JimmyZ

Yeah, I think there was a change in the Q/P or door at some point. Think I remember it being discussed previously as has the entire seal issue. I did like the precision part. Too bad it won't work for me:( My precision seal took quite a slamming to close the door and once closed I was hardly able to open it. Door was adjusted right and flush with both panels. Jim HLS30 23654 Jim

The precision seal didn't work on my 2/71Z. Can't remember when they made the quarter panel/door a bit different.

Congrats on the graduation and Z! I wonder if the state inspection people get nitpicky if you switch to the earlier bumpers. (280>240) We don't have inspections in my state but that doesn't stop them from pulling you over and citing for non-compliance. My buddy drove his Z with no rear bumper for a while until a state trooper ticketed him for improper equipment.

My buddy Norm Simpers got 12.9 sec/1/4mile with bored dual SU's and a diesel crank. (2.9L N/A I believe) He was on a tight budget and built his engine using junkyard parts. Norm has a neat way of "willing" his cars to go faster. He also swapped 5 speed parts to attain best 1/4mi times. Here's what a blown clutch got him and a timeslip with 12.9@104mph on it. He dropped his tranny at speed when the clutch blew. Amazingly he got to keep all of his toes! Jim

Just "The Z" ,"Z car" and "poor Z car". Never could figure out the sex of mine. Maybe it can't make up it's mind which sex it is with all of the color changes over the years. This in NO way implies anything about the owner:) Jim

Awesome! Thanks for posting the outcome. My greatest brake fiasco was rebuilding the calipers and installing them on the wrong sides. It took me a while to figure out why the system wouldn't bleed. Swapped 'em back and all was well. Good to hear you're back on the road. Jim

Swapping engines isn't so bad. (My Z takes less than 2hrs to swap) Just have a few people handy to help keep from scratching when moving engines in that beautiful Z of yours. Not being able to enjoy such a fine ride is a crime. These cars can get you plenty of tickets and enjoyment with the stock motor. I almost lost my license twice when I first got the Z. My worst nightmare was coming home through Georgia doing 110-120 and seeing my ENTIRE rear view mirror consumed by a tailing state trooper. (Roads were entirely clear at 5AM where I was.) I was screwed and wondering how soon I'd be making my "one phone call" but then he passed me up! Dropping a few hundred for a spare motor makes good sense to me.

Here's a page I made which might help. I've done a few cars and am not an expert but I have learned a few things which might help save some headaches. http://warbuddies.homestead.com/RestoHelp.html Jim

Paint looks VERY nice! Did they sand and buff after painting? I almost had more fun when my car was a beater. I could park it anywhere and not care. There is such pride in having it look nice though. I once parked at the edge of a shopping mall thinking that I was safe. (6 mo after first paint job) When I came out there was a 4 door Buick parked two feet from my car. My paint was on their door so I told the girlfriend "Get inside". I then took my swiss army knife and flat edged a few large scars down the side of their car. After doing that I didn't quite feel satisfied so I cut off their vinyl top. I was a little pissed that out of the 1000 parking spaces they had to be that inconsiderate.:mad: Hope they learned something.:devious:

I had the same thing! They said "Sure you didn't mean a 240SX"? They even named a few other two-something cars until I stopped them. I said "Don't you remember when Nissan bought and restored the 240's a few years ago"? Uh....Uh no. This was a great opportunity to educate them about how this car helped put Nissan on the map. (At least in America) After describing a few other things about the car they became very interested and want to see it. The best thing might be to actually PARK it right out in front where all can see. Then you could open the door and hood and show them the placards stating who made it and when. The other PITA is that the parts counter guys try using the computer. (The book is better at least at Reed Nissan) They hate using the book. Of course the computer often spits out the generic parts and not the parts which SHOULD go on my early 71. For instance, they almost sold me a master cylinder for a 72. It is nice that they ask me for the VIN which I spout from memory much to their amazement... Part of the amazement is the low number and the other is the fact that I could know my own VIN by heart. I used to be very good friends with my Nissan parts manager. He always took care of me and often gave me a special price because he knew how much I love the car. He left (sigh) and in his wake are a bunch of borg drones who have "assimilated" their chairs up their butts.

True geez! It would be easier to have a "show" engine and an everyday engine.

Stoichiometric ratio (sp?) is 14.7parts air to one part fuel if memory serves me. (Modern engines can stretch the ratio due to design) Proper Stoich ratio gives us cars that run right and have the nice by-product producing lowest emmisions. Rich = Change the ratio to more fuel per unit of air and it will foul the plugs. (Black soot on plugs/Black smoke from exhaust) Lean= Change ratio to less fuel per unit of air and things will run hot. (Lean is very bad on a high compression engine) Going excessively lean can soften/melt pistons to the point of failure. Hot spots can lead to preignition or detonation. Normally fuel expands at a certain curve but when the mixture detonates the expansion becomes more of a jarring/slamming effect on the engine's parts. In race engines the parts are already loaded and the above average heat decreases their load carrying ability. Throw a few shocks to the system and something will break. Torsional vibration from detonation can trash a crank. It is interesting that some people in the past used water injection as a means of curbing detonation during peak power. Some combat aircraft in WWII used it. They had a minutes supply of water but that was often all they needed to outrun the bad guys etc. The beauty of EFI is that when it runs right the mixture is appropriate for the engine's demands. Modern engines have a sensor in the block which "hears" detonation and automatically retards the ignition timing ten degrees or so to keep from hurting anything. In our Z's we don't have this luxury. Jmortensen knows what he's talking about. It might not hurt to have the FI system looked over. There is also a great book on modifying Bosch fuel injection. This book explains many testing procedures and how things work. If I had a 280 I wouldn't be without it. http://www.amazon.com/Modify-Bosch-Injection-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0879385707

