m4xwellmurd3r

it's really easy to rebuild those clutches as long as the rubber seal isn't bad. Took me maybe 30 minutes to pull the fan, take it apart, clean it, fill it back up with oil, and re-install it. locks up like it should now. maybe even a little too well, but it's better than it not working at all. All it takes is a bottle of that stop leak additive that's as thick as honey.

go away fixxor. Graham, I have the same problem with my Z. it only happens when it's really hot out, so I have a feeling the heat is what causes it to stick. in my case It sticks where ever it feels like. I'm not sure what the internals look like, but I wonder if the heat causes something to swell, or causes something inside to become gummed up

it could be that the gear is missing/broken? you'd have to pull out the sending unit to see what the gear looks like. I'm not too sure on how it goes in exactly. but I know there's a bolt that holds the sending unit to the trans, with a colored gear on the end of it.

Everything he said is spot on. My 78 S30's body is perfect, but needs an engine rebuild (which I plan on doing) it's also VERY addicting. as soon as you get one you start thinking "Hmmm what can I do here, or how can I improve this" before you even step into it! The question of worth is ultimately decided on you, the owner. Some people may look at you like your crazy, but as long as it's worth it to you, who cares?

no way Sblake made a mistake? jk man. you got the ratings and thicknesses backwards. 1.25 is black .50 is green

Electrical gremlins can be a nightmare, but at least they're free to fix. I worked out most of my electrical gremlins within the first week or two of getting my Z. It's THE MOST frustrating thing, but in the end, when you open your wallet and see that no money was spent you feel happy haha.

Also, make sure all your connections are free of corrosion. I had a battery cable that was corroded (but didn't look bad) and it was enough to make it so that if I clicked the key to ACC voltage was fine and everything, but if I did ANYTHING that involved high amps (starting, headlights, antenna trim) the voltage would totally drop out and it would become electrically dead.

they're a totally different chassis. the Z is the S30 chassis, and was built from 1969-1978. the ZX was built from 1979-1983 (or was it 84?) and is chassis number S130. the body is totally different, and really the only similar parts they share is the engine and maybe the transmission as far as i know. you really could just look up on wikipedia about the Z car. seriously. type in Z Car Wiki, and the first result will be the Z Car Wiki page.

well your dizzy is spot on. and you are getting spark. so maybe the coil is going out? do you have a spare you could swap out to test?

your car RAN without the water temp sensor? Mine won't even START without that since the resistance value is non-existant, causing the injectors to not even pulse. i tried it once. I had it running and unplugged it. car cut out right away. if yours was able to run without it I'd start checking the wires continuity to see if there are any shorts.

I dunno about that. find the kanji for it ald then well see XP. because the japanese/english dictionary I use online, has no such kanji that is used for the word indestructible (and it's a very good dictionary) http://linear.mv.com/cgi-bin/j-e/FG=r/inline/dosearch?sDict=on&H=PS&L=E&T=+indestructible&WC=none&FG=r&BG=b&S=26&I=on

I can think of a good reason to mix the two. Some places need a certian amount of give to prevent damage if you drive the car a lot. put all poly's and it's like a hell ride for the car and driver unless it's strictly racing. put the rubber bushings in the right place will alleviate some stress that may cause issues. I think the TC rod is one of these areas. that rod needs a certian amount of give in the bushings to prevent it from being overly stress and possibly snap from what I understand.

yeah, I was going to say...the kanji for Mugen is on every performance honda hat there is XP (I own a honda mugen hat actually) Hmmmm I don't see a Z anywhere. Mugen means infinity though.

I love the rope "trick" my dad and I used it all the time for replacing old VW windows. Works like a charm. it's getting the glass OUT without hurting them (or the gasket) that's the hard part.

I wouldn't do a head rebuild unless you do a bottom end rebuild as well. Have you cleaned up all the connections? if it's fouling plugs from running rich, I would suspect corrosion on the water temp sensor at the plug or at the connectors for the plug (about a foot from the plug itself) I would also check the fuel pressure before you go and replace the regulator. if you do a rebuild, I would do it myself. Saves on money and it's a great learning experience (if you do it yourself) As far as making power, to make bigger power out of the stock engine, you really needa open up that head and make it breath. Stock they're not to hot, but you can get some decent flow numbers by doing a good port/polish job. and a new intake manifold is a MUST

I lost my master cylinder when I went out for a drive. I was accelerating and some idiot in an SUV cut me off. Slammed on the brakes and almost nothing. I had to lock the rears with the e-brake to slow down enough. the ride home wasn't fun. luckily it only took me about a half hour to replace the master cylinder. definitely sounds like your problem

I think dim instrument lights is just a Z thing. A lot of people hate that so they get LED's and wire them up with a small resistor to drop the voltages to the proper levels. the difference between stock and LED is like night and day

the 280z has iirc, the same clutch size as a 240z (225mm), so there wouldn't really be a difference imo. the 2+2's and Turbo's had a 240mm clutch so in that case it would be a bit stronger than the stock. I don't know however, if the 280z's pressure plate is any stronger than the 240z's

Thanks. when the time comes for her to go lemme know what you've decided on

I kinda like them miss-matched like that. as long as both rears are matched and both fronts are matched. if you're gonna scrap it, throw the car with no wheels on a flat bed and I'll buy that set off ya haha

I haven't taken a look at them yet. Won't be able to till probably tues/wed I was thinking it's getting blowby into the crankcase, and venting through the PCV into the intake, causing smoke, but it could be sucking it out as well. But I wont know till I pull the plugs and see if it's running rich or if it's oil burning. it had good compression before, iirc it was in the 140-150's before the head rebuild(maybe a bit lower, don't remember off the top of my head) but even then, the sudden jump in compression imo would cause it to turn into an oil burner for sure haha. I'll just have to wait and see when I get it back. Anyways, rebuilding the engine doesn't seem too hard. I've torn down VW engines and put several short blocks together (and one or two long blocks)

replacing the whole harness might be a bit of a chore. I haven't tried yet, but there are lots of wires and I don't like wires. I found a kit online on ebay for a touch over 20 dollars to replace all 6 injector plugs. it comes with instructions and shrink wrap. it's put together very nicely and the seller is an AWESOME guy (we had problems with USPS, he sent me a new set as soon as he found out I didn't get it. then once I got the old set, I just wrote return to sender.)

I'm glad I found this thread. I was going to post asking for some tips for a first time engine rebuilder (but not a first timer at tearing apart engines) those links posted above were exactly what I needed to find. my engine got a rebuilt head put on and has perfect compression (165-175psi) but smokes a bit. i'm not sure if this is due to being rich or not, but a leakdown test showed nothing. idle HC is 250 load HC is 1100 but CO% is perfect, so I was thinking it's getting blow by past the rings. the shop couldn't figure out what's causing it except the possibility of blowby. I'm going to tinker with it next week and see what happens. if I can tune out the smoke then it was rich, otherwise, I'm tearing her apart in several months

very nice job! once you get some paint on there no one would ever know that it had a hole in the top. now it's time to graft the sun roof skin onto the yellow Z haha. jk of course I wish I had a set of those slotted mags for my Z

iirc 77-78 came with EGR's regardless of which state they were in (my 78 has it, but no cat since it wasn't required in AZ) the older Z's though only had them if they were in Cali i think.