Paulytunes

I have a spare one from a 280Z. Not sure if the connections would be the same. Send me a PM if you are interested.

That is so cool that you were able to keep your Z in the family. My Uncle Marc had a 1970 240Z, which kicked off my long term love affair with these cars. I told him to let me know if he ever sold it that I would buy it. Sadly, it was not meant to be, as it caught fire in his driveway after a Sunday drive (we think an undetected leaking or ruptured fuel line was the cause). By the time the neighbors noticed the car was on fire and the fire department arrived, it was a total loss. Fast forward to present times - after years of searching, I found my 280Z about 3 years ago. It took some sorting and is still a work in progress, but it is currently drivable and an ongoing father and son project. My uncle, seeing me as the carrier of the Z torch in the family gave me his original Z hubcaps, which I cherish. For my 280Z, I have the original window sticker and have done some research on the history. I think it was well loved, and driven, as meant to be. I don't think it will ever be a concourse level show car, but rather a nice weather driver to be enjoyed and kept in the best possible running condition for a now 50 year old car. Best of luck on your journey, may it be a great adventure!

Thanks so much for this! My headliner is starting to sag in some places and I think I might borrow you idea as an upcoming project.

I replaced my transistor ignition unit with an HEI module a few years back. Here is a link to my thread: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/68428-1976-280z-fuel-issues-troubleshooting/page/2/#comments About 5 posts down on page 2 is where the fun starts. I currently do not have any issues at high RPMs, but I did with the original Transistor Ignition Unit. I think I also had to bypass the resistor under the ignition coil to get everything to work right. I also have a schematic of how I wired it up, but yours might be slightly different since it is a later model. Don't forget to apply the thermal paste to the back of the transistor on the the heat plate if you do choose to go this route. Good luck.

This is where I located my gauge, see photo. Yarb is absolutely correct, knowing fuel pressure is key to diagnosis. I bought my gauge and clamps on Amazon. Also, be sure to use the fuel service rated clamps, not radiator hose clamps, otherwise you'll leak gas and a gas leak in the engine bay is bad news. As I recall, it should be somewhere around 35 psig if you have a healthy fuel pump. Might as well replace the fuel filter also if yours is old. Also, get a copy of the Fuel Injection manual - I think it's on the resource page of this forum. The manual has excellent troubleshooting scenarios and will provide a great understanding of the fuel injection system.

@dtejada Congrats and welcome! I think you'll find this forum to be pretty awesome and to be a great resource. I joined a long time ago (when my wife gave the okay to start looking for a project car), and I bought my 280Z about 3 years ago. I have learned a tremendous amount in that period of time. Whatever you run into, there's a good chance someone here has had that or a similar experience. I'm a little behind on documenting things as life, kids, etc. tend to help push things to the right on the schedule. If you have not already, get an FSM and a wiring diagram for your model year, those documents have been life savers for me, as well as posting here when I get stumped or hit a snag.

So sorry to hear that. This seems to be the topic of the week at work, we were also discussing AI and how it could be coming for our jobs very soon. I hate the fact that the new large language models can do things so quickly and efficiently. It is marginalizing our talents.

I'm going to need to get some replacement floor pans as well. I have had at least three separate people tell me to go with KF Vintage. One was a contractor that had done previous classic car restorations, another was a vendor at the Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals, and another was a Z mechanic. Needless to say, that's who I will be going with when I finally pull the trigger and decide to replace my floors. Mine were filled in with old Maxwell House coffee cans and lots of filler by a previous owner that did not want to weld. I was planning on replacing my floors as this winter's project, but I may need to put it off due to the persistent Gov't shutdown. Not having a current and reliable source of income may stall my plans somewhat.

I really, really want one of these. If my 289Z were fully restored and I had no need to spend money on it, I would definitely get one.

So it's been awhile since I last posted. Remember that aftermarket ECU? I found out it was bad and causing starting issues and the high idle condition. I happened to find an original replacement ECU from another 1976 2+2 and that solved my problem. I also found that the TPS was missing a screw and out of position on the throttle body. As it turns out, the missing screw had broken off inside the throttle body. I was able to source a used one and installed it. Everything now seemed to work except for the temperature gauge. This was baffling to me since I had replaced it with a new one when I replaced the thermostat and the housing. However, that one was a two piece unit. I tested the temp gauge and wiring by disconnecting the connection to the sensor, temporarily running a wire from the the connection to ground and turning the key to the on position. The gauge needle moved from resting position to max within a few seconds, eliminating the possibility of a defective gauge or wiring. This was reassuring, since I was not looking forward to having to troubleshoot a wiring issue, nor did I want to have to go and try to find another gauge. So, I purchased a new temperature sensor, this time a one piece unit. I had some free time to install it yesterday, and Voila! I once again have a working temperature gauge. Here's the one that didn't work: Here's the one that worked: And the proof:

I think there is a museum in Japan that has a lot of the old Rally cars and the one off MR2 prototype. If I ever get to Japan, I am going to need to convince my family that we need to go to all of these automotive places. The Nissan and Subaru museums are also on my must see list.

I saw these too and was tempted to get a set, but I snagged these Rotas from the Carlisle Import show instead:

Awesome! I'd love to go there someday. I'd probably spend the entire day there and never want to leave! Did they have an ST185 Celica GT-Four?

Thank You!!! I was finally able to source a Bosch plastic housing replacement relay on eBay marketed as a VW part. It arrived on Tuesday, and I installed it today. I knew that was it when I turned the key and heard the hum of fuel pump. Once I added some fresh fuel to the tank, I turned the key, watched the fuel pressure gauge climb up to 36 PSIG, and the L28 started and ran! I do need to still do some troubleshooting and fix the backfiring and high idle, but those seem like much smaller challenges now that I have a running car again. Apologies to my neighbors, I think the whole community heard my hollers of joy and elation when the Z fired up this afternoon! A small victory, but a much-needed win for me today with all that has been going on at work.

Thanks for sharing, those are great photos! The 400Z looks a lot wider and a little taller but retains the basic Z shape. My 2018 WRX looks like a small SUV when parked next to my 280Z.