Quote, originally posted by jbrobatl »

Do you run a front strut bar or does it not fit with that engine?

Doesn't fit so i would like to make a custom one myself. But it seems once i finally get something fixed or am about to make something better. Something's gotta break on me.... My latest catastrophe???

Broken transmission and clutch. AND flywheel spacer.

SO i was merging slowly onto the interstate in 5th gear and all of a sudden it sound like my transmission popped out of gear and made the most horrid grinding noise in the world. Long story short i towed it back to my house with my house with my room mates truck. I finally got around to tearing it apart to find out what happened.

Here are carnage pictures. (Sorry for them all being crapy cell phone pics, couldn't find my better camera)

Engine pulled.

Clutch disc's teeth on my ACT 6 puck unsprung completely stripped off...

This is what it SHOULD look like. (minus the busted out spring up top, was from my first RPS clutch that blew up on me)

Hard to see but transmission splines are messed too. Some actually look to be BENT

And my hacked up flywheel spacer.

The story with the spacer is that i didnt have a pilot bearing in. Basically it was something i did two summers ago. When i was putting this thing together with the original RPS clutch i had, i tried bolting the transmission up and it wouldn't go on using the pilot bearing supplied by RPS. It wouldn't go on all the way. Took it back apart and found the pilot bearing was hitting part of the transmission input shaft where the spline starts after the tip for the pilot bearing. So i think what happened was i took out the pilot bearing and never used it. I remember a friend telling me he never had one in his car either and it was fine. So i wasn't TOO worried about it at the time. I think i figured the difference was that i was using an N/A z32 transmission instead of the turbo one which is what the adaptor plate setup was designed for. (i remember reading the were identical besides their clutches) Anyways thinking back on it now i was really dumb about that and in too much of a hurry and paying for it in the end. As you can see the inside of the spacer is completely hacked... and i'm not sure but no pilot bearing might have been a part of it.

Also, i check online. The part number of my ACT disc is 6240006. Which is the correct part number for my application. 90-96 300zx Non-Turbo. It also happens to be by coincidence the same part number for the 79-83 Turbo 300xz. But thats just a clarification that i wasnt using an incorrect disc..

And now i dont know about you guys but i've NEVER seen anything like this happening. Even daily driving it i've seen the metal twist apart on the clutch disc from using an unsprung but never the splines...

Pretty sure a combination of a welded diff, 1-piece driveshaft, unsprung clutch, and nearly solid engine mounts combined with it being daily driven had a part in this...

Modified by CrazyTrance at 11:51 AM 7/4/2009

450sx.blogspot.com
http://www.Oppositegrip.blogspot.com

"I think its even funnier that your username has 2jz in it, but your car doesn't, lol"

solid engine mounts and welded diff arnt the culprit, the lack of the bushing was.

The pilot bearing has nothing to do with locating the trans, the dowel pins do that job, and that's why their location is so critical in designing a PROPER adapter plate.

As an FYI, I can name 4 OEMs who do not use pilot bushings/bearings. The input shaft is free floating in the crank. They are not a completely necessary item, just a really good idea and they form a more stable rotating assembly. The higher quality OEMs use them.

A good rule of thumb... If the car had one OEM, use it.

as for the bushing/bearing bit goes chances are that those makes have the input shaft od machined into the id of the crank for an almost bushing like fit.

You're a brave one taking on this swap, and that's too bad about the hard lesson learned

Keep us updated

Yeah that is a very good rule of Thumb So i'm going to try and bore it out to re-fit a roller pilot bearing in there. I keep wondering if it was a manufacturing defect or something. Because honestly i've never seen that happen. I've seen it stist the metal apart in between the spline and the pads so that makes me wonder why the splines gave out as i'm positive i greased the spline when i re-installed it.

Quote, originally posted by Carl H »

excuse me then, what i meant to say is it locates the input shaft and keeps it square... as for the bushing/bearing bit goes chances are that those makes have the input shaft od machined into the id of the crank for an almost bushing like fit.

Thats a reason i wasnt so worried about not using a pilot bearing. I thought the flywheel spacer fit perfectly around the input shaft at the far end of the spacer and acted as sort of a pilot bearing itself. Guess not.

