myjunkyard Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 I bought a transmission from a guy claiming it was out of a 78 280zx. After further inspection and much searching on the web, it seems to have the bell housing and rear extension from a 81-83 280zx (FS5W71B), but the internals from a 85 300zx (FS5W71C). I know this from looking at the factory service manuals from each vehicle and matching up the individual gears and parts. It has a white speedo gear, it has L1 NMCA stamped on the bell housing, and NMCA #2 stamped on the rear extension. I need to know which trans I have in order to obtain a rebuild kit and to know if I need to find a different shift lever (I have an s type lever from a 77 5 speed). Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I'm assuming its a 5-speed trans? The numbers stamped or cast into the outside of the case don't mean anything AFIK. Try this link: http://geocities.com/inlinestroker/ratio.html Scroll down to the 5-speed identification section. Oh, and there was no such thing as a '78 280ZX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myjunkyard Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 yes it is a 5 speed, and yes i know there is no 78 280zx (typo). My question is about what is going on inside the transmission. In most transmission conversions I've seen on this site( FS5W71B to FS5W71C) I've only seen the bell housing swapped out and never the tail housing. This transmission seems to have the entire transmission case from the FS5W71B with the internals from the FS5W71C. I was wondering if this is OK because the center bearing for the countershaft looks like it exploded, luckily leaving all the gears and other parts in tact. I just want to be sure that this is ok, and if i replace the bearings it won't just tear itself apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 yes i know there is no 78 280zx (typo). I figured as much, just joshin' with you. So it sounds like you've got the trans apart at the moment. If you do it'd be the best time to find out what the gear ratios are by counting the teeth and doing some calculations. From my research there are at least two Z specific FS5C71-B transmissions (excluding nissan comp gearsets), three FS5W71-B transmissions and the 300ZX FS5W71C transmission as well as multiples of each from other Nissan applications. If it was mixed and matched it could contain bits from a 200SX, 300ZX, 810, etc... I'm in the same boat as you though, I've only really ever heard of bellhousing swaps, not many swaps with the entire gearset. There are a few guys over at ratsun.net that have done some side by side comparisions of a few transmissions, and you might enjoy the reading here: http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=8978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myjunkyard Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 hey thanks, now this is the kind of info I was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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