Shakey

Todd, Welcome to the site. Just to let you know that there is a Windy City Z Club get together this Sunday at the Safro Car show in Delafield. Some local Z owners as well as some cars from Chicago. Stop by. Tom (Red 240)

EScanlon - Never touched the wiring inside the car. Just rolled up the harness in the engine compartment while it was being painted. Reinstalled as was and now the headlights don't turn on. As I had mentioned the front and side parking lights/turn signals are working. Fuses are OK. Does the metal rectangular part located on the upper passanger right kick panel have anything to do with thew lighting?

After reinstalling the wiring harness back into the '72 I found that the headlights are not turning on. All other lights including the front turning/amber colored lights are working. Besides the possible short is there any other possible fix that might be the problem. Are there any relays?

The Windy City Z Club and Gordy Boucher Nissan will be hosting a show on October 8 at the dealership in West Allis, Wisconsin. Times are 9-3 with the judging to begin at 12:00. No registration fee and will include trophies for ten catagories, lunch and T-shirts. Looking for all generations from 240 to 350. There will be a caravan of cars traveling from Chicago that morning at 9:00. Check with the Windy City web site for more details on the caravan. Boucher's phone number is 414-543-1234 for more details.

Plannning a long trip this weekend but had my car stall with a dead battery this last weekend. Had left the lights on while shopping and when I returned the car battery was dead. Jumped the car and drove it home. Found when I braked the headlights went dim. Got home and the battery was still dead. Took the battery in to be checked after putting it on the charger overnight and was told the battery was fine. Took the altenator to Auto Zone and it checked out OK. Cleaned all the cable connections. Anyone venture any other areas for me to check? Wife will kill me if we get stuck on the side of the road?

Thanks for the suggestions. Here in Wisconsin Z's are few and far in between. This is the only Z in the yard so any parts will have to be taken off this car. I already have done a zx 5-speed and 4.11 change to my 240, but will probably try and negotiate for the tranny. This engine is my first attempt for a rebuild and if it does'nt work out I still will run with my currently installed NA engine.

At this time the engine is in the car so I'm sure the yard will let me take in a battery and turn it over. They were not sure for what reason the car was salvaged but did say they probably have the PO name and number so I could contact them. Besides doing a visual on the oil anything else?

Have found an engine from an '82 280zx. Have only discussed this over the phone with the yard owner and was told that it has a P79 head on a F54. First is this the correct head for the '82? Or has the previous owner switched the head from a P90? The car has about 120,000 miles and is a 5-speed. Looking for a winter project and trying my hand at a rebuild. Any thing I should look for before buying this? The car has the gas tank and radiator gone so I can't start it. Thanks for the help.

Satelles, That interesting about the different dif. you put in. I also replaced my old one with a 4.11 and kept with my old half shafts. Did drive the car about a month before the tranny change just to know that the changed out part worked well before changing the other. Did not have any problem other than there seems to be somewhat more rear end noise. Nothing that was not expected from what other posts have said. My grind sound is present when I'm about to come to a stop. Hoping that next spring when it comes out that the noise goes away. Ed, I did check the drain plug when I first purchased it and although there was no fluid in the case there was no signs of metal or anywhere inside when I opened it up.

Thanks for the response about my tranny problem. Since my original post I began to question if the amount of fluid was adequite. I originally followed my Haynes book and the correct fluid for a 260 5-speed (did not have specs for a 280zx) and put in one and half quarts. Jacked up the car and added what I thought would be another quarter to a half qt. Ended up taking the entire quart. Have had the car out for a 30 mile trip and still expierence an occasional grinding sound when I slow down for a stop and the car still in gear. Grinding seems to go away when I engage the clutch. Have since put the car away for the winter so don't have alot of driving experince to totally get the feel on exactly when the grind starts and how to stop it. Do think that the additional fluid did help alot. It is interesting about the possibility of the throwout being installed backwards. Will have to check this out if the tranny needs to be pulled. Thanks alot.

Replaced my "260" transmission out of my '72 and replaced with an "82 zx 5-speed. While out of the car I had a new clutch, disk and bearing ready to put in, but found the current set-up (Nissan OEM) was in almost new shape so I kept the clutch parts from the 260 in the car. The only different part was the clutch fork which was replaced with the fork from the 5-speed. Had taken the 5-speed gears out of the tranny housing for a visual inspection and found nothing wrong visually. Put back together and added 1 and half qt. of Red Line MT-90. Now the problem. The car runs through all 5 gears fine but there is a grinding sound. It is more apparent when you come to a rolling stop but that is probally because at higher speeds the sound is either deadened or that faster moving parts don't sound as rough. Anyway, the sound is there whether the clutch is engaged or not and the car is in gear. The sound is there when the car is in gear but not if the gears are in nutaral. The sound is also present in reverse. Have adjusted the slave as best I could. Replaced the fluid in the master and bled. It also seems that this is causing a drag on the cars ability to roll, as up to a stop sign. I did detect a burning ordor the first time I took it for a test drive. Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

Changing out my 72 4-speed and r180 to an 82 280zx 5-speed and a r180/4.11. While I have the tranny/dif out of the car what parts should I have on hand to replace the old ones with. Will plan on a new clutch but what other seals, bearings, ect. in either the new transmission or the dif? Can I easily change out the rear engine seal without much complication? Thanks for the information in advance.

Just need a simple answer to "Which end of the rear seal goes into the rear housing of the 240/4speed tranny? The flat side or the side with the lips?" Thanks for the help. Tom

Carl, The "metal ring" is not in great shape. Have been crusing over my manuals and have gotten the general picture of what may need to be done and does seen that a complete removal of the tranny is necessary. Have been seriously considering a 5-speed and beefer rear end, but that project was scheduled for this next winter. Will take it from here. Thanks Tom

Carl, Can you tell me more about "rplacing the Tailshaft housing"? Does tis require removing the entire transmission? Tom

Have developed a transmission fluid leak out of the rear of transmission. The oil has sprayed over the bottom of the car from the area of the rear seal on back to the rear. Had experienced this last year and successfully replaced the old seal with a new one. At the time the old seal (although pitted) came right out and the new one went right in. This time things have not gone as well. When trying to remove the old seal this time I found it to be almost fused in place and needed to use a needle nose pliers and a metal pick to try and pull the seal apart. At this time only pieces of the seal have been removed and have damaged the metal ring that the seal seats to. I guess with more work I can get the rest of the seal out but the damaged metal ring will probably need to be replaced. Need some information on what is involved in replacing this ring and where can any replacement parts be had from. Any reason this seal has become so difficult to remove? Have autocrossed a few times and use Red Line Manual Tran. Oil MT-90.

Have had the strangest electrical problem with my normally reliable '72. After an afternoon of driving just before returning home I noticed that when I used my turn signals they were slower than normal and that my tach needle dropped about 100 to 200 rpms every time the signal flashed. Also the turn signal dash bulb did not seem to be as bright as normal. When I stopped the car in the garage and before I turned off the car I checked to see if the headlights were working. When I turned them on the car started to kill. I quickly turned them off and the car continued to run. I finally turned the car off and now it won't start and the headlights are very dim. Has a one year old battery. Any help would be appreciated. Tom/Milwaukee