Diseazd

The P90 head is pretty much a P79 head without the exhaust liners. You still have to shave 2 mm and shim everything and use the early valves. They both are great heads.

What a great story.....not many original owners. I let my 70 go in 72. Love those chrome bumpers....what a nice upgrade!!!! Regards

His name is Don Anderson. I spoke with him in 2007. His wife had recently died. He also owns two 300ZX’s. He published his phone number in the article. I’ll PM it to you. Guy

Eiji said that the club is still in existence, just not active because of Covid. I will PM VaCat33 and Steve the contact’s number so he can message him for info. Guy

Hi Steve.....I just texted Eiji to answer your question......will let you know what I find out. Regards. Guy

Good advice on wearing eye protection.... I spent two weeks in NAS Jacksonville Hospital after a wire came off of a wheel they were grinding the deck of the Destroyer SS Waldron. Luckily no permanent damage to my eye, but it went in a half inch. BTW grannyknot.....really enjoy watching your project!!! Guy

Nissan solved the problem of driving out the woodruff key with their next generation of dampers for the 280’s. The damper was radiused in about 1/4 inch so you could easily slide the damper over the woodruff key before snugging up the damper onto the crank snout. I guess you could take your early damper to a machine shop and have them do that for peace of mind. I always put new 280Z dampers on my builds just for that reason.

Interesting....I figured if the factory installed it, so would I. All of the engines I’ve taken apart have had them. Wonder why it’s called an oil slinger? Here’s one those little suckers! Probably keeps oil off the seal would be my guess.

Is your oil slinger intact? If you pushed the woodruff key thru into the pan, it would probably destroy the circular metal oil slinger unless you were very lucky and the notch on the oil slinger was perfectly aligned to the key.

Holykawowwow!!!!! Love that Safari Gold.

The early Z trannies and up to and including the 1983 ZX transmission are the same dimensions (length). Therefore, if you take out the original 4 speed (even in the early cars that the diff hasn’t been moved in), the 5 speed (up to 280 ZX) will work with the driveshaft that works with your current setup.

As I understand it, a light flywheel is harder to drive in stop and go situations (in town), but I’ve never installed a light flywheel, so can’t speak from experience. I run the stock 23lb. flywheel and love the driveability of those flywheels. However, I did want to try a somewhat lighter flywheel on my last build and searched everywhere for an 18 to 20 lb. flywheel to no avail. You can get yours cut down, but you can’t get a new flywheel in those weights. I would think that a flywheel in that weight range would be a nice compromise and would sell a ton, but no one makes one........I wonder why?

The whole clutch/collar question is really simple. Exedy clutches are same spec as original Datsun/Nissan pressure plates. If you have a 240Z with a 240Z original pressure plate and order an Exedy 240Z pressure plate, your collar will work. If you are not sure what you have, order a 240Z clutch and a 240Z collar from someone reputable like Motorsports, and it’ll work.....no sweat. If you order a 280Z or ZX clutch, order the corresponding collar. A 240mm clutch and you simply need to order the 2 plus 2 or turbo collar that goes with that clutch pressure plate. The collars are cheap, so why not just order both clutch and collar to match when you order. Just order from someone you trust to know they are sending the correct collar for that clutch. Then if you want to measure for peace of mind, you can do it. It ain’t Rocket Science. IMHO

You guys are sick....get a grip! Seek help........before you do something stupid....over and over 🤪

........and the 240Z collar that goes with that 240Z clutch. Order from Motorsport.....they know Z’s and can talk you through it. 240 clutch disc, pressure plate, collar and throw out bearing and you’ll have a successful install. Good Luck Guy

Like I said.....very simple. Call Motorsport....tell em you want a 240Z pressure plate and a 240Z collar.....it’ll work with your 5 speed. The pressure plate on the left is a 240Z pressure plate. The throw out bearings are the same.

Doesn’t matter whether 4 speed or 5 speed. You just need to match the clutch to the throw out collar. You can order a 240Z pressure plate and 240Z collar, or a 280Z pressure plate and 280Z collar. That simple.....don’t make it too complicated!

Driveshaft lengths are the same for the Datsun (Nissan) 4 and 5 speed transmissions........at least for the common swaps through 280 ZX.

I spoke with Eiji....he said the factory recommends installing those bolts even without a crank fire wheel. I don’t know why, but above my pay grade to argue. FYI

I just didn’t put them in. I assume they were for a degree wheel which I don’t use. Is that correct, or should they be installed? Stroker motor has been run hard for a year without them installed.

@AK260 Have you thought about notching out a spot in each blade to clear those bolts. You could dremel out a notch in each blade to clear those stickie outie bolts. That would keep you from installing a spacer so thick that it would hit the radiator. Just a thought. I didn’t install those bolts in my damper.

In my opinion, there are 2 reasons to convert to a 5 speed. 1) low gear diff 2) you drive long distances on higher speed highways. I don’t do either, so all 5 of my Z’s are 4 speeds and I’m happy with that. Most of my runs are short spirited runs through low traffic areas.....4 gears are plenty......also as Jim mentions, it’s how the Z’s came from the factory. Another plus as they are a lot cheaper and a lot more available. IMHO

Here is the fan I had to go with to clear the Super Damper....still barely cleared. Also, a picture of a set of fan spacers. I assume they are for the 280ZX’s to clear the three row dampers, but don’t have a clue if that’s correct. I guess you could easily make your own spacer out of a number of materials. Stickie outie is what I had too.....just glad it didn’t push the fan too close to the radiator....I didn’t want to go electric.Now that I look at it, I wonder if I could have symmetrically removed some of the inside corner of the fan blades to clear the stickie outie bolts?

I had to find the bigger offset fan for my Super Damper.....I found one with factory spacers.....gave me the clearance I needed. Curious if that came from a 280ZX with 3 row? Anyone seen these spacers?

Very cool story. Walt Maas was a hero of mine along with Morton and Sharp in the early 70’s. Those guys were responsible for more Datsun (Nissan sales) than anything else. I’m sure you’ve got some fun stories. Sorry about your folks....glad you experienced the beginnings personally! Guy