Completed Auto to 5-speed swap, now I have a SPORTS Car!

[landmizzle]

Hi all,

You may recall my inquries to auto tranny swaps and lightened flywheels. Well, I just got my car back from the shop with the following modifications; 77 5 speed, Maxima flywheel, and a 2.5" exhaust with a Dynamax muffler. I left the rear differential from the automatic tranny in place (3.54 gearing). All I can say is WOW!. It's a completely new car!

I've already put a hundred and fifty miles on her today just driver her around and enjoying the new feel.

It's amazing how different she feels after losing the automatic tranny. Here's some observations;

Engine really revs freely and pulls strong with the lighter flywheel. No issues with stalling or revs dropping too quickly between shifts.

I really like the gearing the with the 77 5 speed and the 3.54 rear end. The car accelerates very briskly and the 5th gear drops the revs down nicely at freeway speeds. Prior to the swap, at 70 MPH, the engine was turning just over 4K. Now she's doing about 3.2K at the same speed.

I kept the stock exhaust manifold and with the new exhaust and muffler she sounds very throaty and burbles nicely. My prior 240Z had a Flowmaster muffler with a 2.25" exhaust. I like the sound of the Dynamax better. It still sounds nice and throaty but doesn't have the raspiness of the flowmaster. Oh, you can tell the exhaust has been tweeked, and it is diffently loader than stock but, it's not annoyingly loud and now has a wonderful charector to it's exhaust note.

Tomorrow, on the way to work, I'll take her on my favorite twisty moutainous road and I'll really be able to row through the gears and test out how the ratio stacks up. Should be great fun!

So far I'm extremely pleased with the results. The next week or so should be interesting as I really give her a run-through and see how living with her on a daily basis is. I'm really courious to see how the gas mileage will be affected by the changes. Prior to the swap I was getting about 21MPG. I expect the 5 th gear to help here as most of my commute is freeway driving. The lighter flywheel may take away some of the mileage I would have gotten had I stuck with a stock 240Z flywheel but, even so, I expect that I'll still see some improvment.

Anyhow, that's about it. I'm just so excited about the results I thought I'd share my experiences so far and maybe it'll help others who are contemplating the same thing. If you currently have an automatic tranny and would prefer to shift, you absolutely have to make the swap! You most diffently won't regret it.

Best Regards,

Landmizzle '72 240Z

[seerex]

How much lighter is the maxima flywheel compared to a stock 240's , and did you use it as it was or did you have it lightened at all , thanks Jeff

[Gav240z]

I am glad to hear you are happy and I wouldn't personally worry about it effecting the cars originality what fun is a auto sports car in the first place?

The 3.54 gear ratio is ok I'm looking at putting in a 4:11 into my Z at some stage I really want her to boogie .

I recently installed a lighter flywheel and enjoy the way it revs but I feel that the revs drop quicker with the lighter wheel than with the heavier one.

My new clutch made a huge difference also it really grips and makes changing gears a real thrill as it lurches the whole car forward straight away.

Glad to hear your enjoying it . I am

[landmizzle]

Originally posted by seerex

How much lighter is the maxima flywheel compared to a stock 240's , and did you use it as it was or did you have it lightened at all , thanks Jeff

Hi Jeff,

I got the idea of using the Maxima flywheel from several suggestions on this forum. The Maxima flywheel is approx. 17 lbs. as compared to the stock 240Z flywheel of 23 lbs.

I could have gone with an aluminum flywheel (many are 11 or 13 lbs.) but because of the expense ( they are a bit pricey) and my fear that those flywheels would be too light ( could produce excessive rpm drops between shifts, reduces engine braking, easier to stall and more difficult to get off the line; at least this is what I've heard....), I went with the inbetween choice of the Maxima flywheel. I didn't remove any weight from the wheel based on the fact that I liked the idea that it was about mid-way between the to earlier stated extremes.

Best Regards,

Landmizzle '72 240Z

[seerex]

May I ask what year max did you get it from? I assume it had to be from a manual maxima as well?

[2ManyZs]

Here's the link to the Maxima/810 flywheel info....

http://www.automedic.org/smzcc/tech_tips.htm#Flywheel

[seerex]

thank you 2many