Make sure the heater hoses are actually running from the engine to the firewall. Some people bypass them if one busts on the road then forget to fix later. I think there is a dashpot which controls the heat on the 280's. (I have a 240) Either the dashpot is bad or the vacuum line to it is bad/leaking. Do a search for heat. One of the posts contained a picture of the dashpot out of an FSM. You may be able to manually prop the heater valve in the open position.

Very nice! Congrats!

On my 2/71 there is a single bar about midway down. Look up by between the hinges and you'll see two phillips head bolts. These hold the front part of said bar. The bar is about 2-1/2-3" wide.

No kiddin' about the bolt breakage thing. Had a long one from the F-cover snap once. That sucked! He ought to get by with the seal and W-P, I'd rather leave the chain for another day. Seems to me that the chain lasts as long as the rings do. (Unless improperly installed.) Get some anti seize too. Use it on bolt threads and the engine side of any gasket. Makes the next time around easier. Red loctite the crank bolt though.

John nailed it! That is the proper technical terminology that they SHOULD have used:)

BTW.. Where are you? Maybe one of us lives nearby.

Minor setbacks.. No prob really. It happens to the best of us! Bummer to hear about the shift rod:( Make sure that they remove the plating before welding the next one. They should bevel the edges for good penetration and use TIG welding if U want a stronger part. One fellow on the board did manage to install his collar backwards. If the assembly is a mushroom and the "head is your release bearing then the shroom should be "growing" FROM the tranny. The fattest part of the assembly will be furthest forward. Look and see. It's possible your clutch master might have started leaking. It was a reman too right?? If things were misadjusted then the MC would be under pressure all the time. Look under the dash and see if some fluid is coming out of it. Check and see if there are any other fluid leaks in the clutch hydraulic system. Sometimes reman parts are rebuilt with sloppy tolerances and are therefore prone to limited life. You'll get it and be better for it in the end. Jim

It is quite possible that you did get a poorly sprung or broken PP. The few reman Autozone 280Z PP's I've gone through over the years have always been OK. Nothing stellar but at least they grip good enough to bark the tires and lay rubber if need be. Peer through the bellhousing and see if the release bearing is off of the PP. You'll need a flashlight (penlight ideal here)and yes it will be a pain. After you've identified the release bearing try looking at it while the motor is running and in neutral. If it's spinning with the car running try backing off the adjustment w/ the slave rod. Take whatever precautions are necessary to make sure that the car won't fall or roll on you of course:) I'm very interested to see how this ends so keep us posted. Maybe someone else could help me here. I'm wondering if all Z flywheels are the same as far as height relative to clutch components. I had my flywheel machined once and can't remember if it was stepped or flush. A detail such as this might cause some trouble with full engagement.

N-man is right but you'll need to remove radiator for clearance when using a puller on the crank pulley. It would also be nice to be able to use an impact wrench when removing the pulley's nut. You might have to settle for chocking the flywheel so that a breaker bar can be used. 2c Jim

My 2/71 didn't have any lamps under the dash but it did have door switches and a buzzer. Kind of a courtsey/annoyance that buzzer was until I chucked it:)

Good deal! One more thought.. Just remembered taking a mech pump apart once and found that the valves were jammed with a few flecks of crud. Replaced the pump after blowing out the lines and no problems. No probs until the return orifice got clogged by said crap. Thought I'd add that. Good luck

Do you have a manual or the specs to adjust your pedal height and slave cylinder? I'd recheck the adjustment. Make sure that the fork is riding on the post properly. Sounds like you have a 280Z PP which is good. This leaves misadjustment as the most likely culprit. Second place goes to A binding collar. Shaft collar rides on may not allow the collar to back off enough. (Too much crud) This is kind of unlikely. Distant third possibility would be PP/flywheel/disc not cleaned before assembly.

It's the year 2007 and the world at large is still unenlightened and lacking any desire for true knowledge/spirituality. Getting rid of all one's vices doesn't guarantee you a free ticket through the pearly gates. The "misbehavior" is a symptom of a larger disease which is not easily cured until one is "called" to a different standard. One of my favorite verses was in Thessalonians regarding a "man of lawlessness". Basically a man was sent to deceive and was specifically allowed to do so because people did not want to know the truth. They were allowed to believe the lie and would perish with no intervention from above because of their superficial treatment of faith. Americans and the world at large are in for a bumpy ride:) 2c Jim