Zed Head

The thought actually crossed my mind when I was writing, that it was incorrect. But, I'm not actually sure what it is that he bought. The catalog and web page are not very clear. The web page says "shells". The catalog says doors, but the picture is of a skin. It seems like it might be somewhere between complete door and skin. Not sure. But, I just went to look for more information and came across the specific door steel page. It describes "1970 to 1976 door shells". I wonder if they sent the wrong year to Derek. https://resurrectedclassics.com/products/1970-1976-datsun-240z-260z-280z-steel-door-shell-set " 1970-1976 Datsun 240z 260z 280z Steel door shell set $1,395.00" Looking at the intricacies of the innner door in your picture - the window mounting, and the latching mechanism, and the arm rests - it's hard to imagine that all of that would be right if the basic elements of mounting the door and the striker mechanism are not. It's an opportunity for RC. I hope that they take advantage. It might be that they don't know of the differences that occurred over the years and just assumed.

Was the issue similar? Looking back at Derek's comments I notice that the replacement skin was not the same as the one it replaced. That's not a good sign for future customers. How would that happen? So, it looks like there is some variability across the production process. And the fact that the screw holes don't line up is a big deal. If RC has more stock on the shelves it might be found that some are correct and some are not. The problem is that they're not all the same. They should be. At this point RC should really consider building a jig, in Georgia, that represents a 240Z body and test fitting each panel. Otherwise, it's almost certain that other customers will have, or are having, this type of problem. I work in manufacturing also so this seems obvious to me. You have to wonder how these parts are being made if there is so much variation on areas that are obviously critical to proper function, like the door striker plate mounting holes. Sorry RC, but if there's variation here there's probably variation everywhere, in all of your stamped metal products. There is obviously a problem with the manufacturing process. I'd guess that the parts are actually made elsewhere, maybe overseas, so the problem is probably with RC's supplier. Tight specs have not been set or have been set but are not verified. Good luck with the venture. Things will only get worse if this is true. As Derek suggested, customers should test fit their parts immediately and request corrective action if they find problems. It's a bummer, but it seems necessary.

Can't remember if you still have EFI or if you went to carbs. They might have different causes.

I do like to help solve a problem if I can. @Resurrected Classics should have a chance to respond. They joined the site March 2023. They got some positive comments. Let's see what happens. Derek is not your run-of-the-mill car guy, he probably knows what he's talking about and went way above and beyond what most would. No offense intended to the run-of-the-mill guys and gals. Who knows, maybe people should just avoid buying door skins from RC. https://www.classiczcars.com/profile/45015-resurrected-classics/

It would be interesting if you sent the doors to someone else with an original no-bodywork 73 to see what they find. Unless you're going to deconstruct them and start over. Also, if anyone out there has seen both 71 and 73 doors, do they swap easily? I don't know much about the 240Z body differences. Only what the parts catalog shows.

I'm just trying to help Resurrected solve their problem. If they want to. They could be just another fly-by-night parts vendor. It's just very odd that they would create those very expensive stamping dies and use them to create crap parts. Makes no sense at all, unless it's all a scam.

There's only one door skin style shown in their catalog. In left and right, but no pre- and post- 09/71. Maybe they assumed all 240Z's are the same. https://resurrectedclassics.com/pages/catalog

Their web page describes a thorough process. Hard to see where they would have screwed up. Maybe it's just words and they actually get the parts from overseas. Looks like they're based in Georgia. Any chance that a 1973 door skin is different from a 1971 door skin? Maybe they just started with the wrong part. Carpartsmanual says that they changed at 09/71. Maybe you got a 71 part. https://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/body-240z/door-panel-glass-hinge https://resurrectedclassics.com/pages/manufacturing Manufacturing Our manufacturing process begins with selecting the best samples of the pieces we want to produce. Usually this is a NOS panel, meaning "New Old Stock" that is an original piece produced by Datsun/Nissan. This panel is then scanned and turned into a three-dimensional model where it is used to make a die. The die is then used in conjunction with a machine to press into sheet metal to make the desired panel. After this is complete a prototype is made, we test each prototype against the original Nissan part and check for any inconsistencies and make notes. Lastly, if there were any issues with the prototype panel a second panel is made and checked again against the original Nissan part. The last step of this process after the prototype panel is confirmed is mass production. As you can imagine this is not an easy process, finding panels suitable to be used for reproduction is difficult and time consuming but we believe the end result is worth it. By using the best available panels as templates and our lengthy testing process, we are able to bring the most accurate panels produced to Datsun enthusiasts. We are continually adding new parts to our inventory every day with more parts lined up afterwards and still more being sourced.

Howdy @Mike Just curious. Why the change? " Hey all, wanted to let everyone know that we will be moving to an email-only based login around mid-December. Please make sure you start using this method to log in now (it's enabled already). We will be moving away from 'username' based log-ins. For instance: My username is "Mike" on the website. I can log in using my username or I can use my assigned email address in the system right now. In December, I will ONLY be able to log in using my email address. You can check your current email address in your "account settings" (next to your name in the upper right). Email addresses are NOT published to the public. Thank you! Mike"

Another COVID years auction car coming up for resale on BaT. It got good money for a ZX. $51,500 then, and up now with no reserve from the same person that bought it. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-datsun-280zx-61/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-datsun-280zx-21/

The three way T should go to the ported vacuum on the TB, the charcoal canister, and the distributor vacuum advance mechanism. Here's a good place to browse pictures. https://bringatrailer.com/search/?s=1976+280z https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1976-datsun-280z-88/

That nipple shouldn't have a vacuum source connected to it, it should be open to the air. It's a common mistake. Don't know why Nissan designed it that way. A common problem with the pre-77 throttle bodies is that the blade gets gummed up and sticks open. You might check that. Next time it hangs at 2000 pull up on the throttle pedal with your toe or open the hood and press the linkage closed. Another possibility is that the return spring rusted and broke. It's hidden away, low and behind the TB. Can't remember if you already addressed that possibility. Finally, the other "hanging high" problem is caused by the BCDD. Here's a drawing of the dashpot with no hose connected.

https://www.hagerty.com/media/motorsports/porsche-917-022-from-steve-mcqueen-to-jerry-seinfeld/

Here's a Mecum 1981 280ZX 2+2. They didn't get the 2+2 part right. Watchng on some cable channel. $21,000.

