Captain Obvious

Well since this all started when you messed with the AAR, the logical conclusion is that the AAR work is related somehow. Of course, there's always the possibility of a completely spontaneous unrelated failure, but let's just mess with the idea of the AAR being involved somehow. I don't know what's going on, but I'm just gonna poke around a little. At the beginning of the thread, you said you took the AAR off. What exactly did you do? You detached the electrical connector off the AAR and then what? I assume you loosened a couple hose clamps and took out the bolts that hold the AAR to the intake manifold and pulled the AAR off the manifold. Did you cap the connections that used to go to the AAR (right way)? Or did you put in a piece of tube to connect the two ends where the AAR used to be (not the right way)? Did you take off any other electrical connectors as part of the job? Cold start? Throttle position sensor? At the beginning of the thread, you said you had spark. Are you sure?

The tip of the plunger doesn't really stick out of the end during normal operation? Like this? There's normally something else covering the outlet end of the injector, isn't there?

What's the latest on this? With the sudden onset and complete (not intermittent) failure, it seems like it should be a simple issue to find and fix. "Should be." If I were anywhere near you, I'd be happy to come over and help figure it out.

Back when I had my Z32, I dissected a couple failed 300ZX injectors (different style), but I've never done any autopsy work on a 280Z injector. I'd be happy to do so if you (or someone else) wants to send me a surplus injector or two. I would have to dig out my Z32 injector box to be sure, but I don't think they used stainless steel. I think it's carbon steel, and therefore susceptible to rusting. I assume they believe that situation won't occur as long as the internals of the injectors are constantly bathed in dry fuel not containing any water. Just like the gas tank. But if the car sits for a long time with the system open, water can accumulate where the fuel is/was. Just like the gas tank. The point is... If they didn't make the internals out of a magnetic stainless, then there may be some rust inside inhibiting movement.

Excellent. Make sure the brass connections on the car are really really clean (600 or 800 grit emery cloth) and make sure you get the links in the proper locations. Biggest one on the passenger fender side of the block closest to the radiator:

Pics of the underside or it didn't happen!

I didn't see this before. Yeah, I don't remember all the details, but I went through the same thing with the first door lock I opened up. I know I used a couple little screwdrivers and other pointy tools, but I don't remember how many times I stabbed myself. I do know that I used screwdrivers and little chisels that I ground to shape to try to make the job easier, and while I did succeed, the face caps were a little ragged around the edge. The current set of tools of my pliers combined with the anvil holder have produced results good enough to re-use the face caps.

Sorry. I was off-line for a day. Just sent you PM.

Wow. I'd love to find something like that in my barn! Of course, I'd have to get a barn first, but... Details. Do you have documentation to support the 35K original miles claim? And do you have any pics of the underside? With all the rust on the stuff on the top side, I'd be most interested in what's going on underneath. I gotta get a barn...

Great work. Thanks for sharing! And just before someone else posts it >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2nuPVTU4Z4

Here's a pic of the ignition lock I bought off ebay for my 77. My 280 uses the Taylor X7 key blank also known as Silca DAT6R blank. I believe the mirror image locks are Taylor X6 and DAT6L. There are seven tumblers, although the careful reviewer will notice that there are actually eight slots in the cylinder. The eighth one is not actuated by the key and is simply a retainer to keep the cylinder from pulling out of the lock body. It's not counted as a tumbler. So this is what my 77 280 uses. I'm not sure if the longer seven tumbler locks will fit into the earlier assemblies that were originally designed for the six tumbler versions:

