EuroDat

Your car is right on the borderline where they changed over to the first E88. The change is somewhrre around oct - nov 1970, but some people have a seen them on 240Z in early jan 71. There is no real hard dateline when they changed over. Even VIN numbers can be a little misleading. If yours is still an original E88 head it will have basically the same specs as the E31 with a 44.2cc chamber iirc. Somewhere in August/September 71 they redisgned the ports and lowered the compression ratio on the E88 head. A lot of debate on the E88 head and how many variations are actually out there. Some say 3 and others say four variations.

Be very very careful opening the bonnet with an engine fire. Heat rises and the bonnet traps most of it. If you suddenly pull it open, the heat will excape and draw in a huge amount of fresh air from underneath. You will be engulfed in flames. No fire extinguisher is going to help you in that situation, you can forget the car too. I have a fire extinguisher, but it's there to save my life not the car.

Looking good Bart.

Here is a thread about them a couple of years back. Just need read past the OP uncertainty. These detent spring are always overlooked. I don't think any workshops replace them. Such a pitty because it can make a big difference in shifter quality.

Their is a trick so you can regain some of the tension on the old spring. I did it on ine and it worked well. Cut a section off the spring and fill behind the spring with a couple of washers. Best to do this with some old springs from another transmission. If you cut too much and have to use too many washers, the spring will bind and jam the selector. The theory: A coiled spring is simply spring rod rolled into a coil. Shorten is and it will become stiffer. A bit like holding a plastic ruler over the edge of a table. Move it out10 inches and it will be flexable and you came move it up and down easily. Move the ruler in to 5 inches and you will not be able to move it as much. It will be stiffer. I just google the parts again to see it they can be purchased anywhere. The original part are NLA. Looks like its time to hunt for and alternative supply. Tranny_Rebuild_FEB2012.pdf

This should help you out This is for a four speed, but it is the same layout for the five speed transmission. Fifth is on the reverse fork rod. I replaced all mine in 2012.made the select feel so much better and clicky a bit like new, if you know what i mean. Courtesy nissan list them now as NLA.

I don't know if you have already been back, but easy things to grab that will always come in handy are: - The fusable link blocks on the passenger strut tower. Take as much of the wire wires as possible. Makes it easier to splice into another harnes. (Not just the link, the blocks and the white wiring.) Hint: I would buy them if they are in good condition. One of mine is partly melted. - The ECU behind kick panel drivees foot. 3 screws and the plug and its out. - The TIU (Transistor ignition unit) located passengers side kick panel. Two screws and cut wiring harness. - Engine fan and radiator shroud if its still in good condition - Rear number plate light. Two screws and a plug - Fuel pump + mounting hardware. Good luck salvaging

I'm not sure what is causing your blinker to play up like that. Hard to believe it has anything to do with the pump. Poor grounding connections can cause all sorts of wierd things in the electrical system. The pump bogging down could be just building up pressure until it reaches FPR pressure or the fuel line is blocked and it's relieving internally. Can you see any + or - markings on the pump? A flow test will tell you if it is right. These pumps will pump when in reverse, but only half capacity. The original pump will only reach about 25psi in reverse.

The original pumps have two different size terminals to prevent reversing the wires. I would start there, check the flow is good and the move forwad from there. Connect the damper to the pump and run damper to a container and test again to see the flow is still the same. Simple process of elimination.

The standard pump has a check valve. What type of pump are you using? Original or aftermarket?

When you say damper, do you mean to fuel pressure regulator (FPR) on the fuel rail above the injectors or the pulsation damper on the side of the pump? You mention disconecting it from the rail. Can you run a hose from the pump into a bucket or container and do a run test. That will tell you if its pumping. A normal 280zx pump will pump about 2-3 liters a minutes. If it's wired in reverse it will be about 1-1.5 liter. That can be different with after market pumps,but you can reverse the wires and see if it pumps more or less.

How long was "left for the military, and came back"? You're in California so give it enough time the fuel could evaporate. That could take some time for a mechanical pump to pump up again. You can try the Aerostart test, like mentioned here above in Patcon's post. The test will do two things: 1: Identify you have a fuel problem and not a spark or air problem. 2: It wiill run the engine briefly. The starter turns the engine at about 300 to 400 rpm. If it runs on starter fluid for a few seconds the higher turning speed (above 600 rpm) will work the pump a lot faster and prime the system. A couple of short runs on starter fluid might be all you need.

I can't open the photo's either. I take it the transmission came from a donor Zed, but you are not sure which one. These transmissions came in other datsuns like the 720 trucks etc with very different gear ratios. The 4 speed is easy to identify. It has an breather plate on top of the rear extension with six M6 bolts holding it in place. See the jpeg for details. The 5 speed doesn't have the breather plate. You can easily identify the two "wide" or "close" ratio version by following the instructions in the pdf. FS5W71B 280Z and 280ZX transmissions.pdf What does the codering mean.pdf

Yer, Hazmat did a real neat job with his project. I played with a combination 240Z grill/280Z top bar after seeing it on his thread. I ended up going for another aproach and made special brackets for under the 280Z indicator mounts aftrr removing the 280Z indicator mounts.

