77 280z Restoration

[SteveJ]

Put a can of dusting air in the car. If the car acts up, open the hood, hold the can upside down, and spray the ignition module with the liquid. That should cool it off quickly. If your car runs fine after that, you found your problem.

[280Zrewind]

I agree the ignition is the likely problem and the test proposed for the module is a good one.  Other possibility is the magnetic pickup in the distributor, but I think that’s less likely.  

[Zed Head]

15 hours ago, SteveJ said:

Put a can of dusting air in the car. If the car acts up, open the hood, hold the can upside down, and spray the ignition module with the liquid. That should cool it off quickly. If your car runs fine after that, you found your problem.

This is the standard test for the E12 module failures, from what I've read over the years.

You can wire in a GM HEI module using the red and green trigger wires from the distributor if you find that that's the problem.  People have even mounted them on the sides of the ZX distributor.  It's the same type of module, just a different shape.

[dutchzcarguy]

Could also be a bad connection.. somewhere.. I would start to clean every cable connection in the car as they are over 40 years old.. use some de-oxid in your connections and some special grease to keep the connections perfect.

This is a few hours of work i think but keeps you from A LOT of trouble that bad connections can cause.

[Av8ferg]

Thanks for all the advice guys.  I will get a can of that stuff for the future.   
so I had a couple back up E12 modules so I just swapped one out.  Cleaned the connections with contact cleaner and triple checked the connections.   I also tested the temp sensors resistance to make sure it was in tolerance.   300 ohms at the sensor and 307 at the plug to the ECU when engine was hot.   Thanks S30driver for that advice.   Car is running now, let it heat up and took it for a spin.  Stayed less than 1/2 mile from gloss at all times and put my kids electric skate board in the back incase I needed to get back.   
So far so, it’s shaken my confidence so it will be awhile before I hit the real roads.   
I like the idea of the GM HEI as a back up.   Would be nice to mount that near the coil and have the wire coiled up and ready to go.  ZedHead, what’s requited for that mod where I currently sit? 
 

[Zed Head]

Curious, are your E12 modules Nissan brand or aftermarket?  I think that that is one of the issues a person has to consider.  The E12 aftermarket does not have much competition so the product quality is sketchy.  Look at the price difference on the only two available on Rockauto and then look at the pictures.  Who knows what's going on...

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1981,280zx,2.8l+l6,1209338,ignition,ignition+control+module+(icm),7172

Anyway, you can get get lost down a rabbit hole when you start modifying things, as you've already found out.  Here is a write-up about the HEI module from EuroDat.  In short, there are five connections that you need to worry about.  Get those five correct and you can put the module wherever you want to.  I have seen people put it in place of the E12 module on the side of the distributor. 

The five points are the two trigger wires, red and green to G and W on the module, the B for battery, the C for coil negative, and the ground contact through the mounting hole.

There is another writeup in the downloads area showing how to jumper the board in the E12 module but it seems overly complex to me.  Just extend the green and red wire from inside the distributor.

You have to put your electronics nerd hat on to get in to it.  

 

[bartsscooterservice]

On 3/18/2022 at 5:17 PM, Av8ferg said:

ZHome page shows that they didn’t make a 3.9 in the R180.   So looking a pics online Ii found 3.9 R200’s that looks like mine and others that have the bolts around the where the hang shafts attach.  So did they change the designs in the later years of the ZX?  
 
 

i have an r180 here with 3.90, but it's from a 240z non us, so they did make them, just not on the later z's

[Av8ferg]

Wrapping up the interior.  I’m pretty happy with the outcome.  It’s not perfect but it has come a long way.  I wish I had great pics of the interior to show the before and after.   The bottom line my car had no interior and no seats when I bought it.  Everything is new or something I either bought or salvaged. The only interior pieces that I had were the plastic panels that go around the rear quarter windows.  The headliner was also in good shape and required no work.  There was no vinyl on the shock towers or wheel wells.  I salvaged mine off a junked Z in a salvage yard.  
You can see in the before pics the interior was just bare metal.  Still haven’t figured on the center console arm rest mechanism.  I have all the parts (springs and wires ) just haven’t figured out how is works yet.  I also need new sun visors, or to have mine refurbished.  

[siteunseen]

IPLooks like an early console? 75 & 76 maybe. My 'early '77 like your model has the lid that opens towards the passenger's side (duh). The ashtray looks different in these pics. Maybe it's the heat but I'm confused!

[280Zrewind]

Looks sharp!  Said this before, but good to have a look at this to keep me inspired toward completing my 78 project.  You may have reported this before, but where did you find the steering wheel?  It’s a nice addition.  

[Av8ferg]

23 minutes ago, 280Zrewind said:

Looks sharp!  Said this before, but good to have a look at this to keep me inspired toward completing my 78 project.  You may have reported this before, but where did you find the steering wheel?  It’s a nice addition.  

Found the steering wheel in a junkyard on a 240z.  I acquired 2 on them that way and bought one for $165.  This one in the pics was the worst condition one of the batch.   It was really bad.   I decided to attempt a refurbishment of this one as a test and it came out great so I didn’t bother with the other one.   I donated the one I bought to a friend that has helped me out on this build.  Will probably sell the last one I have. 
Here is what it looked like when I got it. 
 

[bartsscooterservice]

You could try sanding it and then apply boat laquer clear coat with a brush