racebird1

If It died when you pulled the cable then you can be sure you have some sort of a power problem. Charge up the battery and try to disconnecting the altenator. It should run on battery power alone at least for awhile, but it needs a good charge. There may be a shorted component somewhere.

It's backordered from Tabco and still searching. Thanks

I am looking for a driverside lower exterior door skin (patch panel) for a 76 280Z. I need the bottom 8 inches or so. Nobody seems to have the left only the right. Please let me know if you know where I might be able to get one. Thanks

I am in need of a left door patch panel I have one on order from tabco but it's on backorder and I need it now. I might also need rear quarter patch panels. Does any one have any in stock? Thanks

Yes this is what I do not understand If adjusted in the proper position and the lobes are up and it's the right cam and valve components it can't push them down too far unless they go going down at the wrong time. The can only go as far as the height of the cam lobes. I would realy suggest making sure the timing is right and the right parts are there. I am not even sure that this is a interference engine. (meaning that it is possible for the valves to hit the piston if they go down at the wrong time) Good luck.

I just went through the exact same problem and when I got it to start as soon as you touched the gas pedal it would die. the problem I had was the rotors in the fuel pump were stuck in place. Check your fuel pressure just after the filter and you should have arround 36psi. It won't rum worth a dam on less than that. If you take the pump appart make sure you mark it and put it back together properly. It's easy to mess up the location of the center disc so match mark all parts. I have old posts on this check them out. Also print yourself a copy of the Fuel Injection bible. I don't have the link for it but do a search and you will find it here. Good luck

Can any body tell me where I can get front fenders for a 76 280Z? I have been searching with no luck. I realy could get away with a patch panel for the bottom 8 ". I haven't been able to find ant of those either.

The gas is just about 2 years old and unless somebody put fuel stabilizer in it. It is shot and it won't do any engine any good. When you go to start do some basic system checks first. Also I don't remember you saying you did the fuel filter but if not done change it. Then make sure you are getting fuel up to the FI system, and check to make sure you have good spark. If it's still not starting remember do not crank the engine untill the starter burns up. Give it a rest to cool down so you don't cook it. If you really want to try it before doing the tank you can run gas from a small temporary tank so you don't suck up the crud. GOOD LUCK

If it does it again look at the BCDD on the top of the throttle body this keeps the throttle from droping off when you let off the gas so it doesn't stall and if there is a vaccum problem it will keep it at a high rmp and come down very slowly like it is sticking. Good luck.

Try to remove it and make sure you can see the pump cam in the engine move in and out as you have someone crank the engine. Be carful not to get yourself or a article of clothing caught in any moving parts. I can't believe that it would go bad from siting. Are you cranking it long enough to suck up the fuel? Are you sure you didn't get a crack in the fuel line and are now sucking air in somewhere?

On some z's you need to fill the tank all the way up if you run it empty because you need the gravity to get the fuel back to the fuel pump. The pump if dry won't suck up the fuel. Let us know how you make out.

I hope I can help here because I just went through this and the whole 76 fuel system. The pump I had was in a car that I just got and has been sitting for quite some time. This does not seem to be your problem however I can give you some info that may help. Assumeing that nobody has played with your pump. Take a line right off the outlet of your pump right into a gauge that will go from 0 to 100 psi. Have someone or your self turn the key on for a bout 3 seconds and you should get at least 50 or 60 psi. Make sure you are not under the car and be careful not to get near anything that could burst or blow off and spray you with fuel. This should not happen but be careful and take necessary precautions just in case. If low and you are sure your suction line is clear than you can assume your pump is weak. Almake sure your pump is not sucking in air due to loose screws or bad orings. If ok then move on to checking just after the filter by putting a tee in the line and put gauge there. Should have 36.3psi. Make sure you check the links in the previous post they are very good and have the information you need . Good luck

I have painted a few cars in the past so I do know a bit about refinishing however I am not that familar with por15. The more I read into it the more confused I get so maybe someone here can give me some good common sence help. I have a 76z that has some surface rust areas but not all that bad. The only place that is through is the bottom of the passenger fender. These areas are pitted pretty bad and I plan on sand blasting with fine blasting media at low psi to get the rust out. What POR15 product should I put over these areas. If I brush this on after using the prep. Can I sand and feather edge the POR15 to get rid of the brush marks. If the POR15 works so well on the bare metal what is there primer for? Is POR15 reccomended for the exterior finish areas. Any help here would be greatly appreciated. Jim

When you buff only wet sand any heavy orange peel or dust nibs. Make sure you stay with super fine paper reccomend not under 600 grit and use a three step polish system Compound, polish, and hand glaze. And be very careful of the edges and lips or you will burn through in an instant if you use too much RPM's or get to dry on the polish. I just hate to see a grown man cry. You put too much time in a good paint job to rush the polish. Once again watch the corners and edges.

This may sound a bit stupid but the flat washers will work but make sure they are all about the same thickness. All washers are not created the same and if you are way off on the thicknes and really tighten them down you will be forcing something to bend. It won't hurt to go a bit thicker than the drum thicknes to make sure you don't pop the top off of your nuts.

I would be a bit concerned about the areas that will get stripped and will not be able to get to and recoat. I agree that it can't sit long after stripping. When recoating you must etch the bear metal or it will all start to peel off after 6 months or so. So make sure you etch the metal or use a self etching primer. Also make sure it is a primer sealer so as not to absorb moisture thru the primer.

Yeah I believe your probably right I would hope they Have. I read the post while doing a search and I guess I should have looked at the date. I have used wd-40 in the dist before to displace the moisture and it works great naturally you can't leave puddles in there you have to get all the excess blown out.

