NocturnalEmber

@Zed Head I had that website saved and lost it when I installed a new nvme drive in my PC, thanks for that! I kept googling trying to find it and I was using just the wrong amount of keywords to not get a positive hit. @Yarb Strange indeed, I think they were looking for anything obvious and just didn't go past a visual inspection, because of the lack of tampering I've found anywhere. I really wish I had taken more pictures. How long does a car have to sit for the brake fluid to turn to powder anyway? I've never seen that before, though being that basic things weren't even touched, like fuses, I think it was largely left alone. If only I had a crystal ball.

@Yarb you're right, it wasn't physically bolted to the body. I have no way of knowing that it wasn't removed, but based on everything else around the car I feel comfortable saying it's original. ex: Fuses being oxidized to the point they had so much resistance that interior electronics wouldn't work. Brake and clutch master fluid had turned to powder, anything in the car was dating back decades, etc. Of course this doesn't guarantee anything, but it correlates with the story that the car sat in a garage for quite awhile, so I'd be inclined to believe it's an original ECU.

@Yarb, I got a pretty good look under there before/after I replaced the engine harness and I couldn't see anything amiss connection wise. While I can't say for certain, the way the retaining screw and ECU plug on the old harness had attached themselves together, I'd be willing to bet that it's original. Plus the general condition of other components that I've replaced, it doesn't seem like much of the car was touched, seems like it sat untouched for quite awhile if I had to guess.

Random thought - Hopefully someone can chime in. I do seem to be missing the bolts that hold the ECU to the bracket. Does anyone know what spec these are so I can source some replacement hardware? Searching hasn't turned up any definitive answers, and being that I don't have any, I can't replicate based on that.

I'm hoping that's the definitive cause of all of this. No idea how it could go from running to not running when absolutely nothing was touched on it. Should hopefully be able to borrow an ECU to test and verify. I didn't notice anything on the ECU pins or the harness side connector myself.

I plan on holding onto my old ECU, so I'll likely see about getting the cover off and looking into those joints. I've had to redo some cold solder joints in some of the electronics on another car so I've got some experience in re flowing/redoing them. Ideally with a known good ecu I'll be able to finally have it consistently running right.

@Zed Head I went back down to the car, verified it still won't start. At that point I took your advice and Slapped the ecu around a bit, and it got to where it would start and idle. It did sound like it was running a bit rough, but it would start, idle ( 800~ rpm) and rev. Do i turn my attention at this point to the ECU? Didn't do anything aside from smacking the ecu and shaking it around a bit.

I mean at this point what's some free maintenance going to cost me? I'll go give it a kick or two and report back.

I actually thought to check that, though not for the same reason - I wanted to make sure it wasn't a vacc leak. No gas in the vacuum line coming off the FPR. What gets me is what can happen to the car when it is off, with the battery disconnected, over the course of two days? It's in a sealed garage, no one messed with it, and it was actually running when i turned it off. Just doesn't' make any sense.

I checked them all a second time after they were connected two days ago and again tonight. As far as I can tell, absolutely nothing was changed between when it was running and idling fine on its own with the new harness and earlier when it wouldn't start. All the connections were/are secure and clean. The car was turned off while running fine, sat for two days, and now this.

Pressure at cranking and running is 32~ psi.

78 280Z 2+2 I finally got around to doing some more work on the Z, and for every step I take its almost as if its two steps back. Two days ago I changed out the engine/ecu harness because mine had virtually every clip broken. After I connected everything back up I started the car to verify it was running okay. Engine seemed to idle fine, rev fine. I did rev it once and it died when the RPMs settled, but it started right back up and ran fine from what I could gather. I shut the car down. I have not touched it since. Two days have passed. I go out to road test the car, and it wont start at all, just cranks. I will occasionally hear it try to start here and there, but its endless cranking otherwise *unless* I give it throttle during this period, then it will run, albeit horribly, as long as I keep the throttle applied. Full throttle will get it to maybe 1,200 rpms, all the while misfiring and smoking horribly (it doesn't smoke when it normally runs.) Honestly at my wits end here, I've changed out and replaced a bunch of components along the way for the sake of troubleshooting and just due to age, and now this. Absolutely nothing happened to the car that I know of between two days ago, turning it off after replacing the harness, it running fine then, and trying to start it today and this happening. I did notice that after the fuel tank replacement, the car will leakdown to zero psi overnight, seems to hold pressure fine though during cranking/running (when it ran two days ago.) If anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it. Google doc below of what I've done so far: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eRC31JowXWN3sx6-Y-zguYGn5HORvq0jeS9s4Pt3rxM/edit?gid=1386834576#gid=1386834576

Unfortunately I just heard back from Datsun Spirit, they are apparently booked for the next two years. Anyone that has a shop they can recommend that isn't booked out to that extent and has experience on bodywork with S30's would be appreciated!

Title. Discovered some rust at the bottom of my drivers side quarter panel where it had rusted through and caused the paint to bubble, resulting in 3 nickel sized holes. Dogleg portion has a bubble of paint that flaked off to reveal what looks like surface only, but with rust who knows. Entire pinch weld looks sound, but there's what looks like powdery rust residue running along the seam of the pinch weld where it meets the rocker panel, nothing else visible so I have no idea how serious it is. Also battery tray has some surface rust that I've hit with inhibitor and taken a screw driver to, metal seems sound, but would need addressed. The rest of the car *looks* okay, but I can't tell if anything else is hiding. Spare tire well looks fine, and when I had the gas tank out to reinstall a new one from S30World, I didn't see anything on the other side from underneath. Floor panels and everything else look okay under the car. I really want to keep the car and get it back into shape, but I'm also facing a move and transporting an extra car would be another logistical challenge, but I may hang onto it if I can make the repairs work. Car is a 2+2 so I know this may complicate matters in terms of finding panels. Thus onto my question, does anyone have any recommendations for restoration shops on the east coast? A quick google search revealed Datsun Spirit, But they are apparently booked for the next two years. Granted I know most people aren't a body shop or work at one, but what is the estimated cost to have this done properly? (cut & weld new panels if needed, etc)? I've seen the numbers range in the single digit thousands, so I'm not entirely sure.

Google spreadsheet has been made! Edit: Car does not have a catalyst, I haven't checked the muffler. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eRC31JowXWN3sx6-Y-zguYGn5HORvq0jeS9s4Pt3rxM/edit?usp=sharing