well, i have been trying to get the '77 280Z to work for a while now in my free time (which isnt much because of finals lately, but i digress).

current problem: besides an electrical snafu, i have been having problems with the clutch. i originally thought it was just that we had plenty of air in the clutch lines, so after bleeding them (and being able to observe that the slave cylinder is moving nicely after the bleed)... went to fire it up tonight and move it out of the garage (because my dad wants to park in there again). so i turn on the engine, depress the clutch, and attempt to move the shifter into reverse... griiiiiiiiiind of synchros (which are already bad enough if i dont say so myself)... a bit of cursing... another failed attempt, and more cursing... so... can anyone tell me how to diagnose my clutch, or even make it work?

Put the car in first gear THEN while still holding the clutch down move the shifter to reverse.That should stop the grinding.If the shifter doesn't want to go into reverse,put the car in neutral let the clutch out and back in and start again with first.Let me know if this helps. Daniel

It sounds like this car has been sitting for awhile. Mine had been too when I first got it.

I had a similar problem. Start the car in nuetral, but it would grind when trying to go into gear, any gear. Clutch system was working fine. Turned out my clutch disc was stuck to the flywheel! Over time, a little moisture can get in there and put a light surface rust on the flywheel which will in turn literally glue the clutch disc to it.

You might try this. Bump the starter (don't hold it on, just turn the key on/off real quick) with the car in gear. Do not use the clutch. Sometimes this will work to break the clutch disc loose off the flywheel. If it doesn't, then you'll have to pull the tranny and break it loose by hand.

Before you try kmacks suggestion,I suggest pulling the coil wire off first.We know they normally don't start on a bump,but better safe than sorry.Hate to here you shot thru your garage!!

Sorry, I should have mentioned that you should do this out on the street (preferably) or in the driveway.

Daniel's right. It's not a good idea to do this in your garage (unless the car is facing out of the garage). Just use common sense.

Originally posted by Daniel

Put the car in first gear THEN while still holding the clutch down move the shifter to reverse.That should stop the grinding.If the shifter doesn't want to go into reverse,put the car in neutral let the clutch out and back in and start again with first.Let me know if this helps. Daniel

tried double clutching (is that the terminology?), as well as doing what you said... and it still wouldnt go into gear... so, sometime this weekend, im going to take kmack's suggustion, and see if that will work... i really dont want to drop the transmission, so im hoping that it will dislodge the clutch from the flywheel... anything else that might work, like a push start, only not to start, but rather to disloge the clutch?