All Activity

Lean misses can cause rich exhaust. And California cars did have 02 sensors and catalytic converters through 1975 and up. Where did you get your car? Does it have a "Catalyst" sticker on the driver side door jamb? Looks like it has the proper AFM. Are the injectors original? Doesn't look like you pulled the vacuum hose the FPR to check for fuel. Pulling and inspection of each spark plug is worth doing, you might have a bad cylinder. Check and set valve lash, it's the first item in the Tuenup chapter. Check that your timing advance mechanisms are working correctly, both vacuum and mechanical. 16 is kind of high for idle RPM, the system is designed to retard timing at idle for cleaner exhaust by using ported vacuum timing advance. Check the charcoal canister to see if it's loaded with fuel, and check the operation of the control valve on top. Maybe somebody modified it and you're pulling intake air through the gas tank. The tiny things add up.

You didn't mention which TachMatch Device you installed? I did a ZX matchbox distributor with removed resistor on my 12/70 car. My tach almost works but doesn't seem to go any higher than about 3500 RPM.

The saving grace for my 78 model that was running extremely rich was changing every connector on the EFI harness. Cleaned all of the male connections. Finger nail file works great and reinstalled the harness. This was after months of trouble shooting. Doesn’t mean you don’t have other issues but you have a good base line to start from.

Do you mean you replaced the Pertronix with the MSD Blast and no resistor? When we replaced the original coil and resistor in my car with a Pertronix and no resistor the tach wouldn't work. I added a TachMatch device. It didn't fix the problem initially, but the entire setup mysteriously began to work almost a year later. It's possible that the tach would have started working again without the TachMatch, but the scenario you've described is one of the use cases for it and mine's continued to work perfectly all summer.

The car is as far as I have seen completely stock with the exception of aftermarket exhaust headers (explains the O2 sensor bung) and a aftermarket cold air intake filter. The crank angle sensor sits on a (I believe) homemade bracket and isn’t connected to anything. The Electrical harness (both car and engine) also aren’t modified so that lead me to the conclusion that the might have been used to “tune” the stock system. I am happy with the aftermarket exhaust headers as they sound good and I can watch the AFR via the O2 sensor and the temporary AFR gauge. I would like to monitor the AFR when driving but unfortunately the car doesn’t have an valid inspection so I can’t drive it on the road. And guess the reason it didn’t pas inspection…. So now I can only try and retune the car while stationary on my driveway, which should work fine enough for now. I did check and adjusted the TPS as the two prongs were a bit too close to each other and there was no middle ground between idle and wot positions. I set the timing to 16 btdc and the idle to 800rpm btw. I also blocked off the fuel supply to the cold start valve to eliminate that as a possible problem (don’t really need it anyway in my case). Only possible options I can think of now is to measure and check the electrical sensors (yes I read the EFI bible) and clean the inside of the AFM unit. Might also clean the injectors while I’m at it.

Here is a complete E88 cylinder head including valve cover. Ran when parked over 30 years ago. Lubed and free spinning. I would take $300 plus shipping for this head from a ClassicZCars member. Ebay Listing Here

Your car should not have a crank angle senser, that is for a turbo car. Your car is also pre 1980 when factory O2 sensers were just coming into play. Someone may have installed the O2 senser to try to adjust the AF ratio, but it is not factory. Have you checked to see if your Throttle Position Switch is adjusted correctly to let the ECU know the engine is at idle? What does the AF ratio do when you drive the car?

I have already ordered some new vacuum lines just in case as some of them seem a bit hard and if one cracks it can cause a lot of problems. But as far as I’ve seen my vacuum should be fine. My AFM unit did seem pretty dirty on the inside so I was thinking of cleaning it in a ultrasonic cleaner with an electronics friendly cleaner. Also somebody did have the AFM open at some point in time but I don’t know if they messed with the gears inside. I do have a pretty good understanding of the 280z EFI system and the inner workings of the components so I’m not afraid to touch the AFM unit but I would still like to ask for some tips and directions to look at. All in all the entire engine needed a tune up as many contacts where slightly corroded or out of spec and I suspect the car was "tuned" at some point as it has an aftermarket O2 and crank angle sensor, neither one hooked up to anything. The car runs way better now but it’s still running too rich. My vacuum lines should come in this week and I’ll do some more component testing and cleaning before I start messing with the AFM itself.

I’ve had amazing success with Amayama. Once you have found the correct/ superceded part number you basically type it in. If there is a chance they can find it they search first and then request payment. Shipping is amazingly fast.

I hit 70 mph today. Seemed to like it just fine. Not sure how it would like it for ten hours, but it seemed to like it for five minutes. Temps started creeping up a little, which is somewhat disconcerting since it was a cool evening. I have previously been through a (critter induced) radiator calamity, but was hoping it was mitigated to the point of being OK. Maybe I still need to do more... Running out of time!!!

Roo, Awesome. Thanks for checking, and I'm pleased that it is flat side up. I've tried both, and it fit's better flat side up. So despite the fact that it may "look better" with the rounded side up, I'm happy that it's actually supposed to be the other way.. Thanks again!!

