Zed Head

As Fastwoman has often noted, a lean miss will leave unburned fuel in the exhaust system. You have made no mention of driving the car (oops, sorry, you did mention driving in the post above. My mistake). No offense but that's what really matters. You don't want to decide that the engine needs rebuilding off of a vacuum gauge reading or some popping in the intake manifold. Not really clear what you're trying to do. Are you trying to make it sound good so that you can sell it, or does the popping just bother you when you start it to keep things lubricated? Kind of sounds like you're storing the car as a "survivor" type car. 7800 miles can be put on car in about 6 months, on average. You're obviously not using the car. The timing adjustment could probably cover a lean mixture. I'd put that coolant circuit tweak and see what happens. It only costs about $3 and some time, and is completely reversible. No wiring cutting needed.

If you download from the Downloads section (choice from the column on the upper left of this page) it will download as one big zip file that opens in to a folder of separate chapters. Super easy. 1972 is 74.5 MB total. You have to be logged in to download the FSM's.

There are several potential air leak paths in to the intake system, from split vacuum hoses, PCV hoses, the EGR tube, gaskets like site mentioned, and more. Could also be a low fuel pressure, as noted. But, considering that you've put seven years worth of work into it already, maybe the coolant temperature sensor circuit tweak would be worthwhile. It will allow you to add fuel to the fuel-air mixture and see if the popping is due to a lean mixture. Sometimes you can fix everything on the engine and still have a lean mixture, due to 39 year old old parts and/or today's fuel. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/tempsensorpot/index.html Do not adjust your AFM.

Don't the pads eventually wear down to "normal" orientation? There seems to be something about the blend and design of parts on the Z's that lends itself to squeal. I threw away the shims on my Pathfinder front brakes years ago, by accident, and they've never squealed, even after the second set of shimless pads. But my Z brakes have always squealed, with three different brands of pads, and the aftermarket anti-squeal shims, and anti-squeal goop in a can sprayed n the backs, and high-temperature grease, etc. None of the tricks work, only the Nissan shims. Thanks for the suggestion though. Maybe some pad shaping with a grinder would help. Easier to just go with factory parts.

If you mean pressure leak-down, not external leak, the Aeromotive regulators all do that. They're not designed to hold pressure, only to regulate it during flow. Actually, from what I've read, pretty much all of the relatively inexpensive aluminum body adjustable regulators leak-down quickly. There are drawings on the last pages of the Engine Fuel chapter that show the plumbing of the factory FPR.

That does help. The pressure buildup in the tank and the symptoms you describe don't fit together though. Are you sure that it's pressure and not vacuum? Because the popping and dying could be caused by fuel starvation. But that wouldn't be caused by pressure in the tank. What's happens if you just let it run with the cap off? You didn't say anything about actually driving the car either. And 2008 was a long time ago. Have you been living with this for seven years? Also, "adjusting timing" doesn't tell where it ended up. What was the number? Sorry, but devil, details, all that stuff.

It actually sounds a little worse that plain old lean running from an AFM issue. Hate to say camshaft lobe but that's a possibility. You didn't give much information, like can the car be driven, is this a new problem, is this car new to you, stuff like that. That would help a lot. If it's a camshaft lobe it should go away when you disconnect that cylinder's injector. No more fuel to pop. Disconnect one injector at a time, rev it up and listen for the pop. If it's isolated to one cylinder you know where the problem is. The injector pug clips take some finesse to remove. The video was better, now tell a story about the car.

A ha. That tensioner with the heim joints wasn't mentioned before, was it? That's a key part. I don't know that the stock one will work. Looks good. Is it harder to squeeze down between everything to install? I remember lots of maneuvering and some flexing of parts to get my ZX alternator installed. Any bigger and I don't know that I could have done it without removing parts. Is that an inline electric water pump in your coolant return line? Or just a large fitting for the flexible hose?

The cold squeal came back. Had to put the Nissan shims back in, couldn't stand it. These pads are no different than the others. They all squeal without the factory shims. Did get a bonus though, while I was working on the fronts I looked at the back wheel and saw the head of the roofing tack that was causing my right rear tire to lose air. Pulled it out and stabbed the hole with the tar-soaked strip of cloth from the flat repair kit and now I'm back to baseline.

Sorry zKars, this is just a really interesting subject. Back to the 10SI. I think that it can also be wired as 3 wire, with charge light and excitation intact, making it a normal internally regulated option. The mounting of the unit is the key.

The info on GM 10SI alternators suggests that maybe he's talking about an off-the-shelf product. I wonder if GM didn't just use metal with residual magnetism, lending all of their products to "one-wire" possibility. The 10SI masses write about a special internal regulator that starts charging at low RPM, with a "one-wire" wiring. I'm not really clear on who's selling what. http://www.windbluepower.com/Delco_10SI_One_Wire_Alternator_p/7127-sen.htm Lawnmower world - http://www.atlma.us/index.php?topic=43.0 Boatland - http://www.marineengine.com/boat-forum/showthread.php?388418-3-wire-vs-1-wire-alternator And stories about home-made one-wire setups draining batteries because of the slight draw from connecting the battery to the excitation terminal. Which is actually a two-wire one-wire, in concept, I think. http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/115484-1-wire-alternator.html There's a couple of guys on here who could go in to much detail on the one-wire phenomenon.

