Zed Head

You can buy pre-fitted and flared lines of the desired length, with the proper thread, from most auto parts stores. With a piece of wood and some wood screws you can build a jig for making the bends. Or if you're in a hurry, you could just screw one end in and make it work, and re-do it later. Take a length of string or wire to the piece you have to get the length dimension you need. You could have it done in a few hours.

High RPM ignition breakup could be the ZX ignition module. Module problems quite often go away when the module cools down. If you take it out again and the problem is gone but comes back after things get hot, that would be one thing to think about. It's been suggested to take some sort of cooling spray in a can and spray the module when it happens to get a better diagnosis. Not a cheap fix though. Verify timing and fuel before getting carried away. By the way, the 260Z already had electronic ignition. Did you install the ZX distributor or did a PO?

We've been focusing on power but haven't talked about grounds. Have you checked the ground circuit at the pump? I would check for ground at the pump black wire with an ohmmeter, then test for power at the green wire with a voltmeter or test light while someone turns the key to Start or fingers the AFM vane with the key at On like rcb suggested (77 still has the AFM fuel pump switch,according to the FSM). Then you'll know for sure that you don't have the circuit you need.

You could also remove the two bolts that hold the inner part of the transverse link to the body and remove the strut and spring with the transverse link as a unit. May or may not require removing the brake lines, depending on how careful you think that you can be. You might have to remove the brake lines anyway to get enough distance to drop the strut down. Considering that you didn't know about the spindle pins before, the odds of you getting the pins out without damaging them are not in your favor. They rarely come out easily, usually they're destroyed in the process. If you really need the car before the weekend, don't even start on the spindle pins.

The Start circuit bypasses the alternator and oil pressure safety circuit and sends power to the pump. As I understand things. So disconnecting the starter wire and turning to Start should be testing the pump and wiring, without the alternator or oil pressure interfering. When you pulled the hose and looked for fuel, are you sure the pump wasn't running? Maybe the pump was running but no fuel was pumping for a different reason. The green wire with a white connector on each end, from the positive terminal is the EFI fusible link. I don't know if that would kill power to your pump or not. The wiring diagram shows power to the pump through one of the four under the covers, if I read it right.

Alrighty. Just trying to understand. The fuel pump relay is one half of the 1x1x2" silver relay by the hood latch release lever. The other half is the EFI relay. Power is supplied through one of the four fusible links under the hood. Maybe you blew a link. Edit- that's three for checking the link. You might check the bundle of connectors right next to the passenger seat, between the door and the seat, under the carpet, also. One of those connections is for power to the pump.

Are you confirming what I said, or adding detail to the question? Not clear. There's no priming on the 77. Have you tried the common method for testing the pump - disconnect the small wire from your starter and turn the key to Start? The pump should run without the starter cranking. I think that the main relay by the hood latch release lever is the combined EFI and fuel pump relays. Edit - changed "ignition" to EFI

You do know that the pump only gets power when the engine is running or when the key is at Start? It does not have power when the key is at On.

Looking at that picture I realized that the center piece isn't held on by the plate light screws, and it doesn't have rivets. I just repainted the outer panels on mine, and the plate light housing, but not the small center trim piece. Took a look at my car and it seems like it might clip on or have some other way to fasten it, underneath the plate light.

You might be looking at his Join Date, WN? The post is a day old, I believe. Sounds like you might have overheated the clutch during the one time it slipped really bad. There's no real way to adjust it out, it's a function of the surfaces of the pressure plate, disc, and flywheel. But, loose transmission and motor mounts will make it worse. My last clutch was like that and replacing the transmission mount made it more tolerable. Basically limited the amplitude of the shake. But it didn't go away for good until I got a new clutch set.

I think that the 280Z just has the left and right sets of three rivets holding the top of the light panel, and the center section has two holes for screws to fasten the license plate light. That's what my 76 has. The rivets are exposed, no cover. The panel with chrome trim and the tail light housing is all assembled as a unit. There's a foam gasket that seals between the white plastic light housing and the body. The studs are pressed through the holes in the gasket and body, with the edge of the top of the panel above the rim of the body, pop a rivet or two in to hold it in place, then put all of the 8 mm nuts and washers on. There's a long plastic extension that is used on the bottom center stud as a spacer to bring the nut out to where it can be reached. A deep well 8 mm socket is almost mandatory unless you have tons of patience and skinny fingers.

What do you mean by best? You're looking for a web page where somebody has ventured their opinion on "the best" combinations? There are a few out there, do you remember any details? There are a few pages that I know of listing the specs. of the different heads and blocks but no opinions on good or bad.

Glad my pontifications could help someone out. Funny how we get stuck on the path of how we assume things should be and miss the obvious. I spent a good few weeks living with bad brakes, bleeding them constantly and trying to figure out what was wrong until someone helping me and watching the reservoir said "I wonder where all of the fluid is going" and I realized I must have a huge air bubble, and the only place with that much room was the calipers. They were on the wrong sides.

I put a wide scraper (you could also use a bondo applicator or something like it) between the paint and the chrome then stick a flat blade screwdriver in between to distribute the load and when prying up the piece. Start at one end and work from end to end in small movements to avoid kinking it. Don't try to grab an end and pull it up, it will kink and you'll never get it back to the right shape.

