Form > Function S30

[ComicArtist]

I do actually, I've had her almost as long as the z haha. She's super cool with the whole car thing though, her dad builds classic Chevys so she's been around it her whole life. As long as I make time for her too she's cool.

[aintnobiscuit]

I wish my GF was around when i started building my 510, so maybe she would understand the $$$ and time that went into it. 99% of the time she's good though. I guess I can't really complain.

[72240z]

Ya not all women fit the stereotypes lol. My wife doesnt care, its my money that I spend, if I can afford to put some into the Z I do, if not then I dont.

 

She only complains when I drag her out to help me lol, like spending hours por 15ing or something annoying like that.

[aintnobiscuit]

Lol, mine hates to pump the brake pedal when i bleed brakes. I don't ask her for anything else anymore, it's easier that way ;)

[ComicArtist]

Mine does too, that's why I bought a vacuum bleeder haha

[72240z]

Me too actually lol funny.

 

I offered to let her do the bleeding instead but it didnt go over to well lmao

[aintnobiscuit]

oh man, i actually brought this up recently and said i'll go buy a 1 man bleeder kit... she said she'd pay for it :)

 

retarded considering the car is her 65 mustang that she was supposed to build with me to learn about cars :/

[ComicArtist]

Little update, not much but it's something. Finally decided to start shortening my pickup shifter to have an actual short throw. Decided to go ahead and cut it and weld it back together, but my 110a welder won't penetrate the hardened chrome steel enough. I cut it to size, welded it, put it in the tranny and slammed it in and out of gear a couple times and it snapped right at the weld. Doesn't matter how I set the welder, it just won't penetrate, so I gave it to a buddy of mine to weld with his big 220a tig that he uses at work.

 

Anyway, you can kind of see from the picture how I did it. This is after I ground the welds down and before I broke it.

 

 

Shifter on the left is the 620 shifter, on the right is the stock s30 shifter. I went ahead and measured the new shifter to end up a bit shorter than the stock one, since I'll be using a tall knob. Coupled with the shorter throw, it should end up right about where I want it.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the shifter length ISN'T what actually shortens the throw of the lever, it's the distance from the fulcrum point (hole in the shifter for pin) to the bushing on the bottom of the shifter that goes into the tranny linkage. Simple physics, if the distance on one side of the fulcrum is lengthened, the section on the other side doesn't have to travel as far to go the entire distance. You can see in the shifter on the left, the part from the hole to the bottom is longer than the one on the right. That's what actually shortens the throw.

 

Either way, should have it back and in the car tomorrow or the next day.

[72240z]

Did you bevel the edged and lay a nice puddle down? It gone done either way and looks good.

 

I used a harbor freight 110 to do mine and it was pretty easy. I shortened and moved the arm to clear the tunnel when I swapped in my motor and 5 speed. I tried to bend it 1st but it broke pretty quickly lol, which is what gave me the spool piece for the standoff :-)

[ComicArtist]

Whoa that's weird looking. That's a truck shifter?

[72240z]

No, a stock zx shifter. I cut the rod off at the top of the knuckle and welded it to the side with a stand off piece. For w/e reason a zx 5 speed in some s30's leaves 1st, 3rd and 5th hitting the trans tunnel so you can either hack the tunnel (which still leaves the shifter way close to the center console) or mod the shift arm. I opted for the latter lol.

 

It feels good, to me it feels like quicker shifts. I just need to replace the bushing with a copper one, there is a write up somewhere for it. Its supposed to make the trans feel more modern and smooth. I like a short shift arm too because I can rest my arm on the center console and comfortably have me hand on the shift knob.

[akumazedex]

I got a zx Trans in my car with a zx shifter and it sits a lot closer to the dash. But never had problems with it hitting the tunnel. My opening in the tunnel is huge from the factory, weird lol

[72240z]

From the factory? Sure? I thought s30s all had the same size but I could be wrong. I think my issue was because its a 73. When I ran into the issue and googled most people I found having the issue were 73 and late 72. Not 74 though which is curious lol.

