RogerZ

Just looped it around roof through the hatchback. Not a lot of force needed just more than you can apply one handed and put the spring clip in. No not a centurion the romans used engineers to build catapults and trebuchets.

thanks for all the replies. the solution was simple once I figured out what had happened. there is a flex piece connecting the steering column to the piece that goes to the steering box. this is very stiff and old it pulled the steering column down making it very dificult to put the spring together. solution was to pull the steering column back up. by oneself dificult. being an old guy tho I had studied catapult technology in school so did what is in the picture. Once you pull the column up fairly easy push to get the spring down and the clip back in place.

yes it is a zx. unfortuneately there isn't enough room to use pipe or socket to compress the darn thing cause then you can't get the clip in. It has to be almost compressed completely to get the clip in so pinching in a couple coils doesn't work either but thanks. I think I figured out a way use an angle iron over the shaft bolted down and then a couple of tapped holes to screw down on the spring. ANYONE ELSE DON'T DO THIS IT IS A PITA TO GET BACK. i thought I needed to take it off to get at the combo switch cause my running lights were out. YOU Don't loosen it up a lot.

anyone else stupid enough like me to take off the spring clip for this little spring under the steering wheel. If so how did you fix it.

thanks but need some kind of clip to hold it or I guess dismantle the whole column. i know right where everything goes but one of those impossible things to do.

while repairing the lights on my 83 zx i made the mistake of taking off the spring clip which holds the stout little spring on the column below the steering wheel as it didn't see like the combo switch/stalk unit would come off otherwise. fixed the lights but now can't get the spring in place. anyone have thoughts on what to do for this.

interstare be the best in 25 years of using only had one bad one. and most of them went far beyond the 60 month period. if you buy a sears diehard you can be sure it will die hard about one day past that 60 months.

what you are really missing is the plastic piece that covers up the grease cap. it is chrome colored and has a Z on it. not to say your wheel bearins aren't ready to quit working tho.

also run new grounds. nissan (after 81) used a common ground left side/right side. i use the front grounds for the front and run new ones to the rear. the original wire is pretty small gage. i think motorsport or whatever it is in california has a box for the rears that sits all the way back. might check out black dragon in b.c. also. Also good advice on soldering useing heat shrink. crimps aint the best but they are the easiest. You might want to download the 82 manual form carfiche.com. or you can order a cd from courtesy nissan. try books4cars.com

putting in new valve seals ain't rocket science unless you just like giving your money to the local mechanic shop. Read some of the posts on how it is done. 130 K on that engine isn't a lot of miles. Mine has 225k and doesnt' burn that much oil.

change the fluid first cost $60 $70 for a set master/slave cylinder. brake fluid is a hygroscopic fluid (means it loves to absorb water). when you get it too full of water don't work so good. there is like only a cup of fluid in the system. drain it good. refill work it around repeat. If that doesn't help then definitely replace master/slave units. they are readily available.

stock zx is 130 on the n/a and 180 for a turbo. They are fun but a well tuned honda will stay with or slightly outrun the n/a. get a manual download from carfiche. get some tools remember the car is old enough to drink so you might wind up working on it. Change out the stock air filter for a k&n and put in a bigger exhaust. Get you a couple extra ponies for not a lot of money. Tried to give my son an 81 turbo for FREE and he refused saying looks werent' right. So he got my z31 instead (not FREE)

check in with the hybridz guys they are into all kinds of mods.

check battery cables first thing both ends both cables. look for cracked/broken battery post connectors. One size fitzall connectors. anything that looks phony. After that get lucky looking at all the wiring you can see. May not fix the problem but might prevent some in the future. Run a piece of 10 gauge wire from the negative battery post to each side of the engine compartment. plenty of 6mm bolts to use for a ground clean up paint and rust first.

find one in a junkyard as stated either side is good. or machine shop build it up with weld metal and remachine the thread but probably pricey.

probably doesn't mean much. ring gear is stamped with info on drive ratios etc. what you see is probably foundry markings or some such.

81 n/a more than likely came with an R-180. all the ones I've seen in junkyards have the r180. The turbos came with an r200 and cv joint half shaft. the 2+2 I saw had the cv joint axle with an r180 diffy. as above the lsd diffy didn't appear until the later z31's

well that is true if you can find a new unit to replace it. maybe in Aussie land they have parts laying around for cars that old but they be hard to find in USA. However you can sometimes get those little pumps to work with some careful work. They are a a small vane pump driven by a DC motor. They are held together with some tabs that you can bend up to get things apart. DON'T JUST PULL IT APART. There are a couple of wires to the armature about the size of frog hair that you don't want to break. Loosen everything up. Spray liberaly (not democrat) with electro clean. Loosen the vanes in the housing. Turn gently by hand. If all feels well and nothing hanging up you are probably good to go. Put her back together and hit it with 12 volts.

tasmanian devils at work. Well I did the same thing and did some major cussing along the way. what turned out to be the culprit was that i had turned over the engine withiout the plugs in to be sure oil was going around before firing it up. this in effect flooded the engine with fuel to use terminology from the days of carburetors. What i finally did to get it going was to disconnect the fuel pump and try to start the engine going with the throttle wide open. Did this 4-5 times and got the engine to start and run for a few seconds before all the fuel in the manifold was expended. Then hooked up the fuel pump and she started and ran like new. Not sure if your problem is the same but you might try it.

injectors have a screen/filter in the injector if they get varnished up this would cause what you are experiencing. Probabaaly someone knows a way to clean them but not I. i have used alchohol to clean varnish in other appliations and worked but????????

Has anyone done this? I saw some posts when i searched saying should be possible but no one said it has been done. The reason I post this is I know a little old lady (really) who has a 78 280Z she has owned since it was new but she can no longer cope with the steering. (hey we are all going to get old). She hates to give up the car. I've got a steering unit complete off a 83 turbo car and some guys in the club would help if it is doable. Any help would be appreciated.

anyone know for certain if the rear stub axle on an 83 turbo car will swap with n/a 83. I need to get my n/a running with parts from turbo car. Cars are in two different locations so I can't really stare and compare thanks

check battery cables both pos and neg, both ends for corrosion busted clamp etc. That is usually the most neglected item on a lot of cars and no one thinks to check them until stuff stops working. Check your grounds particularly. Lots of us look ata the positive cable but neglect the ground straps.

Check your battery cables. Both Ends. Both cables. If you have the original strap type connectors make sure one is not broken where it can't be tightened. Be sure your ground strap is secured to the body below the battery and then to the starter. Don't want to tell you the number of problems I have seen corrected by doing the above. If someone put on the one size fitzall type clamp connectors throw them away immediately. They corrode under the clamp and down the cable making the whole thing useless.

it is kind of a pain in that you have to remove a number of bolts to get the whole thing to come out as a unit. What leads you to belive #3 is bad? Anyway remove all the bolts you need to lift the whole thing out and then replace. Not rocket science just annoying. If none of the other injectors are leaking i'd replace the one BUT since it is an annoyance to pull the rail putting in a new set is nice. You can get your old ones rebuilt search the threads or check around your area.