FastWoman

Your ECU might not be getting triggering pulses from the ignition. There should be connectivity between the negative terminal of your coil and the #1 pin of your ECU. Without this input, the ECU will not know that the engine is turning and will therefore not fire the injectors. You should get one injector pulse per every three sparks (i.e. one pulse per rotation of the engine). FAIW, a miniature Christmas tree light plugged into an injector connector is a great way to check whether your injectors are getting current. The light will flash every time the ECU delivers a pulse. The flashes will be longer/brighter if you unplug the coolant temp sensor, which will create an extreme rich condition.

That would be my take, too -- dead #3 (far right on the second photo, right?). Does the exhaust make a regular, consistant "chugging" sound? Aside from #1, the plugs look pretty lean. I'm guessing the plugs aren't very old. But still, the insulators are a bit chalky. Your #1 looks about ideal. You might have some partially clogged injectors. And these machines do sometimes tend to drift lean.

Obviously! Personally I'd keep the original wheels and caps in storage. Let your aftermarket wheels take the day to day abuse.

Andrew and Black Gold, thanks! Andrew, are the BD bumpers OEM (NOS), or are they current aftermarket production? Are they any good, as far as you know? With this resource available, it might not actually make sense to keep spare bumpers around. Dunno... My front bumper is really in decent enough shape, so I might pass on your kind offer for now. Worst case is that I can pick up a BD bumper. Now if I were local, I'd be right over to get it from you!

Check into a GM HEI retrofit -- cheap/easy ignition on a chip! Mine's been running like a champ for a couple of years or longer.

Black Gold, if only you had the rear! (Mine is corroded from exhaust acids.) Regardless, I'd be interested in adopting the front set if you'd be kind enough to ship to me. I'll of course gladly pay shipping.

I installed one of these mid-pipe on my '78: MagnaFlow/14 x 4 in. body polished stainless steel round muffler (14416) | Muffler | AutoZone.com The fit was good, and it's been a good muffler. There's even more room in the tunnel area of your 240. (My transmission is a bit larger.)

Might be!

Before you dump money and time into random problems, make certain you have power. Turn your key to IGN, and run a volt meter through all your fuses on both sides. They should all have 12V. If a lot of them DON'T have 12V, then it could indeed be either your ignition switch or a fusible link, as Gary suggested. I remember once having a fusible link go out on my '75 Z, and the car suddenly went stone dead as I coasted to the side of the road. It wouldn't crank or anything. I had to have it towed.

Low vacuum can be caused by incorrect fuel/air ratio, the wrong ignition timing (usually too retarded), and to a small extent from bad valve timing (from a worn timing chain) or adjustment. The valve issues would be evident in the compression numbers. Most people think vacuum leaks lead to low vacuum, but that's only true to the extent that they affect fuel/air mixture. If your engine is running rich (which these Z's never seem to do on their own), then introducing a vacuum leak will actually strengthen the vacuum. Vacuum is simply a reflection of how efficiently your engine is running. Anyway, the most common culprits seem to be mixture and timing. Of course make certain all of your cylinders are firing the same. Read the plugs. If you have any ignition failures or funky problems in just a couple of cylinders, that would drag down your vacuum numbers.

Don't trash anything! Give them away, if you must, but don't trash them. Some people actually like the 5 mph bumpers and feel they make a 280 look like a 280.

I know... I just have to reach a point that the annoyance of the buzz surpasses the effort of pulling the center console.

I don't know if you're referring to a shifter bushing buzz (as others are suggesting). I replaced my deteriorated nylon (OEM-style) shifter bushings with brass bushings. It gives the shifter a very nice, tight feel. AND it transfers rattles, buzzes, and whines brilliantly from the transmission, through the shifter, and into the cabin. It's driving me nuts.

