Zed Head

An incorrectly installed cam can be 180 degrees out. Just put it there then put chain on. He wrote that he turned the cam shaft 180 degrees, with the sprocket removed. That's what I was replying to.

This implies that it wasn't just distributor timing. You moved the valve opening events in relation to the crankshaft and pistons if what you wrote is what you did. You probably got lucky with the P79 head on N42-block dished pistons, since the P79 has a higher dome in the combustion chamber, designed for flat-top pistons. If you had the N42 or N47 head you probably would have bent some valves. The factory L6 combinations are interference engines.

There are other causes for sticking windows. Here's a link to a great technical article on adjusting door parts. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/articles-our-members/15177-door-window-problems-checks.html

Check the wiring diagram. It's in the FSM. Engine Electrical chapter, Ignition section.

Do you have a good ground to the mounting hole metal? The modules are sensitive to bad grounds. The metal of the mounting holes is one of the ground circuits. Both sides of the coil have 12 volts when no current is flowing. Pin 1 attaches to the negative post.

Pop the rubber boot off of the slave cylinder and see if there's fluid inside that has leaked past the piston. The boot will hold quite a bit of fluid before it shows on the outside.

Actually, I ran my 76 coil with the GM HEI module and no ballast for a while and it didn't overheat and there was no damage. No guarantees on your diamond brand coil. On the jumpy tach, I had to install an extra condenser on the negative post of the coil to get my tach to work right. I think that the HEI module might generate more "noise" on the coil negative post. Might be worth a shot, a typical radio suppression condenser might work.

I added to my other post... above, about the ballast.

Thanks. I didn't realize that there was a testing machine for modules, although it makes sense that there would be since the inputs and outputs are simple. Of all the threads and posts I've seen about "how do I tell if my ignition module is good or bad" I've never seen anyone suggest taking it to the parts store to be tested. I just bought a dome lamp from someone in a green shirt. On the ballast - do you mean you got another, replacement, coil and it came with a ballast? The stock 1978 system didn't have one, I believe, I could be wrong. You need to get a coil that can handle higher current if you want to get rid of the ballast. If you want to match your GM HEI module and don't mind a coil that looks kind of ugly, get an external HEI coil, from a mid 70's GM 6 cylinder pickup or Nova. I'm sure you have some in the store. You'll need to put new ends on the wires to fit the coil, but you'll have a set-up optimized to work together. You'll also have to build a mounting bracket.

The ballast is there to protect the coil and the old module. If you swapped in a 78 or later coil, or a GM external HEI coil, you could get rid of the ballast. You'd have the full HEI setup. Are you going to describe the module testing machine? I'd still like to know what it does and who has them.

Oops. The answer would be yes. But the blue wire from the negative on the coil already goes to Pin #1, and the tachometer and the original ignition module. If you leave the blue wire on the coil negative in its original spot and just add a jumper wire from the coil negative to the C terminal on the HEI module, you will have things connected right. The jumper wire is a new branch to the new module, and the branch that connects to the old module isn't used anymore. You can run a jumper for the B terminal also from the positive post.

Assuming that "it" is just the ignition module. What machine/tester did you use to test it? I've not heard of an ignition module testing machine. More info would be interesting, even if it doesn't help answer your question.

...and the ignition module.

FastWoman wrote her instructions from memory, and might have added a wire. I think that there is only one wire connected to (-). The wire branches to other places like the tachometer and the ECU, it's not parallel. The wring diagram shows only one for 76 and 78 (my car and hers). The wire ends that are extra and that you need to worry about are the ones at the stock factory module location. One or more will have power when the key is on and one will still be connected to the (-) post of the coil (because of the branched circuit). Make sure that those are separated from each other and insulated from ground. 1978 is easy because it's a plug-style connection, 1977 and earlier use ring terminals and screws.

R200 is the standard differential for the manual transmission 280Z. I would open up the FSM and see what it says. It has a whole section on rebuilding the R200. PD chapter. Take some measurements and see how worn it is.

You could also cut new threads a size smaller. But then you'll be the "idiot PO" if you ever sell the car. I would still do it if it was my car. Maybe even use standard thread size for stronger effect. I think that there's about 5 mm of extra stud when they're installed. You might not need the messed up part.

Yes, that does look like an R200. The rectangular piece of metal under the drain plug is one of the things I look at, along with the curvature of the bottom (of the diff). And the lack of a bolt-on side cover for the half shafts. What car is it from? No idea on what else to do while it's out, I've only swapped old diff for old diff, for ratio reasons. The side seals seem pretty easy to replace, from what I've seen. That thing is very greasy.

Bummer. It's still not clear though if the wires get hot when you're holding the key to Start, or if you let go of the key and the wires get hot. One implies that the starter just can't turn even though the solenoid is activated, the other implies that you have an electrical problem that keeps power to the solenoid after you let go of the key. The little yellow wire is where things start- it gets power when you turn the key to Start, which activates the solenoid, which pulls the internal piston in the solenoid down to press the relay button at the bottom of the solenoid cylinder, which then makes contact to provide power to the starter motor through that braided copper cable. The solenoid moves the gear in to the flywheel teeth AND is a relay for the starter motor. Think of that chain of events and maybe something will make sense. Measure some things with a voltmeter: key off, On, and at Start.

Looks right. My mistake, I didn't realize the alternator charge wire was in the picture. Also didn't read all of the previous posts. Did anything significant happen between Post #49 and #53? And what did you mean in Post #52? Something weird happened, you had the wires right before, why do you think that they're wrong now? When you say they get hot, do you mean when you turn the key to Start, all the time, or when the key is just On? And, if you mean when you use Start, do you hear a click from the solenoid first? Heat comes from current flow, and if you have current flowing but nothing's turning that would indicate something bound up. Or your battery is just too dead to turn the engine, but has enough juice to generate some heat. That's a possibility. Charge the battery and retry.

Show another picture of what you have now, including a better shot of the actual lugs on the solenoid that you're using,and a shot of the battery posts. Looks like you have things backwards in post #53, but it's not clear which of the cables is positive and which is negative. I hope you're not leaving the hot-to-touch wires connected for long.

.5 mm x 1.5 mm or 5 mm x 15 mm or 50 x 150?

Edit - deleted my "mean" sarcasm. You'll have to add more detail if you want some ideas.

Well then, either way, you don't have to worry about metal transfer on the points.

This is assuming that the mechanical/centrifugal, and vacuum advance are/were working. Have you checked timing while revving the engine?

Tomohawk has a 1978 with electronic ignition. I would guess that the capacitor is for absorbing electronic noise, similar to the alternator capacitor. Size probably not as important. Any old capacitor would probably do the job. Some multimeters have a capacitance measuring function (Fluke 115 for example). If you want to get a reading on the old one to match it. Even though it may not matter much. edit - Tomohawk, aren't you using Pertronix?