Zed Head

Some years have a bolt. And some years have a clip. Whichever you have, the bolt or clip will need to be removed first. The FSM will have drawings.

It would be more attractive if the second owner was selling it, with an honest story to tell. It's kind of contaminated now.

I think that, maybe, one reason mj87 is nervous is because he might lose the car if he digs too deep. If it is has been falsely titled in the past and the efforts to get it titled show that, he might be holding stolen property. So, really, no offense, it's kind of a moral dilemma - know the truth or hang on to what might actually be someone else's car. Probably better for peace of mind to just try to get the proper VIN on the proper title. It's most likely just a lost or reconstructed title in the past. You could probably do another lost title process and get it all squared away. It's the people at the DMV in your state that will know. Not the two people you've talked to so far.

Where's Carl Beck? @Carl Beck http://zhome.com/Racing/OMSDuplicates.htm He can't be 18,000 years in to the future.

Don't assume that all of the hacks are from the PO. Nissan's splices from back then look like hacks. Crimped splices covered with just black tape. Read the FSM sections to learn how the circuits work. The combination switch is not involved with the brake lights, for example. Post the year of your car in future posts. Looks like 71, I'm guessing. The hazard switch is often a source of lighting problems too. http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/11-240z/

Just realized that this doesn't fit my "ball bearing basics" criteria, using the old bearing's inner race. The old bearing will have wear that allows the inner race to move away from the plane of the outer race. A flat piece of bar stock or the end of a steel straight edge in the hole would work though, after the old bearing is removed.

You know you've been in Z car world for a long time when you can easily use "distance piece" in a sentence without pause. That's a good discussion winner there zKars. I still like my "basics of ball bearings" approach though.

I had a VG30E in a Pathfinder so I've seen the plug problem. Pretty sure I felt a few grains of grit under the seat when I changed them. Luckily, the ignition and engine control systems on those engines are so good you can get about 50,000 miles from a set of plugs. Pretty sure I got over 100,000 out of a set. Not quite right, but it was just an SUV daily driver. Had 260,000 and still running great when I sold it. I was thinking here, like it hit the socket once -

There are many ways to get a title for a vehicle, that might not be the original for the bulk of the car. It's surprising what you can do. Here's a sampling from Oregon. The link and a snippet. The thing about the Z's is that their VIN format doesn't match the common databases that DMV's use. So computer records are scarce, probably for showing that a car was stolen also. 87mj could probably file for a lost title and get it with the firewall VIN number, then change the other tags to match. Question - does the engine code match the engine bay tag? Might be a clue about where things came from. Pretty common to combine cars to make one good one. http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/docs/trassembled.pdf

Maybe it was a secret storage spot. Was that broken piece of rotor in there or did you break it off?

That's the funny thing about "the states". We're actually more like 66 tiny nations. They all have their own laws, and like it that way. There is no federal VIN law. Ownership is determined by the laws of the state. So you're probably fine within certain geographical regions, but might have problems if you want to sell it.

Save you some time -

Connecting the battery backward can cause problems. Short circuit somewhere in the wiring maybe. Good find. Bad news. I just noticed what you said earlier about trying a 1978 ECU. 1982 is completely different. Nissan actually wrote some notes when they changed the ECU's saying "Do not try early ECU's on these cars!!!!" So that was a bad idea. Anyway, you need an ECU that's right for the car. Here's a link to a guide with ECU numbers. Maybe yours is not even right for the car. Post up the number.

A thought on being sure the distance piece is correct for the hub. Stick the piece in without the axle. It should be flush with the outer race seat on the other side, within a few thousandths. It's kind of a goofy spec. because the ranges overlap. They seem to want the distance piece to be smaller than the hub but the overlap and wide range makes the opposite possible. "Blueprinted", the distance piece would be about .0012" smaller than the hub. Without the perfect tools, a flush feel by finger is probably good.

Is the topic still "what happened" or "how to put it back together"? The numbers say "B" hub to me. Is there a B? The extended race is described in the part description, if it helps. It would be on the outside, so the inside portion of the inner and out races would be flush when assembled.

