On 8/17/2022 at 2:36 AM, Patcon said:

Thanks Chas!

That's perfect.

Do we need to shift this bearing forward?

Hi Charles. Not sure what you mean by this, but if it's the cluster shaft bearing or cluster shaft it should be in its most rear position when you use the Plastigauge to check clearance.

4 hours ago, EuroDat said:

Hi Charles. Not sure what you mean by this, but if it's the cluster shaft bearing or cluster shaft it should be in its most rear position when you use the Plastigauge to check clearance.

The large bearing at the front input shaft that has the snap ring on it.

In post #102 it has space on both sides of it. It has some on the rear side but not enough. There is more on the front side between the bearing and the snap ring. Do we need to pull that bearing forward to move the gap to between the gear and the bearing or will the helical cut gears do it on their own?

On 8/16/2022 at 12:31 AM, Patcon said:

So can somebody confirm that I am checking these in the correct spots?

1st gear. Correct position to check clearance

2nd gear. Correct position to check clearance

3rd gear. The photo below is the input shaft. The bearing should be snug against the gear. No clearance.

We don't have enough clearance on this side of the gear but there is extra on the front side between the bearing and clip.

There is no clearance spec for the washer and snap ring on the input shaft. The washer should fit snug between the snap ring and bearing. Anything more than 0.2mm and I would replace the washer and snap ring. Washer costs $1.19 Canadian dollars at your local dealer.

Reverse. Correct position

5th gear. Correct position

 

@EuroDat

Thanks for that reply. The manual shows a spec on page MT-11 in the 280zx manual for 3rd gear. (0.13 - 0.37 mm)

 

Edit: Although we only have about 0.002" of clearance and it doesn't seem like it would matter because all of those pieces appear to rotate as a unit...

Edited August 20, 20222 yr by Patcon

So I ordered some brass shim stock from amazon (0.001,2,3,5 & 0.010")

We used the 0.010" sheet. The really thin stuff is like tin foil thin.

Traced the outside of the needle bearing for OD and used a socket that was about the right ID

Various methods to cut the ID. Little die grinder, a dremel tool, etc. I eventually got a hole that worked

Then I cut the OD with scissors. All torqued back down and just inside the low spec number. Waiting on a new oil gutter and a new front case seal to check that and then hopefully we will be all good

17 hours ago, Patcon said:

@EuroDat

Thanks for that reply. The manual shows a spec on page MT-11 in the 280zx manual for 3rd gear. (0.13 - 0.37 mm)

 

Edit: Although we only have about 0.002" of clearance and it doesn't seem like it would matter because all of those pieces appear to rotate as a unit...

Hi Charles,

Your photos are showing the input shaft or main drive gear. Looking closely at your 2nd gear measurement, you might be meauring 3rd, it's hard to tell. The 2nd and 3rd clearances are next to each other. You actually measure the gears clearance between the gears and the shoulder on the main shaft, in the same area. I hope that makes some sense.

In the photo the feeler gauge should be in the same area for 2nd and 3rd, just either side of the shoulder. Push the 3rd gear forward to check its clearance and the 2nd gear towards the back of the transmiassion.

 

I marked the exploded view in blue where the clearance is measured. The red arrows are the measurements in your photo.

Hope my artistic scribble is clear. I'm on a tablet, well that will be my excuse😁

Your fab work on the shim looks great.👍

Perfect Chas! Yes the scribbles are very helpful 🙂

@EuroDat

Do I need to make the shim stock ring narrower? My concern would be inhibiting oil flow to the needle bearing.

It doesn't need to be any larger than the the bushing for 5th. The shim is very thin so it would be best if it didn't rub on the neddle bearing cage. If you can get it down below the cage, that it would be fine.

It should not contact the 5th gear at all.

Understood,  I will trim it down

We trim the brass shim down and retorqued the nut and staked it. We use a driveshaft to help hold the shaft from turning while torquing.

We checked the front cover clearance. The shim we have is 14 thousands thick. We checked the clearance with plasti gauge first

It says we need about 2-3 thousands. We put the existing shim back in out of curiosity and the transmission wouldn't turn by hand. Took it back out and it turns free. I want to recheck with plasti gage and see if the gap is still the same...

But it is moving forward...

 

Hi Charles, You are checking the clearance with a gasket? You have about 0.3mm difference. Seems a lot.