Not sure, exactly, what you mean by "one wire". I don't think that the modern car versions come that way from the factory, you have to wire them that way. The tractor versions and certain models come in one-wire form, apparently. Also, the info available on the interweb shows numerous variations of the 10SI model, some at very low output. And, of course, there are opinions on one vs. three-wire setups. I agree though that universality is a good thing for parts. I've been thinking about that for other parts also, like injectors. Eventually, sites like this will be all about making other parts work on our cars. If cars aren't all electric by then. Here's some interesting reading I've collected, on the topic of alternator swaps. There's a ton out there, but these are easy reading. The mounting positions can be different also, I believe. Anyway, one model number could probably be found in here somewhere that does the job. http://bob_skelly.home.comcast.net/~bob_skelly/alternator_conversion/wiring_alternator1.html http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/onewire-threewire.shtml http://www.tuffstuffperformance.com/index.cfm?ptype=results&category_id=270&mode=cat&start=49 http://www.ihpartsamerica.com/forums/electrical-tech/3364-delcotron-10si-alternator-thread.html

This guy, Oliver, used to be more active on this site. Looks like he has some. Watch out for shipping though, people have reported some high numbers in the past. Not sure why, I've ordered parts and not had that problem. Probably best to just call, negotiate and confirm. http://www.datsunstore.com/fuel-system-carburetion-c-203_204_289_317_318.html?page=2&sort=2a http://www.datsunstore.com/pages.php/page/about

You can still get the Nissan bushings. At least you could a little while ago. I have a set of the pin bushings, waiting... - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsuns30/DatsunZIndex/PowerTrain/TransmissionControl/5Speed/tabid/1718/Default.aspx http://www.courtesyparts.com/bushing-p-345116.html http://www.courtesyparts.com/bushing-le-p-345182.html

You should take a look at the shifters that come with the 300ZX transmissions. Heavy upper lever and knob with a thick rubber sleeve between the top lever and the short arm that goes in to the transmission and does the work. I assume that the mass and the rubber damp vibration and probably also take up some of the shock when shifting. It's a different mechanism attaching the lever to the striking rods (71C type transmission) but you can see that they put some extra thought into the lever itself. I have a 1980 transmission in my car with a 1978 5 speed shifter and knob and factory nylon bushings, in good shape, and I don't get any noticeable whine. And it's a quiet car, exhaust system and otherwise. Not gloating, just a factoid for reference.

Depends on what you mean by "fit". Still wondering if the pan serves more function than just splash protection. I know it catches a lot of dropped nuts and bolts. And pebbles and road debris. If I ever put mine back on I'll try to come up with some sort of quick release fastening system. Maybe holes and tab/hooks, and one or two retaining bolts. Something that makes it easy to remove. All those little bolts were a pain.

Good luck pavelow42. Because it looks like luck is the key. Check the wipe pattern of the cam lobes on the rocker arms, check all threaded holes for damage, check head thickness to see how much its been shaved (you might need cam tower shims to get cam timing right), etc. Check the cam to see if it's been reground. Don't trust the words in the ads. You'll save yourself a lot of do-over time.

The pre-muffler is for drone elimination. Not so much for noise reduction. As I understand things. Anti-resonator. You'll know it when you feel it, at about 2500 RPM, apparently.

I'm getting a mixed message from the illustration. More earlier? Less later? More all the time? Is it too late to start drinking more?

One Way, the key code(s) are on a sticker on the inside of the glove box door. Take a look there and see if there are two codes or one. Haaaa haaaa haaaaa

Because you can lock your keys in the car! Sorry, had to do that. It is a pain to have to get your keys to lock the car up at night. Not that I live in a crime-ridden area, I just don't want to tempt the neighborhood kids.

I'll bet that you could make it work. Drill some new mounting holes, which will probably be easier than drilling out the original broken off bolts. And make a new hole for the radiator drain plug, if necessary. I have two 280Z pans, but they don't have the center hole for the radiator that my new radiator needs. So I'll be modifying anyway if I decide to reinstall it. I think that only one bolt came out clean. Just went and looked at mine though and realized it's three dimensional. Two different levels of mounting points. Not just a flat piece of steel. So there might be more to refitting than just drilling new holes.

Forgot to say that the key has to be inserted completely before it will turn. My locks were all hard to get the key in to for a while. You just have to lubricate them, and wiggle and press until they insert completely. Freud.

I have one key that does doors, hatch, ignition, and glove box on my 1976 car. My doors were very stiff and took lots of lubrication and working the key back and forth in the lock carefully to get them to work normally. I took the soor panel off and lubed all of the moving parts I could find and sprayed graphite in the key hole. It felt like the key was about to break for quite a while after I got the car. It must have been sitting for years. Or the PO never locked the doors. The doors can only be locked when the door is closed. The key and the button don't work when the door is open. This might be your door problem. The hatch button works by turning the key clockwise with the button up, then pushing the button down to open the hatch door. The key just stops the button from moving downward. Turning the key counterclockwise and removing it locks the button. The glove box knob works by locking when the key is inserted and it is turned counter-clockwise. Then the key is removed and it can't be rotated at all. Insert the key in the slot and turn it 1/4 turn clockwise, remove the key, and it will be unlocked. Then turn the knob another 1/4 turn to open the door. Or just leave the key in and turn it 1/2 turn and it should open. The normal unlocked key slot orientation is vertical. Locked is horizontal. There's a small arm inside that rotates over behind a catch to keep the door closed. Most of the latch parts are adjustable, maybe yours moved a little bit. Try turning the knob clockwise and shifting the door back and forth while prying on it a little bit. Maybe it's just stuck. Could also be that the screw that holds the latch is loose and the latch isn't moving with the knob. Maybe try pushing on the door while turning the knob. There's not much to the thing. This is for 1976. Nissan changed the doors and windows in 1977, but I think that even 1978 still needed the key to lock the doors and they have to be closed. Not positive though.

The "II" has dwell, or amperage, control. The "I" doesn't.