Zed Head

That's a pretty good clue except for "fluctuation". Can't tell if it's banging off the stops or jiittering 1 mm around the center. If it definitely got better when you tightened the belt, I'd tighten the belt again and see if it gets better again. I just made a comment based on average behavior but if your belt is oiled up or glazed maybe it is the cause. No matter what though, it sounds like you need a new belt. Get rid of that weakness and you'll know if it's the problem or not. "it is worn and now slipping all the time." The ammeter just shows charging or discharging, and rate of each. So, adding numbers from the gauge to the description would help a lot. And if the battery is fully charged or partially charged. That will affect how much the belt slips. So, just letting the battery drain down will make the problem worse.

Have a torch handy to heat up the casting. Mine wouldn't budge unless it was hot. When it cooled it stopped budging too.

Not clear that you put a nut on that eyelet and tightened it. Is that picture a representation, or your actual alternator? Where's the picture of the adapter plugged in? A loose belt usually just makes noise. I would disagree that it causes erratic charging. (Edit - changing my vote to Maybe).

The wiring will melt before the relay. The VR sensors can generate high voltage at high RPM, so sparking to a ground point might be a concern. But heat from current is probably not since there's essentially no current flow. Look at the connection terminal for the distributor wires, on the fenderwell, and you'll see that the wires are small gauge but the terminals are well separated and kept dry. Might be focused on the wrong thing.

Any loose container in the back will fly around the cabin in an accident. Hope you're not driving the car with a loose container of stuff back there.

It's the way the number 6 looks. 240Z and 280Z just look cooler than 260Z. Imagine if GM had produced a Z26 Camaro. Just not the same as Z28.

If it's that close you might try some of that cooling spray that people use for other problems. Or just a bag of ice on the spindle. I wouldn't go too crazy on using a temperature mismatch though because you don't want it stuck permanently. Or you could use a heat gun on the bearing. Don't get it too hot and the heat gun should let it come back off also. Heat will expand a hole pretty dramatically, I'd bet it will slide on pretty easily with not much heat. But if there's an auto parts store close by you could just go get another set. The next set will be probably be on the big side of the manufacturing tolerance range.

Did the original hood fit right? Why are you replacing it? Did the original hood have work done to it, like body filler or bending? Looks more like your body doesn't fit the hood.

I just went out and stuck a tape measure in to mine and I can get the end to hook on the groove right where the groove should be to match the axle groove. You have a weird puzzle there. Edit - I see your diff picture in Post #1. An R200. I don't think it's a VLSD either because those have two sets of splines on one side, where the viscous coupling unit is.

When my 76 module was going bad the tachometer would show about 50% more RPM than actual. I'd guess this might trigger the injectors 50% more as a result. Just a thought on why the flooding might be happening. I didn't notice flooding on mine, but mine would only fail after about 3000 RPM, then it would keep working but with a bunch of extra sparks. Keep an eye on the tachometer while test-driving. It's typical for them to fail, then start working again after a cool-down. We have several threads about replacing the OE module with a GM HEI module, and a nice writeup in the Downloads area.. 1978 is good for it since there's only one electronic pickup in the distributor and circuit in the module. It's a cheap fix, almost worth doing just as a test and to be ready for eventual failure.

My point was that if the engine is turning over and the key is still on then you should still see the tachometer showing RPM. It's a spark counter. If the tach goes to zero and the engine is still rotating because the car is moving and it's in gear, then there's no spark. In short, if you're driving down the road and the the engine loses power with the tach going immediately to zero then you probably have either an ignition module problem or an ignition system power problem.

Here the back of an R200. That rectangular chunk of metal under the drain hole is how I ID them. The R180 doesn't have it.

Not the greatest picture but you can see the clip hanging in the grove, and that there is only about 1/8 to 1/4" of splne after the groove. And no holes n the center piece. Also a good picture of an R200. Take a picture of the back of your diff and post it.

I got some pictures, which I'll add to the next post. But, in looking at your diff I wonder if it's not an R180 that's made for bolt in half-shafts. Those holes might be threaded and made for bolts.

I have an open diff sitting out that I can pull the axles from and get some pictures. Might take a little while though.

Maybe you don't have a Nissan CLSD. I can't remember if the VLSD has the grooves in the same spot as the other diffs. I know that it has a longer axle but don't remember where the grooves are. What do your measurements show?

Was the transmission still in gear and the engine still turning over while the tach was at zero? Could be that you have an ignition module problem.

The groove in the diff is a slot in the splines. I found when I was messing around with diffs and clips that the clips could be deformed and made too small or too big to work right. They're not spring steel, they're just a bent metal wire. Try expanding the clips, permanent deformation, outside the diff, then compressing them just enough to get them in to place in the internal groove. You might have over-squeezed them when you installed them, so that they're too small to stay in the grooves.

If the groove is damaged and letting the clip slide back inside the diff, you might try doing some work on the tips of the axles so that they slide through the clip easier. File or grind down any concentric machining grooves and grease up the tip so that it slides through instead of pushing the clip out of the groove. Once the tip starts expanding the clip in the groove it should stay there until the axle groove hits and lets it drop in to place.

Yes, the clip is supposed to sit in both grooves at the same time, internal and external. So they need to match, distance-wise.

They look like plain old 280ZXT or 2+2 CV axles. Made for old-style R200 diff. I have a pair in the garage. Could be that your diff internals are damaged. The grooves look a little bit beat up in your pictures. Not sure what the fix is. Stick your tape measure in the holes and match up the groove distances to be sure on the sides.

What part number did you get? Your clip looks like the later style, from what I've seen on a later style diff that I have. Round wire instead of flat meal. You want part #18, I think. http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/power-train/differential-gear/r200/18 Wouldn't be surprised either if a parts guy just assumed that they were the same and gave you the later clips.

Did the clunk go away? The bag looks nice but are the bushings black? Are they shiny or dull? How do they feel on your face? Soft and smooth? I digress... Good info on the results, you had the hard polyurethane before? Do you know the brand?

Thanks, I remember that now. Every single post in excruciating order, in to infinity. An endless list of topics is what I long for. Just trying to reformat the world the way that I want it to be....

You should put that in the title of your thread, or at least the text. Save everyone time.