I'm not sure what requisite lugs you're talking about. I do have first hand experience with some lock stuff from ebay, although since it's been a number of years since I messed with them. I'm not sure if what's available now is the same stuff that was available six or seven years ago, but back when I was doing my locks, the only locks that were being produced new were door locks and ignition locks and I they were being made in Taiwan (by ASP). I've never seen any new production for glove box or hatch locks. So back when I was doing all my locks, I purchased door locks and ignition lock stuff from ebay. Be aware, however, that there are a couple different gotchas... First of which is that the really early cars used single sided keys and all that lock stuff is very different than what was used on the later cars. I don't know what constitutes "early" and "late" exactly, but I can guarantee that my 77 is "later" and I have absolutely no experience with the early single sided key stuff. I don't know if that's a 69-70 thing, or what. Second possible gotcha is the key blank as there were a couple different blanks used (at least in the later years). By the time they got to 77 there were two blanks available which were a mirror image of each other. I'm not positive, but I believe this practice started in 74 with the 260. The third gotcha is the length of the ignition cylinder and the number of tumblers included within. By the time they got to 77, the ignition locks used seven tumblers. But some year prior to that, the ignition locks only used six tumblers. So I'm not exactly sure on what year the change went into place, but at some point, they upped the number of tumblers from six to seven. I haven't researched it, but I believe all the door locks used six tumblers even into the later years. The last gotcha is that the actuation arms on the 77-78 door locks are different than previous years and most of the ebay door locks won't work. I did a quick check and there was at least one seller that had stuff that was 77-78 specific, but the point is, if you're looking for 77-78 stuff (which I know you are not), you have one extra hurdle to overcome. So the summary is.... If you're going to buy lock stuff off ebay, make sure it uses the correct (mirror) blank. And if it's an ignition lock you're buying, make sure it has the appropriate number of tumblers (six or seven - also referred to as "short" or "long" body). And if you're looking for door locks for 77-78, make sure you get the ones with the correct actuator arm. Wow. Lots of words. Sorry.

Yeah, I get that a lot. You need a lathe, my friend. Once you get the seam opened up, the face cap just pulls off the front of the lock: And the cylinder slides out of the lock body: Here's some of those corroded crusty tumbler wafers I was talking about earlier. However, despite the way it looks, this is actually the BEST door lock I've ever opened up. In fact, I wouldn't feel bad about reusing this one if I had to: And here's a shot down into the lock corroded lock body. If you look closely you can see some grooving in the body where the tumblers have dug in: And since I had the camera out, here's how the front face keyhole cover is held on. Note the dimples in the side where it was crimped into place. It's easy to just slide it off. Maybe use a small tool to un-bend the crimp a little bit if necessary:

So for those of you that I haven't scared off yet, I got a couple minutes to take a previously unmolested door lock apart. Here's a lock, my anvil holding fixture, and my home-brew face cap pliers: For the pliers, I ground one tip down a little so it's slightly shorter than the other leg: And I ground a radius into the jaws to kinda sorta fit the curve of the face caps. It's not a perfect match, but the intent is mostly to keep the corners from digging in and creasing the face cap material: Here's another pic with a better view of the radius ground into the jaw: Using those pliers, I am able to catch the lip of the face cap and straighten up the bent bead around the edge. Like this: And after a couple minutes of careful prying and working my way around the lock a couple times, I end up with the lip pried up straight enough that the face cap can be popped off the front of the lock. Takes some finesse and "the knack", but in the end, it looks like this:

And some words of experience about reusing the original locks... Every original lock I've ever opened up (with the exception of the rarely used glove box lock) has been a mess inside. Corroded. Pitted. Grooves worn where there shouldn't be grooves. Wafer / tumblers worn and sometimes bent. The pot metal they used for the lock body castings was probably chosen more for cost and it's ability to cast fine detail than it was for it's longevity. And the corresponding keys were worn as well, meaning that even replacing the wafers with new ones might not fix a sticky lock problem. The point is...... All you guys buying face cap pliers thinking you're going to open up and rebuild your original door locks? Based on my experience, you're going to find a worn, corroded, rusty, grooved, hunk of what used to be a lock. I would probably recommend buying a new set of door locks off ebay and opening them up and rekeying them to the rest of your car instead. If you can get new replacements that use the same blank as the rest of the car, then that would be a much better way to go. New versions of both the ignition locks and door locks are available. The ones you can't get are hatch and glove box, and thankfully those two usually got much less use than the doors and ignition and stand a better chance of being salvageable. Of course, YMMV.

