DJ's 280ZX

marrow · Post by **marrow** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 9:58 pm

Why did you swap the bumper back though?

reliablejunkie · Post by **reliablejunkie** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 10:01 pm

Are you after the facelift model look? I have still got my front bumper parts laying around after making my own bumper if you are interested.

djz · Post by **djz** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 10:05 pm

reliablejunkie wrote:Are you after the facelift model look? I have still got my front bumper parts laying around after making my own bumper if you are interested.

Could be! Or another guy I know might be, his car is a facelift but the previous owner put an early bumper on the front of it.

djz · Post by **djz** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 10:07 pm

marrow wrote:Why did you swap the bumper back though?

I've had this new front skirt sitting around for years, thought it was time to see what it looked like. It's a half hour job to swap them back if need be.

djz · Post by **djz** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:45 pm

The heater valve on this thing has been siliconed up for about 2 years after it started leaking right before a NZ Datsun cruise, I've put off replacing it for ages mostly due to the cost of a new valve and lack of enthusiasm for doing it but after driving to Hanmer on Christmas day in a black car with the heater stuck on hot when it was 30 odd degrees outside I decided it was time. I found a NOS one on eBay so I bought it.

Started to change it on Sunday and about 5 hours later the car was back together. After draining the coolant out I changed the thermostat to a genuine Nissan one at the proper temperature (76.5 degrees) as I had an 82 degree one from Repco in there from when I built the motor.

Changed the heater valve itself which wasn't too bad but then it wouldn't operate properly, it would move to cold fine but wouldn't move back to hot unless I helped it so that meant pulling half of the dash apart to pull the heater controls out, where I found the control cable was bent, somebody has tried to move the slider from hot to cold while the valve was siliconed up.

Found a spare heater control unit in the garage but the loom had been cut so I combined the two units into one functioning one and put it all back together, I also moved the cigarette lighter plug to the other side of the radio panel and put a blanking plug in it's place. I also found a one way valve so I connected up the vacuum source to the heater controls (it controls which vents are open) which is now kind of working but not properly, which is better than it was before.

Exciting!

djz · Post by **djz** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 7:29 pm

Decided I needed something meaty to do so I've pulled the gearbox out to change the clutch to the twin plate.

Thought I'd weigh the clutches, this is just with the bathroom scales:

Aftermarket "cro-mo" flywheel & RPM clutch = 14Kgs
Twin plate clutch with the billet NZ made flywheel = 13Kgs
Twin plate clutch with the Japanese flywheel Iv'e got = 12Kgs

I'm just going to install with the NZ made flywheel as that's what it's already been run with, I'll save the Jap flywheel for the next motor.

Even though the people that sell them say the clutch can be used with the original release bearing I don't think it's a good idea so I'm going to replace it. Tilton recommend a bearing with a contact diameter of 44mm, the one that came with the clutch is about 52mm, the original is about 58mm which means it's pressing about half way up the clutch fingers.

The one on the left came with the clutch but it rooted, the one on the right is the original one I was using. I'm going to try and find one like in the 2nd picture.

The clutch is in so I just need to get the new bearing and put the box back in. Hopefully it's assembled correctly!

djz · Post by **djz** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 12:49 pm

Got a new release bearing that looks like it will work, it's a GSB334 which is listed for some Datsun 1600s and 240Zs! I think it's actually slightly shorter than either of the other two which is good, I was a bit worried that I was going to have to change the carrier. I tried to measure the clearance between the bearing and the fingers and ended up at -2mm which wasn't looking good, but then I realised that without the clutch plates in (I just had the cover bolted to the flywheel) the fingers don't get pulled down, so with the clutch plates in and this shorter bearing I should be okay.

Should hopefully be able to get the box back in today. Borrowed a torque wrench from work to do up the cover bolt as neither of mine go low enough.

Original bearing:

New bearing:

djz · Post by **djz** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:50 pm

Alright, first impressions are that twin plates are yuuuuuuuuck. Once you're moving it's sweet but taking off is a nightmare, went for about a 10 minute drive, stalled it twice, you need to be fully committed to what you're doing and rev it to about 1600 - 1800 before taking your foot off the clutch or it bogs down too much. Will have to keep practicing. Reversing is interesting.

Also it's pretty noisy with the clutch pedal depressed, it's no real surprise though as most people say that twin plates are.

nustad · Post by **nustad** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:39 pm

Mine gets better when it is at a decent operating temp - when cold it is a be-arch.....

djz · Post by **djz** » Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:22 pm

I'm pretty much only driving this thing one day a week at the moment and after driving it today and stalling it twice I thought I'd have a go at adjusting the clutch, had to play with all three adjustments, even the one they don't mention in the factory service manual even though it's labelled an "adjuster" in the exploded diagram, I haven't driven it further than the driveway to the garage but it seems to be better, I'll have to take it for a proper test drive tomorrow night.

Baker93 · Post by **Baker93** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:01 pm

Hi
I and a number of fellow racers in the club have been running Quarter Master clutches for nearly 25 years. The bearing we use presses onto the Datsun carrier and is a Koyo brand ( doesn't really matter) and has the number ROT 40645.
The mating surface Dia is 52mm. If my memory serves me correctly this bearing was off a Mazda. May be a 626 originally.
If your clutch is horrible, chances are the setup is incorrect. I have had both twin and triple plate Quarter Master and Tilton Clutches, but primarily the triple plate Quarter Master since 1997. Once set up the clutch feel is good and you can idle the car off the line with 1000RPM up.
Not sure if you are aware but there are many different lengths od release bearing carriers.

djz · Post by **djz** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:11 pm

Yeah this is the first twin plate clutch that I've actually had any experience with, after adjusting it it seems better, the main problem was the engagement point was right at the very top of the pedal travel which isn't very fun to drive with and is hard on the leg. It is only a street car as well.

djz · Post by **djz** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:31 pm

Took the car for a decent drive tonight, clutch is much better now. After driving it pretty much as a daily driver for maybe 8 years it's hard to get used to something different, even just the engagement point.

djz · Post by **djz** » Fri May 08, 2015 9:51 pm

Mucking around on a Friday night. I spent way too long thinking about how many holes to put in it and how big the holes needed to be. I've seen this done on a few Japanese cars and liked the look.

djz · Post by **djz** » Sat May 09, 2015 12:14 pm

On the car.