v_balge

One word LIFE!

I have a 77 in the middle of an engine rebuild. My first Z was a 77 back in 1983, loved that car. Bought this car as a project & haven't driven it yet. Vince

carfiche.com has Factory Service Manuals online. I just downloaded the 76 280z one. Vince

I had the same problem. After the car would warm-up to would stumble & die. Thanks to suggestions from other members, I made sure my Temperature sensor connections were clean & the problem stopped.

My 77 had similar piece. Very homemade looking with bad welding. It was loose and rattling around, couldn't find anything about it so i took it off. Vince

There's a good write up on injector connector replacement at http://www.atlanticz.ca http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/injectors/connectors/index.html

Now that I've calmed down I when back out to the garge & tried the rusty manifold nuts I can see. They both turned out without a problem. I've decided to pull the motor and keep going at this point. Anyone in Southern Ontario have a 280 engine they want to sell? Thanks! Sometimes you just have to step back & clear your head. Talking helps to. Vince

When is it time to give up & sell or junk the car? 1977 208Z I bought the car two years ago. It ran & drove when I got it but needed front brakes (fixed), headlights (fixed), front turn signals (fixed) & windshield wipers (fixed) that I knew of. I would start up on the first crank & sounded good. After getting it home it started smoking very badly. I replaced the valve stem seals but that didn’t stop the smoke, I’ve since discovered that Marvel Mystery Oil will stop a car from smoking just long enough for a prospective buyer to look at your car. Every time I fix one thing another problem stops me from getting it on the road. Over the past several months I had smoke coming out of the dashboard & the engine would stumble & die when it warmed up. The smoke was from a leak in the heater hoses under the dash (fixed). The stumble & stall was from a bad connection to the temperature sensor (fixed). After starting it back up one of the fuel hoes at the filter split & sprayed gas all over the engine (fixed). On the next start a hose on the fuel rail started leaking. So I decided to replace all of the hoses on the fuel rail & injectors. Number 5 injector hold down screws broke off flush with the manifold & now the stud extractor has broken as well. Now that I can see some of the exhaust manifold bolts I can see that their regular bolts not studs & very rusted. I know their not going to come off without a fight. How far to you go? Very frustrated. Vince

Thanks Stephen! Car now idles fine after warm-up. But now it's sprung a leak at the fuel rail. O well one problem at a time. Thanks for the advise. Vince

Well I couldn't get an ohm reading from the temperature sensor so I took it out of the car. After cleaning the contacts with sandpaper it worked. Did the tests hot & cold & I think it works. Put it back in the car & started car up. Just as it started to warm up the fuel line after the filter split & started spraying gas over the engine. Luckly no fire. I'm off to get new hoses. Vince

My car hesitates and dies after it warms up. Car will start without a problem, even if it’s been sittings for weeks and idles fine. As soon as the temperature gauge starts to move the idle gets rough. I can hear the fuel pump relay clicking along with the idle hesitating and then engine dies. If I let car cool down it will start and idles fine. I’ve taken all of the under hood & under dash connectors apart & cleaned them. I don’t think it’s the fuel pump because it shouldn’t be affected by engine heat. It could be a bad ground but why when it’s warm? Anyone experienced anything like this before? Any ideas on what to try next? Thanks Vince

I'm a Datsun/Nissan fan & like them all. I'd like to have one of each. My dream garage: 1970 240z 1978 Black Pearl 1980 280zx Limited Edition 1840 300zx Limited Edition 1990 300zx TT 2006 350z Roadster

2! When I was dating my now wife it was great no one else could tag along for the ride. "Sorry only have room for two"

Not Complete but good enough to make piece. Vince

Thanks!!!!!!

I'm getting ready to replace the valve stem seals on my 280z with the head still on the car method. The descriptions I've read say to turn the engine over by hand. Whats the best way to do this? Is it safe to use the cam shaft sprocket? Vince

I've just removed the valve cover for the first time to inspect the cam. The sockets in the cylinder head bolts are full of sludge but the rest of the inside of the head and cover seems fairly clean. I haven't looked inside any other Zcar engines so I don't know if this is normal. Any wisdom from someone who’s got more experience would be appreciated. I’m now afraid of what’s in the oil pan. Vince 77 280Z

In the bottom of the picture you can see what looks like 2 pieces of plate welded together. Anyone know what they would be for? I took a similar piece of my car. It was only held on by 1 loose bolt and didn't seem to be doing anything.

My 77 had early 74 260Z bumpers on it when I bought it. The 74 has similar shock absorber mounts to the later 280Z and used the same mounting holes to the body. If you want to use 240Z bumpers you'll have to make your own mounts. There has been discussions here about that subject, a search of the forms should find it.

I just went thru the same problem putting new front calipers on my 280Z. Ended up replacing the hoses and the hard lines up to the proportioning valve. Vise grips were the only thing that worked, all the hard lines twisted and broke. Good Luck!

I've always loved the view form the drivers seat of a Zcar

I found this pic in another thread about removing the rear diff. My spring is about four times bigger no wonder I can't hook it up. I'll try to get a new spring. http://www.angelfire.com/hi3/hiper/260Zdiffremoval_oldtranstunnel.html

Thanks for the reply HS30-H. There isn't anywhere on the "Equaliser" to attach the spring to that I can tell. Without seeing a picture of one installed I'm only guessing. It might not be the correct spring. I'm just going to leave it for now.

You can't see from the photo but the spring is hanging from the spring tab. There just doesn't seem to be any where to attach onto the cable. May be if I turn the spring around, the other end has a longer hook on it. That might let me hook onto the trunnion.