Another little progress update...

• Cleaned up the fuel pump assembly with proper fuel injection hose and fuel injection clamps. Used a little mechanics wire around the fuel pump clamshell to keep everything tight because my rubber dampers look a bit tired.

• Cut open the old fuel filters just for the heck of it. As expected, full of varnish flakes and crud. Amazed this engine started, ran well, and idled along at all, even with clogged filters.

• Now moving on to the distributor. It's been a few years since I've rebuilt an old ZX dizzy for my 240z. We'll see what we find inside. Does the 280Z dizzy also have that plastic breaker plate that likes to fall apart?

Edited June 27Jun 27 by kcpope

5 hours ago, kcpope said:

Does the 280Z dizzy also have that plastic breaker plate that likes to fall apart?

Yes. Different shape, but yes:

Alright, got the dizzy rebuilt today too!

• The dist. shaft spun nice and easy before the rebuild, but I could tell the breaker plate vacuum advance was a bit gritty.

• Shockingly, the plastic breaker plate wasn’t broken!

• Everything else was just gummy. Old dried up grease I suppose.

• Cleaned everything up with lacquer thinner and reassembled with grease in all the right places

• Everything moves nice and smooth. Applied vacuum to the vacuum advance and it did indeed move the breaker plate, maybe 5 degrees or so.

• Took an exploded view pic of all the pieces in case it helps someone down the road. Specifically, the breaker plate pieces assemble right to left in that order, just fyi.

• QUESTION: In the last pic, is there a rule of thumb for how to properly set this little pickup? I see that it’s adjustable.

Onto the fuel rail and injectors next…

pics before rebuild…

Beautiful day to clean some parts. Brass brush and small scotch brite pad was great to remove the gum and small bits of rust on the metal plates…

Cleaned up and ready to reassemble…

This is the part that I’m wondering how it should be positioned, it has an adjustment slot…

When I first got on this forum I made a fuel rail and it turned out great. The info is mixed throughout this thread, most helpful was the spacing for the bungs from @Willoughby Z https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/41136-make-a-fuel-rail/page/2/#comments

I'm pretty sure it was Blue, 240260280 that made one out of the OE rail but I can't find it @Yarb I'm slipping.

He took the old one and used the pieces he needed, soldering them together to make a very nice fuel rail for practically nothing. I'll keep looking though so it won't bother me tonight when I try and go to sleep.

Edited June 28Jun 28 by siteunseen

All of that crud passed through the pump. Yikes.

I had a heck of a time reassembling the breaker plate after taking it apart. The clips that hold it together were hard to manipulate. You make it sound easy. You must have some skills!

@Zed Head you’re right, scary thought of how much other gummy residue is inside the engine from years of sitting. I might run a quart of trans fluid in the oil before changing it to flush it a bit.

Also, can’t remember where I saw it, but when rebuilding the breaker plate, it’s a much easier experience if you insert the 3 outermost ball bearings AFTER assembling the whole unit with the retaining circlip. Just gently lift the bearing “cup holder” arm and slide the ball in, with grease of coarse. Here’s a pic…

I feel like a dummy now. That makes sense.

I’ve been on a roll this weekend. Pulled the fuel rail today. 5 factory injectors and 1 aftermarket that says “Germany” on the injector hose. Maybe a decent aftermarket unit from years ago 🤷🏼‍♂️

The cylinder #5 injector has some very fine cracks forming on the tip. See pics. I assume that’s no good? Maybe I’ll try and source 2 factory replacements. Nonetheless, I’ll start by cleaning them up using carb cleaner and a power source. Off to YouTube I go.

Fine cracks on #5 injector tip. I assume that’s a no-go?

Another gremlin found during the process, one injector wire harness was chaffed with wiring exposed…

42 minutes ago, kcpope said:

The cylinder #5 injector has some very fine cracks forming on the tip.

That is called a pintle cap. It's removable. Used to be able to buy them, but you can probably swap one over, if you find the injector is worth keeping. They look pretty crusty!

Watch out for other style of cap, there's a variety. Looks like eBay has possibilities that might work.

@Zed Head Awesome, thanks for that info👍🏼 I’ll clean and test each of them and report back…

I’m considering sending these injectors out to be professionally cleaned, rebuilt, and flow tested. I found two small shops that will do it. Prices seem very reasonable around $17 per injector. I usually like to DIY almost everything, but this seems like a good value. I wonder if anyone here has used either of these shops…

https://injectormasters.com https://injectorrepair.com

Anyways, before I pull the trigger and do that, I’d like to replace my one odd ball aftermarket injector with an OEM injector before I send them off for rebuild.

I’m searching eBay for my injector part number, A46-000001. I’m finding lots of applications that apparently use that part number. This one for instance:

https://ebay.io/m/KcFyfR

These say they came off a 300zx. Will they work properly for my 280z, proper flow rate and all? Or am I missing something?

Here’s a pic of one of my factory injectors, just fyi…

Let me look for that specific number but I have some old injectors. They're the light green originals, some off a '77 Z and others still in the manifold from a ZX motor I bought for the transmission. You pay shipping and you can have them. I'll be able to tell you in couple of hours.