240ZX

Yah, Victor is correct about the improved strength of a LSD carrier assembly. The reason for the additional strength is because LSD utilize a 4 pinion gear set-up as apossed to a stock open carrier assembly that only has a 2 pinion gear set-up. Additionally, a LSD carrier case is typically stronger, due to it's intended use. On new years day, I spent the better part of the day on a cold concrete slab in my garage, removing my 3.90 (open) R200, and installing my new (most of it is new anyway) 4.10 LSD R200. Took it for a drive that evening and boy was I a happy camper....now the gearing is perfectly suited to my type of driving. I have a late model 5 spd tranny from a 280ZX and before the installation of the new set-up, I only used 5th gear when cruising above 70mph. Now I can go to 5th gear a little earlier. And, of course the car moves out a bit quicker as well!

Well, this year I definitely plan on attending the MSA 50th Annv. show, but I do not plan on entering the show due to my previous experiences......long lines, confusion, getting put in the south forty every year even when details had been arranged to park with fellow members, and having to wait around until you can leave the show area. I'm just going to be a spectator this year! Most likely I'll have a bit more time to actually get around and visit others this year. I will however, miss talking to people and answering their questions about my Z and the things I've done to it. Anyway, it will be a good experience anyway you look at it. I read one suggestion someone made about improving the show, that suggested grouping the cars by model years so its not a big mishmash of all......and please leave anything that's not a Z at home....it's a Z car show!!! Looking forward to meeting some of you folks this year. :nervous:

Charges for anodizing parts is usually based on a batch of parts. Basically, the anodizer guy has a limit on the amount of parts (batch) he can put in his vat. So, usually the cost is the same for one part as it is for a full batch. When I have had parts done it ran about $40.00 each time I went for anodizing. Hard anodizing (MIL SPEC) may be more. Geneally, anodizing is pretty inexpensive. Talk to your anodizer before you do the process as different colors and different clears are available.

All of the SBC motors have the same outside demensions (265, 283, 302, 305, 327, 350, 400)....the 350 is likely the most common now days.

Chevy had a 302. It was basically a 327 with a 283 crank....made for a higher reving engine. Was used in the TransAm series back in the 70s. It also came stock in the early Z28s.

Can't disagree with that statement Carl!

TomoHawk, It's safe to say you're slightly biased when it come to race car drivers! Now, I prefer watching and attending races with right and left hand corners, as apposed to oval track racing, but to say that these oval track guys/gals are not real drivers just isn't so! Or, is it just your lack of knowledge about racing in general...what do you think! As an example....Dale Jr. teaming up to win in a Corvette. Oh, it was probably a fluke or something.....I forgot, the Corvettes drive themselves don't they. I think Dale was fine on the left hand turns but was having a tough go of it on the right hand turns....you know, old habit come forth! And as I remember, Jeff Gordon couldn't even drive JP's F1 car either!!! I quess I just agree to disagree with your opinion, as we all have one! You have to admit that NASCAR has a huge and growing fan base as well as pulling in mega $$$. The sad part is that it's mostly about the fans and the money now. It's getting pretty bad when a top driver slips out a "$^!#" on TV and gets penalized 25 point for it, along with a fine. Next thing you know the fans will be formulating the rules for NASCAR...only if they think it will make them a few more $$$...sad, isn't it?

Sounds like your buddy wants a car a grandmother would drive!!! I mean, do they even make cars with less than 113 HP now days? How about a new VW beatle...the low HP version. I think that would be perfect. :tapemouth

deadflo, you might want to look at your ground connections and give them a cleaning. The corrosion that accumulates on these connections only gets worse with time and causes higher and higher resistance in the electrical circuit and is sometimes thought to be weak battery when it's just a poor connection. Also, it is typical in cold weather for a battery to be slightly less effective...even a new battery (lead acid batteries do not like cold conditions). One other thing....what state of tune is your Z in? Maybe it's just time for a tune up and some general maintenance. When troubleshooting car problems, always start my check basic/obvious items. When all the basics are taken care of, move on to the more complex/un-obvious items. Hope this helps some!

Da Flash, You might concider this method....position the socket assembly on the rod correctly and them with a 1/32" drill bit, (be sure you are centered on the assy) drill through the plastic socket assy, through the steel rod and out the other side. Now install a 1/32" roll pin. If you are well centered you should wind up with a fixed and reliable part again. This is a one shot deal...so be accurite when drilling. Also, there are manufactures that make all sorts of ball and socket parts that can be used to fabricate an entirely new custom part to replace the F'd up old part. Do a little website surfing.

Rob, I think your correct about the spline count. 29 splines is correct for the R200 (up to 1983 for sure) but you may want to varify the spline count on the other. You mentioned 31 splines but it may be 33 splines...as I just got off a LSD manufactures website, and recall 33 splines!!?

My driving habits in my 240 are basically,"The weekend warrior" on twisty roads. And of course, there is no outtings in foul weather...LIKE RIGHT NOW IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!!!! This amount of rain in rediculous. Oh please Lord, make it dry up soon! I quess going around corners is what I enjoy the most....you know how fun it is to get somebody behind you that thinks he's going to pass and leave you in the twisties, only to find out that an old 240Z has pulled away effortlessly. Now of course I never go over the speed limit either!!! I'm sure you all believe my last statement?

