight and email you a picture of the insides. The nissan bearing is fully encased in metal, all around. It was heavier than the BCA. I wish I took a picture of them side by side - sorry! I would definitely not reuse the throwout bearing. Its a lot of work to get in there, so I'd change it out while I could. You can definitely reuse the collar - like you said just clean it up. A hone would make it clean but might be overkill - the collar doesn't spin, it just slides forwards and backwards on the input shaft. It does get greased during the assembly.

The rear main I bought is a Felpro brand from Autozone. It comes with two little pieces of metal and rubber (I assume for the cap that holds the crankshaft? I didn't remove mine) plus the big round rear main seal. I pried out the old one with a thin screwdriver - put it between the outer edge of the seal and the block and you can move it little bits at a time. I pressed on the new one with a hammer and block of wood. Then I used a blunt nosed drift to set it down fully. Not sure what a throwout bearing cup is. The bearing itself came with my clutch, which was an ebay purchase. The collar with its BCA brand bearing came from Advance auto. I would however wait for a Nissan throwout bearing even if you have to mail order it. The pieces look very different, and the nissan one definitely seems more sturdy.

Another update. I upgraded the clutch and installed a 240mm setup from a 2+2. Its a "Spec" clutch, street disc, with a 240mm flywheel that was machined. I installed a Nissan throwout bearing onto a collar from a 2+2 (which is shorter than my NA collar). While I was in there, I replaced the rear main, some trans seals, the steering rack and the oil pan gasket. I wanted to rebuild the rack till I saw the FSM instructions...!! For the oil pan, I drilled a hole in the side (10.5 inches from the back, about 1 inch down) and welded on a 1/2" NPT fitting. Actually its a pipe coupler cut in half. I have a plug in it now, but I can back it out and install a heater hose fitting when I do the turbo swap. Pics - the hoist Measuring where the drain should go on my parts car. Drain fitting in the side of the pan Little paint... Rack and pan installed The oil pan fittings. The coupler is sawed in half and the shinny fitting on the left goes in when I put in the turbo. I didn't photo the plug, but its just a 1/2" NPT plug with a female hex recess in the head. The clutch

An update, finally. Over the holiday and today I got the car back on the road. I replaced the rear main, which was really easy. I had trouble with the pilot bushing and rented a puller from the zone. The puller required a little bit of modification to fit. The pack it with grease and pop it out trick didn't work for me. I put new front and rear seals in the transmission, rear main, 240mm flywheel and the spec clutch. I ordered a bearing / sleeve assembly from advance, and replaced the bearing with a nissan throwout bearing. I also replaced the steering rack and drilled the oil pan for my upcoming turbo swap. I need to adjust the pedal, it doesn't quite feel right to me. The friction point is way at the top of the pedal throw. I need to make it closer to the bottom. Pics - trans seal I rigged a clamp to help me hammer the unwanted throwout bearing off the collar, and a clamp to press on the nissan bearing. This is a throwout bearing assembly for a 280zx 2+2 - shorter than the coupe / 225mm clutch assembly. The pilot bushing attached to the puller The clutch installed - there were 9 bolt holes and I old had 6 bolts from my last clutch... hmm? The fork / throwout assembly waiting to be installed

If you can't / don't want to cut and replace the area, you could use a paint like rust bullet or por-15.

Pimpin' another guy's parts... http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=135990

Just saying thank you; these photos are helpful to me as well!

Yes, the runout is actually quite long. From the stands we couldn't see very much action at the end of the track with (admittedly cheap) binoculars. At those speeds any distance comes up quick though. I'll be watching the finals tonight on TV, and I'm glad to see the NHRA finish the event. Something good will come out of something this bad, be it a reminder to us all that life is special to improved safety regulations or equipment in motorsports venues.

I was at the track in Englishtown today. He crossed the line at something like 322 MPH. It looked like a first explosion, followed by the big one at the end into the sand and net barrier. There was no official announcement by the NHRA while we were there. People stayed in the stands for a while, until slowly the cars started to leave the staging area and go back to the pits. You could tell he had died by the emergency response... no helicopters, no updates from the announcer, etc. The DHL pits were surrounded by well-wishers and people looking for an update. The place was pretty quiet as the teams packed up for tomorrow. Yea, a bad ending to an otherwise great day.

I did mine with krylon fusion. It doesn't peel but seems to fade in the sun after about a year. I'll be stripping them and painting with real automotive paint eventually.

My clutch literally broke about two weeks ago, so turbo progress has stalled. As long as the car is half apart though, I'm going to tap the oil pan for the turbo drain and install a new steering rack. I'll be back with pictures of that ordeal soon enough.

Derek (Challenger) hooked me up with a good price on some genuine turbo injectors. Also thanks to Vinh for a great deal on the bulk of my turbo swap parts. Thanks guys! Here's the last couple weekends' progress. I did some electrolytic rust conversion & painting.

BBQ grill paint is not wrinkled. At least not the Krylon brand. It dries matte, particularly after its been exposed to heat. I did my brakes with it, and baked them on the grill to cure the paint.

Thank you for the very detailed write-up. Do you have to do any kind of alignment with the magnets with respect to the ignition, or can you take care of it all in software? Edit - I'm looking to do either a VR distributor trigger or a Hall-effect sensor as you describe. I'm assuming if I did this on an L series engine I can drill holes in the harmonic balancer if they weren't already present.

Dave, thanks again for the advice. I really appreciate it. So I ordered the SPEC clutch. I did some more reading on all the brands. Decided I couldn't afford an ACT or clutchnet disc, and reviews were 50/50 for spec and centerforce. At any rate, the ebay guy is giving me a nissan throwout bearing, but he says I need a shorter collar for it - when upgrading from 225 to 240mm. I'll probably try to order a collar / bearing combo from napa for just the collar. Unless, of course, anybody has a spare 2+2 collar lying around I will post pictures when I get it installed. As of today, she's still in the mail. I'm also planning to do the rear main seal, oil pan gasket, and a steering rack rebuild. For a ZX that means I'll lift the engine to complete the work.

Yea, Daeron, you called it! Research on hybridz reveals that spec clutches are bad. Centerforce clutches get mixed reviews. And, ACT gets the best rating... and also costs significantly more than the rest. Sigh. Dave I have no clue how old the clutch is. It came with the car. I ordered new seals for the front and rear. I did notice that the input shaft on the trans has a slight amount of play in it. I need to research what kinds of bearings there are inside, and if I want to attempt to tackle that project.

So I found this on EBay. 2+2 means its got the 240mm flywheel, right? Is "spec" a decent clutch brand?

Nope. I was driving to work nice and calm. Phil, ACT and a flywheel = $$$. I better do some shopping!