Zed Head

Glad that you can take some constructive criticism. Look at picture #4 in Post #1. You can see the negative sign above the positive cable and the positive sign above the negative cable. Steve was right. I'm guessing that picture was taken after the sparks flew? It's not uncommon. My car has some burned wires in the harness, probably from the backwards connection. I'm not sure what damage occurs when this happens but there are many cars out there that have recovered. It will take some time with the meter to figure out what's right and what needs fixing.

Didn't notice the missing pull handle on the driver's door. It also has the classic purple stripe of worn off plating. That exhaust system really looks bad the longer you study it. Piling on...

That's better, thanks for clarifying. It's great that you're diving in to an area you're not familiar with. In your first post you said that you removed the battery, and installed a new one. Maybe you got the connections correct the second time. There are actually five fusible links. There's one more on a line directly from the battery to the EFI system. It's green and has a white plastic connector on each end. It's inline on a wire directly from the positive terminal. You can see it in picture number 4 in your first post. On terminology - continuity is measured between two points in a circuit. So "continuity on the pos and neg of the coil" doesn't really mean anything. Continuity between those two points is normal, but what you really want is resistance between those two, and continuity between others. Also, voltage readings from several areas would be very helpful. Do you have a meter? If you do have a meter, one test you could do is to turn the key on and see if you have battery voltage at the negative post of the coil. Maybe you already did that and that's what you meant by continuity? You really need to post a picture of the top of the coil and the ballast resistor all in one frame.

They put 11 more pictures on the dealer site - 1972 Used Datsun 240Z Z at Smith Motor Group Serving Paso Robles, CA, IID 12120598 Some underneath. Looks like a regular muffler in place of the anti-resonance pipe. Hangs a little low.

Just for fun. From the ZHome site - Classic Z Car Register It's in between. HLS30135263 VIN:HLS30 134607 Production Date:11 / 72 Color Body /Int :Green / Black Orig.Eng.Number:l24 141960 Owner:Jeff Galbraith City/State/Cntry:London Ontario, Canada IZCC Member#: Comments:Full Restored e-mail:jeffgalbraith@home.com Date Registered:23 Feb 00 VIN:HLS30 137283 Production Date:12/72 Color Body /Int :112 Lime Green & Black Orig.Eng.Number:L24 143973 Owner:Curtis & Marge Daniels City/State/Cntry:Saskatoon, SK - Canada IZCC Member#:4200 Comments: [70K original miles,original paint] e-mail:cdaniels@marchconsulting.com Date Registered:25 June 02

The back hatch door is sitting high also, like it's been removed and installed without adjustment. The e-brake handle seems high. Pick, pick, pick. For $20K though, every detail matters. Is it normal to have the HLS30- highlighted in white and the numbers not or is that a replacement VIN plate? The rivets look new. Maybe the VIN is in the registry database. I don't know how to get in there. I see no Build Date in the eBay ad either.

Used car dealers generally set the price high, but will negotiate. Looks like they're selling the lime-green paint job, from the pictures. Paint jobs are often used to hide rust and damage. A true Z car person would know to talk about rust but there's only one word on the eBay ad about it - "No Visible Rust". A flag. Here's more on the seller - Smith Motor Group: Used Cars, New Cars, #1 Auto Dealer in Paso Robles

One problem here is that you've had things disconnected and it's not clear that they were put back correctly. Also, your descriptions are a little different with the use of the word "spark". Does that mean an actual spark, like you're holding the wire close to its connection to see if a spark jumps? It's also not clear if you connected something backwards and blew a fusible link or fuses. What does this mean - "I flicked on the engine bay light and my fusable links sparked and sparked the wire going to the condenser on ALT.? Testing continuity of the circuits with a meter would be a good idea, since you've had so many things disconnected. If you confirm that you have continuity to the ignition module, and power at the coil with the key On, then SteveJ's suggestion about the HEI module is definitely an inexpensive way to get back on the road. I have one on my car. But I would spend some time with a meter and the wiring diagram first.

I don't think the C cam is a "Datsun Competition" cam, it's just a stock factory grind. The other holes, #2 and #3, are for using when the timing chain wears and cam timing gets retarded. Probably best to just run it as the factory intended, on the #1 hole. The notch and groove will tell you if you're using the right hole.

Looks to me like they just got their inventory mixed up, or somebody grabbed the wrong plans when they made your bar. It's obviously wrong, just be polite when requesting a swap for the right one and it shouldn't be a problem. The numbers I posted are directly from the Body chapters of the FSM's for 1973 and 1976. Another thought - find out what the distance between those holes is supposed to be for both bars. Measure yours and see what's what.

That may be the most important wire of all. Did you complete that circuit? Note in your picture the blue wire with the bullet connector to the BCDD solenoid. Maybe that's your extra wire.

Who is the seller and why would they blame it on your car? Did they advertise as a 280Z bar or do you think that they are scammers? It's common knowledge that the 280Z strut towers are taller and closer together at the top. 240Z = 853 mm center to center 280Z = 836.4 15.6 mm - 0.6" Share, so that others can avoid your fate.

Not a short. No connection at all. The blue wire runs to the ignition module to make and break the electrical circuit to the coil, to provide spark. That's why you have no spark. It also branches off to the tachometer. And the ECU, to provide the signal for injection. Zoom in on the lower left of the picture I provided and you'll see the ballast resistor, coil, and the blue wire.

