Identifying rearend ratios...

[AZhitman]

I just found a wrecked 94 300ZX n/a with the rearend intact for a REAL good price, AND there's no need to provide a core (big sticking point, since I may want to return to stock). However, I have this recurring nightmare of going through all the hassle of the swap, only to find that the donor car itself had a swap at some point in its life, and that it's not the coveted 4.08 ratio R200.

I recall back in my musclecar days how to easily determine the rear ratio by turning the rear wheels and counting driveshaft revolutions (?) - Is this correct? Any other tips and tricks?

I'll copy this to the Z forum as well...

[SmithSR]

Your musclecar method is correct. If you have just the rear housing sitting on a workbench, you can get real technical and mark a precise location on the driveshaft yoke/flange... like top dead center, so to speak... Give one of the output shafts a twist and figure the number of turns down to a decimal point with a simple measured distance-to-decimal guesstimation(allowing you to exact a 4.08 measurement). Kind of a backyard way to do it, but it does work!!

OK, you don't need to have the rear end out of the vehicle to do it. Might just be a lil easier if you were working in an upright position when measuring.