Guest cap1106 Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 hey guys...i have loved the z car since i rode in my dads 280 when i was a kid. i have always been under cars and loved the idea of putting a non-stock engine in a car. i recently had and built a 1965 chevy panel van. i converted the straight six to a 350. anyway the van got crushed on the passenger side after about 5000 miles. so i pulled the engine and trans (three on the tree), i put it in the garage and sent the van to the junkyard. then i found you guys and read some posts and got fired up to have a v8z. so now started looking for a Z and after a month of looking i found a 74 260z for $400. the car has very little rust, the interior is clean and the motor and trans were not running...perfect. so the 350 was ready and freshly broken in and the trans shifted good. so i bought a hurst 3 speed shifter and converted the column shift linkage. i cut the shifter in half and welded a piece at an angle so the shifter would come through the datsun transmission hole, the shifter does not bind and flies through the gears. o.k. so now to the part where i need your opinions (sorry this is so long but i wanted to give a little backround on my situation). so i can get this trans to work but i keep reading you guys recommending to use an overdrive transmission. this will not be my main transpo. i have a 76 datsun 620 i drive to work and my wife has a 99 intrepid we use on trips. so will this trans work for me? i dont know what gears i have in the 260 but i will rarely take this car on the freeway for more than 10 miles. thanx for reading this and any feedback will be greatly appreciated. chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thurem Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 If it got your panel van moving it will get your Z moving as well. And in the meantime you can look for a more suitable tranny. Ie. a T5 or a T56 if the money allows it. The threespeed should have a 1 to 1 high gear so that will be the same as any traditional 4 speed and th350 or th400 automatic. It will probaply not be very comfortable trying to cruise at 80 or 85 on the freeway though, revving it pretty high for that speed. Thure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Phantom Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Your differential will either be a 3.36 or a 3.54, dpending onif you had an automatic or a standard, respectively, in the 260 originally. Need to check it out,though, as it could be an R180 rather than the R200 and will be borderline for carrying the torque of the V-8. The 3.54 will have you turning about 2,900 RPM in 3rd at 60 MPH if you have stock diameter tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 You could get by with it. As the others mention, you probably will be twisting pretty high RPMs, and I'd kep an eye out for a T5 or other related 5 speed for the future... But to get your grin on, you should be OK! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Your 3 speed will work, but not the best performance trans! Most likely it has a 3.5 first gear and your 260 as noted either a 3.36 or 3.54. This thing should go like stink in first gear! Or at least spin the tire pretty hard with an overall first gear of 11.76 with the 3.36 diff. WIth a very short cam, ie a 600-4500 rpm powerband, the car should run really well with the 3 speed. Once you go to a bigger cam and higher upper rpm, the 3 speed ratios will be just too wide. The low weight of the Z will help a lot. Let us know how it works out, and in the meantime the budget solution could be a Saginaw cast iron case 4 speed. One nice thing about the 3 speed to 4 speed swap is they should use the same clutch disc, same trans mount, and same driveshaft so no other money should have to be spent beyond a shifter. The Saginaw is pretty much compareable to the T5 in terms of strength. If you don't speed shift and do clutch dumps they will survive reasonably large amounts of power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cap1106 Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 thanx for the posts guys. the van was very fast considering how big and un-aerodynamic it was. the z was 4 speed so that means i have 3.36 right? well if i do it should run good for my situation because like i said i will rarely take it on the freeway for more than 5-10 miles. the van had very high gears in it, it would spin the tires through first and most of second. i actually tried to break this trans by dumping the clutch and could not, it seems pretty bulletproof. we will see if it works out, it is a lot of work but my labor is free and i always have fun doing something that now one else wants to hassle with. the good thing is is if it works, these transmissions are all over the place and cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 DELETE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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