Zed Head

Good point. I just noticed that the eBay ad takes pains to not show the grill and front end of the car. Deceptive.

I wonder if the guys that write the sales pitch for the eBay ad know how sleazy they sound, or if they just can't resist? The more exclamation points and capital letters, the more suspicious things look. "I am going to offer this car in as is condition one time..." then what? Hurry, hurry, hurry, one time only, get your Z car here, one time....

Your getting deeper in to the morass. Here's one that people seem to like. The main difficulty is that there may be some trial and error involved to get it where you want it. People start high and work their way down. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/suspension-steering-s30/48249-using-chevette-springs-re-gain-original-ride-height.html It looks like there may be some original spring stock still out there at the Nissan warehouses. They shows up as available but you don't know until they try to get them. Datsun 240Z/260Z/280Z Front Suspension (Strut & Shock Absorber) SPRING FRO :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com There is a new option, using Vogtland springs and Stagg shocks, but it's a lowered setup. Your geometry will only change if you lower it a bunch. It's common to lower these cars about 1 - 1.5" with no problems. This shop might be your best bet, considering everything. He really knows the cars and has used parts that don't show on his web page. He restores cars. Worth a phone call. 240Z, 260Z, & 280Z #'s 1,2,&3 - 70-73 240 Z=1 - Steering and Suspension 1 - Suspension 1 - Z Specialties Online Store - If we don't have it in stock, we can get it! And, although you feel like you've been burned by KYB, they do make a good product for stock height applications. You're just hurting your own cause by avoiding them.

Never said which oil you chose. As far as synchro help goes I would grade them Valvoline 75-90 plain old gear oil < Redline MT90 < blend of Swepco 201 with ATF. I run Swepco and ATF now and it's great stuff. I'll never use plain old gear oil again. Credit JMortensen for the Swepco advice.

Carb cleaner does work if there's a leak. Idle speed will change when you spray it on the leak.

No offense, but you might have some misconceptions about the shocks and other parts. The gas in the shocks is there to keep a dry, inert head over the fluid to help keep the oil from foaming. They're called gas "charged". Any lifting the pressurized gas does is secondary to its main purpose. All of the shocks are hydraulic. Not sure what you're saying about the KYB's. Brand new KYB's can be compressed by hand. There's not much pressure in them. And who wants to take back three year old inventory? erectorset's point about the urethane bushings is probably true, but for a reason a performance oriented person might not appreciate. The rubber bushings will let the body sway out away from the tire more in a turn. Urethane might hold it where it should be and that could allow a rub during compression. I think that the only decent bolt-in shock available these days is the KYB. You might be able to get Tokico's but you'll need to buy extra parts or fabricate spacers and/or gland nuts. The others all seem to require some fabrication.

Changing shocks and/or springs to avoid tire rubbing seems off. You're giving away suspension quality to avoid a noise. Do they rub on the outside or the inside? New control arm bushings might do the trick if they rub on the inside. Or you might roll the fender lips a little, if they rub on the outside.

That actually sounds more reasonable. It has a 14mm head if I remember. Not sure why the partsmanual says 10. Pretty sure it's a shoulder bolt though. The shoulder locates the T/C rod. I would just go to the dealer and ask. They have better parts files. Surprising how many of these old parts are still available.

10 x 1.25 maybe. Not sure about the special washer. I don't think that I have those on my 280Z. Datsun 240Z/260Z/280Z Front Suspension (Strut & Shock Absorber) Dealer - BOLT :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com

That's a good point on the voltage regulator. The old external ones are mechanical with several moving parts inside. Your ammeter and a multimeter should tell you if the regulator and alternator are working correctly. It will be interesting to see how often your boyfriend borrows your car. Why would you drive a 510 when there's a Z in the driveway...

The fuel pump recirculates the fuel and the engine does not use enough fuel at start to create a significant vacuum in the tank. Could just be coincidence. Have you tried removing the cap before you do the first start attempt? The symptoms point more toward a fuel system (rail and injectors) losing pressure, from a bad/dirty check valve in the pump, or bad/dirty FPR or leaky injectors. The first attempt starts the engine from old fuel or the extra from the cold start valve but there's not enough pressure to supply enough fuel to keep it going. By the second attempt pressure is high enough to keep the engine running.