Forgot to say also, check the ground circuit for the ECU and EFI system. There is a separate ground for the connector, you can see it at 19, 20 and 22. People often get so focused on the power that they forget about the ground. Edit - the tests I described are all written up in the pages following the EFEC-80 diagram. Your fuel pump power test above, usng Pin 13, kind of indicates that you're not going through the tests in the FSM. There's a simpler fuel pump power test on page EFEC-94, using the starter solenoid wire. The test we often recommend. Sometimes, as you're learning these new things, it's a good idea to go back and re-run a series of tests. They make more sense the 2nd and 3rd time around.

A test that might show you something would be to run a hot wire from the battery to the coil's positive terminal. If it stays running when you use a hot wire then you can focus on losing the ignition system power. You might also check for power on Pin 27 with the key on. That's the power from the EFI relay to the ECU. If you have power there you'll know the EFI relay is working. You mentioned the click, and the injectors opening but if you look at the diagram is shows that the injector power doesn't come through the relay, it has its own fusible link. And the relay can click but still not pass power. I'm not sure that the diagram is correct but it's worth a check of Pin 27. The ECU needs power too. Study the diagram and you'll find many small tests you can run for power and ground. Once you don't find the big easy source of the problem you almost always have to work through the tedious small tests. But when you find the one thing that's wrong it will be worth it.

I get it now. That's some good deep-diving. Here's another short summary - redfogo's inserts are definitely installed backward. It might be that they will still work this way (and might be why Nissan never became aware enough to correct the manual) but it looks like there is damage being caused. Red has to decide if he wants to disassemble the transmission far enough to fix them or just run it that way. Any comments on how far he'd have to go to get to them, to replace and/or reverse?

The factory seals combine a dust seal with the oil seal. They are better, they'll probably last another 150,000 miles, but the replacement seals will keep the oil where it belongs. Just wear out faster.

Here's a Rockauto National diff seal, and a Nissan link. Aftermarket is usually different. Take the two critical measurements to be sure that it will work. http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=253610&cc=1209260&jsn=362 https://www.courtesyparts.com/oem-parts/nissan-seal-38342n3100

Seems like the only way to get it improper would be if the hub was not pressed on completely. Maybe that would show at the nut, if not threads are showing. Other measurements too, of course. Maybe the nut is coming loose.

That's a good one. Jimmyb's noid light could be used to check for power at the coil with the key on. That would answer that question. Check for power at the coil with the key at Run/On, and at Start. Edit (reread previous posts) - Not sure why the noid light was needed to check for injector power. Just measure voltage with the meter. Anyway, check the fusible links that supply power to the EFI system. I don't see any actual voltage measurements in your testing. The ignition system is on a completely separate circuit than the EFI system. You can have spark and run it on ether, with no power to the EFI system.

Boiled down the essential elements - it works right when it's fully assembled. But it's worn. Isn't that about the state of the situation? Dave, is that a busted oil gutter in your picture? Or is it something else? Doesn't really look like the factory jobby. Don't overlook your oil gutter, redfogo.

I saw this over on Hybridz. There are a lot more links on Google so I'm pasting it instead. It's a 1975 280Z 2+2. Still haven't seen what's underneath but it doesn't look too bad. The youtube links seem to show some good coupe sidebar stuff also. It's gonna be on the TV, apparently. https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=dqsPWoPXH8HwjwOtqZ_IBA&q=gas+monkey+garage+280z&oq=gas+monkey+garage+280z&gs_l=psy-ab.3...1750.7711.0.7920.22.22.0.0.0.0.81.1225.22.22.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.20.1119...0j0i131k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1.0.KNxr6glMcHY Edit - if the software is going to switch words for me maybe it could keep the capitalization? That would be thoughtful.

Really, the longest post in this whole thread should be sweatybetty's first one. The ideal ending would be a quiet resolution, with sweatybetty coming back later to acknowledge it, of his own accord. It's just a bent header flange. Sorry James, we were writing and posting at the same time. Carry on...