In our experience it was generally bearings - mainly the one under the reverse idler - and not usually gears or baulk rings - except maybe the reverse idler. Many of the same bearings were used in the "B" transmissions. If you replace baulk rings (which I would avoid unless there's obvious damage to them), lap them to make sure they move freely when cold... Ask me how I know (and how cold does it get in Arizona?).

If the problem is synchros grinding it might be worth a shot to try Pennzoil Synchromesh. If it's bearings that another story. If it's both try the Synchromesh to see if it stops the grinding and put in new bearings if you can't find the synchros. Some thoughts. You did say possibility.

@jfa.series1 I've had good luck getting all the parts through amayama, partsouq or nissan parts deal. You'll have to assemble the kit yourself, that's what I did.

Something's wrong with the first listing. Broken link. The $589 is "Buy it now" and the other is an auction, with three bids to $56. I don't know if EBay auctions have a reserve or not. I'd guess maybe the seller can just not complete the deal? From what I've seen, the way to set a reserve on eBay is to set the reserve as the minimum bid to beat. Maybe he forgot or doesn't know to do that. The $589 is $539 with a coupon.

http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_9860.jpg WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the Sears Point Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, October 3-5. Z Car Garage is participating and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. This vintage racing event is totally FREE to spectators so please join us! Bring the family, enjoy cool cars and charity rides around the track. Attention DRIVERS: there is still time to register to race! Sign up HERE. http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/510255373-1272423368226503-5578166857124943186-n_orig.jpg http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_2779.jpghttp://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_0067-1-e1665112285742-1024x614.jpg Again, admission is FREE for this event and you will have access to all spectator areas on track, race cars and drivers. You can see our report from the 2024 Charity Challenge HERE Z Car Garage Supports Five Datsun 510s! http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5585-1024x768.jpg It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services do include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno: #88 Todd Rueppel Todd enjoyed his Z Car Garage trackside support experience with us at the Laps For Laguna event! http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_0094-1024x768.jpg #7 Kelvin Tse Kelvin and his brother Kenny are regular ZCG trackside support clients… http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMG_9853-1024x683.jpeg #64 Kenny Tse http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/D42_7601-1024x682.jpghttp://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IMG_5796-1024x768.jpeg http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IMG_5739-1024x768.jpeg #6 Noah’s Bluebird Coupe #72 Tom Dockery We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years. You can view his race report below: http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/dockery_Seca2025.jpg #68 and #30 Noah’s 510 and BMW 2002 http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1245-1024x700.jpeghttp://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_1242-1-1024x950.jpg #7 Rob Fuller ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/194911938_10223470558583364_3451851388398014914_n-1024x684.jpg Photo by Jim Rose http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_7351-683x1024.jpg http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_0618.jpeg Vintage Spec Miata http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/VSM-Welcome-1024x831.jpg We will also be supporting Vintage Spec Miata! http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IMG_2834.jpg Join us for the 2025 Vintage Racing Season! http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IMG_5896-1-1024x687.jpeg The Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is excited to welcome Vintage Spec Miata (1990-1997) to all of their events! This is a fun, affordable way to get into vintage racing. If you have any questions regarding prep and presentation, reach out to Rob Fuller: rob@zcargarage.com. Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. View the full article

Something monkey going on here, ebay made a mistake? They're $56 on one link and $589 on another??? https://ebay.us/m/p2pa92 https://ebay.us/m/DMgyJZ

EuroDat has written a bunch about rebuilding transmissions. Here's one link from Tech Articles. The Resources area is really hard to get through, can't figure out where things are. Really just need a long clean list of every title in the area. Had to use Google to find it. There might be more out there. Search EuroDat's name.

There is a possibility my original 4-speed may need a rebuild. It is my understanding that rebuild kits for the type "A" transmission are NLA, at least in the US. Some questions for our talented membership: Are any of the components of the "B" kit usable in the "A" transmission? Has anyone identified susbstitute components - bearings, bushings, synchros, ...etc.? Roadster parts? Any thoughts on where else to search for a type "A" rebuild kit? I really want to keep my driveline orignal. Swappng to a type "B" transmission is undesireable due to the potential for damage to the console and underlying body to accomodate the change in the shift rod location. I'm open and welcoming to any comments, suggestions and recommendations. Thanks, Jim

Quite a blast from the past. Filling in the "rest of the story".

Still in original packaging, braided steel brake lines. $100 retail - I'll sell at $50 U.S.

Don't forget about the bronze valve seats that came OE in the E31. They're not good with the gas we use now but you can have them updated to steel for not much money if you're not currently running the head.

Those are extremely hard to get. You can sell them easily if someone is going for a high end build.

Thanks for the update. I learn something new every time I comment on this site. Cheers

Random aside that might be relevant - there is also an N42 from the Maxima L24's. Some people call them MN42's. They have a cylinder head temperature sensor hole tapped in below and between the 5 and 6 spark plug holes. Still not correct for your car but could factor in to selling. Desirable for people looking to raise compression ratio on an L28.