Not with ported vacuum. Ported vacuum sources pull no vacuum at idle. So there's no need to remove the hose. I've never found a good description in the FSM's of where Nissan sourced the vacuum for the distributor advance. Most emissions era cars would use ported vacuum since it gives retarded timing advance at idle, and retarded timing is cleaner. You can tell if it's ported by just removing the hose while the engine is idling. If nothing happens, it's ported vacuum. It's always been a hot topic.

I saw it more as a translation error. Reverse and return are very similar in meaning. The striker guide and the plunger affect all of the gears since all of the gears need the striker rod to rotate for engagement. I don't see how it could affect just reverse since it's out of the slot as soon as you move the shifter sideways. Looks like it's designed for the plunger to center itself when it's close but otherwise the rod and guide moves freely once the plumger is out of the slot. I'll bet a person could get the bolt spring(s) and plunger removed with the transmission in the car. Hard to tell though if the plunger won't fall in to the housing. But you'd know what it was affecting if you did remove it. The check balls control fore and aft motion. Copied the 4 speed drawing, the 5 speed drawing doesn't have the labels for some reason, in 1978.

Poop and laughter. I went to my old standby, the carparts.com site and searched around for the part numbers to see if I could find some images. Found some on an Arabic langauge site. It's odd, the numbers match but the label says "plunger reverse" not plunger return. Anyway, something to look at. p.s. I browsed around some rebuild videos and it's funny how nobody really pays any attention to the parts in the tail shaft case. https://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/power-train/transmission-control/5-speed https://haraj.com.sa/1117916900/قطع_قير_دتسن_80_85/

This is one of the confusing things in the first post. Is the guy actually seeing a spring or is he feeling a return-force and assuming a spring? I wonder if the return spring plunger #11, and/or the groove/flat, suffer wear over the years. Seems like they would be under high pressure, with a small contact area and high leverage. I'll bet that's a strong spring. New rabbit hole!!!

Seems like there's only one spring but it does both left and right. Doesn't it? It sits on a flat (maybe a groove) on the "striking guide", and rotation of the guide takes it off of the center of the flat. The spring pushes on both sides though to bring it back to center. If I'm readng the drawing right. 9, 10 and 11. p.s. it probably only has real effect when the guide is near center, with the plunger falling in to the stable position. The whole Facebook conversation might be revolving aronud a misunderstanding of how it works and what is possible.

Observations and comment. The Facebook link would probably help or the text copied and pasted for us non-Facebook people (there are a few left). And, you went 1-2, 5-R, right-left, 3-4, right-left. Hard to follow, besides use of the word "gate". Not sure Nissan's system would be considered as having gates. Also, without the Facebook post "same thing" is undefined. Not clear what the problem is that's being discussed. Are the springs not shown in the FSM control drawings? Only posting because tranmsission stuff is interesting, and I like to practice my reading and comprehension. I could be off.

Manifold gasket? Hey, on the problems bleeding the clutch system - I discovered that you can push the slave cylinder back in its bore by hand from underneath or by reaching down inside the engine bay. Crack the bleeder, push it back using the rod to remove the air. Easier than messing with the pedal. I also had a bad slave cylinder that I could not get bled. I never really figured out for sure what was wrong with it. I think that it might have been sucking air in through the seal. Can't understand how unless the MC return spring was strong enough to pull negative pressure. Anyway, replacing the slave cylinder fixed it. p.s. I remember that there was a small amount of fluid under the dust cap. But there shoudl have been more after many pumps. Had to be sucking air on the return.

The single spark indicates that the coil has power and ground. The fact that there are not more sparks indicates that the points are not opening and closing. Breaking and making the circuit through the coil. Could be that the cam on the distributor is worn out or the points are not set correctly (held open or held closed) or the distributor shaft is not turning. With the key on and the distributor cap off it should be possible to open and close the points by hand and get a spark each time from the center wire of the coil. The rubbing block of the points needs to be on the cam point when setting the points gap. From about 1:00 https://youtu.be/BC3nmuXdEuI?feature=shared

Sounds like the distributor shaft is not turning. Take the distributor cap off and watch the rotor when you crank the engine. Maybe the drive gear has slipped. It happens, apparently.

If there's no spark with power directly to the coil then working on the wires under the dash won't help. Study the diagram and you should see. Did you test for spark from the coil's main output wire? The center wire?

Seems like you might be overwhelmed with ideas. Pumping my own suggestion here, but a simple length of wire will allow you to split the whole system in half. Seems like the cheapest easiest quick and dirty diagnostic. No oscilloscopes nevessary. No offense intended to the scope suggesters. But it seems early for that level of tool. If it doesn't start, focus on everything after the coil positive post. If it does start focus on everything before. Don't forget that you'll have to remove the wire to kill the engine.