[ComicArtist]

The copper bushing mod is super easy. I just went to AutoZone and got the door hinge bushing kit which has like six bushings, two of them are just the right size. You can see them in the shifter on the left

[72240z]

Ya I caught that but they use different bushings, its not as straight forward for the s130. The yellow you see on mine is the bushing, with a spring inside.

[ComicArtist]

Oh that's weird. I'm wanting to go with the '81-'83 na tranny, guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

[akumazedex]

Yeah, mine is a late 74, I swear the hole was like a foot long, I'm guessing so if they put an auto in it would have room. It's also a 260 so nothing surprises me anymore lol come to think of it, the zx was the same way, which is why the plate that covers the hole fit so nice.

[72240z]

Oh that's weird. I'm wanting to go with the '81-'83 na tranny, guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

It's worth doing for sure just mind your final ratio. With my stock 3.54 rear I was doing 75 at 2k rpm lol. Happily running a 4.11 now.

 

Yeah, mine is a late 74, I swear the hole was like a foot long, I'm guessing so if they put an auto in it would have room. It's also a 260 so nothing surprises me anymore lol come to think of it, the zx was the same way, which is why the plate that covers the hole fit so nice.

 

Ya there are so many differences here and there that arent widely documented. I read write ups for years about that 5 speed swap, even did it for/with other people on their s30's, my 72 etc... and never ran into that prob until I did it on my 73 lol.

[akumazedex]

My 260 has a 3.3 If I remember right, it's awesome on the freeways. I like 2k at 75mph lol

Compared to the 3.5k at 65 on my zx

[I'm BLUE]

I experienced the same as 72240z with my 81-83 shifter/5spd into a 73 240z.

 

That's A pretty cool shifter 72240z :thumbup: .. I wouldn't have thought to weld it in that spot.

 

Comicartist ..My grandfather always harped on letting things cool down as Slowly as they can after being welded. He said even using kisses from a torch to help the process of cooling too fast be prevented was always better. He was known to stick items in sand after being welded and then being left overnight to cool. RIP Claude.

 

You can pre-heat the shifter rod with a torch (MAP plumbers gas might do to ... a bit to know when to stop )... Weld it ... and cool it down much the same way mentioned above ^^^ as another method. It doesn't sound right until you try it.

 

A sleeve to weld to works as well.

 

Air cool is good enough.

 

the fulcrum point has always been the source.

I haven't tried the 620 shifter as rtz mentioned on hybridz.

[ComicArtist]

Thanks for the tips! If my buddy can't get it to weld with his work welder I'll give that a shot.

 

2k at 70 sounds pretty good, especially for mileage with highway cruising haha. How's the get-up in lower gears though? I was always planning on pairing it with a 4:11 or 3:9.

[akumazedex]

Definitely doesn't have the pick up like my zx with a 3.9. It does seem that I can use my power band more tho but not shifting all the time is kind of nice too and cruising on the freeway is much nicer. I can drop to third on the freeway and still have revs left lol. Personally I like longer gears, but to each his own.

[bludestiny]

I have a 4:11 with a late 280zx tranny and I do 70-75 at like 3k in 5th, but my tires a little larger than stock. With stock size tires it's more like 3.5k

[ComicArtist]

I dont know how well it'd work with my 205/50/15's then haha. I guess I'll try just the tranny for now if I can find one and then swap the diff if I don't like it

[72240z]

Ya I do about the same as Blue and I love it. I dont own a 40yo sports car for mileage lol. I still get like 17-20 highway anyway when not flying. It keeps the car always ready to go, esp with triples that want to be up there anyway. 0-60 monster with those gears, still pulls hard all the way up to 100+ too.

 

I have 4.11 in my Xterra too though so maybe I'm bias lol. Most people seem happier with 3.7