5 speed Z car tranny into my 521!

[tangent]

when I put the 280zx tranny in my 521 with an L20b I used a driveshaft from an automatic 510 wagon... it was just a little to long, like yours... The shaft was one of those tapered kinds... where it tapers in right before the Yoke, so I was a little concerned... But it worked out Ok... I just cut about a half an inch off the transmission side of the shaft.. Cutting away the thinner section, but leaving the part where it tapers down.. carefull to make a straight Cut... then cleaned up the Yoke of the old weld, when I placed the Yoke back into the driveshaft... there was a little bit of Play... I used my bionic Carpenter eyeballs to center the thing on there and make sure that it was square with the driveshaft... then I welded the thing up... I think It was the first thing I ever welded... so i welded it, ground on it a bunch, welded some more, ground some more and so on, until i was satasfied... took it to a driveshaft shop who I tried to get to shorten it, but wouldnt, cause they said it couldnt be done, and they balanced it.. they said the side I did was closer than the factory side... 1 washer welded to the side and it was all good, havnt had any problems, but then again Im not exactly puttin down the HP.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

TY guys for helping out so much. I looked inside the yoke of the 1 piece shaft i have & was wondering. Is there a seal that goes down inside the dust cover part?

[tangent]

Nope... all that dust cover is for is just that, a dust cover.. I think. there might be some goo back in there if it was attached to a tranny with a bad seal.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Ok problem fixed! I bought another seal, this time @ Kragen [shucks] for $4 [ 2 year warranty BTW!] & installed it,this time making sure it was pressed all the way into the rear of the trans. This one went in about 3/8 more than the 1st one, the flange was rubbing against it which caused it to warp & go bad. I also ground down the small lip on the front U joint & now the 2 flanges touch w/ no gap.

[tangent]

yeah i was kinda wonderin if you had it driven all the way in there...

kind of dont know you have it seated right untill its actually there...

[Icehouse]

when I put the 280zx tranny in my 521 with an L20b I used a driveshaft from an automatic 510 wagon... it was just a little to long, like yours... The shaft was one of those tapered kinds... where it tapers in right before the Yoke, so I was a little concerned... But it worked out Ok... I just cut about a half an inch off the transmission side of the shaft.. Cutting away the thinner section, but leaving the part where it tapers down.. carefull to make a straight Cut... then cleaned up the Yoke of the old weld, when I placed the Yoke back into the driveshaft... there was a little bit of Play... I used my bionic Carpenter eyeballs to center the thing on there and make sure that it was square with the driveshaft... then I welded the thing up... I think It was the first thing I ever welded... so i welded it, ground on it a bunch, welded some more, ground some more and so on, until i was satasfied... took it to a driveshaft shop who I tried to get to shorten it, but wouldnt, cause they said it couldnt be done, and they balanced it.. they said the side I did was closer than the factory side... 1 washer welded to the side and it was all good, havnt had any problems, but then again Im not exactly puttin down the HP.

 

 

I wish I was a carpenter.... I welded for a living for a year. I tried shortening a DL myself..... It vibrated like it had batteries in it..... I took it to a DL shop, he had to cut the side off and redo it...... I'm a tin bender, aka a 1/4 inch is close enough :D

[tangent]

I wish I was a carpenter.... I welded for a living for a year. I tried shortening a DL myself..... It vibrated like it had batteries in it..... I took it to a DL shop, he had to cut the side off and redo it...... I'm a tin bender, aka a 1/4 inch is close enough :D

 

Ive been a carpenter for 12-13 years now.. wish I could weld...

Either I got lucky, or I do have a magic eye,

Ive been dealing in right angles for so long, If I walk past something that is out of level or out of square, that is ment to be, I kind of get dizzy.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Allright it's been awhile but what I ended up doing was cutting 1 inch off of the splined section of the rear shaft to give it a bit of play back & forth. At certain speeds I was getting a loud noise because the shaft was being pushed into the trans. a bit. Now all thats left it to replace an "O" ring for the speedo cable @ the trans. Its still leaking a bit but not alot...BTW i was able to make my 4 speed speedo cable reach i just had to re route it :D

[tangent]

Sweet.. I had problems with the spedo cable leaking a little bit but never replaced the O-ring.. I thought I had it tight, and then later, messed with it some more.. and it tightened up alot more.. leak stopped... hard to know whats going on with it since its in such a horrible location once installed.

