PART ACQUISITIONS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2025
Onto some better news now, everyone.
As many of you know, since getting the car back on the road, I've been dealing with an issue where the transmission isn't shifting through the gears as it should. While it hasn't stopped me from driving the car, it's definitely a problem that will need to be addressed once the ongoing brake issues are finally resolved over the coming weeks or months.
As I've mentioned in a couple of previous updates, I suspect the transmission is currently unable to shift into both 2nd and 4th gear. My assumption is that the gearbox will ultimately need to be removed, disassembled and rebuilt to rectify the fault. While this won't be a small undertaking, my dad and I are planning to tackle the rebuild ourselves. Not only will this save a significant amount in labour costs, but it will also give us the opportunity to learn more about the RE4R01A transmission by removing it from the car, stripping it down, rebuilding it, and reinstalling it ourselves.
Although rebuilding the original transmission would save a considerable amount of money, it would also leave the car off the road for quite some time. After already spending around six to seven months working through the brake bleeding issues since February, the thought of having the car out of action for another extended period of time just wasn't particularly appealing.
With that in mind, I spent the next seven months casually searching the internet for a good used RE4R01A transmission. If I could find a complete, working unit at the right price, it would be a much faster way of getting the car back on the road while allowing me to rebuild my original gearbox at my own pace.
My first option was to reach out to my contact in Japan, Jesse Streeter, to see if he could source a transmission from Yahoo! Auctions Japan. There were a few promising listings available, but unfortunately he wasn't able to arrange shipping for something as large and heavy as a complete transmission to Australia. That ruled out importing one from Japan almost immediately.
My next step was to speak with a local JDM parts supplier and mechanic to see if he had a suitable transmission available or knew of someone who did. As it turned out, he did have a used twin-turbo RE4R03A transmission for sale, but it also required a complete rebuild. To make matters worse, he wanted $2,000 AUD for the faulty gearbox, with the additional condition that I hand over my original transmission as a rebuildable core for him to sell to the next customer.
Although I'd had reasonable dealings with him throughout this restoration, the proposal simply didn't stack up. I'd still have to rebuild the replacement transmission, spend a considerable amount of money, and lose my original gearbox in the process. When I weighed everything up, rebuilding my own transmission was clearly the more sensible option, so I politely declined the offer and continued my search.
As the months passed, it became increasingly obvious just how difficult these transmissions are to find in Australia. Japan had several used RE4R01A gearboxes available for between $200 and $400 AUD, but without a practical way to ship them here they were effectively out of reach. There were also a number of transmissions available in the United States, but once freight costs were factored in, importing one simply wasn't financially viable.
Given how common manual conversions are within the 300ZX community, I genuinely expected there to be a healthy supply of second-hand automatic transmissions on the market. Instead, my search proved the exact opposite. At least here in Australia, good used RE4R01A transmissions are surprisingly scarce, making the hunt far more challenging than I had ever anticipated.
Just when I thought all hope was lost, I stumbled across an online advertisement from an automotive workshop located in Western Australia offering a used 300ZX automatic transmission for just $1,000 AUD.
Initially I thought that this shop was located overseas but when I realised it was a shop located in Australia I knew that this was going to be the one I was looking for.
Needless to say, I couldn't contain my excitement when I came across the listing. I immediately called my dad to discuss the possibility of purchasing the transmission as a replacement for my faulty original gearbox.
After talking it through, we realised there were still a number of important questions that needed answering before committing to the purchase. The listing didn't mention whether the transmission was in good working condition, nor did it specify whether it was the naturally aspirated RE4R01A or the twin-turbo RE4R03A model. On top of that, the cost of shipping such a large and heavy item across the country was a complete unknown, and that's always something I like to factor into the total cost before proceeding with a purchase.
I emailed the workshop to ask them more about the transmission and answer my questions above as well requested an estimate on shipping the transmission across the country to Victoria when I'm located.
The workshop promptly replied later that day, confirming that the transmission had been operating perfectly before being removed from the donor vehicle. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell me exactly which version of the transmission it was which was surprising but they said they were look into it for me.
After doing some research into the visual differences between the naturally aspirated and twin-turbo gearboxes, I carefully examined the photos in the listing and thankfully, all the identifying features on this gearbox pointed towards it being an NA RE4R01A transmission, which was exactly what I needed to match my existing drivetrain.
The biggest surprise, however, was the shipping cost. Despite the transmission needing to travel over 3,400 kilometres across Australia, the workshop quoted just $50 AUD for freight directly to my door.
That was a deal I simply couldn't pass up.
With all of my questions answered, there was nothing left to do but purchase the transmission. I completed the payment immediately, and once the tracking details came through, I was amazed to see the estimated delivery time from Western Australia to Victoria was only two to three business days.
I honestly couldn't believe my eyes.
When it arrived later that week, I couldn't have been happier. The entire buying experience was smooth from start to finish, and I was genuinely impressed that a complete transmission could be transported across the country so quickly—and for such an incredibly low freight cost. It was one of those rare purchases where everything came together perfectly.
https://i.postimg.cc/G2R1vx8n/1-Second-Hand-RE4r01A-Automatic-Transmission-Purchased-1.jpg
The unit was strapped down to a wooden pallet and covering in black shrink wrap.
Because I had the transmission delivered to my work address, I wasn't able to transport the transmission home myself, so I arranged for my dad to drive up in his SUV to collect it and bring it back to his place. The plan was to give the gearbox a thorough inspection, remove the transmission pan, and carefully check the condition of the internals before making any decisions.
If everything checked out, the replacement transmission could simply be installed once the brake bleeding issue was finally resolved. Alternatively, we could have this gearbox fully rebuilt first and then install it, giving me a freshly reconditioned transmission from the outset. At this stage, we were still weighing up which approach would be the better long-term solution.
https://i.postimg.cc/bvkhGBJq/2-Second-Hand-RE4r01A-Automatic-Transmission-Purchased-2.jpg
Finally home safe and sound ready for a thorough inspection process to begin.
For now, though, I'm simply relieved to have found an affordable RE4R01A automatic transmission that is hopefully in excellent working condition. After months of searching, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted, and I'm looking forward to inspecting it properly before eventually installing it in the car.
By
DJ_Party_Favor ·
