Chickenman

You paid $180 for it??? Lucky SOB!! If it turns out to be a Direct drive competition box, I wouldn't sell it for a penny less than $1,500 used. J Coffey mentions that a good used Nissan Direct Drive Competition tranny can go for REALLY big coin. Possibly $3,500 used for a top condition Ultra Close DD ( Ultra Rare ). Gear, Mainshaft and countershaft condition are the key determination. Synchro's can be found " relatively " easily. Ultra close gear sets are Ultra rare. Middle Close gear sets only slightly less so. http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/304300-nissan-competition-5-speed-direct-drive.html#post2114860 For comparison. Used Datsun 1200 Competition 5 speeds ( F5C56A ) fetch up to $2,500 these days. Uber rare Hall-Hewland conversions ( straight cut Hewland gears ) for the Datsun 1200 fetch about $4,500 these days. That's for a USED transmission!! http://www.peterzekert.com/for-sale/transmission-rear-end/115-datsun-a-series-transmissions

You should be able to find Synchros... but at least take it apart to measure things first and be sure of what you have. If your tranny guy isn't familiar with Porsche style Synchro boxes.... take it elsewhere. If they are Porsche servo style, you're likely going to need pictures and measurements and take it to Porsche Tranny experts to find the correct parts. Although I'm sure that there are some Datsun Racers out there that know where to source these. Read ZH links carefully. A lot of the research has already been done. I believe that a Porsche " 915 " style transmission was mentioned as being the same parts as the steel Nissan Competition parts. You should not swap used synchros from one gear to another. The Synchro and cone lap into to each other precisely and must be kept matched. You should count the gear teeth on the mainshaft and countershaft to determine transmission ratios if you want to accurately identify the Tranny. Determining gear ratios by a video? ...Ummmm... NO And you want to accurately identify that transmission, because it could be worth a lot more as a used Tranny to a Vintage Racer than it is for a street car. You could pick up a used non-competition 5 speed ( FS5W71A or B ) with Brass synchros. Overhaul that and sell the Competition box to a Vintage Racer who is trying to find one of these.

If those do turn out to be Porsche Style Servo rings then the Redline MT90 may not be the correct oil. Brass or Bronze synchro rings require a GL-4 or some other " Yellow Metal " compatible transmission oil. However... STEEL synchro servo's are a different matter. They may require a GL-5 High pressure differential gear oil. I would be checking with Porsche gearbox specialists about that or maybe some EXPERTS on Nissan Competition boxes. ( J Coffey where are you?? ) I'm thinking that the co-efficient of friction between a Brass synchro ring to a Steel gear cone is not the same as a Steel synchro to a Steel gear cone. The MTL90 may be too slippery . Need to do more research.. but it's a thought. Going to research Porsche transmission oils... And hold on to that Tranny !!!

Talk about a wild goose chase. You should smack your mechanic up the side of his head!! Hadn't even taken it apart and was misidentifying parts. Those definitely look like Steel Porsche Style Servo rings... not " Black Fiber " as your Tech called them. Those servo hubs also look completely different from the standard Nissan Brass synchro ring style You may have a bit of a rare beasty. It's likely a Competition Transmission as ZH noted or possibly a Roadster 2000 with a Competition Tail Housing conversion as listed in the link below. . Either way I would not be throwing that tranny away. It could be worth a lot of money to a Vintage Racer looking for the correct transmission. When your tech gets it apart, I'm betting that he's going to find Steel Porsche style shift servos. . Those are the Porsche style and only came in some Competition boxes and I believe the Roadtser 2000. Brass Synchro rings from Nissan will not fit Transmission ratios will tell the big story. If 5th gear is a direct drive ( 1 to 1 ratio ) then that tranny is probably worth a whole HEAP of money. Those are high desirable Direct Drive Competition Boxes. If overdrive and still a Competition Box or converted Roadster Box, it's still worth a lot. Calculate the gear ratios for each gear and post them up. ( Important: Count the gear teeth to be accurate) Here's an article listing the various versions and ratios of Nissan passenger car and competition 5 speeds. Check out the competition boxes carefully. A lot of different gear ratio combinations in both Direct Drive ( 1 to 1 5th gear ) and Overdrive. All the Competition boxes and Roadster 2000 boxes are worth big $$$ http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/GearRatios.html Whatever you do... hold on to that tranny till it's properly identified!!!

