Chickenman

CO. I went with Cibie 7" from Daniel Stern lighting. I like the Convex lens shape better than the flat face Hella and Bosch 7" H4's. It matches the natural curves of the Z and just looks " right ". And the Cibies have an incredibly sharp cut off and very good reflectors. Real glass ( Quartz ) as well. Note: They are real E-Codes, so check your local regulations . http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html I went with the 60W/55W Narva +30 H4's. Beautiful sharp pattern and crisp white light. Great range as well. BTW, I've never been flashed by anyone for glare when I've run Cibies.

Gotcha Jeff. Was a bit confussed.... Edit: Let us know what you find on the drive gears. when you get back. I have a couple of ideas on fuel, but no use muddying the " waters " if you find the another problem.

The last sentence about being pitch black to see the spark raises Red flags. A good strong spark should be easily visible in broad daylight. Especially with an Electronic distributor. The old transistor boxes ( especially the 75 and 76 models ) were a bit on the weak side, but you should still be able to see a good strong spark fro the coil wire in broad daylight. A " Matchbox " ( E12-80 ) electronic module is even stronger. Points can be ... Meh. Do pull the front Timing cover and check those gears please. On mine the spindle gear showed some obvious damage, but the crank worm gear had split right in half and fallen in the pan!! BTW, this was one of the few engines that I did not assemble myself. A Big Time " Professional shop, had assembled the engine. Engine had a trick knife edged Tilton crank ( $1,000 in 1978!!! ) and large diameter Tilton damper. Damper required a special bolt that was longer than stock. " Pro " shop put in the stock Nissan crank bolt that was too short. And no Red Loctite. Needless to say, I never did business with that shop again and went back to assembling my own engines. BTW, shop was local but well known for " Drag engines ". Lesson learned... don't trust ANYONE

Finally got it fixed!!!. Turned out to be two strange problems. 1: Mode door actuator pot was somehow jamming internally. Seemed to be an alignment issue. Played around with the mounting alignment and suddenly it worked.... 2: Teeth on selector valve weren't engaging properly, so selector valve wouldn't rotate. Nothing appeared worn on either the sector gear or the valve gear, but the teeth were just barely catching on the bottom edge. I flipped the valve 180 degrees and the teeth engaged better..... Anyhoo.. I finally have everything working 100%. It's nice to have heat on your feet without the center vents constantly blowing cold air in your face. And a Defroster that actually works. Edit: Ended up attaching the hoses as per stamping's on selector valve.

Had the same thing happen with a damper bolt years ago on my race Z. Creates massive vibrations and ended up damaging the distributor drive spindle gears and bending the crank snout. Same symptoms that you had, only mine failed faster. You may find the spindle teeth chewed up and the dizzy may be skipping. It could be a coincidence that it lined up with #1 when you checked it. Check the run out on the crank snout as well with a Dial indicator. . A loose damper can bent the crank snout. Regardless if this is your issue, check the gears and snout for damage. I always secure the crank bolt with Red Stud-Lock. BTW... how " sharp " is your spark? Should be a sharp crisp blue or white with a distinctive " Snap " if you hold the coil wire about 1/4" from a ground. Weak or yellowish spark is not gonna cut it. Did you try a different dizzy cap and rotor when you switched distributors, or did you use the same ones?

Well, I've made some progress. I'm getting some air to Defroster vents now, Not 100% but about 50%. Here's what I found. 1: Disconnected linkage from Mode Vacuum Pot and both linkage and door moves freely. But connected to Mode pot the linkage only moves part way. 2: Took off Mode pot to have a look at it. Mode pot is free and holds vacuum. Here's the hidden deal. The Mode pot has a slotted attachment bracket. It is adjustable up and down. Mine was too far down and was not pulling linkage far enough open. After adjusting the Mode pot to it's highest installed position, I am finally able to get " some " defroster action. 3: Even on full Defrost I'm still getting outside air coming through the center vents. It's almost like the system is in BI-Level... and I think it is. For the vacuum selector valve, the FSM shows a different Port configuration than what is actually stamped on the valve. ( Sarah previously commented on this I recall ). I connected the hoses as per the actual stamping's on the selector valve... and it's never worked right since. I'm going to re-route the hoses tomorrow as per the " Incorrect " FSM drawings and see what happens. 4: I checked the " Source " vacuum at the vacuum selector switch by connecting my vacuum gauge to the " Source " vacuum hose. Then I went for a drive and monitored vacuum gauge in Real Time. Car has a big camshaft and I thought that may affect operation. Apparently not. Lowest Vacuum shown from " Source " hose was 15". And that shoots up to 20" and higher as soon as you shift gears or Coast. Accumulator tank maintains that levels, with only a slow drain down if you sit idling for a while. 15" to 20" should be more than enough to operate the Vacuum pots properly. This test confirms that all of the hosing, Vacuum/Magnetic valves and Accumulator tank are holding vacuum correctly. 5: I've checked all the other Heater/AC pots and lines with my Mighty Vac. They all function and hold vacuum fine. That eliminates any vacuum leaks in those circuits. 6: Selector valve was cleaned and lubricated as per Sarah's DIY. No real issues were found, and I made sure to " clock " it right on assembly as per sarah's instructions. . Hmmm.... now that's something to double check. There are two ways it can go together, and maybe the " Clocking " isn't the same both ways. More fun tomorrow. Right now my shoulder is killing me, so time to take some Advil and watch the Mind Numbing box. Seinfeld should work....

