Royce

According to http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/ the available ratios for '79 280ZX are... 4-speed R180 3.36 5-speed R180 3.36 2+2 4-speed R200 3.36 2+2 5-speed R200 3.7 All Automatic R180 3.54 It also looks like that was the only year a 3.36 was put into a 280ZX. Sorry, I don't know where they got their data, however, it does seem to confirm your findings. Also, it suggests that if your 280ZX is equiped with a 5-spd it would have the earlier "280Z 5-spd" ratios. Sorry if that brings bad news! Now, I have a question for you about the 280ZX diff! I am just curious but do the half shafts attach to stub axles at the diff by 4 bolts (at the diff end) or is the axle attached to a yolk which is held to the diff by one bolt? Sorry, if that is confusing, it will make more sense if you are looking at it!

Z-pyro, When you say "control" and "switch" are you talking about the dimmer or the head light controls on the stalk off the steering column. Like 240Z said, I would be suspect of the dimmer, maybe turn it down a little! My dimmer is not happy turned all the way up, the lights go off, so I turn it down just a touch. If adjusting the dimmer doesn't work you may try bypassing it. Hope it helps!

Cook's Auto Body on Main Street in Redwood City did a great job on my '94 Honda, my Dad's '69 Alfa GTV & '99 cBoxster! For some reason our cars don't get hit as much since we both left the Bay! Hope it helps!

I to am sure Zvoiture is talking rear wheel HP. At the frlywheel the stock L24 was rated at 150HP and L26 was rated at ~162 HP. You may have a little more or less depending on how well the conversion to SUs was done and the overall condition of the motor. All the L series motors feel pretty torquey, especially when compared to my 1500cc Honda Civic commuter! Have fun!

Hi kmack, Using 4th gear is a good way to figure this out since it is always 1:1 in all the standard Z transmissions. What makes this difficult is that we don't know how accurate your speedometer is! You really need to find out how fast you are really going at that speed to figure it out this way. I put your tire size, desired RPM and checked a few different rear end ratios, according to http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/ 4th Gear 4100 RPM Diff Ratio MPH@4100RPM 3.364 86 3.545 81 3.7 78 3.9 74 4.11 70 Now there is another way, the junk yard technique that will probably save you some time and effort. You need to spin one rear wheel while the other is still, just jack up one side of the car. Put some jack stands under there and put an easily visible mark on the drive shaft and on your tire. Now rotate the free wheel 10 times and count the number of rotations of the drive shaft. If the drive shaft spins less than 17, then its 3.365; 17.5 then a 3.54; 18.5 then a 3.7; 19.5 then a 3.9. By the way I borrowed this technique from www.zhome.com were it was documented by our very own Ross Corrigan. I have used the technique and it works quite wheel! Have fun!

m240, The stock 240Zs in US market had a 3.36 rear diff ratio. The stock 240Z auto had a 3.54 rear diff ratio. So if your trans has the stock speedo gear than yes it will need to be changed. I don't know if the auto trans speed gear is interchangeable with the speedo gears in the manual trans, but it very well might be! I have a friend with a 240Z auto trans in his parts car, maybe I'll take a look one of these days. Anyone else know for sure? Also, another thing to consider when looking for the right speedo gear is that you have to compensate for tire size changes too! How many people are running a tire that is stock height! My favorite RPM/MPG calculators is http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/ which has most the stock Z trans and diff ratios in it and provides an interactive graph so you can look at different speeds or RPM very easily.

Yes, the final drive ratio represents engine revolution to wheel revolutions. You would probably experience a 1 or maybe 2 MPG difference. Look at it another way- with 205/60R15 tires, and a '81-'83 280ZX 5-speed you would have the following RPM @ 75 MPH... 3.9 - 2967 4.11 - 3127 A difference of less than 200RPM, not very significant. The gap is smaller if you drive slower and higher if you drive faster! If you could get it to 6500RPM the difference in top speed is about 8 MPH, 164 compared to 156. So I wouldn't change to 4.11 from a 3.9 but if you have a 3.3 or 3.5 with a ZX trans, maybe!? And don't forget about your tires size, you could make a the same RPM/MPH relationship change with tire selection. For example going from 215/60R14 to 205/50R15 would net almost the same results as going from 3.9 to 4.11 with 215/60R14 and give you potentially better handling at the same time. You are not changing the final drive ratio just the distance the car will travel given the same number of wheel revolutions. Corrections, questions, and comments are welcome! Have fun!

Regarding the AU market 5-speed, do you know if it has a yoke bolted to the output shaft instead of like the US market cars with male splines to go with a female driveshaft? Someone her says the have a early 5-speed that matches this description! Anyone heard of it? Sorry to get off topic, here is another on topic. How fast a Z can go is only a mater of time and money! It also helps to have someone behind the wheel that knows what they are doing!

Well it sounds like a great deal! Unless you find the original motor it will never be at the top of the value scale but for what you got it is a steal! Sounds like a good car to start with, they all have their challenges, I am sure you will have a lot of fun with it. Also, you have the makings of a good performing Z car. L28 block/N42 head with dual carbs, I perfer SU's but dual SUs are fine for that price! Just try to focus on fixing one thing at a time, ask for help when you need it and I am sure you will enjoy it!

