nolant178 Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Hey All! I've had a strange clunking noise coming from the rear of my 74 260z, so I thought I'd replace the U Joints. I found a thread on zdriver with instructions on how to remove the half-shafts. I opted to remove the 5 bolts that hold the axel to the differential and use some leverage to pry it all out as my first attempt and it went poorly. I wound up breaking the flange that the 5 bolts screw into in labeled "unscrew these bolts?" in the photo below. My question is: What is the name of that plate/bracket/flange so I can replace it? I have done some research but can't quite figure it out... I thought it might be the "Differential Pinion Flange" from RockAuto but I wasn't sure... any ideas on what this part is and how to source it? I'll try to grab some photos of the damage as well. I was eventually able to remove the half-shaft by removing the bolt in the middle near the u-joint, by the way. Definitely how I'm doing the other side! Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Yes, the single bolt in the middle is the correct method for removing and installing that style half-shaft. Sorry you found that out after damaging the first one. Later years have a "side axle" that clips into the diff; and uses 4 bolts to bolt to the half-shaft....similar to where your half-shaft bolts to the stub axles (at the bottom of your rear struts). I don't' know the name of the facing plate that got damaged, but it's definitely not the pinion flange. That's on the nose of your differential and it bolts to the driveshaft. Just post a pic of the damaged plate in parts wanted and someone will have it....there's plenty of open R180s floating around. (I just gave one away last month). Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolant178 Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 3 hours ago, jhm said: Yes, the single bolt in the middle is the correct method for removing and installing that style half-shaft. Sorry you found that out after damaging the first one. Later years have a "side axle" that clips into the diff; and uses 4 bolts to bolt to the half-shaft....similar to where your half-shaft bolts to the stub axles (at the bottom of your rear struts). I don't' know the name of the facing plate that got damaged, but it's definitely not the pinion flange. That's on the nose of your differential and it bolts to the driveshaft. Just post a pic of the damaged plate in parts wanted and someone will have it....there's plenty of open R180s floating around. (I just gave one away last month). Good luck with it. Thank you! I'll post over there and hopefully be able to get one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 The piece you need is called the differential carrier side retainer. Do you have the FSM? If not, you can download them free for all years S30 at: http://www.xenonzcar.com/s30/reference.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z240 Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 I have a couple of these side plates from scrapping a few old diffs. Send me a note to z240@shaw.ca and we can arrange something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolant178 Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 ^ Jim here was able to help me out, thanks all! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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