^ OK that's good then. BTW... X2 on the Nissan synchros. They are very good quality.

As well as worn synchros, you could also have a bad Clutch Master Cylinder. Being made out of aluminium the bore will pit from water absorption in the Clutch fluid. Then the seal lips get damaged and the fluid will bypass internally. You end up not getting the full " stroke " out of the Slave cylinder and the clutch " drags " when shifting. Second gear is always the worst. Note that you may not see any fluid leaking from the M/Cyl pushrod area, as it is an internal leak, usually in the part of the cylinder bore that wears the most. It's a fairly common problem and typically rears it's head after a clutch change. The new Pressure plate will have a stronger diaphragm than the old one and the extra pressure is more than the Clutch Master Cylinder can handle. It's the " tipping Point " so to speak. The slave cylinders are less prone to corrosion and pitting because they are made out of cast iron. It may be a good idea to replace the Clutch Master Cylinder while you're at it. Especially if it's old. Probably the slave cylinder as well. Suppliers such as MSA and R**k - A*T* sell them . RA has very good prices.

Yeah.. I don't think you can trigger an early Tach using COP even with an MSD Adapter. The early Tachs are a current driven type like early Smith or Veglia Gauges. It's a totally different type of Tach circuitry than the later Electronic ones. I did find a site where you can build a PC circuit board to convert Current driven Tachs to Electronic Tachs that accept standard square wave signals. And he has made this work for early Datsun 240Z Tachs. Really good article!! Helps with wiring aftermarket Tachs with COP as well. Or with MSD/Crane/Haltech/Megasquirt and Dizzy as well: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/86982-converting-a-current-driven-tacho-into-an-electronic-tacho/ http://www.dinoplex.org/tachoconversion/ With an Electronic Tach ( 260Z/280Z or aftermarket ) you should be able to trigger off the Tach signal output from the MegaSquirt.

This may help if you are using the 280ZX Turbo Dizzy. Note the reference to different Tachs in the early models. I do recall that the early Tachs are wired differently and operate differently than the later style. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/23244-megasquirtnspark-mssmsns-installation-guide/

What's your ignition setup with the Megasquirt? Still have a dizzy or have you gone direct fire?

Thanks, so it looks like a 240Z shaft should fit. Just have to check the plunge depth on the front yoke to make sure it doesn't bottom on the main shaft. Only 8mm difference in length, and if memory serves me right, there's lot more clearance than that when you pull the shaft out.

Will a 240Z driveshaft fit a 280Z 5 speed? Or I'm wondering if you can remove the burrs with a Dremel ( 280Z Prop shaft ) and use Internal clips to retain the U-joints?

Lots and lots of penetrating fluid also helps. On really stubborn U-joints, a Propane torch to heat the yoke may be necessary. Or Freeze spray to shrink the cups.The C-Clips on the inside of the yokes can also be a PITA. Buy GOOD quality U-Joints. Either OEM Nissan, Moog HD or Spicer HD. You do NOT want to do this job twice!!

What is the Transmission " supposed " to be out of ( Model number ) and is there a Tag or stamping number on it. That would help greatly. You may have a Borg Warner 5 speed. The Borg Warner 5 speeds ( T5 ) may have had fiber synchro's, as that was common on the T5's that they built for Chevy and Ford in the early 80's. But I'm not 100% sure if the Datsun BW T5's used Carbon or Fiber synchro's. Maybe someone else can chime in. Edit 1: After a bit of research, it looks like early versions of the Datsun BW T5 came with brass synchros, but later versions changed to the fiber synchros. BTW, nothing wrong with the fiber synchros. Thye actually shift as well or better than the Brass ones. Edit 2: The BW transmission has a separate bell housing, center case and tail housing. Apparently you can bolt a Ford T5 center case to the Datsun bell housing. That opens up using WC T5 trannies ( World Class ) and those do have Fiber synchros. And Taper roller bearings on the main-shaft which are a big plus. Prop[er transmission identification is going to be critical. Can you take a picture of the tranny? There were 3 types of 5 speeds available on Z and ZX cars. The 1983+ BW-T5 was a different beast altogether. And then there are apparently S13 and S14 5 speeds that can be used in Z's and ZX's. http://www.zcarz.us/TechnicalInformationPageTransmission.htm