I think that blue wire is the key. I didn't go in to all of the details of the blue wire but it also runs to the ignition module and the tachometer, branching off to each along the way. I think that you should check the wiring diagram and get that blue wire connected to where it should be, before buying any parts. Does your tachometer move when you're cranking the engine? That would be a clue. Here's a picture and a link to its source. It's 1976 but 1977 is essentially the same. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/open-s30-z-discussions/36494-free-full-color-wiring-diagram-1976-280z.html

Apparently the NA 280ZX and 240Z both use the same 25 spline axle pattern and size on the companion flange. So you can swap a 280ZX companion flange on to 240Z axles and use the 280ZX CV driveshafts in place of the stock u-joint driveshafts, if you have the clip-in axles in the diff. The CV driveshafts have the axle connected to the driveshaft as one unit, it's not bolted on. The only part that takes more than wrench turning is the dust shield, it needs modifying. So there are 240Z's out there with CV axles, but they're not factory-produced. I can dig up a writeup I found on the interweb that I have saved somewhere if anyone is interested.

Did you actually check for spark with a spark plug on the end of a plug wire or are you assuming because you have fuel in the fuel rail and nothing happens? The one disconnected L (blue) wire might be the signal wire to the ECU to fire the injectors. It should be connected to the same post as the wire to the negative terminal of the coil at the ballast resistor. Without that wire, no signal to the ECU, no injectors spraying fuel. Maybe. Your picture doesn't show where the wire ends are, which is the important part.

I second the fork seating possibility. The angle of the rod is wrong, it should be close to a straight shot to the seat in the fork. Looks like the fork is sticking out of the transmission too far. That means the fork ends (tines?) are not riding on the throwout collar correctly. Grab the fork and wiggle it and see if the spring clips are holding it on to the pivot ball. If it's loose you might still be able to force it on without removing the transmission. Push it in to where it should be, where the angle is right (almost a right angle with the rod), and press the clutch pedal.

When I cut my springs I heated a point halfway around the coil on the cut end to red hot and bent it to give a flat perch for the spring. Otherwise the bottom coil sits on the point of the cut portion and puts bow in the spring. Maybe they did the same. If you can see the spring perch you might be able to see signs of heating on the last coil.

Where there's rust there was/is water. Could be that you just have a puddle of separated water at the bottom of the tank and some sloshed over to the tank outlet. If you haven't looked at your plugs in ten years, I'm going to guess that this not a daily driver. Does it sit for quite a while between drives? Today's ethanol-containing gas will suck up water pretty quickly if it can. Are your charcoal canister and gas cap intact, to keep the tank sealed from the atmosphere?

How big is the park and what was the drive like? Were you showing the neighbor what the car would, with some high RPM stuff or was it just a mellow three or four block trip? Were it me I might drain the tank contents, change the filter, and refill with new gas, just to take that variable out of the picture. You can use the fuel pump to drain the tank by running a hose from the filter to your portable tanks, removing the solenoid wire and turning the key to Start. As far as other sources, what was the tachometer needle doing while the bucking was happening? If it was moving faster than the crankshaft could possibly move, jumping and/or reading abnormally high, you might have an ignition system problem, maybe the module.

Harbor Freight has a ball-joint splitters that are fairly cheap but look sturdy. The mechanical type, not the pickle fork. Looks like it might work. They had a 20% off coupon going for the summer too. Found a picture of it on the Google. 3/4" Forged Ball Joint Separator Put the tension on and wack the side with the hammer.

Don't forget to factor in boiling temperature depression due to intake vacuum on the PCV system! Nissan got more specific on thermostat temperature choice after 1972. Here's the 1976 chart. You still have to figure out Tropical and Cold. There's probably some general world-based definitions out there somewhere.

Here's a picture of something I did just to see if it would have an effect. Big steel washer, and big rubber washer that fit the outer diameter of the bar but with a big hole in the middle, for up and down, and also smaller washers that fit just inside the inner diameter to reduce side to side. The rubber was just to avoid any buzzing or rattling. The picture is with the jack under the diff but you can see that the bottom scalloped washer still is compressed. I had more installed than shown at one time, enough to transmit diff noise to the cabin. Ace Hardware washers, nothing fancy. It was a good experiment for my purpose. Edit - might as well show my next experiment, to try and avoid the diff noise from the urethane bushings. I cut a boat trailer roller in half for the top bushing, and used the urethane on the bottom. Urethane kept the diff located side to side and the looser bushing on the top damped the up and down. Worked well, but looked ugly and started showing signs of age. Eventually went to all urethane but with an air gap to avoid noise transmission.

A blown head gasket will cause overheating. Check your radiator also, it may be plugged. How did the old water pump look? Were all of the blades intact? Does your fan clutch work? Maybe the overheating happened after you got off the freeway and did a lot of stop and go driving. There are a variety of methods for checking if you have a blown head gasket. A cylinder pressure test might show you something, along with the appearance of the spark plugs and piston tops. The missing thermostat is a sign that the engine had been overheating for a while. It's one of the thing people do when they don't understand the root cause of the overheating problem. One scenario is that overheating started from a bad water pump or radiator, leading to a blown head gasket, leading to more overheating after the common fixes were applied. You might have a warped head also, they don't like overheating.

The port at the back right of the head is only for the heater core supply. It actually affects flow in a negative way when coolant flows out at that point. It's a necessary evil to keep the people in the cabin warm. Some other car models used what's called the block drain plug port, under the manifolds, as the source for heater core supply. Here's a diagram of the coolant flow. Notice that the heater core supply is not even shown. Coolant flows through the block, up in to the head and forward to the thermostat housing, then out to the top of the radiator.