Guest tyler100 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 i recently bought a 76 280z and it has an automatic transmission. from what ive herd they are rare or something? i only payed 350$ for it and it is in decent shape. does any body know anything on the automatic zs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8dats Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 not rare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx260 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 What do you want to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tyler100 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 because i am going to do a restro project . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Maudlin Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Not rare, no one wants one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COZY Z COLE Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Keep it attached to the motor as you pull them and drop a V-8/ new tranny in and sell or give them away LARRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 They are only rare because most have been converted to manual or crushed because nobody really wants them. Most Z cars are manual for a reason. The automatics most guys here (at this site) have are for drag racing because the engine is usually a V8. If this is a daily driver and you are stuck in traffic, hey have fun with the auto. If you want, you can convert it to manual transmission fairly easily. The best thing about stock auto Z cars is the price, as you have just found out. Since not too many people like them, they go for less. All said, you got a good deal if the car is clean. Pics? Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 If you are going to convert to a 5 speed or even do a V8 swap, I suggest in swapping the the whole rear end (I mean WHOLE rear suspension/diff assembily, and half shaft assembily) to one from a 5 speed manual, its stronger that the automatic rear end. And yes they are not rare at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantaz Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 i have a 79 zx with the auto in it and the only rare thing ive found about them is finding a rebuild kit or someone who will rebuild it with out charging you a few grand... if its a daily driver and your in the city... no biggie.. want to modify it.. go manual. that being said,want to sell the auto tranny?? =0) i need a second one to try my hand at rebuilding one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 i have a 79 zx with the auto in it and the only rare thing ive found about them is finding a rebuild kit or someone who will rebuild it with out charging you a few grand... if its a daily driver and your in the city... no biggie.. want to modify it.. go manual. that being said' date='want to sell the auto tranny?? =0) i need a second one to try my hand at rebuilding one.[/quote'] Actually I just pulled my engine with the auto out of my car. I also have one from a 240sx also. If your intersted. but shipping is going to be a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iaconsultants Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 The automatic transmissions on the early Z's where just plain not a good transmission. They are not very strong, if it has a lot of miles on it, has never been rebuilt, and you decide to clean it out and change the fluid, well they tend to brake at that time. It just seems like the sludge and gum in the old worn out transmission is keeping it together. About the rareness of the Automatic in the Z well it really was not and the gas mileage was significantly worse than the manual transmission. The good thing about the manual transmission is that if you do a swap with a V-8 of some sort with an automatic transmission then it will be useful and appear as if you still have the same automatic in its place. If you try to sell the automatic I would say it might be worth 50 dollars and that is if someone needs it and it is in good condition. Most people tend to take the death of their Z automatics as the time to do the conversion to a V-8 or a manual transmission. Also generally the automatics came with the R180 rearend in the car which is not near as strong as the R200 so you might be wanting to change that out. All that being said, I actually have a 78 with an automatic in it but the reason is my wife does ont really want to drive a standard car and she loves driving this little Z so my V-8 conversion will be an automatic. Once the conversion is underway and you want to keep your car with the old Z automatic I would be more than happy to let you have my working automatic if you want it. That is if your desire is to simply restore or keep the car as orignal as possible. Wish you luck Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 My automatic made a really nice JDM doorstop...I found it to be particularly useful for trading in as a core on my 4 speed 260z tranny, thus saving me an extremely rare (for me anyway) $50 bill.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipzoomie Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Well, It's not really fair to say "nobody" wants an automatic. I changed a five speed to an automatic for my Honey. She didn't want to shift gears a hundred times on every comute to and from work. It's all about "Keeping her happy". Now I get to build my Z any way I want. And don't sell the 3n71b transmission short. NO, it's not good for racing but it works just fine for a daily driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzed Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 It's not good for racing? Hmmm, I guess I'll have to change mine out then eh? LOL! As for not being very strong I would tend to disagree. I have been running a stock auto with 225,000 KM on it for the last few years as a street / drag car. Lasted quite a while dead stock until I screwed up and started doing my burnouts in 2nd gear instead of first. This lead to the 2nd gear band starting to slip so I pulled it apart and replaced the band with a new (but stock) one. Still going strong now with 100's more passes at the track in the 11's. But as everyone has said it's not rare or desireable - I would change to a stick for anything but a drag car with a slow spooling turbo like mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okimoto Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 i have a 79 zx with the auto in it and the only rare thing ive found about them is finding a rebuild kit or someone who will rebuild it with out charging you a few grand... if its a daily driver and your in the city... no biggie.. want to modify it.. go manual. that being said' date='want to sell the auto tranny?? =0) i need a second one to try my hand at rebuilding one.[/quote'] there's a brand new one on ebay for 9.99, and it's in your state. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8073012984 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantaz Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 there's a brand new one on ebay for 9.99' date=' and it's in your state. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8073012984[/quote'] i so owe you a beer or two... =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantaz Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 It's not good for racing? Hmmm' date=' I guess I'll have to change mine out then eh?LOL! As for not being very strong I would tend to disagree. I have been running a stock auto with 225,000 KM on it for the last few years as a street / drag car. Lasted quite a while dead stock until I screwed up and started doing my burnouts in 2nd gear instead of first. This lead to the 2nd gear band starting to slip so I pulled it apart and replaced the band with a new (but stock) one. Still going strong now with 100's more passes at the track in the 11's. But as everyone has said it's not rare or desireable - I would change to a stick for anything but a drag car with a slow spooling turbo like mine.[/quote'] i kinda have to agree..... mine has 165k on it and has made 3 trips from Oklahoma to Oregon. Until i let a friend drive and found out he was doing burn outs and fried it, it worked great. The only problem ive ever had with it is its a 3 speed. great for city but 40 minute commutes at 70/75mph can get old with out an overdrive. someone told me how to use the early maxima 4speed auto but i really didnt understand how the conversion was suppose to work since they dont really have a bell housing to swap... =/ But until my friend had his fun it was a strong running tranny and never had a problem with it. oh yeah.. its the red 79 in my gallery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 IMO the auto trans is only good because of the simplicity. No electronics to deal with (except the reverse light). When I pulled mine, I only had to disconnect the reverse light, shifter linkage and the speedo cable:icon7:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipzoomie Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 My point, exactly. Two posts of abuse and breakage. I didn't imply that the 3n71b isn't a good trans. For a daily driver they are as good as any. The swap to the overdrive trans( 4n71b) is very labor intensive but can be done and the end result is very satisfying. That is the swap I did for my Honey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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