I just wanted to add an interesting development to this story about these throttle body parts.

As suggested, I posted a "Wanted to Buy" ad in the classified section of this website (it's still there). Shortly afterward I received a response from someone identifying themself as "week2479" telling me to PM (contact) a second party "klxn300897@gmail.com" who, they said, had what I needed.

So that's what I did...

When I received a response from the second party, his name was "Logan Key"...and he said he had what I needed. I tried to get him to answer several questions that I had about what he was selling...but all he seemed interested in was getting me to send him the money for the spring ($30). After several emails it became apparent to me that he was only interested in scamming me...also, interestingly, the original response to my classified ad from "week2479" has now been deleted from my ad posting.

Thought you all would be interested in hearing this...so....I'm still looking for these parts...if you read this and would like to sell them to me I'd appreciate it if you could respond to my "Wanted To Buy" post....Thanks!

6 hours ago, ea6driver said:

I just wanted to add an interesting development to this story about these throttle body parts.

As suggested, I posted a "Wanted to Buy" ad in the classified section of this website (it's still there). Shortly afterward I received a response from someone identifying themself as "week2479" telling me to PM (contact) a second party "klxn300897@gmail.com" who, they said, had what I needed.

So that's what I did...

When I received a response from the second party, his name was "Logan Key"...and he said he had what I needed. I tried to get him to answer several questions that I had about what he was selling...but all he seemed interested in was getting me to send him the money for the spring ($30). After several emails it became apparent to me that he was only interested in scamming me...also, interestingly, the original response to my classified ad from "week2479" has now been deleted from my ad posting.

Thought you all would be interested in hearing this...so....I'm still looking for these parts...if you read this and would like to sell them to me I'd appreciate it if you could respond to my "Wanted To Buy" post....Thanks!

@Mike seems we have some scammers in the classifieds. 

@ea6driver I posed a question to your classified ad. 

9 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Terrapin, I think those parts look perfect for any of the 280s, including the 78.

Thanks for the confirmation. The springs and collars looked right, just the lever looked a little different. 

1 hour ago, Terrapin Z said:

Thanks for the confirmation. The springs and collars looked right, just the lever looked a little different. 

Yeah. now that you mention it... It appears that the spring anchoring hole does not exist on the lever part you have there. The spring and washers look fine, but that lever looks like it might not be the right part.

I'll look at the parts tomorrow with fresh eyes instead of digging through old pics. I hope I didn't give you guys bad advice when I said they were correct.   

20 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Yeah. now that you mention it... It appears that the spring anchoring hole does not exist on the lever part you have there. The spring and washers look fine, but that lever looks like it might not be the right part.

I'll look at the parts tomorrow with fresh eyes instead of digging through old pics. I hope I didn't give you guys bad advice when I said they were correct.   

My spring mount holes are still on the TB, and still look different than ea6's  I do still think the long spring and the collar parts look the same though. 

The Parts Manual shows four variations.  Might be a clue.

https://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-280z/e-f-i/air-flow

I dug into some boxes here and took some pics. Apologies to @Yarb and everyone else for the incorrect info I posted earlier.

Here's the 280Z linkage. View from the top:

From the bottom:

And here's a close-up where you can see washers on either side of the spring:

And here's a shot where I'm holding the mounting bracket with the second return spring:

And since I had boxes open, I pulled out a ZX throttle body. Looks like this:

So it appears (to the naked eye) that the torsion spring, washers, and center tube are the shared between the Z and the ZX, but the part where the linkage ball and socket joint attaches is different. I believe that part pictured above is from a ZX, not a Z. 

Pretty...

Thanks for the extra pictures CO. after putting my sunglasses on to cut the glare it looks to me like the washers and center collar pin are the same but the long spring might be a different length. 

I asked ea6 to measure his and see how for off they were. I still may have another TB or two laying around. I just did not have any ID from the cars they were off of. (Hoard purchase)

The socket arms / brackets are most assuredly different. 

Interestingly enough, the springs are the same length overall but the 280Z spring as a longer wound section than the ZX spring. 

I am sending the 280Z spring and collars to ea6 as they are all in better shape. I assume the tension on the spring is different too, with a longer wound area. 

Of course the English language has two definitions for wind and wound 

"I will wind my watch until it is wound all the way"  or  "The wind sent a shard into my arm and I now have a serious wound" WTF!!

 

 

A sincere thanks to all of you who have made positive contributions to this post...Terrapin Z is shipping me the parts I need...and as usual, I have learned something more about our Z's that I didn't know before...this website continues to be a gem for researching all things "Z"...I am always quick to recommend this site to any Z owners I meet that aren't already aware of it. Now...on to the next problem!

Great. Hope the rest of the project goes smooth.