Better automatic

[Dan]

I have a 72 with a three speed auto. Now i only bought it because it was a steal and in really good west coast condition. I had planned to convert to a later model 5 speed and 3.90 rear end. However since i am spending much of my allowance on all new urethane, shocks, struts and so on i'm thinking of leaving this one auto( i'm going to buy a second 240 with manual after i move) and using it as a street drag racer to kill my mortal enemy the Honda Civic. So can i use a later model auto trans with a better rear end to give me more off the line torque. Also is there a good after market race shifter that can be mounted to the 240 center console (and trans) with out too much trouble.

[jcdozier]

If you want to stay with a Z automatic, your choices are limited. If your Z is an early '72 build date, you may have the "A" automatic - hopefully you have one of the later "B" type. Nissan stopped building the "A" eons ago and sparts are just about non-existent. As I understand it, they continued to use the "B" on all Zs until the "L" engine was discontinued for the 300ZX series, so it's the only "later model" readily available.

I have an "A" in my '71 and it is getting pretty sick. I'm investigating a swap with a '82-'83 Maxima 3-speed + O/D automatic. If it turns out that the swap won't be cost effective, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and convert the li'l honey to manual.

JIM DOZIER

[2ManyZs]

See Jim, here's a question I had no idea how to answer.

I was wondering one thing, if they had the automatic in the turbo ZX, it seems it would have a higher stall on the converter which might help (depending on the cam he has in his engine) and I'm also wondering if they might have had different gearing in the Turbo? Since the Turbo was kinda weak until the boost came on they might have had a different set of gear ratios in the tranny to help offset the turbo lag.

Since I have absolutely no experience with an auto in a Z, and have no reference material, and I'm not even sure they offered the auto in the 280ZX Turbo ( I think they did) maybe there is an alternative.

[jcdozier]

Oh yeah, Keith, even a blind dog finds a bone once in a while .

I'm not sure about the turbo ZX either, but it does stand to reason that Nissan would have made some improvements. Somewhere out there is a web site with a listing of all the Datsun/Nissan transmissions and the cars they were used in. I saw it several months ago, but have been unable to find it again since discovering that the Maxima O/D automatic is apparently a bolt-on for the Z "L" engine .

For any of you out there with automatics, there is a write-up on the swap in the articles section over on ZCar.com. If you have an old "A" auto like I do, the day will come when it dies and the "A" just isn't available anymore :mad: .

JIM DOZIER

[2ManyZs]

Jim, the only problem I can see with the Maxima swap is finding an early Maxima, they didn't make that very long before they changed over to the 3.0 litre V-6. Might make them kinda hard to find since I think they only made the first generation for a couple years wasn't it?

BTW Jim, if you want the parts for a manual swap, I'll be stripping a 72 for parts this summer ( if I ever get caught up on all the other work around here) so let me know and I can save them.

[jcdozier]

You're right again Keith. I'll have to find an '82 or '83 Maxima, which might not be a big problem if I was still in California, but is likely to take me awhile here on the east coast.

Thanks for the offer - I may need to take a trip your way for some of your '72 parts . I guess I could go to my fall-back position and just replace the "A" transmission with a "B" one - they are available in local scrap yards - but then, where's that "improvement" I'm always talking about??