So I found my box of lock related stuff... Unfortunately, there wasn't any definitive help in there about which specific donor I used for the springs. The notes on the bag indicate that it was a NIssan model and there is no mention of Honda parts: And I did find the following spring stuff together in one small bag. Not conclusive, but indicates that I did NOT use half of the two section spring: All indications are that I used the one that looks like this. Probably clipped the ends off and maybe shortened it a turn or two so it would fit between the hinge holes on the hatch keyhole door:

Sweet!!! My non-smooshed 77 must be worth $472,464 !!

Ok, and BTW... I don't know who is taking the bets, but I give it 60-40 in favor of you chipping the edge of the mirror before this is all said and done. Yes, I said it. Sorry.

One of those projects that sounds so easy, but in reality isn't easy at all. If you don't care about the dented housing, you could use a cutting disk to slot the housing metal most of (or all) the way across and then just open it up like a clamshell to get the good glass out. In other words, sacrifice the housing to save the glass. Or instead of cutting through the housing with a disk, you could maybe grind the seamed lip off the bent housing along the widest side and then possibly slide the mirror glass out of the housing like opening a sliding door. So how badly dented is the housing? Could you weld a stud onto it or drill a small hole and pull the dent out? Cover the hole with a Summit Racing sticker or something?

Haha! It's all that training on the flip phone. Fast thumbs. I type with them too.

Yeah, I think that was it. "Colder than a witches titmouse!" How about "hawkin"? Anyone heard of that one, or is that a regional dialect from my youth?

The doors, however, are a lot more difficult. I think I've posted some of these pics a long time ago (before Photobucket went hostile)... I made a back-up anvil fixture to support the door lock face cap so it wouldn't get distorted while I pried up the crimped over edge. Here's the support anvil. I made it out of brass so it would be a little softer than the face cap and not mar the stainless face cap: And here's how a door lock fits into the fixture: With the door lock face down in the support anvil, I was able to pry around the edge of the face cap and open up the crimped seam: And after that... I stopped taking pics. I'm guessing that it got warm and I had to drive the Z. I've got a number of spare door locks. I'll take one apart and continue the photo documentary from here.

About the face caps... It's certainly easy to mangle a face cap beyond usability, but with careful removal, it is also possible to put the same one back on and crimp it back into place after messing with the rest of the lock guts. I'm not sure if all the years are the same, but by the time they got to 77, the hatch face caps are easy. There are only three easily bendable tabs holding the face cap in place:

Will do. I probably I didn't throw away the other little spring pieces*, so I might be able to determine which one is in the hatch lock by process of elimination. When I get the chance, I'll take a look for my three lock box. * I mean... Who ever throws out anything like that? My workshop indicates that I keep pretty much all of it.

Yeah, the springs are a problem. Most of the lock parts are made out of either stainless or a non-ferrous alloy. One of the exceptions, unfortunately, are the springs. From what I understand, there are some grades of stainless that are suitable for making springs, but good ol' carbon steel has better spring characteristics. That is, of course, at least until they rust into little unidentifiable nuggets of what used to be springs. Here's my hatch lock door. That little brown legless rusty lump in the middle of the picture is what's left of the original door spring: And for a fix, I harvested a couple springs from other door locks and was able to modify one of them to work as a replacement for the original. Here's a pic of some of the options I was working with. Original rusty nugget at the top and two options harvested from other sources at the bottom. I don't remember what the other sources were, but I have good reason to believe they were later Nissan products or from a Honda Civic: Based on the dates on the pics, it's been almost seven years since I was messing with this stuff, and I didn't do much writing about it at the time. So I have some pics, but the details are unclear at this point. I was definitely able to figure out a replacement option, but I'm not sure which donor spring I used. I have pics where I clipped the long one in half, but I'm not sure if that's what I finally ended up using: But for moral support... Here's a pic showing that whatever I did worked great! :