More help than you were worth?! Nah, don't say that... Here's what you do to crank your engine without injecting fuel, creating spark, or doing anything else except turning the engine: Identify the smallest wire clipped to your starter, and pull it off. One wire of the remote starter will clip there, and the other end will clip to the positive post of your starter. Push the button, and the engine will crank. You don't have to worry about the engine starting or anything. Specific questions: 1. Leave the plug wires wherever you like. There will be no sparks. 2. The fuel pump won't be pumping. No worries. 3. You might put a brick on the pedal. This is done to allow air to enter the cylinders freely, so that there will be compression. If your mechanic didn't do this, that might explain the low numbers. Valve adjusting is easier than it sounds. You don't need a torque wrench. Just tighten the jam nuts roughly as tightly as they are when you loosen them. No brass hammer is needed to loosen the valve cover. Just unscrew the screws, and off it should come. Be careful to separate the gasket carefully as you're lifting the cover off. You don't want to tear it. (But if you do, your auto parts store can sell you a replacement.) Oh, and don't use the remote starter to rotate the engine (an exercise in frustration). Instead, use a big wrench on the crank pulley. Low numbers, if they're that low, would likely be from general engine wear, especially the rings. I'm skeptical of your numbers, though. FAIW, we had a boat with a fairly well worn engine with approximately those compression numbers. The engine ran fine, although I'm sure it ran better when new. Good luck!

You'd need that sticker with the appropriate emoticons: It's a Datsun NOT a Porsche

The documentation should specify the number of amps it draws. Just up-rate a bit from there, to the next fuse size (maybe leaving 50% overhead). As others have said, make sure your wiring is suitable for that ampacity. Standards and conventions vary widely, but your fuel pump circuit should be as safe as anything else in the car if you find another circuit with your chosen ampacity and duplicate the wire gauge used there.

If your old voltage regulator was trying to charge the battery at 20V, it's entirely reasonable that the old battery is toast. As long as your running system voltage doesn't get above maybe 14.5 V, when revving the engine slightly, I think you should be OK to drop in the new battery.

You're probably going to get better answers in the carburetor section. If the throttle mechanisms on your carbs JUST start to move when you JUST start to depress the accelerator pedal, the problem is not in your throttle linkage.

Well, there are a LOT of joints in the mechanism, so you have to adjust out all the play. When you just start pressing the pedal, the throttle should just start to move. You maybe need a TINY bit of slack to ensure the throttle closes completely at idle. Another problem could be a lean mixture. Your engine will bog just a bit off idle if it doesn't have enough gas in the mix. Beyond that, I don't know much about your carbs. This is your '71, right?

I NEVER see you driving around in my area -- northern Peninsula and southern Middle peninsula! Ah, gee... I was going to announce the car on this list, but the guy who was selling it had a LOT less patience than I though he would. I told a neighbor who wanted a Z like mine, and he had handed the car over to the dealership even before she could even look at it. Well, if I ever see another one, I'll let y'all know.

Another vote for "no stripes" from the stylish American South. :-) Such a lovely body needs no embellishments.

I agree with Wade. Even '77/'78 vented hood compartments are quite stuffy and get very hot. The earlier ones are doubly stuffy and hot. There's lots of room to the side of the engine, but the top of the engine is quite close to the hood, and there's very little circulation. I think you Californians are still on the more highly volatile winter formulation gas. That formulation, combined with warming weather, near-zero fuel pressure (engines aren't carbureted anymore), and poor hood compartment ventilation, could well be a recipe for boiling gas.

I suspect very little. There were differences between years in how the fuel pump shutoff was handled. In earlier years, there was a switch in the AFM that required 2 more wires than in later models. The connectors are the same, just having non-connected or missing contacts in later models.

In the 1980's I had the opportunity to buy the front half of an Auburn 851 Speedster for something like $6k. I passed it up :stupid:, not being able to locate the back half. If anyone spots the back half of an Auburn 851 Speedster, please DON'T tell me about it!

Mitchell, that's beautiful!