That is an odd thing to happen (the speedo drive gear disappearing) but good that you had all of the right parts and found a good shop. You ended up with the better 5 speed anyway. I'm guessing you went to the shop that Powderkeg recommended? $450 doesn't seem too bad. With synchros, for a "full" rebuild, you'd probably have been at ~$750 (assuming $50 per synchro and a little more labor). Better than $1500. But if you didn't need the synchros, then bearings and seals is the way to go. I don't know how much you're asking for the transmissions but the front case (bellhousing) alone is probably worth $50 each over on Hybridz. It's used to convert a 240SX or 300ZX transmission for use with an L series engine. You need to contribute a small sum to the site before you can sell parts, but if you're a member over there, it's worth a thought.

Maybe you have an air bubble in the front that is taking up all of the reservoir travel. Did you take the fronts off or drain the fluid? Can't remember the details for sure but I think that the front and rear cylinders are stacked one on top of the other in the master cylinder. I remember a discussion a while ago on this topic where it was realized (by me at least, maybe wrongly) that if one half of the system, front or back, fails completely it can take the whole system down. No brakes at all. I think that the back cylinder (front brakes on a 280Z) pressurizes the front cylinder. It bottoms out soon enough that you'll get some pressure on the front cylinder (rear brakes) but not much. I could be wrong, but at the time I thought it through and that seems right. Plus it fit the symptoms my brake problem at the time (a big bubble in the front brakes.) I think that the early Zs had the rear brake reservoir in the back, so that would be reversed. The speed bleeders do work really well for flushing a lot of fluid through the lines quickly. Install them and pump away on the brake pedal, but don't forget to keep the reservoir filled.

MSA has aftermarket - http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/30-7099 Spendy.

If you install the engine and transmission as an assembly, make sure that you have madkaw's load leveler. The hardest part for me when when I did mine was getting the tail of the transmission up on to its mount. It's heavy. You have to drop it in with the tail down to get it in the hole. If you don't have a load leveler, you can lift the tail up through the shifter hole with a rope after it's in. I learned that through one of the forums, later, after I spent an hour getting it done from underneath. There's no room to get under it to lift it in to place from underneath the car, unless the car is up on some very high jack stands. And the motor mounts won't align well, unless the tail is up where it belongs. Also, , if you decide to do it in two stages, from what I've read on the forums, head bolts are the same thread as the transmission bolts. You can cut the heads off and use them as alignments studs or just stick them through the holes while you're trying to align to get an extension from the hole to the engine. It's good to get everything aligned before the splines and pilot shaft make contact. If I was doing another, I might even mount a mirror above the engine where I could see the gap so I could stay under the car while aligning. Who knows, I might have read some of these on your Tech Tips page...

Are the ones at RockAuto not correct? - http://www.rockauto.com/

Check for power at the coil + terminal when the key is at Run or On. If there's no power, that's why the engine dies when you release the key from Start. If so, find the wire that has power when the key is On and connect it to the appropriate terminal on the ballast resistor. The ballast will probably have a B for battery molded in to it on that terminal. Then check for power at coil + again to verify.

There are two circuits that supply power to the coil +. One is active at Run, the other active at Start. Sounds like you're missing the Run power but have the Start power. Do you have a voltmeter or test light?

Didn't know that about the S13 diff (or had known it but forgot it). Walter made the best point about the diff ratio though. It depends on the transmission used. I think you missed my point on the head, even though you actually kind of made the point in Post #4. "Will it bolt on?" wasn't the question. The E31 head on the L28 block (assuming it has flat-top pistons) will be more problematic and costly to get to run right for a street car. Since he doesn't know much about engines, a close to stock setup might be the easiest, quickest way to get the car on the road. If it's a flat-top piston F54 block, get a P79 or P90 head. No worries about CR or head gaskets or valve size (air flow). It will be a 1982 280ZX engine. Nice that he's got a pile of parts to work with. It really comes down to the budget available. It's not a "restoration" though, it's just a 240Z with a set of later model parts in it.

Do you get 12V to coil + with the key at Start? There are two power supplies to the coil +, one bypasses the resistor during starting and the other goes through the resistor with key on. Maybe you've left the Start circuit to the coil disconnected. When you turn the key to Start the power to one circuit turns off and the other on. Should be able to just put your meter on coil + and see what happens when you turn the key to Start. If it stays at 12, your problem is somewhere else, if it goes to zero, look for that other wire.

Since I recently installed a different AFM with a lean spot right off idle, I've tried adjusting the idle air screw to give a little more fuel when the AFM vane is almost closed. It had almost no effect on the flat spot, but did make the idle exhaust smell more gassy. On the other hand, I had also installed a potentiometer on the coolant temp sensor circuit to test what I thought might be excessive leaning as the cause of the "hot start" problem. The knob is in the cabin so I can adjust on the fly. Adding fuel there does clear up the lean spot. So, in my experience, the idle air screw definitely affects the idle mixture but not much else. Just some recent results from my experiments. The idle screw can be reached easily though, so it's pretty easy to verify if you have a very short flat blade screwdriver.

I looked at the How To Rebuild book and it just says loosen all the bolts, then remove them. Page 48. I don't think it's complicated, there's only two per cap and the block is not going to warp.