Zed Head

Have you had a good look at the base of the shifter while you're shifting gears? With the rubber boots removed so you can see down to the bottom of the shift lever? You said you have a new shifter bushing but didn't say which one. EuroDat's first link shows a portion of one of them.

This doesn't make any sense. (😄) When I first started messing with my VR and alternator I tried to follow wire color instructions from the old internet and I just ended up with problems. So I just figured out what each wire's function was and made my own diagram. Focus on the function and you'll see that you don't need to worry about where a wire is supposed to be. There's only four circuits and two are obvious. Also, your logic in the posts above does not seem right. You might review what's supposed to happen in the alternator before moving forward. Unfortunately there is a ton out there on the internet about sense wires and exciter wires and lamp wires, etc. , and one, two, three, and four wire setups. It's kind of a mess. You might have to wade through some of it to get a good feel for what you want to do. But once you get a feel for the S(ense) circuit and L(amp) circuit it kind of falls in to place.

At 1:20 in the second video when it should have been in neutral the shafts seem to be connected at 1:1 when you rotate them like it's in 4th gear. Did you find any metal fragments in the case? Seems like something might be jammed or broken around the 4th gear coupling sleeve. Not sure but I think that something like an insert could do that. Maybe a broken insert spring. Take a close look at each one. They're small and kind of hidden under the sleeve.

A bunch sold over the last few days. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-355/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-datsun-260z-126/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-390/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-356/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-389/

Saturday night's alright...

Here's another mod-o-mod Z. Selling (maybe) tomorrow. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-356/

It's there! https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-datsun-260z-127/

They show up on my Windows 10 with Chrome computer. Are you guys on phones? iphone, Android maybe? Here's a cut and paste of a portion.

Thanks, that works. Good stuff. While I was Googling I found that Tokico was purchased by Hitachi then spun off in to a separate company. Basically, it's just a name now. It's like holley.com and their collection of brand names. If you try to go tokico dot com you get taken to what looks like some sort of scam site. There's a web site that shows Tokico struts that pops up if you search for Tokico. "thetokiko"? It seems to be just a front for an Amazon store. https://thetokiko.com/ https://www.aftermarket.astemo.com/americas/en/automotive/suspension/shocks.html AI just regurgitates the marketing copy from Astemo. Be careful people!

Well, here's a new bummer. I uploaded many of the files in Resources area in the past but now I can't download them. Oh well.

If anyone has instructions for the various aftermarket things that are used on the Z's it would be worthwhile to take a picture and upload them to the Resources area. I'm pretty sure that I used to be able to find instructions for things like the Tokico struts but now they seem to be buried out in the cloud somewhere. Even the AI bots can't find them and are digging up comments and DIY videos from the internet and reporting them as certain "fact". We can't let the robots win! Act now.

Can you show the references that the AI used? Sometimes they pick up garbage as fact. Here's what Google's Gemini comes up with. The main link can't be verified. You can also see how different the results are between the two brains.

70 ft-lbs seems high. Is that Tokico spec or Nissan? I took a browse and see that that is Nissan's spec. A quick google comes up with different numbers for Tokico, but they varied. Can't find specific instructions for any of the Tokicos though. Even AI comes up with nothing except one defunct web site, American Muscle. Where is all of that electronic brilliance? Bummer. Good luck.

If the guy used flat tops in a bored and stroked block the N42's small chamber might have given a too-high compression ratio. Maybe he added a gasket to lower it. Cylinder pressures would be illuminating. Not sure you'd want to try to measure them with the front cover off but it might be possible. Interesting puzzle.

Thanks HAL. Ironically honestly.

Has the head been shaved? Maybe the guy overdid it. You can get an idea by looking at the head ID casting. N42, N47, E31, etc. The edge will be close to the the symbols. This one looks uncut. Holy moly on that price. https://jdm-car-parts.com/products/e31-head-for-datsun-240z-series-1-nos?srsltid=AfmBOooSCQQdZA1flBbQstx-oCBt4adJYn9eX779z2gKvZTRaaYCqXZE

So, there's a contradiction here. The top wire, the green one, has to have power for the alternator to work. There's hope. SteveJ will get you there.

I don't think that it's a ZX alternator. Pretty sure SteveJ has ID'ed it as a Frontier alternator.

Here's the pinout from the ZCD site.

I thought Green was connected to White with Black in your picture. I think that I'd take the alternator to a parts store and have it tested before doing much more.

It does look like a bad alternator, if you're sure that connector is making good connection. Did you unplug it to check for voltage? Looks like you have everything you need, don't know why it would not charge. Is that connector fully seated in the alternator? I don't know the pinout on that connector. Maybe SteveJ does. You have the top one connected to Lamp and the bottom connected to Sense. You didn't use the yellow wire, but it would cause you problems anyway since it's connected to the brake lamp check relay. All it should need is L and ground and spinning to charge.

I just looked at your picture. You have it set up in "one wire" fashion (maybe, I need to know where the white with black goes to). Why? You didn't say where you're measuring at. The B+ terminal or the battery. Can't tell where your wires are going. Could still be a wiring problem.

Also measure resistance from the alternator body to the negative terminal with the engine off. It needs a good ground in addition to power at those pins. And, this happens, sometimes the connectors inside the T connector are loose. Make sure you have a tight connection there.

Measure voltage at B+ on the back of the alternator with the engine running. It should be charging if it has power on the two pins and the alternator pulley is spinning. Rev the engine while you're measuring.

That should be your next test. You can also check for voltage at the two pins in the T connector with the key on, engine off. They should both have voltage.