Putting it into 1st and then into reverse is my way to limit any grinding. There those three bolts in the sandwich plate between the bellhousing and the main/tail section. There is a spring and ball bearing that is use as an indent. Too much pressure and the shifter is locked in place. Too loose and it will come pop right  of gear without much effort. Those springs in most trannies have never been replaced.

I'm not saying this is the cause of your issues but it's one more thing to consider. I solved my problem by getting a longer bolt and a few washers. A little trial and error got the issue fixed that is until it grenaded several race days later caused by me not any of the repairs. Rebuilt  and back in in a week.

Edited December 8, 20204 yr by gnosez

Quick update for this topic! Sent the trans out to a Z specialist in the Carolinas for inspection and rebuild. Main bearing was shot, but otherwise everything else was in ideal condition. Posting some before /after pictures for our mutual gratification.

Before:

Missing a few: 
After:

Who did you send it to and where exactly?

On 1/2/2021 at 11:13 AM, Patcon said:

Who did you send it to and where exactly?

The shop is in North Carolina. Came highly recommended by a friend in the Z community up here in Chicago who was driving down to do rebuilds on a few transmissions for his 240z and 510. I believe the owner of the shop is a retired race Z builder. I can ask my friend who made the connection if the shop is taking more work, or if this was a personal favor. 

You looking for a rebuild @Patcon? 

35 minutes ago, Muzez said:

The shop is in North Carolina. Came highly recommended by a friend in the Z community up here in Chicago who was driving down to do rebuilds on a few transmissions for his 240z and 510. I believe the owner of the shop is a retired race Z builder. I can ask my friend who made the connection if the shop is taking more work, or if this was a personal favor. 

You looking for a rebuild @Patcon? 

I think it is always a good idea to post up resources for the community. That way we can support those vendors that help keep these cars on the road.

@Muzez I just picked up a 280ZX and has the exact same problem, unable to shift into reverse. 1 - 5 feel fine. Was there anything specific that allowed you to get to reverse? Did you fiddle with the lockout mechanism? Or when you removed the gearbox did it just come good somehow?

 

Thanks!

Probably the destroyed adapter plate bearing.  I noticed that many of the shifters shown didn't have bushings which can also cause problems.

Did you find any metal on the drain plug?  That's a clue.

 

On 12/3/2021 at 3:55 PM, Tristan said:

@Muzez I just picked up a 280ZX and has the exact same problem, unable to shift into reverse. 1 - 5 feel fine. Was there anything specific that allowed you to get to reverse? Did you fiddle with the lockout mechanism? Or when you removed the gearbox did it just come good somehow?

@Tristan In my case, my first problem was not knowing that there even was a lockout because it doesn't exist on the early 5-speed. So first thing to check is that you can't go from 1 to R. The second issue was that all shifting was a little crunchy because my main bearing was destroyed so some metal fragments were preventing the change. 

Zed is right about checking the shifter and shifter bushings in case it is sticking on something since its probably the fastest check. 

Edited December 6, 20213 yr by Muzez

7 hours ago, Muzez said:

@Tristan In my case, my first problem was not knowing that there even was a lockout because it doesn't exist on the early 5-speed. So first thing to check is that you can't go from 1 to R.

I think you mean 5th to Reverse. The reverse lockout was developed to stop people hitting reverse when coming back from 5th to 4th gear. That is one of the reasons reverse gears are zo badly chipped in the ealy model 5 speed.

6 hours ago, EuroDat said:

I think you mean 5th to Reverse. The reverse lockout was developed to stop people hitting reverse when coming back from 5th to 4th gear. That is one of the reasons reverse gears are zo badly chipped in the ealy model 5 speed.

Thanks for clarifying the lockout behavior @EuroDat! Though I was recommending to try shifting from 1st to Reverse.

I wasn't sure if he knew the lockout is only from 5th to Reverse, so the first diagnostic step Tristian can do is to see if he can shift from 1st to Reverse (or any other gear than 5th) to make sure its not just the lockout blocking him from shifting. 

The shop is in North Carolina. Came highly recommended by a friend in the Z community up here in Chicago who was driving down to do rebuilds on a few transmissions for his 240z and 510. I believe the owner of the shop is a retired race Z builder. I can ask my friend who made the connection if the shop is taking more work, or if this was a personal favor. 
You looking for a rebuild [mention=22019]Patcon[/mention]? 

Where in NC is this shop? I have a spare 5 speed. Wondering if the place is near me. This spare 5 speed needs a rebuild, otherwise what would I do with it?


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29 minutes ago, Muzez said:

shift from 1st to Reverse (or any other gear than 5th)

Actually, it would be from neutral to reverse.  Straight right, then down.  To get past the lockout mechanism.  Just saying...