You Have to get that water out of the distributor because it won't run with it in there. When you close it up what does evaporate will only condensate on the inside of the cap. I would pull the dist. out and drain it and blow it out and find a safe spray to rinse it. Maybe brake cleen then blow it out again then a little wd-40 shouldn't hurt.

I am currently working on a 76 z that had almost the identical problem. refer back to a post Fairly new member 76 z. My main problem was fuel pump was put together wrong now this is not exactly the same because you have carbs and a differant pump pressure but they affects can be the same. As refered to above you need to check your floats to make sure they are not stuck open or closed. Fuel that has sat that long will always turn into varnish which will eventually turn into a gummy paste almost like glue. All of your fuel system moving parts will need to be cleaned. Your distributor advance plate should move more than 1/8 inch. You can carefully rotate the advance plate by hand and check for free movement. Also go back and put a vaccum line on it and you should be able to suck on it and get it to rotate it that amount. It is verry possible that the plate refered to above is also gummed up and not letting it move freely. Caution if you take it apart make sure you do it over a towel so you don't loose any small parts and make sure you know how to put all the parts back together properly. Good luck

When I checked this morning thats about 20 hours after shutting it off it still had 11 psi pressure on the gauge. I may have to do additional tests to see if it is leaking out a injector or the check valve. The distributor is back in and running. It does seem to be burning rich untill it warms up, Then it runs almost perfect. The vaccum advance works very well no hanging up or sticking. I would suggest that if anybody takes one appart to take pictures and mark things as you go. There are a lot of pieces and could very easily be put back together wrong But it is doable.

I checked the pressure today under the hood with a tee fitting just after the filter and got almost exactly 36.3 psi. It held the pressure for a few minutes but very slowly started to bleed down a little. I left it hooked up to the gauge to see what I have tomarrow. How long should it hold pressure? I also checked the return line and I have plenty of gas now returning back to the tank. I am going to run a line to a temporary tank tomarrow so I don't suck up crud from the old tank. It still ran a little ruff today because of the cold I got to looking into the dist. and found that it is not advancing. I have it out and I am cleaning it up. The grease between the rotation plates is all dried up and just needed cleaning. There is no rust what so ever but does anybody have any suggestions on what type of grease to use in there?

This problem for the most part has been solved today. What I realy needed to know was how the fuel pump is supposed to be assembled. The Po had it apart and aparently put it back together wrong. I toyed with it for awhile today and through process of elimation I got it back together properly and it now pumps over 50 psi I put it back on the car and she now revs up perfectly I was even able to drive it a bit. What a good feeling to drive a 280Z thats been dead for 18 years. For anybody that needs to know when taking the pump apart make sure you carefullY match mark all the pump head pieces. Looking at it straight on from the suction end and the discharge outlet nipple pointing up, the suction nipple will be a 3 o:clock as shown in the manual and the center pump disc should have a match line or possibly a grove and that mark should be at the 9 o:clock position. It pretty much lines up with the notch in the pump housing. It is also possible to put it in upside down and then it won't line up correctly. Also remember the the inlet filter screen clogs easily an is most likely going to be a major csause of low fuel pressure. It you z breaks up when you give it gas check you pressure and if low check this screen if it's got dirt in it you will need to clean your tank as previously stated. This z would bearly start or run on 10 psi of fuel. Got the pressure up and it runs pretty darn good for sitting 18 years. Now I know it runs and can start with the restoration and know I will end up with a running car.

The FSM says the system will maintain 36.3 psi above the vaccum. Should my pump be putting out at least 36.3 psi and I definately agree that the tank must get cleaned but right now I am getting clean gas out and I just want to get this thing running good before tearing it completely down. Will low pressure cause it to run like that? Thanks

I lost what I just added so I will try again. The fuel pump has a alignment line on it that I am sure it's location is very important. Does anybody have a pump lying around that they could look at and see where this line is supposed to be lined up at. I found no reference to it anywhere and can find no match marks on the rest of the pump. I am using a regular pressure gauge to try to test pressure. The one I bought only went up to 15 psi so I am trying this one that is 0 to 160. I also put a hose from the outlet of the filter directly into thr gauge and still only get 10 psi. I do thingk that there is decent flow. I then took the return line off right by the filter and started the engine and I don't get any fuel going back to the tank. It actually looked dry inside that line. Shouldn't I be getting a little fuel returning? I checked the timing and it is high at idle it's about 25 deg. and if I take it back to 8 deg it will stall. The PO has tried to get this running and may have done some things wrong and has given up and I mean permanatley (meaning he is now pushing up daisys). If my pump is bad where can I get another one I have not seen one on e-bay. Thanks so much for any help you can give I would really appreaciate it. Anywhere I can help in the future I would be glad to.

Hope someone can help. I am pretty new to the fourm but have spent a ton of time researching here and the fsm and FI Bible to find some information to help solve my problem. I will tell you what I know and maybe someone can tell me what I don't. I have a 76 z been sitting for 18 years. I got it started but is a bit hard to start. I cannot give it gas or it just breaks up very bad and backfires through the intake. If I give it gas very slowly it will rev up pretty good(very slowly). I have drained fuel tank and put in good gas. I have installed a new battery. I have tried to swap out ECU brain and no change. I have checked and fixed all vaccum leaks. I have isolated sections of vaccum lines and pulled vacum and it holds. Yesterday I pulled fuel pump because it doesn't seem to be getting much fuel and found very clogged strainer. I also have a extra pump and found the same. I noticed that both pumps were not put together the same. The center disc with the offset hole for the pump rollers were not in the same way.I can also tell someone has been there before. The pump the was on the car had 2 rollers stuck in place with lacqure and varnish. I am not 100% sure which way to put the disc but tried several ways and on bench testing only got 10 lbs on 1 and so far none on the other. How many psi with gauge from hose right to pump. Continued