We just got everything into my 78 and when we started it in the air the tires were spinning. But when we put in on the ground we cannot get into any gear while running the engine. The problem is that the clutch isnt disengaging all the way. But our problem is that we dont know what it is. Its brand new clutch line, slave, and master cylinder but the tranny is from an 82 and the car is a 78. Also the slave is from an 82 but the master is off of a 78. could that be the isssue any help would be great need it asap

Did you make sure the arm/lever the throw out bearing is attached to is the one that worked before? ie length/shape

What would have been easier to say is "Did you use the arm that came with the 82 tranny"? The pivot point is in a different place I believe, so you need a longer arm. If your old tranny was 4 sp and you went with a 5 sp you must use 5 sp arm. If your old arm had a hole in it for the end of the rod of the actuator it needs to be there also, much easier to drill on the bench, that's some HARD metal.(I know, from a 70 I used to own and did not notice till it was in the car) Currently swapping a 79 5 sp with 1st and 5th problem for an 81 5 sp in a 78 model, currently means I came inside cause I am burnt out just removing the old one, new one is in the floor waiting on me. Mike

We went from an Auto to 5spd. It basically seems that the slave isn't pushing the arm/lever far enough to disengauge the clutch fully. It does disenguage the clutch part way because I can start the car with the clutch pedal pushed in and the brake on, and when I let my foor off the brake, the car will roll, so therefore, the clutch is slipping and not fully disenguaging.

Could it be a bad master cylinder? It is a brand new one and so is the slave.

A couple of things to check...

Did you bleed the air out of the clutch line, clutch master cylinder & slave cylinder?

Was there a spacer between the ring gear (for the automatic tranny) & crank? If so, did you put it back when you put on the flywheel (it might throw off the geometry for the clutch lever)? I don't think the spacer is needed for a manual transmission setup.

I beleive kens240 hit it on the head. I had to take that off when I did my swap and I also used an 82 5 speed with the 82 clutch fork and a 78 slave cylinder.

To be more precise, there is a spacer on the back of the crankshaft, it doesnt look like a spacer but it has a lip on it and you can pull it with any puller

I took off the spacer. I'm really stumped on this. The clutch pedal is very close to the floor. The master cylinder is adjusted all the way out. It basically seems that the rod from the slave needs to be longer...

You might want to try and chan ge the slave with a 78 slave, they dont run that much money and it wouldnt hurt. They have them at autozone for 13.99 or you can get one off of

ebay.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-240SX-240Z-280Z-280ZX-Clutch-Slave-Cylinder_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33730QQitemZ8043972870QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

78 280zcar - I was thinking of that. I went to the auto store with the ZX slave and compared it to the 78 slave and they looked identical. They are both 3/4 dia. I just figure that they are the same. From what I know is that 1975 and later used the self adjusting slave and that they are the same.

I'm going to look into finding a linger rod for the slave or a longer master cylinder. I'll be working on the car tomorrow around 4:00pm. Maybe I missed something when hanging the pedals...Do you think that I could have mixed up the brake and clutch pedal??

You might have, but I think they only go on one way. I would send you a picture of my pedals but my car is at my mother in laws about 20 minutes away. Maybe someone else on here can post a pic of the pedals!

this happened to my Z when I replaced my master and slave cylinders. The rods on both cylinders were too short (the new ones), so all I did was replace them with the old ones...problem solved.