On 7/29/2026 at 8:25 PM, Harry11 said:

I have had the car for two years now and have never had any clutch related issues until recently. Only thing I really have done was changed the transmission fluid 6 months ago.

My pedal engages almost at the floor and is how it has been since owning it.

It might be that the missing return spring caused lower travel at the fork, but who knows. A smaller bore on the slave/operator cylinder will give more travel at the fork. I'd take a look at your pressure plate if you can and see if you have 1972 parts or newer parts.

Looks like the master cylinder bore stayed the same but Nissan changed the slave cylinder bore over the years. Probably to match pressure plate changes.

If you decide to get an aftermarket slave cylinder make sure you take it apart and clean it before installation. Some of use have found machining grit inside that will damage the seals.

I did both the slave and the master back in 2017. Used these from MSA and they're working just fine. From reading there's a recommendation that you should probably replace both at the same time.

Slave

Motorsport Auto - The Z Store - Clutch Slave Cylinder, 70-72 240Z

Master

Motorsport Auto - The Z Store - OE Type Clutch Master Cylinder, 70-78 240Z-260Z-280Z

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up ordering the year correct one from the z store and the spring so we will see when it gets here.

I do still have one more question. When looking at the photo attached it says to leave a 2mm gap between the rod adjusting nut and the fork. I’m a bit confused as wouldn’t the spring take up that gap. Also when I remove the slave cylinder the fork can move a couple inches more towards the front of the car so where is the starting point of the fork for this gap? Sorry that may be confusing.

I know the one that was in there had no gap at all and was pressing on the fork a fair amount. Not any real pressure but was at least taking up all the play.

Edited August 1Aug 1 by Harry11

At the point where you leave the .08 inches the spring is fully relaxed. It will stretch and have tension when the clutch pedal is pressed in.

Ok that makes sense. do I push the fork back (towards the rear of the car) until it has tension and set the rod distance from that point?

What does the FSM recommend for your car?

This will sound stupid... My clutch issue was the slave had failed like a blown seal so pressing the pedal just pushed brake fluid out of the slave and the pedal just went to the floor. Since the new master and slave (I had the external spring slave to begin with) were the same as what I took out, I just measured the distance on each shaft of the old and then set the new shafts to the same length rather than following your diagram. This did the job and has been good since 2017.

Ok thanks

I have always done the adjustment without the spring attached. Remove the slack in the lever by hand, adjust, then reattach the spring

I had a 3/4" slave cylinder on my "track day" 240z for many years with a 83 280ZX transmission. Hated it. If I recall correctly, I couldn't adjust the length at the clutch M/C (5/8") to get the engagement to my liking. I had problems getting full disengagement.

I switched to an 11/16ths slave and all became right with the world. For my restored Z, I sourced a new 11/16" slave (newer type without the external spring). I was able to set the clutch height from the floor to factory specification and adjust the clutch master without issue.

For the 240z, I think you should avoid 3/4" clutch slaves.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by inline6