Today i went and bought a 1986(i think. Tenth digit is F) 300zx turbo that has been pretty much rode wet and hung up to dry. I paid a hundred bucks for it and the engine is still in it and it has a five speed and it has a digtal dash( just like my 1985 300zx turbo). I am fixing to make a tranny swap. I have a few questions about the difference of the five speeds and the automatics. What is the horsepower difference? if any. And also what are some of the things that i may have trouble with? A friend and I are going to drive it onto his car ramp and strip it out and put it in my 1985 sometime next week. He has a history of working on cars and has done it for a living.

 

Good find.

There is no horsepower difference engine wise... it's a transmission (not an engine). But there is a difference in gear ratios. To do the swap... just swap over all the manual parts. You'll need the pedal mounting bracket w/ pedals... clutch master & slave cylinders, trans, driveline, and diff flange.

 

i know it's a transmission but in the 4 cyl. turbo thunderbird there is around a fourty horsepower difference in the automatic and the five speed. Also what years have positive traction?

 

To the wheels yes. Manual trans reduces hp to the wheels by 10-15% ... Auto trans reduces hp to the wheels by 15-20%

The 87-89 300ZX Turbos have the LSD. All were clutch type minus the 88 SS which had the viscous.

 

well dang i believe i missed the lsd, which sucks. The tenth digit is the one that indicates year in the serial number right? The tenth digit on mine was an F which is an 86 right

 

you should be able to tell the difference between an 86 and an 87+ at a glance. there are quite a few differences. in 87 the whole front end became quite a bit more rounded, the taillights were different, if its an 87 turbo, the wheels would be a gunmetal color. 86's had sideskirts from the factory. the taillights were different. really man, it is no challenge to tell the difference between these years.

 

If all else fails, you can always look on the door plate to see when it was manufactured

 

i know for a fact it's not a eighty seven i was determing whether not it is an 85 or an 86 but i looked at the side of the car and it had an f digit so i figured it would be a nineteen eighty six because of the tenth digit

 

86 is the easiest year to tell. it is noticeably different from all other years of z31. 3rd brake light in the spoiler and side skirts are a dead giveaway.

 

Ok thanks, yeah i found out it's a 1985 just like my other one talk about luck! Ok during the pedal swap i just need to swap the actual brake lever itself not he mount right? and then put the clutch mount along with the clutch lever,cable etc.... I was goign to swap out the whole brake mount then i thought about it and went and looked at my other car with the automatic in it and hit myself in the head for not thinking in the first place

 

I say this in the least rude way (ok... maybe a lil rude), it should have been VERY SIMPLE to tell what year it is, if you have another just like it... Maybe I'm just crazy.


I'm gunna take a wild stab in the dark here and say that anything CLUTCH related, you will need for the swap.

 

well i dont know the whole background of the Z I'm sorry! and i was just making sure that i didnt need to take out the brake assembly for the car too, forgive me for asking questions.