MikeW

I'll have to let a 280Z expert give a proper answer but I'd first check the master cylinder fluid level. I know that on a 240Z the brake warning light can come on if there's an imbalance between the front and rear brake system but on the 280Z there may even be a fluid level sensor are some other way of triggering the light.

Exactly. I was once in Edinburgh Scotland and someone saw my Roswell address and made a comment about Sculley and Mulder. It took me a minute to figure out through the think accent that he was talking about the TV show X-Files - something I had never watched.

I think it's funny that three of us in this thread list "Atlanta" as our location even though none of us really live in Atlanta and probably wouldn't want to. I'm in Roswell and work in Sandy Springs near Northridge. The reason I list Atlanta instead of Roswell is that I don't need people asking about UFOs.

I think the citrus is in there to smell good, make people think it's safe, and mask the fact that it works using petroleum based solvents. I recall when I was trying to remove remnants of floorboard tar mats looking at Home Depot for all the different options. I don't remember if it was Goo Gone or another similar product but the main ingredient was xylene. I decided to buy a full quart of pure xylene for less than the small can of the goo product. http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=13009002

Not sure what you mean by harder. The two engines are basically the same except for the fact that the L28 is bored out more and has a greater stroke. The resulting extra displacement produces more power at the expense of more resistance to throttle response due to the extra inertia and friction.

VINs don't work that way on 240Zs. They were simply sequential numbers and there was often overlap around model year changeovers. You'll find some cars registered as 1970 models having higher VINs than others registered as a 1971 model. Have a look at this page to help distinguish: http://zhome.com/History/DesignChanges.htm

Yes, that's a 280Z. I believe it's a 1978 black pearl with less than 1000 original miles.

Carl's post made me realize that I didn't include whatever my shop charged to pull the engine and remove various components and then put it all back together. This is what it looked like when it arrived back at the shop:

I know I've posted this here before but I had my engine rebuilt by Jasper engines for right around $2000. This was before I joined this forum and didn't know of any local resources. Their price is still about the same and what you'd be getting is practically a new engine with a 3 year/75000 mile warranty. They handle the shipping details to and from your shop. If you're more interested in performance then you'd want to consider a Datsun specialty shop like Rebello or Sunbelt but I'm sure their prices vary widely depending on how much you want done.

Can you put the rear up on stands and investigate the brake operation while the car is stationary? Just leave the wheels off and simulate your 10 mile drive. I can't imagine that the distance matters as much as how often and how hard you end up braking. I've got a cheap non-contact IR thermometer that would work well for something like this.

Perhaps this is simply stating the obvious but it seems to me like the brakes are dragging slightly even when the brakes are not applied. To me that indicates that they aren't adjusted properly after all and that none of the parts are necessarily faulty.

Assuming you mean HLS30-73771 it's most certainly a 72. What is the build date on the door tag? Based on others it should have been built in March or April of 1972.

Welcome to the club. When you say "missing half the belts" I assume you mean missing one belt out of two. There's really only one belt that matters and it forms a triangle between the crank pulley, the water pump/fan assembly, and the alternator. Without this belt your car would quickly overheat before even getting a chance to drain the battery. The tension on this belt is adjusted by moving the alternator itself and there are no other pulleys involved. If you still have the air pump there would be another belt strictly between the crank pulley and the air pump. It would ride the crank pulley one groove closer to the radiator than the first belt which is closest to the engine. Finally, if your car had aftermarket air conditioning there might be a third crank pulley slot even closer to the radiator. Some aftermarket A/C units were mounted on the right side of the car below the fuel pump while others may have been mounted on the left, sometimes replacing the air pump. While I don't have the diagram that you asked for you might consider posting a picture of your current setup. Someone here will be able to quickly diagnose what, if anything, is wrong with your belts.

I suspect that any wiper problem is on the motor/linkage end of things. There have been other posts here on fixing that. It's something I need to do myself but I keep putting it off since I never drive in the rain. If it is the switch you might be able to fix it the same way but I have no experience with that. If you decide to take it on yourself you might consider documenting the process for others. Before doing that I'd bypass the switch and see if the wipers work or not.

Hey, I'll give you $200 for the Wii and extra controllers ...

A number of places sell vinyl kits and even the foam inserts. It's a fairly easy job to by yourself.

Good work!! That's a lot better than forcing it. Had you used leverage to get the sprocket back on and even if it seemed to work fine you'd always have that in the back of your mind wondering if it would cause a problem down the road.

That's exactly what I did years ago. Perhaps in my case the tensioner came out too far and I had to use too much force but the end result was a tensioner that broke a few weeks later causing the chain to slip. Someone who's never done this before might not have a feel for how much leverage is acceptable and how much is too much.

Yes, the tensioner likely slipped a bit. Don't try to force the sprocket onto the shaft. I did that once and ended up with bent exhaust valves. Taking the front cover off to reset the tensioner is the proper thing to do.

This may be the other thread that E was referring to: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27845 The part that may be confusing is the fact that the "keyhole" is normally hidden by the webbing where it attaches to the "tongue" part of the latch.

Here's an old shot of mine after polishing: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5340&ppuser=3294

With a little sandpaper and a whole lot of hard work you can polish the valve cover yourself and get excellent results.

I wouldn't trust the accuracy of the gauge. If it doesn't read full when it really is full it may not read empty when it's really empty. On the other hand, with a tank capacity of 15 7/8 gallons then your range simply depends on your mileage. Mileage varies according to driving style, city vs highway, engine tune, tire pressure, etc. At 20 MPG you should be able to go 300 miles with a little in reserve. 25 MPG will get you 375 miles. I wouldn't count on getting much better than that. Sorry, I see you're in Canada. I don't know if you use kmpl or liters per 100km. The tank is 60 liters. I'd expect a range of 500-600km on a full tank.

Does the clock pull enough current to cause this test light to glow?

Get a multimeter and set it to the maximum amps setting; for most cheap meters that will be 10A. With everything switched off remove a battery cable and measure the drain between the cable and the battery. That will give you the total drain; the only thing that should be drawing current at this point is the clock but if there's another draw you'll be able to measure it. To figure out which specific circuit is the problem put the battery cable back and go to the fuse box. Pull each fuse out one at a time and replace it with the leads from the ammeter. The total draw through each of the fuses should add up to what you saw previously at the battery.