cgsheen1

I didn't read all of this thread completely but there's a lot of misinformation here. Any S30 that had Metallic paint WAS TWO STAGE from the factory. Solid colors (nonmetallic) were single stage enamel. If (where) your CLEARCOAT is gone or peeling off you will NOT get good results trying to buff it! You can't buff basecoat and get a good result. You need to either leave your paint as is or have the car repainted - especially since you're dealing with silver.

Automatic transmission? (ever?) The reason I ask is that the start "signal" generally goes straight from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid - in Datsun Z cars it's a Black/Yellow always. But in an auto car the B/Y goes through an inhibitor switch first. So if the car is/was auto and that wiring and/or switch is screwed up? The other thing that comes to mind is in some years the B/Y was also run to the ballast resistor as a by-pass to give full battery voltage to the coil at start. Do you have a B/Y at/near the ballast resistor (or where it would have been). Otherwise the start circuit is one of the most simple circuits in the car - just ignition switch to the starter solenoid... Easiest fix would be to just run a new solenoid wire from the ignition switch to the starter. That would eliminate all other possible sources of voltage to the solenoid.

The 260's have small diamond pattern vinyl on the trans tunnel and on the panel behind the seats, hide grain vinyl on the inner rocker. Vinyl (hide grain) on the rear strut towers. The 280's have carpet on the trans tunnel, vinyl on the rear strut towers. Can't remember what's on the panel behind the seats. Pics of the '75:

Still, the top picture shows the reverse idler gear to be engaged. And Patcon is correct, In the Neutral position all of the slots on the shift forks should line up so the control lever moves smoothly from left to right into a position that would move each/any of them. Remember that the shift lever is a force multiplier - it may take more effort than you think to move the shift forks manually especially with the end of the fork rods dangling in front rather than being held in proper alignment by the front case.

My 260Z was loop, the "museum" '75 280Z is loop, my son's '76 was loop so maybe it's just the late 280Z's that had cut pile.

You have to drop the oil pump, adjust the shaft and push the oil pump back up. There are a BUNCH of threads about the process and various methods people use to get it positioned correctly. Sometimes easier with a helper and long needle nose pliers but doable by yourself. Patience is the key to joy.

You can, but I wouldn't. Your trans and clutch parts are either 280Z or 280ZX. And, you should figure out which. Collars can be found and there's a HUGE thread discussing the various collars and clutch package dimensions. You might want to check it.

99%. There were no US 5-speeds until the late 280Z and were offered as an option. The 280z came with a 4-speed stock and the lates had the 5-speed option. The 280ZX came with a 5-speed and it's more likely to find one of those. They were all L-series engines and that's a very popular swap. There are threads that describe how to tell what 5-speed you have. Easiest way is to look at the bolt that fastens the speedo pinion gear body into the trans. If the bolt is on the bottom, it's from a ZX.. None of that means a great deal with your particular problem except you want the correct slave cylinder for the trans. Your issue is more likely the clutch package. The clutch package (dimensions of the pressure plate) determines which of the several available throw out bearing collars you need to use. That's the "adjustable" part as the fork pivot, fork, slave cylinder and it's push rod length is fixed. The adjustment in the clutch master cylinder rod is for clutch wear and personal preference of clutch engagement. When you have the proper collar installed, the fork should push the slave rod almost all the way back into the cylinder. The end of your clutch fork is way too far forward...

What he said. You can undo all the distributor fasteners and turn it past it's ordinary adjustment range temporarily to see if you can get it to fire. Then note how far off the rotor is from number one position when you get the crank back to TDC. A bit hard to tell from your pics but the distributor shaft looks off to me. I would say it may need to be rotated clockwise.

You have the wrong length collar on the throw out bearing. Your clutch fork end should be much closer to the slave cylinder. The slave cylinder push rod should normally be pushed in about as far as it will go as it's static position. Unfortunately that means pulling the trans back to expose the collar and throw out bearing for replacement. (you're buying transmission & engine parts for a late 280Z (1978) or 280ZX - not a 240Z - correct? Just checking...)