No it was Factory Nissan Service Documents. TSB's. I worked as a Dealer Partsman and Assistant Manager for close to 18 years in Canada. Both the Parts and Service departments got copies of the TSB's from Nissan Canada. I assume Nissan USA worked the same way. Edit: " Field Fix " is a fairly common term up here in the Automotive Warranty Business. " Field Fix " ( in our neck of the woods ) usually refers to a " Dealership modification " that does not require a complete redesign of a component. Maybe the addition of a auxiliary harness or relay. Or bending a bracket to provide clearance for a hose or line. In this particular case the factory is not going to pay for a brand new cylinder head and all the associated time just for a broken stud... so they come up with a " Field Fix " to put in a larger stud... if the threads in the head get damaged removing the old broken part. Very common practice. That was a time when the factory expected Techs to fix and repair things... not just replace parts. As for, " I may as well fix this before it breaks". Well, warranty repairs didn't ( and still don't ) work that way. The Dealership only get paid when parts are broken or defective. " The factory won't pay the dealership X hours Re and Re time for replacing an unbroken stud on a manifold or any other part. Even if you know that 6 months down the road it will break. Pre-emptive fixes and Initiative are not rewarded in the Automotive Warranty business. Still true to this day in most cases. Edit: Again Recalls are a different matter and are usually safety related. The occasional broken manifold stud is not something that the NHTSA is going to force a manufacturer to Recall unless it is a proven safety hazard and may cause a fire etc. And don't forget that most of these broken stud cases occurred well after the warranty had expired on the cars.

I clearly remember a ( Canadian ) TSB on this... but I haven't saved the old paperwork from the 1980's The number of cars affected is fairly small, and most were out of warranty when the studs started breaking. And it was a relatively trivial item ( in those days ). Manufacturers don't issue recalls unless they really, really REALLY, have to. Just look at Audi and Toyota throttle issues, exploding Firestone tires, flaming Pinto's etc. Recall is a whole different ball game from a TSB. Recall's cost manufacturers MILLIONS of dollars.. The 70's and 80's didn't have the Litigation that we have these days.

Drilling cast Iron is very easy. It's a fairly soft metal. Any decent shop will have a Drill press or they can send it to a local Machine shop. 5 minutes tops to enlarge a manifold hole with a Drill press.

The field fix from Nissan specifically stated that the manifold holes had to be enlarged when the 9 mm studs were used.

As for your cruise AFR of 15 to 1, I don't think that's too lean. At cruise, AFR leaner than 14.7 to 1 are possible and desirable. Cruise conditions are light load, low throttle angle, that give a low " Dynamic " compression ratio. Volumetric efficinecy at cruise is very low and that reduces Dynamic CR. That greatly reduces the chance of detonation. At cruise you want to run as lean as possible with no " hunting " of engine. Lean mixtures at Cruise do require a homogeneous mixture ( which the Webers should provide ) and an Ignition system with a powerful spark. Your HPX system will provide that. Engines with CR ( static ) of 9.5 to 10.5 to 1 should be able to run an AFR as lean as 15.5 to close to 16 to 1 with no ill effects. IF is is tuned properly, and IF you have well designed combustion chambers with good squish and high swirl ( Early Style small chamber heads with flat tops or dished pistons ) and IF you have a strong ignition systems. Modern EFI cars ( no direct injection ) easily run 16 to 1 and even leaner with Direct Injection these days. David Vizard has an excellant book called " Performance with Economy ". ISBN # 0-9311472-09-1 He goes into all the details of how to build High Performance engines that still get reasonable fuel economy. Lots of tricks in there for older engines.

Stay with the Resistor plugs always. Resistor plugs with Spiral core wires will actually build a higher arc over voltage and current than non-resistor plugs. That is a good thing. Initiates a larger spark kernel. I've never liked Taylor wires. From my experiences very poor quality. There high end Race stuff may be OK, but the regular 8mm and 9mm spiral core wires are not that good. And hopefully you aren't using there carbon core wires as those just seem to be junk. IMHO of course FWIW.