OK, let's see if I can make this a bit easier to digest. I'm not going to mention the filters just to make the explaination shorter. Also, understand that a pump will not create pressure without a resistance down stream and will only deliver flow. A regulator is an adjustable resistance! With a 3-way bypass type regulator you have an inlet port, a return to tank port (bypass), and a regulated output port. Let's not forget that the needles and seats in the carbs float bowl are the key resistance. That how we determine what pressure you need to set your regulator at. For example, on SU's, the needle and seat do not want to see much more than 4 psi. Pressure over 4 psi will force it's way past the needle and seat assembly and cause a rich condition. Also, do not confuse pressure with flow! So, let's now move on to the pictured systems. MIDDLE SYSTEM - As mentioned previously, the key resistance is the needles and seats in the carbs. If you operate this system with the regulator backed all the way off, you would not get sufficient pressure to the needle and seats and all the fuel would flow unrestricted back to the tank. Now, adjust the regulator to a 4 psi (for SU carbs anyway) reading at the gauge. There will now be 4 psi of pressure from the output of the pump all the way to the needle and seats. All extra fuel will bypass, through the regulator back to the tank. Note: this system bypasses the extra fuel before it reaches the carbs. BOTTOM SYSTEM - The only difference between this system and the middle system is, the extra fuel is bypassed after the carbs. So, the only advantage with this system is that you have a continuos flow of cooler fuel to the carbs. The middle system will only have a continous flow of cooler fuel to the regulator. The fuel between the regulator and needle and seat (middle system) is flowing slower and can pickup more heat radiated from the engine). Does this help....I wish I was better at explaining things in writing. Please tell me if this helped.

Eric, I believe this type of chain tensioning is more positive and reliable for heavy use applications. This fixed (when adjusted and tightened in place) tensioner does not rely on a spring and in some cases oil pressure and a spring for tension. A stock tensioner works fine under acceloration because the tensioner is on the non-drive side of the timing chain, however under hard deceloration the tensioner may give to some degree. Not a good thing for a race engine with engine parts moving further, faster, and with tighter tolerances. So, under heavy use (racing) the fixed tensioner will maintain adjustment under hard acceloration and deceloration. Maybe someone can add to this as there is probably more to it that I do not know about.

I would suspect that the rust was caused by condensation under the cam cover and was likely due to it sitting for some period of time without use. Likely it's not anything to be concerned about, unless its got enough rust that it could flake off and get lodged in some unwanted place within the oil system.

Geeez am I absent minded! The only thing missing in both systems is a filter. Generally, you want to run a filter between the tank and pump and also a finer filter just before the regulator. So, I would still recommend the middle pictured system.

Eric, I just took a closer look at the bottom picture....this sytem is not as I explained in my previous post! It will also work just as well as the middle picture. Sorry, my vision is not as it once was.

Eric, Based on my limited knowledge on the subject, I think the middle picture is the way to go for a carburated systems (3-way bypass system). This sytem will maintain regulated pressure equally to all carb. Basically, anything downstream of the regulator will have regulated pressure. And this sytem is very similar to the factory carburated Z car system, with the exception of an adjustable regulator. The original system uses a metering block to obtain sufficient pressure to the carbs. The bottom system appears to have the bypass line (return to tank) at the end of the carburator chain. This is strange!!? The only way I see this system maintaining pressure would be the restrictiveness of the return line. The regulator in the bottom picture would do nothing if the return line had no restriction.....basic fluid dynamics!!! Some people use a deadheaded system. This would be a system with no return to the tank. Also with this type of system, the fuel pump relief valve (most electric fuel pumps have one) will dump the excess fuel back to the inlet of the pump. It works and has one less line to deal with. However, it is my feeling that this system may tend to operate with the fuel at a slightly higher temperature since the fuel is not constantly circulating back to tank. And as we all know, keepin the fuel cool in a plus! Is this helping at all?

acanthophis, After a little more thought on your issue and with Jon's input....if the long nose R200 is a complete unit and has the desired gear ratio, you should be able to replace the open carrier with the GTR LSD carrier. Just be sure when you take it apart that you identify the position of the carrier bearing spacers because you will want to reinstall them as they were originally. This will maintain the proper backlash between the ring and oinion gears. It is also likely that you won't be able to reuse the old carrier bearings so but new ones and get the side shaft seals while you are at it.

acanthophis, I'm not too sure about the differences between the GTR differential an an R200 long nose differential, but ring and pinions gears come as matched sets and are not interchangable, even if they have the same ratios.

I listen to a tune called.....SU sucking 2800cc w/headers!!!! I just never get tired of the tune. I love changing the frequency of the tune however! And went it's near 6000 rpm it really sounds good.....kind of like the feeling you get listening to Led Zepplin's tune "Rock 'n' Roll or during hot pationate sex! I quess you could call sporting around in the Z as Safe Sex

Zeus, You have the early model 5 speed. On this tranny, 1st and 2nd gear are lower than on the late model 5 speeds. 3rd and 4th gear are the same for both trannies. 5th gear on your 5 speed is slightly lower than the late model units. The early tranny is refered to as the wide ratio unit and the late model is the close ratio unit. So, the 3.70 gears should work well for you. As you know, the lower the gearing, the quicker the car will move out. I, on the other hand, have the late model tranny which was matched from the factory with 3.90 gears in the differential (came out of a 1981-83 280ZX). It was fine but I just wanted a little extra acceleration, so the 4.10 gear worked out perfectly for me. Let us know how it all works out.

Michael is a BIG man for doing such a nice thing. I have even more respect for him now!

Zeus, You are correct! You can change out the 3.70 gear for either a 3.90 or 4.10 gear however, you will need to install new bearings and seals plus have the new (or used) ring and pinion set-up for proper backlash. Depending upon which transmission you are running and of coarse your tire size, the 3.70 gear may be just fine. Tell us what you have!