Zed Head

You've done an uncommon thing so won't see many replies about what people have actually done. If the E12-80 is dead you could just file a groove for the wires and use it as the cover. Even if it's still good, you could leave it on.

Nice car. Not many ZX people on this site. You might try zcar.com too. And bringatrailer.com is more nationwide. You're probably not getting the right eyes on it.

Lack of Coriolis force? Confused Coriolis effects maybe. Too much laminar flow?

That's right, it doesn't matter. You're just passing current through the solenoid coil to energize it. Direction doesn't matter.

Are they really from Pakistan? There was a big kerfuffle about Nike soccer balls being assembled by Pakistani kids, a few years ago. Maybe they moved on to seat covers.

Good luck. "New" does not mean much these days. Beware.

No, I just posted that to contrast with 246's post about setting timing. Just another view, about the current state-of-the-situation. sweaty got a lot of suggestions about popping and timing when apparently it wouldn't even start any more. Looks like he has/had two problems at the same time: popping and setting timing. Probably two different causes, bad spark on 1 and 3 and something's off mechanically.

The 1976 diagram by Saridout, here, is excellent. The other unlabeled diagram is unknown, but here's a 78 link, 2nd one, I remember from the past. It should be inthe Download section. @Mike http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/1-wiring-diagrams/ The FSM's are here - http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/13-280z/

It runs now, with four solid sparks and two hit or miss, apparently, but not clear if it's popping now. Just realized that when you use the rotor to determine if the distributor is right, there's an inherent assumption that the spark trigger is in a certain place. Either points are about to open or the electronic trigger is about to hit. I would start from scratch, lining up damper timing mark, cam lobes, and rotor, and see where the trigger mechanism is. The facts suggest that it's not where it should be. With the range of adjustments on the Nissan distributors, there are many possibilities. The trigger needs to be just at the trigger point when all of the other stuff is right.

Which one was that? There are a lot of threads out here. I'd be happy to help but I'm not interested in searching. You can post a link to the other thread, or copy the relevant words from it. Just saying, make it easy for everyone.

Can't remember what problem you're trying to fix. But, both wiring diagrams are available on this site and have the Hazard switch wires shown.

Check your wires too. And connections in the cap. Not uncommon to not get the wires seated fully. Swap wires to check, with the timing light. Bad spark will follow bad wires. If ti's the cap it will stay on 1 and 3.

My "disable the cylinders" comment wasn't just a flyer. Find out where the popping is coming from. You might have a bad cylinder.

Try putting the timing light lead on different cylinders and see if the flashes make more sense. Might give a clue. Seems like you're locked in mentally that things are right and you might be missing something. Cognitive dissonance.

The things suggested will affect all six cylinders equally. You might see if the problem is from a single cylinder by disabling one cylinder at a time. If you have electronic ignition make sure that you ground the plug wire before starting the engine. Sometimes they don't like it if the spark has nowhere to go. Takes more time but it's less risk. If the popping goes away with a certain disabled cylinder then you can start thinking about other things.

Maybe an exhaust valve stuck open? Is it like pop pop pop pop pop ....? "Continuous" implies that the same thing is happening every series of cycles, unlike the somewhat randomness of ignition misfires. A compression check or leakdown test might show something, or a very close examination of the valves and rocker arms. Double-check the lash.

Did you just do everything at one time? Not clear what, exactly, worked. Weird that Nissan had those parts designed so tightly. Maybe that spring-loaded ZX shifter is more subtly complex than it seems. Has anyone compared the action of the two? Maybe we should be bending ZX levers to fit out old transmissions. There's a lot of parts there, a scenario that automakers try to avoid.

Loose bushings can amplify the shifter problem. I have tight new bushings, and my 76 4 speed shifter worked fine in three of my 5 speeds. There are tiny nicks from contact but no big notches like you're showing. I wouldn't overthink it. Get the parts right then see if you need new parts.

The popping back out of gear is a concern. Once the shift mechanism pushes the coupling sleeve in to place there are a variety of small parts that are designed to hold it there. The shifter and other parts are released from duty and should just sit there until your hand puts them back in to action. It hsould either go in to gear and stay there or pop out immediately. I think that we're all hoping you don't have a deeper problem but once you freed the lever from all encumbrances you should have been able to put it in to 5th and have it stay there.

I would remove all of that stuff, take the shifter out and put some machinists blue or even black sharpie, or paint or a piece of tape on the spots of the shifter that site showed in the other thread, then go drive it. It will either work fine and you'll know it was the boot, or it won't and you'll have some evidence on the shifter. You might find it's some other weird thing like a console wire hanging or the console doesn't fit right. Edit - sometimes you just have to do what's necessary to see the source. I was working on some plumbing yesterday trying to find a leak and I finally just stuck my head down on the concrete so I could see the bottom of the fitting. The leak was not coming from where I had calculated from the landing point of the drops. I wasted a lot of time trying to brain it out, when a little dirt on my head and some contortions would have found it earlier.

The shifter would be the first place to look. It's been talked about a lot, I assumed that you would have looked there. Here's the thread, #86 is where the shifter interference pops up.

That same thought popped in to my mind. It's like a constant battle. I have friends who say that politicians always lie, but I think that the media executives are worse. Some of my favorites are companies like Oregon Public Broadcasting that create premium channels for the cable companies to sell, but still have their fund raisers where they try to get people to "donate" to support the programming for the leftover channel. They've gone free-market on one hand, and stayed non-profit on the other. Something doesn't fit. Future scandal. Edit - to be clear...it's not a CZCC problem, it's just the internet and other media, in general.

I can't remember exactly, but "loose countershaft nut" and "broken shift fork roll pin" come to mind. If I recall correctly, neither is huge or expensive deal but both require removal and disassembly of the rear case from the adapter plate. Sunchro problems can make it difficult to get in to gear but once it's there it stays there. Popping out of gear is not a synchro problem. The fact that it's changing over time suggests the loosening nut problem. Probably want to catch that early.

Seems to be a new kind of pop-up, it's on many web sites. I think it's a "mouse-over" thing, like the annoying ads in the middle of text that play sound if you mouse-over them. They always find new ways to break through. If there's one thing on the internet that needs a "dislike" or "hate" button it's these kinds of ads. There must be a whole bunch of gullible management types that are being convinced that these ads actually help sales. Somebody is getting conned.

I just thought it was funny. It appeared from nowhere but when I clicked the X a smaller Fred Meyer ad was there. It amazes what ad people think will get people to buy stuff.