Alright as I've been gather stuff for my turbo swap into my S30 one thing I need to do is to buy a clutch. The S30 already has a N/A 5-speed in it. I'm going to run with this for a little while until I eventually decide to get a T5. Anyway I was wondering a few things:

Does the auto 280ZXT use the larger turbo flywheel or does it use the smaller N/A flywheel? I would think that it uses the larger one, but someone told me once that the autos didn't?

When it comes to getting a new clutch what are your guys suggestions? I see MSA sells a couple different turbo clutches. I'm not sure what to go with, and I was wondering is there anywhere to get these cheaper than MSA?

 

The auto doesn't have a flywheel at all. It has a flexplate & attached to it is the torque converter. When converting to manual you need the flywheel, clutch assembly, and to remove the flexplate ring from the crank.

Stock Nissan clutches are good, and most parts store clutches. I am using a Centerforce dual friction... it's nice, but some complain (Jeff P) that it doesn't hold up over 400hp. I'm not quite there yet. And you have to shave the flywheel bolts down (I didn't know that on the first install).

 

So would I be able to for the time being use the flywheel and clutch from the L28 that's in my 280Z? I know it's the smaller flywheel and such, but seeing as I'm only going to be running 10-11 psi once in a while I figured it should be fine. I'm planning on doing more power upgrades eventually, but at least for now I just want to get the motor in the car and have it drivable then go from there.

I do remember a post from you a while back about where you came across the grooves in the flywheel from the bolts or something like that.

 

Indeed. I'm going to use the 280z smaller flywheel & crank pulley for my S30T build: https://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx-performance-technical-79/s30-vs-s130-crank-pulleys-l28et-build-27965/ I'm just going for stock boost, Z31T ecu, and lighter crank rotating mass.

 

i mostly enjoyed my centerforce but it was on an NA, ive heard ALOT of complaints about the centerforce in most turbo cars. ACT is a good company.

 

Dosnt apply to a S30 but I had a centerforce II in my 84' turbo and it NEVER shut up. Didnt matter how I adjusted the pedal, that thing was noisey! But I was running a Fidanza flywheel. It wasnt as bad when I re-installed the stock flywheel.

 

I like how are Turbo S30s are going to be set up similarly. That's good to know about the flywheel and stuff. Supposedly the tranny had a relatively new clutch anyway.

 

Well I've been thinking about this as the time gets closer. I'm still debating on whether I should just run the smaller 280Z flywheel or get myself the larger turbo flywheel. It'll be lower boost at first, but I do quickly want to get stuff going to raise the boost, etc. So I was wondering would I be ok with the smaller flywheel and just a better clutch? Or should I go larger? I'm also wondering where I can get a turbo flywheel that won't cost a fortune. I see a bunch of aftermarket ones, but I'm not sure that those are necessary.

Let me know.

 

i would say base your option off available aftermarket. see what size they prefer for the high performance market like in clutches and stuff and flywheel instead of this method.

 

I'll have to check, what did you use in your 260? From what I remember I thought you used the stock transmission and everything. Were you using the smaller flywheel? If anything on stock 7psi you'd have been putting out a bit more power seeing as you were running the higher compression N/A anyway.

 

the motor was out of a 2+2 zx so i think it had teh larger flywheel/clutch. but yeah stock. and it was a stock 5spd NA trans which the trans held up fine but a main bearing in it did not. lol. woulda been an easy fix and i should have fixed it but i just tossed a 4spd in it and called it a day. which totally ruined the driveability for me, but it was strong enough to hold up to going tractionless in 1st and screaming the tires into second and a chirp into 3rd. it was all stock though. only thing was it had slightly higher compression since it was an NA motor. that was my only "power adder" i guess you could say.

 

Alright car's about to get pulled apart soon. I decided since I'm going to be building towards more power I went ahead and ordered the 10.5 aluminum fidanza flywheel part number: 143281

This seems to be the one that everyone likes so I decided to go with this. Got it for $329 shipped. Seemed to be the best I could find at the time. Anyway my only issue is what clutch should I get?

I did some searching on HybridZ and I found a thread where someone mentioned the 225mm pressure plate bolts up perfectly, but the 240mm pressure plate doesn't line up with all the bolt holes, but people were running it with only 6 out of the 9 bolts with no problems and gobs of torque.

Any suggestions? I came across a thread on HybridZ were I saw 260ZTurbo mention he had one and loved it. So maybe he can chime in on a good clutch.


EDIT: Alright I'm trying to decide between the 240mm ACT Street Performance Clutch or a Centerforce Dual Friction. They're about the same price from MSA. I can't seem to find where else to buy the ACT clutches. The ACT is a little more but also includes the throwout bearing, pilot bearing, and the tool to line it up, where it looks like the Dual Friction comes with just the Pressure Plate and the Clutch Disc.

 

Well after all my searching I opted to go with an ACT Street Performance Clutch Kit. I got it from MSA. I couldn't seem to find anywhere else that was cheaper so I just went with it. Seems like alot of people on HybridZ are using the Fidanza Flywheel and ACT clutch setup and seem to really like it.

 

Right on!

 

I thought that all the aftermarket L28 clutches were for the 240mm anyway. I never saw one listed that fits a 225mm

I went with a stock clutch. Smooth and only $100 for a complete kit. (back in the day) (2006)

 

ACT + Fidanza = best option possible until a 2600lb clutch cant hold power anymore.

 

I was looking at the ACT clutches and they do make clutches for the 225mm flywheel.