What size are those 16"s Cliff? I'm running 225/50 x 16 Conti DW's on 16 x 7" Konig rewinds. I'm thinking of going to 15 x 7's to drop the car some. Even with Eibach springs, my car is a bit too high right now. Z's just look so much better when they are hugging the ground. I prefer the look of the 15's on your orange car as well.

Since you are running Track Days, you should be running a Wide Band O2 sensor. They are really a great tuning device. If you're not running a WB O2 sensor you better learn how to " read " plugs fast. Read up on the subject, look at color pictures and get a Plug scope ( or a big magnifying glass ). Us " Old Timer's " never had the luxury of having any type of AFR gauge when we started racing. Plug " reading " was a skill you had to learn or you were in big trouble racing. Some people were really good at it... others not so much. But it is a very handy skill to develop. But, AFR meters can sometimes lie ( faulty ). Never trust them 100%. The plugs will always tell the truth. Usually the AFR meter ( or an EGT meter ) will correlate with plug readings. But, f the plugs are telling you the engine is running lean for instance and the AFR meter is telling you the engine is OK or Rich, put more " weight " on the reading of the plug. ( Assuming you have the appropriate knowledge of Spark Plugs and how to read them of course ). O2 sensors have a definitive life span and give false reading as they age or get contaminated . Racing or Track Days can shorten their life span tremendously due to over heating of the sensor or contamination from exotic fuels/additives or Silicone gasket sealers.

In NGK " 6 " is the stock range for normal use and is usually suitable for mild competition sucha s Autocross. . The " 5's " are supposed to be used only used in the far North where warm up times are exceedingly long or on engines that are " tired " and are burning oil. Hopefully your new 3.1 stroker is not burning oil!!! I would definitely NOT run a " 5 " if you use the car for track days. Properly tuned, a cammed and triple carb Z motor should not foul the plugs, even in city traffic. Triple Webers can run a sharp as fuel injection with the right tuner. For track days, you may even want to switch to BPR7ES-11's, in fact it would be highly recommended. The last thing you want is a plug overheating, detonating and taking out your new engine. Combustion temps, fuel octane and timing are what govern plug range. Water temp is much less important than EGT ( combustion temp ) for choosing plugs range. You can still melt plugs ( and pistons ) even at 180 F water temp. The electromotive ignition helps out a bunch. Less prone to fouling if you are running a bit rich, and you can easily go with the larger gap BPR6Es-11 ( 1.1mm or .042" pre-gapped ) . .040" to .042" gap will give you a nice fat spark kernel and not stress the ignition. No need to go any bigger. Larger gaps are for lean burn engines. Make sure you are running a good spiral core ignition lead such as NGK, MSD, Magnacore or Aurora. BTW, I've bean running NGK, Bosch, AC Delco and Champion plugs over the last 40+ years of racing. NGK are by far the highest and most consistent quality. I've had 1 NGK failure in all that time. Two in a row is a bit strange... but very manufacturer has a bad batch slip through occasionally.

^ I was thinking the same thing. If there is enough slack in the harness, you may be able to unscrew the fuse-box and tuck it up and out of the way. I'll have to have a closer look at my 280Z.

Here are the compression figures that YOU posted way back at the start of this thread. A 5 psi difference in compression is NOTHING and the figures are well up there. Perhaps ypou mechanic cleaned the fouled spark plug when he took it out,. But from these figures there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with your compression and that means nothing wrong with your valves or rings. And even IF you did have a bad valve you would have a constant rough running and a misfire and , it would NOT cause stalling in traffic as the engine heats up. Understand?? I'm about to give up on this. Someone else take over please. I tried but this is a waste of time.

George we keep trying to help you out but you never seem to answer our questions properly. You just go off track and ask more questions, often repeating yourself. How about reading post #53 ( to start with ) and answer each question fully and post pictures as requested. Remember... we aren't there and we can't mind read. So you have to be as clear and logical as possible. Otherwise, people are just going to get fed up and stop answering you.