Poor man's close ratio 5 speed:

Later 5 speed (81 through 83) from the NA 280ZX with a Nissan .86 overdrive 5th gear set part number: 32310-58S54. That will give you 3.062, 1.858, 1.308, 1.000, and .864.

Any tips on inspecting a junkyard R180 before purchase?

Not that I am overly interested at this point, but would these R180 gear sets work in a 240Z?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CP&Category_Code=s30_nismo_r180-rp-set115mm

Hey, it's only money...:eek:

The 115mm is the ID of the ring gear. I think the early R180s (pre 76) have a different size ring gear ID. If that is right, then the gearset would work if you got a 115mm open carrier or LSD. Otherwise no.

Not that I am overly interested at this point, but would these R180 gear sets work in a 240Z?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CP&Category_Code=s30_nismo_r180-rp-set115mm

Hey, it's only money...:eek:

yeeeeeeeeouch! The sets I found were new old stock and were $125. Anyway, I found a good 4.11 R180 at a recycler that was only ~50 miles from here, so I picked it up. Wish me luck! :-)

Great find, I think you you will be pleased with your Z's performance with a 4.11. This week I'm going to swap out my l24 for a 1983 l28. I'm also going to take my 4.11 r180 out and check it over, it has a whine that I think may be the back pinion bearing starting to give me trouble.

I'm hoping so! Its a lot of work, but I can't wait to get it done and get her on the road this spring...

That L28 should give you a bit more grunt ;-) I pondered taking the L28 that's available with the tranny I'm trying to get, but the scope of work is wider and the budget just isn't there (this is kind of an un-planned expense as it is!) I'm pretty happy with my L24 though, it loves to rev and I love to hear that sound

Hi,

Does the recycler have more to choose from? Could you post the name and phone number for the recycler?

yeeeeeeeeouch! The sets I found were new old stock and were $125. Anyway, I found a good 4.11 R180 at a recycler that was only ~50 miles from here, so I picked it up. Wish me luck! :-)

Hi,

Does the recycler have more to choose from? Could you post the name and phone number for the recycler?

No, that was the only unit they had. I found it using car-part.com, and I got a lot more hits searching by "carrier assembly" than "differential assembly". Still, some of the places I called didn't have what was listed on-line. I just got lucky I guess!

FYI... my post above regarding the 32310-58S54 gearset giving a .86 overdrive has been proven wrong by Bryan Lampe. Back to the drawing boards. Sorry.

My question regarding swapping diffs is the speedo... I remember that there were specific colored gears that went into the trans to keep your speedo accurate if swapping to a different gear ratio... anybody have good info on this?

Yellow 16 Tooth 3.364.1

Black, 17 Tooth 3.545.1

Blue 18 Tooth 3.70:1

White 19 Tooth 3.90:1

Red 20 Tooth 4.11:1

Purple 21 Tooth 4.38:1

Ring Gear ID #s:

3.36...............37:11

3.54...............39:11

3.70...............37:10

3.90...............39:10

4.11...............37:9

4.38...............35.8

Courtesy Nissan found two possible matches for me for my 4.11 and I ordered both, I don't remember which part# turned out to be the correct one. I *do* remember them telling me it was the last 4.11 cog of that type in the U.S. at the time though...

See also:

http://www.zcar.com/forums/read/1/462257

http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29705

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