What did you do with the 280Z grill? I went with the 240Z grill, but added two extra bars to it. Also removed the indicator supports.

I've seen that done on a 260Z. I thought he had some sort of fibreglas fenders/scop combination installed, but then he explained that he welded the scoops to the fenders. He stitch welded and leaded the joints to use as little filler as possible. The result was certainly impressive. I would definitely consider doing that. 6 months back, maybe longer someone posted a photo of his welded scops/fenders on this forum. I can't find the thread.

Yes it makes sense. It sounds a lot like to detents are reversed or a lot of free play on the rear hub or maybe a loose retainer plate on the adapter plate. Al (Cal Dat llc) has a bit of a reputation for hit and miss rebuilds. He gets quite a bit of attention from his customers on the forums. Did your second mechanic strip it down completely or just open the casing and found a couple of issues, fixed them and put it back together? In your last post you mention "feeling the gears meshing", but most of what you are feeling is the selector ball checks clicking into place and the inserts in the synchronizer hub clicking into the coupling sleeve. Could he have forgotten the springs behind the inserts? If you are not feeling that, I would remove the the two side ball check caps and check if the lower spring has colapsed or something like that. All the springs are the same length, but the top cap for 1st & 2nd is longer. You can get to these fairly easy by climbing under the car.

I was thinking that too. My idea was remove all the items that can influence the shifter. if it doesn't jump out of 5th, replace one piece at a time until it start jumping out again. The rubber on these cars is getting old and hard. If could be as simple as an old rubber boot causinb yhe problem now the transmission has been tightened up.

Shifter can still be a problem. If the mechanic tightened things up, it could move the stroke of the selector and now cause problems. You don't know for sure until you check and cross it of the list. Once the console is out, it's easy to remove the selector and check for contact marks.

Ksechler, When you say it jumps out. Does it jump out with force or simply holding your finger lightly against the gear knob is enough to hold it in gear? If you can feel it force out, that is a good sign its internal and most probably an end play issue. Otherwise before you do anything with the transmission, I would remove the console (leave the switches connected) and remove the rectangular rubber boot on the floor. You can also remove the small round selector boot on the transmission. Drive it around and see what it is doing. The rest that can cause your problem are unfortunately all in the transmission. Possible causes: - Loose main shaft nut - Loose cluster shaft nut. - Excessive main shaft end play caused by loose retainer plate in adapter plate orbearing has too much end play in adapter plate. - Detents fitted in reverse in the 5th hub. Early manuals show them in reverse which is wrong. Later 300ZX with FS5W71C has them shown correctly. I have corrected a version for the 77 manual. Ill post it in the download section went Im on my PC. - Weakened spring in the ball check for the 5th selector. All the springs are the same, so it is easy to check the condition of a poor spring. See pos#9 in drawing of selectors. To identify the transmission follow document how to identify wide and close ratio transmissions. FS5W71B 280Z and 280ZX transmissions.pdf

Hi Marine240z, I have not had the chance to do much work on the Zed. A lot of family issues got in the way, but I plan to start on it in the next couple of weeks. The old exhaust is still ok, but I want to change it so Ill make the exhaust one of my priorities.

Im not sure where it is exactly on a 75, but on the 77 it's very close to the TIU. Easy to reach and check. You could mistake it for a end plug or end cap to protect the wires. It has blue wires. I hope Im not sending you on a wild gose chase. I have never seen it on a early 75. I snapped a couple of photo's of my 77

I left my wiring completly intact and bridged over the resistor block. Kept it as retro as posible. The tacho is connectd to the blue wire through a resistor under the dash. Are you sure its connected properly and the rssistor is ok? TIU280Z1976_REV2.pdf

If you go with the 2+2 clutch, like I did, you will need the 2+2 flywheel. The 240mm pressure plate has 9 bolts where the 225mm has 6 bolts. If you go with the 240mm I would lighten the flywheel or go for the aluminium version. I lightened my flywheel. See attached jpeg. The blue text are the dimensions I used. Its good enough for street use. The 225mm and 240mm flywheels are the same weight, but the disc and the pressure plate for the 240mm clutch is slightly heavier. Some figures on installed load for original pressure plates: 225mm: 550kg 240mm: 780kg The advantage of the 240mm pressure plate is a lot more grip with the original OEM pedal feel. Like Cliff said, A lightened flywheel makes the engine more responsive. Probably the most bang for your buck on a standard engine.

Wow, that cma looks really bad. When you start playing with these engines, you will find lots of combinations to chose from. Everything from conrods to even using vw golf pistons. I remeber having this discussion about the valves years ago. And a members machine shop mixed up the diferent L28 valves when they replaced a couple. If you use a general machine shop, YOU need to know a lot about these engines. Here is a thread about the problems Ben was having. I admire Ben's resolve to finish it.