Modified by CrazyTrance at 7:54 AM 7/7/2009

I have honestly never seen that happen either. Usually if the torque is sufficient to strip the splines, the input shaft would simply break.

Either you got an incorrectly marked disk (right part number/wrong part) or it was simply machined wrong. While I agree that all the solid driveline parts put additional stress on the clutch, it's not enough to do that.

My first thought looking at those pictures was that you put the wrong clutch disk on, but you said you verified the part number so that only leaves MFR. defect.

Can you explain this wobbling?

There should be less than .002" clearance between the splined mating surfaces if they are mating and manufactured correctly.

Or do you mean the end of the input shaft where it should have been supported by the crank? I can understand your thought here, but if the clutch clamed down while the input shaft was off center, the splines would still be fully engaged, however the clutch disk itself would be distorted lightly like a potatoe chip... it still wouldn't cause that kind of spline damage.

I understand what you're picturing, I think, but when the disk is clamped down the crankshaft, flywheel, clutch, pp, input shaft, are all spinning at exactly the same RPM. It would but spinning off center, but the orientation of the input shaft, disk, etc. all stays the same until the clutch pedal is depressed again. The stress would be in the distortion of the disk face and on the input shaft bearings.

I'd agree with you for the most part...but that really can't be applied to this forum!

I am still baffled by the pilot bearing theory. What's the point? To me it's just a part that will fail way before it's time. It's only (barely) useful at idle or when clutch is depressed, and even then would you really want an unsealed, unlubricated bearing spinning at 1-7k rpms?

Bushings work perfectly for thier purpose, no need to upgrade them. They are made from a softer material than the steel shaft for a reason. They wear at the perfect rate and to me I see no need to upgrade to an inferior bearing. Bearings have their place, but to me, in the end of a crank to exposed clutch dust and heat is not one of them.

For Sale: Sr altenator 60... Greddy sr20 RAS 47

Thats the way to do it. Good luck on your project. Hope it goes smoother than mine lol

So this summer i didn't get squat done as i was working my a** off djing and working on the base out here along with having fun with the girlfriend.

Anyways, i also moved just recently so here's a few pictures for the hell of it.

Here it is in it's new home, much bigger garage.

One thing i did before i made the move was to fix one of my frame rails...rust.
Made this snazzy little sleeve.

SO. recently i just purchased a ton of parts to get this thing moving again.

Pics of said parts.

Ended up going with a lightweight flywheel from XTD. (12.5 lbs vs. i think double that stock = WEEEEEE)
Those shirts are to help support a local crew here in MN.

Also got myself a new toy. Helped me out with re-boring my flywheel spacer also. More on that later.

There are a lot more parts in the mail that i havent received quite yet.

Mazworx power steering line conversion (yay for PS!)
ACT 6 puck unprung clutch kit
Megan Racing Tension rods
Innovative LC-1 with XD-16 gauge
and most importantly a z32 Turbo trans with less than 40k miles on it.
ECU tuned by mr. Carl here on NICO.

So this flywheel spacer thing. You've seen pictures of it all mangled and what not. I was talking to my boss out on base and he hooked me up proper with a buddy of his thats got a little shop of his own.

Making sure it's on the lathe nice and true.

Ready for destruction. Homie Darren in the background.

The result. If you're wondering what that step is in there it's so the bushing doesn't fall through to the other side.

Here it is sitting on the back of the flywheel. Had to make sure it fits in the one i got haha.

Now that we bored it out it is much larger than the bore to accept the OEM pilot bearing. What to do?

MAKE ONE

Went to the machine shop here in Rapid and bought some bearing bronze. 9 something a pound. Bought plenty in case we mess up lol.
Outside diameter will be around 23. something mm (cant remember) But inside diameter will be bored to the OEM pilot bearing specs. Which is around .626" or .629" which is just under 16mm.

Plan on getting that done sometime this weekend hopefully.

Oil Pan

I'm sick and tired of bashing my oilpan on stuff around town. I've done it twice in less than a year... and NO i will not raise the car lol. I actually want to go lower..