No. Nearly every inline 6 cylinder engine uses the same scheme not just the L-series engines. Cylinder one is at the front and numbers in order to the rear of the engine - six is the cylinder near the firewall. The firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4. All of this is determined by the mechanical build of the engine (crankshaft, camshaft, timing gears and chain). You need to be able to verify that the mechanical timing of your engine is correct. That is the position of the mechanical parts are as they should be - including crank shaft position relative to camshaft position and distributor (rotor) position. That's the very basis of your engine mechanics.

The distributor cap normally has a raised "line" in the plastic along the number one spark wire plug. None of the other plugs in the cap are marked that way so just find the one with the bump... The rotor at TDC faces nearly forward - toward the radiator - slightly offset to the left side of the car. There are pictures of all this stuff in the Factory Service Manual - Download it. xenons30.com or nicoclub.com

Did you remove the stock 280Z Electronic Ignition Module or at a minimum disconnect the Blue wire from the Module? The blue wire to the "-" post of the coil originates at the Electronic Ignition Module under the dash and supplies the "signal to fire" that has now been replaced with your 123 Module. The signal to the Tach tees off that wiring and goes through the 2.2 Ohm resistor before feeding the Tach. If the stock EIM is still wired in it could be interfering with the Tach signal. I've used many different ignition schemes and on a single coil ignition I've always been able to drive my tach properly with the stock blue wire no matter what EIM I used. But I completely removed the stock Ignition module under my dash first thing.

Not me... I would have wired in new relays. I've been beat down working on the electrical of these old Datsuns and now I replace rather than mess with the 40+ year old electrical stuff for the most part.

I'd lift up some vinyl around the pillar and look at that. Find someplace that hasn't been shot over the top of.

Why would you connect the High Beam? Just to wizz off everyone in town as you drive your Z? (I mean, sealed beam headlights do suck, but still...) All you need is Low Beam for now...

The A Pillar vinyl is just glued on. The vinyl should wrap around each flange at it's sides. On one side, that will be the windshield flange - on the other the door flange. When the windshield is installed it's weatherstrip will lap over the vinyl on the A Pillar. Likewise with the door weatherstrip - it's welt will go over the A Pillar vinyl. You can use contact adhesive on both sides of the flanges but it's really only needed on the outside of the flange in each case - the weatherstrip holds the inside of the flange in each case. The vinyl above the doors and above the windshield is a different story. That's where you use that welt you have pictured.

The dimmer switch just supplies a ground to the headlight circuit. Looking at those three wires (in your first picture above) that came loose out of the broken switch, the Black is the ground, The Red/White is the High Beam ground (I think) and the Red/Yellow is the Low Beam ground. The switch just changes which wire gets connected to the Black ground wire. To get by, you could just connect the black wire with the Red/Yellow (If that gives you high beams when you switch the lights on, I was wrong - so, just connect the Black to the Red/White instead). Then you'll have Low Beams for driving while you find a replacement for the broken switch. The Ground is always connected to one or the other depending on the position of the switch so you don't need to worry about leaving the wires connected. Power to the headlights comes from the headlamp switch on the right of the steering column.

That was quick! IMO, You'll need a new hose but I think you'll find that the real problem is that fitting. Once you remove the hose from it, you'll find it corroded mostly away.

My youngest son installed a solid diff mount on his '76 280Z several years ago and had to remove it after a few years of use as it had torn the sheet metal of his "differential case mounting front member" (to use the FSM term) - didn't damage the bolt holes in the chassis but tore the cross member up around the bolt holes. We had to find him a new cross member and an RT style mount. And YES! The solid mount transferred a LOT of noise and vibration into the cabin.

Take a paper towel, fold in half, then half again and then place it like a hammock under that fitting and heater hose you have circled in the picture above. Bring it up tight to the bottom of the fitting and hold it for a bit. Then take it off and see if there's any moisture on the paper towel. No? Do much the same on the side of the block under that fitting. Use dry towels each time, continue until you find a damp spot.

Wow. Absolutely no reason to install that type of an oil pan if you're not racing... But I guess a lot of people spend money for no real reason.

So the second owner was racing / autocrossing the hell out of it...

Exactly...

That looks great! It's good to have another Goldie! If you're ever in Phoenix let's get together and see how the PPG base compares to the Sherwin base 🤪... Got A/C, it's 100 here...