Found one!! Edit: Nope...wrong size... Grrr Still looking...

I don't think they are interconnected. Floor flap opens and closes normally and I can get heat out of it. Just can't get air to the Defrost ducts. Airflow is stuck on center vents. Air Intake door on passenger side seems to be working fine as well. Wratched my right shoulder up playing Tennis a while ago... so it's literally going to be a PITA getting under there. Point about Mode door being behind Evap core saved me some time though. Thanks for that.

Good point about the Mode door being hidden behind the Evap core. That means it wasn't anything I did while replacing the ducting foam strips. I'll try disconnecting the linkage and wiggling things back and forth. Maybe I can " un-jam " it.

All vacuum lines have been checked and replaced. New one way check valve as well. Magnetic switches are working Edit: All vacuum pots are working via selctor switch ( See solution ). Selector valve is working properly and has been serviced. I've checked each Vacuum Pot with a Mighty Vac. Pretty sure it's not a Vacuum issue. Vacuum Actuator for Mode door is physically jamming. I can apply vacuum to the Mode door pot, and linkage moves a bit as described in first post...then it jams solid. Pot piston only moves full distance if I disconnect linkage from it. Guess I'm just gonna have to dig into it again tonight. Nuts!!

Sorry, 1976 280Z with factory AC. All cables are operating smoothly.

Before I go ripping the center dash apart again, is there any " common " problem that would cause a Mode door to get jammed in the Vent position? Probably once I take it apart ( Again.... Grrrr ) , the answer will be staring me in the face.. but just want to know if there are any Common assembly errors or such that I may have made. The mode vacuum pot itself is actuating... but the linkage only moves a short distance before it jams. It's not like it's seizing or binding either... it's like the door is hitting something inside. Didn't worry about it this Summer... as door was stuck on Center vent and with AC that was fine. But now I'm taking a trip to the West Coast of Vancouver Island and I know that I will need defrosters. Any " Tips " fellow Z drivers? TIA.

Look closely at the enlarged picture, and you'll see that is not a factory connection. It also looks like the wire was accidentally hooked to a 12V source as the insulation is all bubbled and fried with exposed bare wire.

Napa and Autozone are the Walmarts of AP suppliers. No offense as mentioned... As has been mentioned, you can order the Jectron from Amazon. Liqui Moly is a HUGE lubricants supplier in Europe. Made in Germany and is highly rated. As are Motul, Elf, Total etc. You will find a lot of Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and other high end European car shops and dealers using these products. http://www.amazon.com/Liqui-Moly-2007-Gasoline-Injection/dp/B00CPL8PSG BTW: Liqui Moly and Lubro Moly are the same company. Something to do with Distribution rights in North America. I guess I'm lucky in that I have a some privately owned companies near me that aren't restricted by National or Regional purchasing contracts like the " Big Box " companies. That gives them the leeway to bring in some very nice European/Japanese brands lubricants and chemicals. Liqui Moly, Motul, Eon, Amsoil, Weicon ( Huge German chemicals company similar to CRC ), Joe Gibbs Racing products and others are readily available locally for me. Profits aren't as big... but the small private companies bring these in as a Customer Service.

^ Yes

^ While these injectors were out I was running on a spare set of Injectors that I had bought off of E-Bay. They had " supposedly " been ultrasonically cleaned and tested. Tips looked clean, but #3 injector leaked badly from the get go. First start in morning was very rough, and I was actually concerned about fuel " Hydrolock" . Starter was laboring against accumulated fuel in bore. There was that much fuel leaking overnight and pooling in the Cylinder. Threw some Jectron in, and by the end of the first tank ( bottle ) engine was starting smoother. Buy the end of the second Tank ( bottle ) the hard and rough start problem had completely disappeared. Engine is silky smooth now. I'm sold!!

