Rear end upgrades

[walkerbk]

So, getting ready to pull everything apart in the apartment parking lot since I have moved from my lovely 2 car garage to a very small apartment with a car port and I figured i would post up on here.

 

I have a 77 280z 2+2 with a 5.7 iron block/4l60e. Trying to keep it held together now I am upgrading the diff and half shafts.

 

For the diff I have purchased a obx unit and have rebuilt it per the instructions with new washers. I still have to take it back apart once more to swap the circle clips from my current unit into this one. I am going to try to reuse the old carrier bearing since they are expensive and mine i believe to still be good. I have 2 bottles of synthetic 75-90w to go with and a new set of seals.

 

For the half shafts, I have been having a very bad vibration on the highway so one day I jacked the car up and very carefully had the wife inside while I was under it watching for the movement... The driver side half shaft jumps around like a kid on candy. To rectify this, I will be swapping in the 300zxt cv shafts. I have ordered adapter plates from cave built performance for $220. They are 1/2 in steel that have a reses machined in to allow the companion flange to sit in and be welded together. After talking to the maker, I will not be flipping the cage but I will be checking travel by removing the spring and flexing the suspension to ensure it doesn't bind.

 

And in the end, everything will get a nice coat of paint to make it look good.

 

So to summarize, 300zxt cv shafts with custom adapters, and the obx unit that has been rebuilt.

[walkerbk]

Well got everything pulled apart which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Took about 4 hours to get both companion flanges pulled off, and the differential dropped. Cutting the stub shaft bolt wasn't as bad as I thought, 10 min with a drimal per side while spinning the disk break to get a nice cut all around. To replace the nut, since I do not have a nissan dealer near by, I went to Napa and the parts guy went back with my 20x1.5 nut and 15min later came back with one for some 4x4 vehicle (part number in photo). After welding everything up with 7013 rods on my home made welder (yes, home made) I am 100% sure these will hold without a problem.

 

With the diff out, I went about cleaning. By the looks of it, the oil was never changed  (300k miles). Thick as mud and took forever to drain but I got it emptied and cleaned. Took it to the car wash to get the road grime off then Al's cleaner from doller tree (very cheap degreaser) and brake cleaner. 

 

Worst part of it all was removing the carrier bearings form the old unit and then putting them on the new one. Luckly I had the perfict size socket (1-11/16) to assist with the reinstalling of the bearing. 

 

Only things left now (that I see) is c clip instal (can't get the old ones out) and painting (waiting on an order of phosphate acid to clean the rust off). Then it will be time to reinstall everything.

[Invincibleextremes]

I have 300zxt axles in my 240z and they fit with the same adapter companion flange deal.  I'll be ditching the whole thing soon though.  I'm swapping to a 2015 mustang diff and hubs.

[Enginerd81]

i am looking into the 300zxt and cave built set up - How did it work out Invincible?

[walkerbk]

I am still working on getting everything bolted up (work got in the way). The axles were still to long. Don't even try the rock auto, autozone axles because they won't work, they have to be the stock 300zx axle (others have talked on this). Even still they were to long and had to be shortened via someone else's idea. He only however shortened one side. I shortened both and got about 3/4 in space between the spacer and the axle giving plenty of travle.