Zed Head

@Jan K Join BaT and message the buyer. He might tell you what's going on. Might be that he worked a deal to lower the price after he found problems. https://bringatrailer.com/account/register/

What happened to my post? It's gone. The site is getting weird. @Mike Are there two of these threads, identical? Edit - figured it out. Two identical threads...

Did you edit your post? There are two of you on the Activity page.

That's going to be a tough one. Can't be test-driven. It's basically a kit car. For what you're asking it might be worthwhile to pay someone to install the engine. Here's some help.

If you post the ad it will be easier to do detective work. These are out there. Looks like it sold once on BaT. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-datsun-240z-77/ https://carbuzz.com/news/someone-stuffed-a-corvette-v8-in-this-old-datsun-240z

I haven't been keeping up with the names of the people whose threads I post in. But I'm pretty sure that I already mentioned that the position of the oil pump does not really matter for starting. I think you have 2 or 3 threads about the same problem, right? You should just stick with one thread. Here's a couple of things. #1 is always #1. You don't have to find it, it's the first one at the front of the engine. Take the valve cover off and rotate the engine until the two cam lobes point up, but slightly off to the driver's side (the engine is tilted jonbill, you knew that...). That will put #1 very close to TDC. Then use your chopsticks and get the piston as close as you can to the top of the bore, if you don't have any of the correct tools. Then mess around with the oil pump and the distributor drive quill (shaft) until the tang looks like the picture that siteunseen often posts. Your other picture was way off. Then with the piston still at TDC, reinstall the distributor and put the rotor on. Find the distributor cap terminal that the rotor points at. That is where your #1 plug wire goes. Install that wire then install the rest in counterclockwise order, 1-5-3-6--2-4. Make up a tab of some kind so you can use the damper mark for timing, ypu need to know at least close to where zero is. Even if it's not exactly at zero, you will be able to adjust the timing to about 5-10 degrees before zero. It should start. Just one way to try...

Agree with Dave here. I don't see any electrical measurements. The 280Z EFI system is all about the electrical system. Almost pointless to try working on it without a meter and knowledge of how the system works. Use the 1980 EFI Guidebook.

You're going to need a proper timing tab and matching damper pulley to get the engine running right. Maybe just get the parts that you'll need so that you don't have to get all twisted up using other methods? What happened to the tab and damper pulley that came with the engine? Not clear why you need to find TDC either. For most of engine assembly work you really just need to be close. Your chop stick method could even work.

Actually, in simpler terms - there really aren't many ZX owners on this site. They're not classic yet.

Never mind, not worth the time. Insults beget insults.

Just having some fun and trying to get an idea of what the new the new product looks like. It might just be a piece of straight channel that you could buy at Home Depot. Who knows...

What kind of "steel"? https://www.worldsteel.org/about-steel.html "Steel is not a single product. There are more than 3,500 different grades of steel with many different physical, chemical, and environmental properties." Kidding, kind of. How did you "get your hands on" a set of ZX body reinforcements? Where do they go?

Your failure mode is very common for the 280ZX "black box" ignition modules. It's on the side of the distributor. Get hot, fail, cool down, start working.

The fact that you can kill the engine with the idle adjustment screw is a sign that any vacuum leaks are small. You're cutting off the air supply. If there was a vacuum leak it would most likely keep running. The blown FPR diaphragm is an easy one to check. Pull that vacuum hose and check for fuel. Run the fuel pump while it's off, if it's blown fuel will drip from the FPR.

The temperature gauge sender and the temperature sensor are two different things. What year is your Z? Does it have the original ignition module? Original distributor? What did the tachometer needle do when it was running poorly? That's a sign of module problems, if it jumps around. Ignition module or ECU seem likely, especially if they are original parts. They're old. But the distributor's pickup coil and the EFI and/or fuel pump relay are also possible. My car had problems with three of those four, and I have found bad pickup coils on parts cars. So, in total, I've seen all four (five) go bad.

I thought the same thing when I read that. Sometimes it's nice to let the car do the work. Too bad the autos don't have a bench seat. No offense. A bench seat has its advantages...

You should get some pictures from underneath. The rust spots. Looks like a nice car.

Looks like you're on the right path. Good luck.

For marking or confirming the damper pulley I Ike the method of marking a certain distance down on both sides of ~TDC then splitting the difference to mark zero. The crankshaft can move a few degrees at TDC with almost zero indicator movement because the rod end is moving almost sideways. Don't you trust your damper pulley marks? You don't need to be super accurate for installing the head or timing chain.

Wet plugs is too much fuel not clogged fuel supply. The A/F ratio screw is for small adjustments. Wet plugs are a gross A/F ratio problem. Wrong injectors or bad readings from the coolant temp sensor, or maladjustment of the AFM.

OMG. Does the guy that bid $55,000 know? Crazy numbers...

I don't want to give you a hard time. But you are pretty far off on the basics of how an engine works. You seem to have the right tools, you're just not using them correctly. Use your timing light and point it at the marks on the damper pulley with it connected to plug wire #1. That is how you set ignition timing. The oil pump and the distributor tang position don't tel you what the timing is. You have to measure it with the light. Get on to youtube and watch a few videos on how to set ignition timing. It will help.

What is the ignition timing set to? Have you confirmed spark? Should have added to part #1. Cant; remember what you've done. Like starting over.

@firediamond In case he doesn't check his threads...

While you're waiting for the green one this one looks interesting... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-126/