[sdsurf]

Jeez Mark,

That seems like a ton of work. I hope I don't encounter all of that ;)

[Pacific coast Datsun]

If your driveshaft is stock you wil :cool: ..if it's the 620 version it's easier.

[sdsurf]

Currently it is a cut down original (I think) into a long tail four speed. I have been busy painting up the engine bay but all the rain delayed me a bit.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Ok kool then just the trans mount will have to be shortened & re-welded. We can use mine as a guide. I only had to cut the rear splines [on the rear shaft] because i lowered it so much. Like we talked about...the stock 521 shaft where it bolts to the trans there will be a U joint...if it's a sleeve type it'll be a 620 unit.

[denveratsun]

I know that I have read just about EVERY thread about the 5speed swap into a 521 and I haven't seen a lot of talk about having to take out the ENGINE! I am working in my driveway on the ground here...I pulled the 5 inch shorter 4speed out easy. Not so easy on the way in with the "new" one! I would like to go on record here and say, that to all that read this thread about swapping a Zcar, close ratio 5speed into a 521...you NEED to PULL THE MOTOR! Unless I am missing somethin' (please tell me!) The tail housing goes all the way up into the shifter opening in the floorboard and then I am able to bring the bell housing side up until it hits the pressure plate. BONK!:confused:

So, after looking it over really well...I think everyone should know. It would have changed what equipment I borrowed from my friend:D

[datsunaholic]

You don't need to pull the engine... you can always pull the cab off instead!

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Sorry if i didnt mention it in my postings but yeah i did pull the motor. I believe i even posted a pic w/ the engine out. Theres NO way id ever attempt this swap without pulling the motor.

[mnementh666]

It's possible without the engine out, but I most sincerely would NOT recommend it.

I did it by myself, but I think there was a :poop: pile of luck involved.

I also pulled the motor mount bolts, and lifted the motor up with a jack a couple of inches, which helped the input shaft clear the clutch.

[datzenmike]

Could you leave the two front body mounts and undo the other four cab mounts and jack the back of the cab about 4-6"? That's 4" of extra tunnel space.

[datsunaholic]

I did that with my 720, but I still ended up with the tunnel bent all to hell. Harder with the 521/620 due to the solid steering shaft.

[datzenmike]

Groan, yeah forget that! I actually took the cab off by sliding the body up and off the column. Must have blocked that experience!

[denveratsun]

Yeah, the cab occured to me...for a second. I am gonna try the jack under the engin thing, but it really seems like it just needs to come out a bit more than that. idk...i got a guy down the street that will let me use his cherry picker. I'm just stuck between knoing that renting one doesn't cost much, and the fact that my friend that will let me borrow his for free is out of town until the 17th! I really want to drive this thing! :mad:

 

Anybody out there see any reason why a gooped up freeze plug wouldn't work on the back of the 521 flanged shaft. instead of having to weld it?

It seems like somewhere on this awesome site I saw it mentioned...just can't recall if it was a good thing or not:blink:

 

And then this all leads to wanting to pull the cruddy carpet and Dynamat the whole thing (anyone ever find carpet sets for these?) and recarpet it all...plus make new door panels...and kick panels with speakers in em...and a really cool old hotrod style center strip that leads down into a console...and a bench that has been lowered all the way to the floor...:rolleyes:

 

Thanks guys. Pics as soon as I can

[datzenmike]

Use lots of brake cleaner to remove any and all oil and the goop should stick.

 

I traced the cardboard kick panels onto thin wood paneling (maybe 1/8") cut them out with speaker holes and glued black speaker carpet to them. Looks not bad and can even survive the odd kick.

 

For the 620 KC (maybe the 520/521 has similar) there are curved cardboard panels under the side window that go back and curve and mould into the panel under the rear window. They get wet and the bottoms rot away. I got some large sheets of poster board and rolled a curve in 4-5 of them at one end so they looked like the letter J. I glued them together with contact cement to form a thick stiff board. Trimmed with as jig saw and knife and then covered with speaker cloth./ Used black headded screws to mount them. Matches the front kick pads.

[denveratsun]

You got any pics of these? Sounds good to me. There is a 620 KC at a local JY...I'm gonna go chech it out.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Brining this old ass topic to the top for anyone doing a 5 speed swap in a 521 :cool:

Damm i miss my 521...after the swap i was able to go 80-85 on the freeway no problem w/ an L 16. Id shift to 5th & the RPM's would drop down alot.