Howdy, Every car and ever situation is different. Due to condition of suspension parts, driveline, tires, road conditions, and even the weather. I have driven Z cars that are scary over 70MPH and I have pushed mine to almost 6K RPM in 5th. I wouldn't trust your speedo to be very accurate past 100MPH. If you really want to know how fast you are going you can calculate your speed using your gear ratios, tire diameter and RPM. Bottom line is if you plan on going fast make sure you are paying attention and your car is safe! It is possible there was a 5-speed available for Euro and AU markets but don't know for sure. It is an easy swap so after 30 years there is a good chance it is not original. I agree with the statement that you will want an airdam or something to keep the front end down. I noticed the difference in the front steering at speeds close to the legal limit. Have fun!

If they do not have a paper trail to document it is 50K then I would suspect it is 150K or maybe even 250K. Ask for repair receipts and check the mileage logged over the years and you can estimate if the mileage is correct. Other wear and tear will make it difficult to tell because the car is so old. Example the grease on the clutch clevis pin may have been dried up long ago and if they put 20K with a lot of around the town driving in the past 12 years it could wear the hole oval, just like a well lubed clutch peddle of 150K. Or for the seats and interior, if the car was left out it could age much more rapidly. Buy the car bassed on its overall condition, 150k is not a lot of miles for a car near 30 years old. Don't buy it assuming it is 50K because if they cannot prove it you will never be able to if you try to resell it. Hope it helps! Royce

Hmm... good question. I think it goes something like this(gross HP figures)... Stock '71-'73 L24 150 GROSS HP Stock '74 L26 ~160 GROSS HP Stock '75-'78 L28 ~170 GROSS HP Stock ZXTurbo L28 ~180 GROSS HP ~ = approximately So on one hand my answer is yes because the increase in displacement could account for more torque and power. However, there were many things changed other than just the displacement over the years. I don't know if the Weber downdrafts would be a performance improvement or not! Anyone know how much air they flow? Given the choice, I would go with the SU's or 280FI, if for no other reason because there are not as many people familiar with the DGV downdraft Webers and it is hard to find anyone to give you help. One more thing to think of is that when you increase displacement like from L24 to L26 or L28 you also increase the engines need for air and fuel. Although, it is not a big difference in displacement it may require a little more tuning. Most likely you can adjust the SU's to compensate, and the FI can be tweeked to some degree plus it is already set up for the engine size, but the Webers may require you to replace jets to get the most out of the engine. Of course if you already have a car with Webers and you want to might as well try it for yourself. You can always change the intake later! Anyone else?

Wow, the L26 still cannot get any respect! But hey, there is nothing wrong with putting a L26 with SU's into a 240, it's an easy and cheap way to add a little HP!

Hi Greg, I have a complete L26/E88 that was rebuilt about 40k miles ago with to stock specs except it has hardened valve seats/guides. It was a strong runner when I took it out 6 months ago. I also have a couple complete L24/E88s but their condition is unknown. If you don't find what you need on the SF Penisula I am only a couple hours away. Send me a private message or email if interested. Have fun!

I would go with 205/60 or 215/60. Either should fit on the wheel fine. There is really very little difference between these sizes but more than likely the difference will be what is available with the tire you deside to use! I just bought some 15" rims but don't have tires yet. I still have my 14x6 with 205/60R14 on the front and 215/60R14 on the back. I would have to say that they are a little wide for the wheel, that's why I got 7" wheels this time. I didn't plan to go bigger on the back, it was just that last time I only replaced two and that is what was available. If your car is not lowered the wider 215/60s may help fill in the wheel gap. I personally wouldn't go with 225 unless you go to 50 series. Hope it helps!

If you just want steel wheels check out http://www.diamondracingwheels.com. I haven't done business with them but they appear to have new steel wheels at reasonable prices in all shapes and sizes. Have fun!

Sorry, I don't have all the details but I'll try to give you what I remember. The information is out there and if I run across it again I will let you know. What I remember reading was that there are two different Toyota 4 piston calipers. One will work with a thin rotor, like the stock first generation Z has, and the other (marked with a W??) is for a vented rotor, which you can use on a first gen Z with a 300ZX rotor and either by cutting down the hat of the hub or using a spacer. If it requires a spacer than yes I expect the spacer could be made by any good machine shop and the detailed specifications are on the internet someplace. I don't know if these two calipers correspond the two ranges of Toyota 4x4's you talked about. I know I have probably raised more questions than I have answered. Hopefully, I can find the info or maybe someone else will bail me out on this one, as is often the case! Have fun!

Jaykuo, Changing the gears would be way more complicated then finding a 3.5 R180. For one you would have to pay "new parts" prices, as you found out they are not cheap. Then you would have to take the diff out and change the gears, which in my opinion is way more complicated then finding a used diff and swapping. Setting up a diff with new gears is a very complicated job that requires experience and specialized equipement (cha ching). I agree that using a 4.11 diff woud be geared way to low for a street driven 4-speed Z. For example, using 195x70 14 tires you would be at aprox. 3700RPM at 65MPH in 4th. With a 280Z 5-speed that would put you at 3200RPM which is similar to what 4th is probably with your current diff. The tire size will play a big role in all this too. Check out http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/ to try different trans, diff, tire options and see the resulting engine RPM/MPH relationships. Have fun!

I have some like the 1152 "Flag" style, I am not sure if they are the same brand because I did not buy them at MSA. Twice the plastic base has broken. I lost the passenger one last time but still have the drivers side. I would love to use the stock mirror, but Nissan never made a passenger side one to match. I am currently thinking about the chrome bullet sytle because they are period. I have also been looking at late 60's or early 70's Corvette mirrors. But still not quite sure what I am going to do yet. I have a few that look like the 1153 "Racing" style that have come on various parts cars as well. But I am trying to get away from plastic mirrors. Good luck!

As long as you have a good functioning mechanical fuel pump you don't need the electic pump. Have fun!