Looks like Dwight's car was actually a 280ZX. List of cars owned by Dunder Mifflin employees - Dunderpedia: The Office Wiki IMCDb.org: 1981 Datsun 280ZX GL [s130] in "The Office, 2005-2013"

Doesn't this seem more like the classic vapor lock from the fuel supply lines? Hot weather, original carbs, probably mechanical fuel pump.

Now my right-click copy-paste function doesn't work in classiczcars. Works on other sites though. And the link still goes to generic eBay instead of the car again. Very weird. Maybe it's a virus. Sorry for the clutter, the car is still there at $5200 though. Started a thread about the redirecting and find that the link works in that thread. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/website-development-bugs/53178-redirectingat-when-certain-links-clicked.html#post464777

Now it works. Most of them do.

Doesn't work. You can see the address bar go to "redirecting" when it opens the new window or tab. Mine worked for me once, until the grabber got it.

It might be out there but all of those links just lead to a list of eBay Datsun parts. I searched eBay though and I think I found it - Datsun Z Series Coupe | eBay Edit - NOT. eBay or classiczcars keeps breaking the link. It worked once then no more. Try putting these words in the eBay search bar - 1971 Datsun 240z Barn Find Edit 2 - I think it's the "key word" grabber and redirecter that's doing it.Can't remember if that's a GoogleAdsense thing, a site thing, or a virus. Pain in the butt, whatever it is. Turned off "Automatically retrieve titles..." in Advanced. Datsun Z Series Coupe | eBay Edit 3 - didn't work. Still redirectingat.

I'm pretty sure that you could put your injectors on a separate power circuit just like the fuel pump. But there's really no reason not to have enough power to them. The current is dropped through the dropping resistors anyway, they only need enough to open consistently. Gauge power could be put on a separate circuit also.

Did you leave out a link? Your original link ended, sold, at $10,200.

Post #6 here - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/fuel-injection-s30/52413-78-no-start-w-out-fuel-priming.html I used the "site:classiczcars.com captain obvious pressure gauge gears" method in Google. But it works n the top search box on the forum also, since it's the same effect, through the Google engine.

If I had that problem I'd probably go for a much bigger filter, either make a furnace system work or fit something from the diesel world. I've seen that there was an option for a water separator pre-filter n some early gas engine Datsuns also. GENERAL AIRE Boiler Oil Filter-1A25A at The Home Depot 720 Diesel Work Truck update - Page 2 - 720 - Ratsun Forums - Page 2

There are two types of 260Z's. One uses 240Z suspensions, the other uses 280Z suspension. The dimensions of the springs are in the FSM, in the two Suspension chapters. Measure your "new" springs and see which ones you got. The rear ones are not interchangeable, for sure, so if you got the 280Z style you'll need to keep looking. One way to raise the back of your Z would be to get 280Z strut insulators. They sit at the top of the strut and the 280Z insulators are taller than the 240Z's. Not a great way to do it, but if you can't get the springs it might get you by.

If you're sure the manifold is cracked then replacement is an easy decision. There are quite a few people who have said that headers weren't worth the effort. The stock exhaust manifolds are pretty good, and easier to seal. But if you're set on headers then maybe you'll be one of those people. A tune-up might be a good idea. Might help in the meantime, if you plan to drive it for a little while. But you're probably going to break some things when you replace the manifold. If you're positive that the manifold needs replacing, you might want to wait until you get things back together. Just in case you find damage that is worse than expected. Make sure that you know what type of head you have before you get headers or a replacement manifold. 75-76 is the square port exhaust, later is round. The code is cast in to the side of the head.

Does the engine have carbs or EFI? "Choke" implies carbs, so vacuum leaks are not as big of a problem. What kind of carbs? Could be that the carbs just need tuning. The biggest hose would probably be the one to the brake booster. That can leak also along with the hose that supplies it. The exhaust manifold would need replacing if it's cracked, but it might be fixable with just a resurface of the head-mating surface. Do you know where the exhaust leak is? It could be at the head or at the flange to the exhaust pipe. More details needed.

You might try raising the idle speed to keep it running, while you do more diagnostic work. The rusty screw next to the thing that had the wrong hose on it (Post #5) is the idle adjustment. Turn it out to let more air in and the idle speed will increase. Might be enough to let it idle. Then you can use the old trick of spraying carburetor cleaner (carbs!, yay) around the various spots where there could be a vacuum leak. Injector seals to the manifold, intake manifold/head interface, PCV hose, EGR fittings, etc. If idle speed changes while you spray the outside, that means there's a leak. Keep fixing them and things will get better.