zKars

To complete the story. I did “Save” the little pointy headed monster. AND you get to see what the internal welded on nuts look like. Plenty of meat should you find yourself needing to move up a size....

Special...

When taking parts off of 50 year old Datsun’s, you may encounter some rusty bolts that need a little attention. Sometimes you just have to give up and break it off, then deal with the drill and tap that results. Perfectly normal. Some of the bolts on my “most likely to break off” list include the M8 pair at the bottom of the fender with the nifty little pointy tips that face upward, threading into an internally welded nut inside the rocker panel. Natural place for water to collect and make those threads just about solid. Well today I had a treat. The 75 280 that I’m parting out had two missing and already out, leaving just two that I had to remove. And surprise surprise, I got one of them out without breaking the bolt!

I've been using a Wera #2 philips that has the laser etched tip to grip rusty Datsun screws for years, but these Vessel drivers look even more aggressive. Like I need an excuse to buy another tool..... Looking on Amazon for Vessel also turned up this bad boy, for when the going gets extra tough. Vessel Megadora 980 Impacta P2x100#2 Cross Point Impact Screwdriver and when things get really carried away...

Let the finger pointing and rampant speculation begin! Who was first? Who copied who? Too similar not to have been "influenced" by the other, right?

Looks the standard set of energy suspension or Prothane bushings to me

The standard response is that these is no advantage to using these on the differential or transmission mounts unless you like increased gear noise from those areas brought into the cabin. Suspension bushings are another matter, but for street use, I much much prefer stock control arm and TC rod bushings . Better handling comes at the compromise of harshness, more road noise and steering wheel “sensory input” ie vibration.....

Anything this flimsy and transparent I would never use on my suspension or any part of the car. Wait where is that smiley facey thingy....

While tinkering with transmission isolators the other day, I noticed a little something that might be helpful that I do not remember seeing before. Often I stare at the transmission isolator as I’m about to put it on and wonder (again) which way around it goes. Which way is front? Well on a genuine Nissan mount, there is a little clue, if you know where to look Do you see it? Now I should go look at a diff isolator and see if the same little arrow is hidden under some dirt and oil I do not see this little clue on another one that I have that is an aftermarket item. Another reason to buy Nissan if you can afford it.

And this what happens when you leave your transmission upright, out in the rain without a cap on the output end for about 5 years That there is a piece of metal worthy only of your local recycler. How many teeth on the 4th gear, ah, gear? 21 or 22? Look for NIS-16 or NIS-16A https://www.transmissionpartsdistributors.com/fs5w71c-fs5w71e-transmission-input-shaft-kit-22t-31t-fits-86-5-93-nissan-cars-2wd-trucks-nis-16a/ Note it comes with the matching gear for the countershaft cluster. Now I’m worried about the rest of it.....

The one row fuse box is 68, the other fuse box is 70 I think, I can confirm, P510 for sure. The front markers are 68-69 for sure. Any of this for sale? You knew I’d ask....

There is nothing holding them together other than bad luck. The synchro must be welded to tapered part of the next gear that it rubs on. Can you turn the front part relative to the back? If not the needle bearing in there must hatched... Get your pry bar out get some persuasion going. Or rig up a slide hammer thingy

Belmetric has longer M4 screws No they aren’t black, but that’s not hard to accomplish later https://www.belmetric.com/4mm-oval-head-screws-c-10_1489_1267/msoval4x30ss-oval-phillips-stainless-p-7619.html?zenid=pqvq1qf93dsb7jcukh67na7ab6 Also have them in flat head zinc.

I’ve had R1R’s on my 510 for a 2-3 years so far. Absolutely love them. Ride, quiet, semi decent wet behavior, and the grip, OMG. (And I don’t OMG very often). On my second set.

I have to note while we are here. There is also another way to get whatever clutch cover and throw out collar you have to work. There is an adjustable length push rod clutch slave cylinder option and a matching clutch fork with a hole. I’ve found cars with very long collars and very thick clutch covers who’s clutches were working just fine with a very short push rod on the slave courtesy of the adjustable length rod arrangement. The Rule of 92 isn’t as hard and fast a rule as I’ve gone to great lengths to champion. BTW these slaves are spec’ed on the 70 Z’s if you’re looking for one on Rock-Auto. Nothing stopping you from just hack sawing off your fixed length rod as well. Just more of a trial and error thing.

The height of the fingers with the clutch cover bolted to the flywheel (with the disk in place) is what is really needed to properly compare. The free height of the springs may or may not be useful as noted above, the way the fingers move is determined by internal geometry of the moving parts. The fingers on the left cover sure do stick up more than the ones on the right, or so it appears, AND the cover itself appears thinner.

Here are some pictures of the two covers.

So I discovered something interesting over the past week regarding the age old issue of clutch throw out bearing collar height selection. We have discussed many many times how to determine what height the throwout collar has to be to achieve the now well accepted total 92 mm total height, based on your particular choice of clutch cover. What I remember in the many discussions I heard, is how the struggle to get a long enough collar almost always comes up. This lead me to assume that all that was available in new parts are clutch covers that are much thinner than the old stock 240z covers. What is new here, is that I have definitive measurements on two popular Exedy Clutch kits with very different heights! You can now choose the one that most closely matches your existing cover, and not worry much about finding a “matching” collar. In my recent experience of replacing several clutches for various cars, I have been buying the 280z spec clutch, 06009 part number, and it is much thinner (requiring a longer collar) than any of the stock OEM 240 clutch covers I’ve seen in the past (requiring a short-ish collar). My parts hoard has accumulated several of the shorter collars, and I’m always struggling to find longer collars to go with the thin pressure plates. I’ve even considered designing a two piece adjustable length collar to handle any situation. Well it turns out I ordered a 06029 kit the other day for a customer after having an old age brain fade, spec’ed for 240 and early 260. Got it out of the box and found the clutch cover is nearly 3/8 -1/2” inch taller than the 06009 kit. I will add the exact height of the spring finger tips with the cover bolted to a flywheel (yes, it very different) to use in your 92mm collar selection calculations shortly. Clearly Exedy has it straight since most 240 owners would have shorter collars, and need a thicker cover. 280’s have longer collars, needing thinner clutch covers. Not sure how I missed this, but what it means, is that there is a choice in clutch cover heights out there, you don’t always have to go hunting down the right(er) length collar. Just by the right clutch! I should note that the clutch disk in both kits are identical. Technically they have different part numbers, I can not see or measure any difference in the disks. Note this handles only the 225mm clutches, not the 2+2 240mm clutches. There were no 240mm spec clutches for 240z. It would be great to have a database of all the popular clutch brands and their clutch cover heights, something you can’t find in their published specs. So every time you replace your clutch, measure the cover height and record it here. Thank you.

Quick screen capture of the spread sheet.

This is the cheapest online source of the overhaul kit I have bought and used many times. https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/usa+standard+gear,ZMBK104WS,bearing+&+seal+overhaul+kit,8676 All other sources I’ve bought from shipped exactly the same kit, but at higher prices. I have the part numbers for the bearings in a spreadsheet somewhere

That there is one well ventilated and holey 73.....yes 73. Purdy color mind you. All I see if a pile of heavenly parts too far away to do anything about. Sigh.....

Bummer...

And I’m pretty sure that bracket is a fuel pump mounting bracket back by the tank up behind right wheel.

You have to find someone that scavenged them off a wreck. They are spot welded to the body. I have one. Let me know. I have the other part that bolts to this piece that the strut hydraulic attaches to as well if you’re missing that too

Maybe? Not much explaination.... Date range spans the LH nuts on the 80-81’s that I know of https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/20-1640