aochider

Using the Energy Suspension poly bushings (7-18102). Went to tighten down the sway bar end links but they didn't fit. The bolt would have to be about an inch longer. Not sure if the bushings are too big, the bold is too short, the spacer is too tall, or I just messed something up. I used the end link packet that did NOT have the square sway bar bushings (I assumed those were for the rear because nothing in the front has square bushings). Any help? Here is a picture of the car with the bolt nearly fully up AND the car on the ground.

I've only used a ball joint separator on such tasks, but just in case you don't know, stand clear when using it. Every time I've used it the two pieces blow away from each other. From the looks of the tool, you'd assume it slowly separates them, but yeah... they tend to loudly pop apart.

Other cars I have worked on used a clip and simple mechanism to hold the brake line to the strut, meaning you don't have to disconnect the brake line when doing work there. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see why I couldn't just cut out part of the strut brake line bracket and then use a clamp (in addition to the stock clip) to hold it in. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the tips! I don't want to have to carve them out more (poly is a PITA), but it is good to know that others have had the same issue.

I've never changed a rack and pinion rack bushings, but I'm pretty surprised how big the poly bushings are (Energy suspension 7-18102). I don't have a picture, but when I rest the clamps on top of the rack with bushings, the clamps are about 1cm away from touching the crossmember where the rack rests. So I guess I just have to torque down the clamps pretty hard? By the way, I made sure I had the thinner bushings on the driver's side and the thicker ones on the passenger side.

Awesome. Thanks! I hope others find this helpful in the future too.

Thanks for the info. I'm not very familiar with those types of nuts. Just for future reference, they're not reusable?

So far I see that people seem to do one of two things: 1. Grind out the peened part of the nut and then reuse the nut (I don't get how this works because if you removed the peened part, what's preventing the bolt from twisting?) 2. Buy some 280ZX nuts with a "ripple" in the threads. Not sure how that works because I imagine it'd deform the stud. Anyway, anything I'm missing here? Are those my only choices? Thanks!

1978 280Z with a Holley carb and MSD 6A and MSD Blaster 2 coil. Distributor appears to be stock (magnetic pickups). I am actually making an aluminum heat shield, but it is already mounted on the opposite side as the exhaust and I don't think there is a much cooler place in the engine bay (correct me if I'm wrong though!). Maybe I should look into mounting it inside because I have a lot of space... I would like to leave the distributor, but if there were some unbelievably reliable system, then I'd love to hear about it. This GM HEI seems intriguing, because I imagine it is cheap and easy to find because it is GM. Thanks!

I'm curious about what some RELIABLE, easy-to-install ignition modules are. I currently have an MSD 6A in there, but the thing is massive, fairly expensive, and seems to be pretty weak against heat (already had one burn out on me). Any alternatives? Thanks!

thanks for the advice. i guess ill take off the grill to check!

Thank you very much! You saved me the time of having to remove the wipers and that piece.

Could someone please tell me what this hose is for? I couldn't find it in the factory service manual. Doesn't look removable to me (I don't care to remove it anyway), but I'm curious what it is. Thanks!

I want them for the simplification and to actually do the work (this is just a project car and learning experience, no plans of racing/daily driving/etc.). But I can see what you're saying and appreciate the advice.

I haven't been able to find out if there is a 14" rim rear disc brake conversion for a '78 280Z. It seems like all of the kits are for 15" rims or bigger. I'd like to keep the awful-but-stock hubcap setup I have now, but not sure if it's possible. Anyone know? Thanks!

Hate to reply to my own thread (mods please correct this if it's not allowed), but I solved the problem. The stock 1978 280Z tachometer needs the MSD 8920 tach adapter. I am using the MSD 6A ignition module (the new one with the detachable harness), with a Holley carbureted L28. This makes sense because MSD's own table (http://www.msdignition.com/page.aspx?id=3300) says to use the 8920 for magnetic triggering, but for some reason everyone seems to say 8910 for the 280Z. Anyway, I just wired it up as it showed in the MSD manual: * Grey 6A wire to White 8920 wire to grey 6A wire (6A manual says that is the tach wire) * Purple 8920 wire to your tachometer input (very last blue wire in the main harness. Follow the thick harness from the passenger firewall all the way to the passenger headlight, in front of the radiator, to the driver headlight, and then finally to the coil area. The longest blue wire in that is the tachometer input. I believe it originally goes to the coil, but my car was never wired that way since I owned it.) * Red 8920 wire to 12v ignition wire (I just used the same one that the 6A is using) * Black 8920 wire to ground I measured the grey 6A tach wire and saw it was outputting ~6v at idle (~1k RPM). The purple 8920 wire was putting out ~13v to the 280Z tach wire. This seems to be the purpose of the adapter. All this seems kinda obvious now, but I hope it helps someone else later!

My 280Z uses an MSD 6A ignition. I need to hook up the tachometer, but I don't know what to do. More specifically, the 6A has a grey wire that is related to the tachometer. I imagine the tachometer has some input wire that is looking for a specific voltage. My 6A is in my engine bay on the right side (near the relay box). Is there some convenient way for me to hook this up? I would prefer not having to run a wire through the firewall and splicing stuff onto my tach. Also, I do have the 8910 MSD module that is apparently required for correct functioning. Thanks! EDIT: Here is what I see in the relay box: http://imgur.com/a/0VyHN. I'm hoping I can use one of these. Thanks again!!