Here's a pic of what i'm working with.

My plan?

Shorten it and add extensions off the side with baffles/trap doors. If you guys have ANY input here at all please let me know as i have never done this but i've ot a rough idea on what to do...

First cut

Final cuts

As you can see this thing came stock with a windage tray already in the pan. Along with another one bolted to the underside of the block. (cool)

I'm going to try and keep that there while raising the bottom of the pan. But as you can see in the mext picture i've also got to cut and re-weld the pickup tube in a higher location. I'm thinking about 10-15mm of clearance between the pan will be about right. (Any input here??)

You can also see where i plan to ad dthe extensions off the side..

So i bolted the cut up pan to the engine to see how everything sat...

This last picture is of it with the engine sitting in the bay so i can see how low it's still hanging below the cross member. To me it looks to be about flush with it or it just slightly hangs below the cross member.

PS: I took ALOT of pictures with the pan sitting on the engine this way as i'm sure it could help a few people out. I have yet to see a picture with the oil pan cut away and bolted to the engine on here.. So if anyone wants measurements or a different perspective chime in now while i've still got it like this.

I'm thinking about putting some spacers in my engine mounts to raise the engine up a little bit as it will help with clearance of the pan, exhaust, and PS pump. Only issue is that its going to hit the hood more......

SO there you have it. I will probably be posting quite a bit more pictures as stuff gets done and parts come in as i REALLY want to get this thing running soon. Want to tear up the street one more time before winter fully hits! (Even though it just snowed today lol) But i'm banking on one more dry week haha.

Modified by CrazyTrance at 4:04 PM 10/5/2009

Modified by CrazyTrance at 4:16 PM 10/5/2009

And with raising the engine and spacing the hood up. It's already spaced up pretty far. I think i'm going to buy a different hood that provides more clearance eventually.. We'll see how much i can get away with as it already rubs on the hood after i've cut a bunch of bracing out already.

This is the best option, but unfortunately i am not baller enough to fork out that kind of money for such a setup. Especially considering the amount of money i have just spent.

I've been talking to a buddy about making a completely new aluminum pan from scratch as i might be able to get the materials for super cheap and hooked up with some welding.. Not sure what i'm going to do yet. Decisions decisions.

Some PS stuff from mazworx. (smiley face unintentional)
Started putting it on the car yesterday. Had to notch the hell out of my tension rod bracket But i'll box that in later.

Finally man'd up and bought a wideband..

Trans!

A little dirty but nothing a pressure washer cant fix.
Awesome shippers broke the reverse and neutral switches on it.
But it came with a new starter and supposedly has under 40k on the trans. so i'm pretty stoked about it.

go to the innovative forums and search for lc1 problems and see, these things are aparently so sensitive to electrical noise in the car, some people resorted to run a seperate battery to power them.

http://www.innovatemotorsports...x.php

After trying to get it to work consistently for TWO weeks, i gave up on it bought an aem uego, first try worked and connected to the lap top with out any problems.

good luck!!!

Quote, originally posted by Logan76 »

I swing it around like a helicopter and all the ladies want to go for a ride.

Quote, originally posted by mrgreeneyes »

sorry i cant satisfy you, jeff

Hmmm.... second person to tell me this.. Damnit i guess we'll see how it works. Otherwise i guess its buy a different one time. Thanks for the info though Jerry!

Quote, originally posted by White Comet »

looking good and i like the oil pan plan but would making it out of alum maybe be a bad idea? if it does hit something, the alum won't stand up to it

The plan is to raise it up enough to where it cant hit anything. But i also want to make a skid plate. And this thing is RAPIDLY turning into a track-only car with the occasional terror run around town hehe.

Small update before i go to bed.. Just got done making this thing with Gunar.

OEM bushing on left.. Custom bushing on right. Notice how much larger it is... yeah, that flywheel spacer was MESSED up.

In action..

Also... just received clutch kit in the mail today so HOPEFULLY i can get this thing rolling soon. Dont think i'll be able to work on it for at least a week though.. school is KILLING me right now.

Which ps pump will you be running with the mazworx lines and such? The more I drive mine the more I wish I had ps.