When I purchased my 71 the guy gave me a 5 speed tranny with it. I have to pull my 4 speed out to finish some frame work and was looking at all the post here on swapping tranny's. (Very Confusing). I don't want to have to swap rear diff and need to identify my 5 speed, it seems some will swap without rear changes easier. Are there numbers or something I can look for to identify what my 5 speed came out of or the year. Or should I just stay with the 4 and sell the 5...

would pictures help??

Maybe I've just been lucky but I've always been able to trade trannys in my 2/71 240Z. No mods to driveshaft, clutch collar etc. I've had the early 4 spd and later 5 speed trannys in it. I like the 5 speed MUCH better even though the shift boot area needs to be modified to accept the different rubber boot. Maybe the early style slave cylinder has more travel since it isn't self adjusting who knows. (This could allow it to accomodate changes in clutch fork position.) I've not had any problems though. I use a 280Z pressure plate since it grips better this could be a factor as well.

Once I was 1500 miles from home and killed a tranny due to a truck tire impact. (Ripped off speedo cable and dribbled out oil) There was only one Z tranny available. Hobbled my car to the yard then back to an ex relatives garage and swapped it. No problem.

The gear ratio was good? I was afraid it would be too low of gear.

The main thing I've liked about the 5 speeds are that you can turn lower rpms while cruising on a trip. I've driven mine cross country a few times and really appreciated the reduced noise levels with the "5". Using the 4 speed, a simple 60 mile trip from Orlando to Daytona affected what's left of my hearing.

As far as performance goes I haven't noticed much of a dif. The 5's I've have shifted a bit smoother though. I don't race very much anymore. Almost lost the license a few times and like to keep my insurance cheap.

Jim

Here's some visual identifiers to help you find out what kind of 5 speed tranny you have. There are no numbers to look for.

http://www.geocities.com/inlinestroker/ratio.html

A cool drivetrain ratio calculator

http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/transmission.html

And some historical data

http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/GearRatios.html

Thanks guys for the help! I am going to swap it for the 5, worst case I can put the 4 back in within a few hours. I love these cars!