Confucius say... Ya gets what yaz pay for.. I had my Audi A4 injectors Ultrasonically cleaned and flow tested at a local FI and Carburetor specialist. They had over 230,000 km on them. I have been using Jectron as a regular maintenance item for the last year or so. Owner was amazed out how clean the injectors tips were and how accurate the spray pattern was. Only thing he found wrong was that the individual injector filters ( very fine ) were clogged with debris... mainly rust and dirt particles. Injector cleaners can't dissolve that stuff. He installed new filters. When I told him about the Liqui Moly product, he was very interested as over the last 20 years he has found very few " Off the shelf " Injector cleaners that clean worth a darn. Jectron was the exception. He was sufficiently impressed that he was going to try it in his own vehicles. Edit: I've also tried the various el cheapo FI cleaners over the years. STP, Gunk, Wynns etc. They never seemed to make much difference.... .

NGK aftermarket leads have been Blue for at least 30 years. Trademark color. Kind of like why MSD leads are traditionally Red and Accel is Yellow.

AC Delco brand products are usually excellent quality. Electrical parts are second to none. I would not hesitate about using them. Just make sure that you order the correct sensor for your year and model of car. Make sure that you are ordering the LARGE can style " sensor " for use with the factory gauges. AC Delco ( and others ) also make a small oil pressure " switch " ( IE: AC Delco #E1802 ) that is just an On/Off switch for Idiot Lights. The small switches are not correct for 240Z/260Z/280Z gauges.

Just a couple of suggestions on Fuel Injector cleaners that REALLY work. I've personally used these products on my 1998 Audi and 1976 280Z and can attest to their effectiveness. 1: Liqui Moly Jectron fuel injection cleaner. Liqui Moly is a German company that makes top quality Lubricants and other Automotive chemicals. Jectron works really well at cleaning injectors. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 treatments, but it really cleans out gummed up injectors. Good as a regular maintenance product. 2: CRC 1-Tank Power Renew: CRC products are always good quality. I've tried this product and it really cleaned out my high mileage 280Z injectors. It's a bit pricey, so I use the CRC 1-Tank as an initial injector cleaner and then use the Liqui Moly Jectron as a regular maintenance product.

Skyler. That looks like a decent car and you didn't pay too much for it. While first series are worth more to a Collector, the 280Z's are starting to get up there as well. Obviously your car is not original, lack of 5 mph bumpers... but that's no big deal for a DD. You can make a very nice DD out of this for probably not much money. Big thing is that body and chassis is sound. Paint looks not too bad, and a professional polish and detailing can work wonders. Follow what Zed Head suggested about the engine. Some ATF in the low compression cylinder, let it soak a couple of days. Then spin her dry and install new plugs. Throw some Seafoam in the Tank and take it for a long drive. Seafoam the intake as well. See if the compression comes up. If it does keep driver her. If not.. time for a rebuild. After 10 years sitting you probably have a stuck ring or deposits under a valve seat. Re-ring, bearings and a good 3 angle valve job and the engine will probably be good for another 200,000 miles. New valve seals of course and check the Valve guides. Engine and drive-train parts are still plentiful and inexpensive ( for the most part ) . I deal with Rock Auto and MSA for most of my parts. RA is great for engine and drive-train parts. A good 280Z may be worth less as an investment overall... but you usually don't have to spend as much restoring it either. As a DD... hard to choose between a well sorted 240Z and and a 280Z, IMHO.

NGK Plug lead set = NE61 ( Alternate Part number #8105 ) Spark plugs ( Standard heat range ): 1970 to 1976. BPR6ES ( .8mm gap or.032" ) 1977 thru 1978. BPR6Es-11 (1.1mm gap or .042" ) Note: 1977 and 1978 Trignition is more powerfull than earler models. If you're using a E12-80 distributor you can use the BPR6ES-11 plugs.

As per subject. Need to find a Z31 Trigger wheel for my 280ZX Turbo dizzy. Anyone have any? TIA.

Did that way back in the 70's on my 1200 race cars. Only TC rods are in front and I used it to increase Castor. You have to be careful with the radius at the parting line though. You don't want any stress risers. I used a small 1/8" dia very fine stone in a Dremel grinder to make a nice Fillet. Chuck the TC rod in the Lathe, rotate at a medium speed then lightly grind a small fillet. Hand polish fillet with some 400 grit and then 600 grit with oiled Wet and Dry emery cloth.

I think most of these cars stumble a bit when they first start. Seems to be a common problem. The advantage of the newer design is that it is readily available, serviceable and relatively cheap. Many of the old AAR valves have failed and are hard to find or expensive. My car always seemed to run rich when it first started. After a short while it would clear up. Increasing the amount of air bypassed by the new style AAR valve finally gave me a proper fast idle, and cleared up " some " ( not all ) of the initial start up richness. Edit: I'll be glad when I get the Haltech installed. Slowly gathering parts.