Walter Moore

Impressive.

Oh, the temptation to misquote a really old Rolling Stone's song is unbelievably strong... must resist...

I assume that you have had the tires balanced recently. There are some aftermarket tire dealers who have uniformity measurement machines. (at least in the U.S. but I assume they do in Australia as well.) I think Hunter sells a machine here called a load simulator or something like that... It spins the tire under load to measure the force variation. It isn't as accurate as the ones used in car plants or tire plants, and doesn't have the load force capability, but it can detect tires with hard spots, or bent rims, things that can induce vibrations. Just a suggestion.

Do you have a factory service manual? If not you can download one here: http://www.xenons30.com/ It is always difficult to diagnose these things from a distance. I have noticed that if there is an electrical issue related to the fuel pump the car will run for a short distance after the pump shuts down, then stall. (But you say that the pump engages... Hmm..) There is also a screen in the fuel tank that could be clogged. Then again it might still be a connector on the ECU or a bad fuel pump relay. Sounds like you have some research to do. Good luck.

Wonderful, another classic saved from the junk heap. Looking good!

The fuse-able link is the main fuse for the car. If it fails you will have no electrical power anywhere.

Nice job.

The headlights wouldn't work if the fuse-able link was open.

I added Redline Water Wetter to my cooling system last summer when I was experimenting with the coolant temperature. My notes indicate that after adding the WW, the indicated temperature on the gage actually increased slightly. When checked with a thermometer however the coolant temperature was exactly 180 degrees F. I just have a mental picture of the "normal" temperature display on the gage and only worry if it rises past about 3/4 on the dial. (Which it never has, even in Nashville this summer when it was nearly 100 degrees F.)

Yep, always a good idea to mark everything possible, at least until you have taken it apart and re-assembled it so many times that you have memorized everything.

The presence or absence of the air reactor pump has no effect on the correct ignition timing. The static timing is determined by the type of distributor that you have installed. The last post in this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34192&highlight=distributor+chart Contains a spreadsheet that lists the correct static timing, spark advance, etc for all distributors used on first two generations of Z cars. (Per the FSM from each year) The thread lists ZX (S130) models, but the chart includes all U.S. models from 70-83. For a 71, with the stock (U.S. specification) points style distributor and a working vacuum advance the correct static timing is 5 degrees BTDC. Anything larger and you risk significant spark knock once the engine speed reaches about 3k rpm. The 17 degree static timing is for a European specification distributor. They have less centrifugal advance but it kicks in at a lower speed. (The U.S. specification unit was an early attempt at emissions control.) Oh, and if you pull the oil pump off to set the timing correctly, be sure that you double and triple check the new position before you re-mount the pump. I have had to remove the pump multiple times because I moved the drive the wrong direction before.:stupid: (But I am sure no one else has ever had that happen...)

I never downloaded a FSM for a 78, but on the 79 FSM that part is called a "fuel check valve with vacuum relief valve." To me that description implies that it prevents FUEL from flowing from the tank to the carbon canister. (Which makes sense, that would be a bad thing.) It seems logically that under some circumstances air would have to flow back into the tank from somewhere. The diagram isn't clear on how that happens. Since there appears to be no other path, perhaps the fuel check valve allows air to pass both ways, but prevents fuel from leaving the tank. (As it otherwise would if the tank was completely full.) Hopefully someone here knows more than I do about this system.

Yes, the Challenger looks nice, but if you park one of the originals next to it the new car will completely hide the old one in profile. It is about 6 inches bigger in every dimension. It is also an overweight... well I should keep it classy:tapemouth Now the new Mustangs on the other hand... Personally I like the 370Z a lot. I don't have the money to buy one, and probably wouldn't buy one anyway since I have a sports car to keep me occupied. (Who needs two of them?) Granted, it doesn't really look like a 240Z, but this is 2010, not 1970. I don't look much like I did 40 years ago either...

Or the ocean... (either one, it doesn't matter...) But their are some muddy reservoirs nearby. The Southern part of the state is hilly, and that is where the "fun" roads are mostly. Most of our cruses run from Indy towards the Ohio river.

The Indy Z club meetings are on the second Thursday of the month at Hubler Nissan in Greenwood. (7:00PM) It is a pretty active club, mostly newer cars, but some of the first gen cars. The web site is still only partially operational due to rebuilding from last year's "incident": http://www.indyzcarclub.org/

Sounds like you have either lost the torque converter, or some clutches? Either way you will probably need to have it rebuilt.

Now that is funny... Does the air dam scream at you when you start the car?

Heh, if you tried that on most rust-belt cars you would likely be injured by the flying fiberglass and bondo...

How hot was it when you had this problem? The early cars are known to have vapor lock issues, even when running, in hot weather, which is said to be the reason that Nissan added the electric pumps. You would not see the problem on the open road, because the higher airflow at speed keeps the engine bay cooler. Search for threads on vapor lock for more information. Edit: Also search for threads on fuel smell. That is a common problem as well.

It seems like I took mine to "Indy rack and axle" or something like that. (I can't remember the name exactly right now, but I turned 50 recently, so what do you expect.) It was just North of the State Fairgrounds, not the best neighborhood. I didn't know about the place on Washington street.

I have also seen V8 conversions in the later (S130) 280ZX platform. It is a slightly bigger, heaver car, but still smaller than a Camaro of the same era. And in some places they are more available than the early cars. That might be an option for you as well.

Beautiful cars.

I had no idea that fan clutches "lock up". I thought they were just viscus couplings that limited the fan speed so that it turns at roughly the same speed regardless of the engine's speed. Guess that shows how little I know...

Could the system just need to be primed? (I don't actually know if the FI systems need that, just a thought.) If you pulled the pump there may be air in the fuel lines that needs to be purged.

It sounds very much like linkage adjustment. The neutral/park switch is in the transmission. If the linkage is mis-adjusted the transmission will still be in reverse with the shifter in Park. You can download a service manual here: http://www.xenons30.com/ It should have instructions for adjusting the linkage.