1977 280z EFI Nightmare

[siteunseen]

46 minutes ago, Mark Maras said:

 Or lightly coat the part with grease, press it onto the gasket material and cut off the unstained parts.

Another trick that makes things easier! You should write a book. We all could assist by adding our tricks/cheats.

Call it "A to Zs, refurbishing Z cars".

 

[Mark Maras]

 If I wrote a Z book it would contain all the dumb things I've tried and failed at or worse injured myself than helpful tips. Hmm. maybe combining both subjects, like, when you blow the caliper pistons out with air, after the first one comes out, DON'T stick your hand in the caliper to block air from escaping out of the open cylinder. A hand is an effective method to facilitate the removal of the other piston but the rest of the brake job is very slow and painful.

[siteunseen]

We could get Band-Aid to sponsor this...

 

Do like the "Kartrashions" and brand our on band-aid with the Z logo. We'd get sued to hell and back but they'd be cool.

Edited April 27, 2021 by siteunseen

[Captain Obvious]

6 hours ago, ckurtz2 said:

Just pulled it off to double check. Behold... no gasket 🙃  I am amazed the car even ran haha. With all these leaks adding up it had to of had literally zero vacuum.

Looking online I could not find a gasket for the AAR,

Agree with the above... For a gasket that simple, I would just pick up some gasket material and make my own.

So did you ever do an intake manifold vacuum test? Would be a good benchmark to see the improvements you're making as you go along.

[Captain Obvious]

3 hours ago, Mark Maras said:

A hand is an effective method to facilitate the removal of the other piston but the rest of the brake job is very slow and painful.

  Ooops!

I assume it grew back?    

[ckurtz2]

Thanks guys, hahah. Made me laugh. I will take note to not do that when I rebuild the calipers🤣😎

Made a gasket from some old gasket like material I had. Here is my masterpiece of craftsmanship (I cleaned it up a little more after this photo)

@Captain Obvious  No I never did an initial vacuum check. I am waiting on a part to come in so I can rewire the harness for an AM alternator, so I am just using my time to try and fix the vacuum leaks. Not a bad idea at all though so I could have gotten a benchmark test, bummer. I will do one when it starts though as a benchmark before I start tinkering with other things.

Edited April 28, 2021 by ckurtz2

[Mike]

Check to make sure you have these files to help with your EFI system..

 

[ckurtz2]

@Mike

I got them pinned to the top of my search bar. Definitely going to be handy when I start testing all the AFM and other electronical stuff.

Edited April 29, 2021 by ckurtz2

[ckurtz2]

So the fun begins. Fired it up yesterday. Still a very unhappy motor even with all the vacuum fixes I did. Also the car knocks when I push in the clutch so somehow I messed up the throwout bearing, and I have literally zero I idea how. Actuates super smooth when the car isn't running.

Anyhow, ran a compression check. I forgot to open the throttle valve to full throttle, but I didn't open the throttle for any so I know the numbers are consistent.

Cylinder # and psi

1:  148

2:  took a few more turns, but 150

3: 153

4: 150

5: 144 (didn't turn the starter motor as much for this one so I am sure it's fine)

6: 150

So the numbers aren't perfect, but I would consider them consistent enough? When I pulled the plugs I noticed they were extremely fouled. So my little bird is running super rich. Odd thing is that if I move the counterweight on the AFM to lean it out, it runs much worse:( So idk what that could mean.

So I am going to do the 35pin continuity check on the harness connector at the control module. Am I supposed to leave the battery connected for this? I am a super noob with electronics, and this will be the first time using a multimeter

Edited April 30, 2021 by ckurtz2

[Zed Head]

1 hour ago, ckurtz2 said:

Also the car knocks when I push in the clutch so somehow I messed up the throwout bearing

Not sure TOB fits a knock.  Does it knock once or continue knocking as the engine rotates?  And does it disengage?

[ckurtz2]

Just now, Zed Head said:

Not sure TOB fits a knock.  Does it knock once or continue knocking as the engine rotates?  And does it disengage?

It continues knocking only when the clutch is depressed and the car is on. I can feel it in the pedal as well:( I can feel it start knocking when I begin to start applying pressure on the pedal.

[Zed Head]

Could be a pressure plate issue.  The levers/fingers that the TOB sits on might be unbalanced, or stuck.  The TOB should be centered on the pressure plate fingers by the nose of the front cover.  Although if the TOB wasn't seated on the fork correctly it might be pressing sideways on the fingers, kocked.  Interesting puzzle.

Bummer though.  The trans must come out.