blitzkraig

Go get another alternator. If the new one ya got is putting out less than 12 volts than it's no good. It's not often that a new item comes dead, but it happens.

It sounds like battery problems. If the lights are dimming then your fuel pump is probably slowing down too and choking the engine. Not sure why the charge would have picked up when you pulled off the highway though.

Are there any members around Santa Cruz? Working on my 71 by myself made me realize just how little I know about cars. Would be great to have someone to reference with or cruz around with once the car is done!

If that really was a bra and not a paint job, I would definitely buy one!

No fluid leaking anywhere but there's still bubbles coming up out of the reservoir. Any other ideas besides replacing the MC? I get the nagging feeling that it is the MC, but of course the second I decide to shell out the cash for a new one that it will mysteriously become another reason(murphy's law). And now to make matters worse when I tried to bleed the clutch lines, all the air seems to be out but the rod in the slave cylinder is going no where....yeah........I think I'll need another drink

Ok, so I slept on it and approached it again this morning. I didn't rebuild any part of the brake system since it all worked perfectly about 6 months ago when I tore the car apart. I just found out part of the problem. The rod in the MC wasn't moving (the pedal only went halfway to the floor). A good kick and the pedal went all the way down (probably got stuck from sitting for so long) and I started bleeding the brakes. I bled the MC first until no air was coming out of the bleeders and then proceeded in the std order. THe front brakes work fine now, but the rears dont work at all. Bubbles are coming up in the reservoir for the rear when I pump the brakes and I've bled the MC and rears again and again. No air bubbles are coming out of the bleeders but air is coming up in the reservoir. Any ideas where it could be sucking in air? I haven't found anything leaking brake fluid yet. Thanks for all the help so far! Craig

Ok, so now that I'm past the peeling paint issue, I need to raise the other. THe brakes won't bleed! Not even from the master cylinder! I have new steel braided lines and I reused the original metal lines. Everything worked before I tore the car apart, so I don't see the mastervac or mastercylinder being broken. Could I have screwed up the connection from the pedal? Just when I thought I was about to get the car on the road this thing is fighting me to the very end......grrr....I need a drink....

I'm trying to bleed the brakes on my Z. The rear went ok, albiet a little slower than I'm used to. The fronts are not building up any pressure to bleed. So to be sure the lines weren't blocked I took my air blower and blew a small amount of air down the bleeder valve and fluid came bubbling out of the master cylinder all over my new engine bay paint! ACK! I poured about 2 gallons of hot soapy water on the area and then hot clean water. Will this be enough to save the paint??? If the paint is peels I'm seriously going to sell this car the second I have it running again.....sad but true. I need some assurance here!

Sounds like a leaky head gasket? Taking the head off to replace that gasket really isn't all that hard. I've done it twice (once while the engine was still in the car). If you're lookin to save money, consider trying to fix the problem rather than going through the lengthy custom process.

Well the car is on the ground with 4 wheels again after 6 months of long hard work. I tried to start the car and after about 30 seconds of cranking to get the gas to the carbs it started to come to life. With the choke all the way on I could get it to barely idle a few times but the seconds I tried to rev it, it died. Now I think the battery is dead as the engine is no longer cranking and the starter solenoid is clicking. Is there anything else it could be? because is just all of the sudden stopped cranking rather than slowing down. I'd love to get this thing running tonight or tomorrow so any responses are greatly appreciated! oh yeah, it's also got a new starter. I recall having the solenoid clicking problem before the tranny went out, so I replaced the starter. Could it be ign switch?

Yeah I figured I'd have to cut the rod. Oh well, whatever works. Thanks for the responses. My car is finally back on the ground though!

I think I'm ready to start my motor tomorrow. I would do it tonight but it's not on 4 wheels until tomorrow. I just wanted to do some final checks with the people on this forum. I rotated the crank until the first cylinder was at TDC with the intake and exhaust lobes pointing up and out. I popped in the 280zx dist with the rotating piece pointing forward(away from the engine) and plugged in the spark plugs assuming the piece was pointing to cylinder 1 (going around counterclockwise). Just out of curiousity for the 280zx wiring, what should the wire from the harness that plugged into a tab on the stock dist be plugged into if at all? I'm also assuming the tiny cylinder bolted next to the coil was part of the stock setup and no longer needs to be plugged in? Anyway....that's all I can think of asking. I appreciate all the help you guys have been giving me so far. Hope to see ya on the ROAD soon:classic:

It's right where the rod from the slave cylinder pushes against the clutch fork. I've tried really small drill bits to the size I need and nothing works.

So I left the T5's clutch fork in the tranny, but I only have the stock clutch slave cylinder. I refuse to pull my entire engine just to change the clutch fork so I just want to drill a hole in the end of the fork so the slave cylinder will work. I can't drill through it.....all drill bits just spin and spin to no avail......what am I to do......

Swapping in the BW T5 into my 71. There's two wires that hooked up to the stock transmission, but there's 2 pairs of wires coming off the T5 (driver and passenger sides). Which pair do I hook the wiring harness to? And what are these wires for? Thanks for any and all replies!

You should contact ebay about this. I've had trouble getting some items from sellers and had to complain to ebay and they were willing to help me out. If the item you recieved is not in the condition described then you may be able to get your money back.

I pulled a 280zx distributor at a junkyard to throw on my L24. I've been searching the threads here and on Zcar.com and the posts said to use the ZX coil with the conversion. Since I first heard of this on the Z garage website and never saw this mentioned, I purchased the Crane cams PS20 coil from MSA. Will this work?

Ok, so I've been eye balling pictures I took before I tore the engine apart and I've been rummaging through the hoses I tore off. I don't think the coolant was hooked up to the manifolds. My guess is when my dad had the smog equipment taken off maybe the mechanic took off those hoses too? Do I need the lines hooked up? Does it help or hinder performance? On the other topic, I think I figured out why the heater hoses were switched around. I ordered those two hoses and the hose from the manifold to the vent tube on the driver's side from MSA. In the boxes I recieved I only got two twisted hoses, so I think I cut the PCV hose thinking that was one of the heater hoses.:stupid: Time to heckle the MSA staff again

Well removing the axle spindles from the rear hubs was a pain in the arse but I got the nut off and the spindles slid out. Now working that I&@^$#!& nut off ruined the first threads on the spindle and I'm going to try and get a die to fix them. I'm guessing it's a 19mm x 1.5? Please help....sanity slipping.....so close to the end......must....finish.....Z......:sick:

oh well, one more thing to sandblast and paint