Zed Head

A little extra for SteveJ's post - the unleaded filler tubes are smaller than the early leaded gas filler tubes. 78 is unleaded, 76 is leaded.

I adjust mine cold, then remeasure hot. Lash gets looser when the engine heats up so if you make a mistake too tight when cold, the odds of burning a valve are lower. Plus most of them will still be in spec. so you end up spending less time over a hot engine. Actually, mine have always stayed in spec. on the hot measurement. The principles of materials and thermal expansion suggest that they should all change to the same degree. Nissan probably got rid of the cold spec. because it caused confusion in the shop (how cold is cold?) and tuneups are usually done within a few hours. Otherwise a tune-up would be a leave-it-overnight job. Just talking... On why the lash isn't what you thought it was - when you tighten the locknut you actually change the lash, pulling the pivot up against the threads of its hole. Plus, it's easy to get a little bit off of the base circle of the cam lobe.

Only posting as a fan of rigor and method. Did you actually try "all" of the other connectors? You've shown, according to your other posts with the 9 volt battery, that the bad injector will open electrically. The solenoid will take current and produce a magnetic field and the pintle will move. But you haven't confirmed that the current available at the connector on the car is making it through the injector coil. If it was mine, and I had your results, I'd run two jumpers from the engine electrical connector, measure voltage at each and then make sure that each pin in the injector got that voltage. I would have done that right after it opened using the 9 volt battery. Once you know that the current available at the car won't open the injector there's no need to swap it around. You already know the injector "works" but won't work on your car.

The guys with the hoses will just bend/break the lid open. One other problem with the lockable caps is that they're tall. They won't fit under the lid. Probably have to do some body work to make a truly functional lockable cap. I've spent some time pondering mine. I've already converted it to leaded fuel only style, so that the nozzle won't fall out when filling, but also thought about gas thieves. Not many options. She might get a "diesel fuel only" sticker just to throw off any gas thieves.

Actually, the screwdriver test will also show a bad electrical connection, the two pins on the injector, maybe. The OP's is doing and thinking about a lot of stuff, and the fact that the injector worked electrically, off of the car, might have been overlooked. If the spare injector connector worked it might be worthwhile to clean up the injector pins or even replace that connector, or bend the pins so that better contact is made. It could just be an electrical contact issue. The stock EFI connectors are known to be of poor quality after 30 years of heat. The spare connector might have made better contact than the old corroded ones on the engine now. " Took bad injector off, and used the 9v method to get it opening/spraying off the car with spare injector connector. i did this to my "spare" used injectors too. Off the car, they all clicked and were not clogged. "

Would somebody buy this to restore or collect? And do the flares really look like "light modification"? If the body is intact underneath, maybe, but I'd guess it's been cut. Not a 240Z guy, don't know what people look for, just curious. It's sounding more like a fairly run-of-the-mill Fairlady 240Z, isn't it?

I've had the thought that the extra resistance is more for the ECU circuitry than the injectors. The injector solenoids are covered in fuel. 2.5 ohms gives 4.8 amps at 12 volts. A few clicks using a 12 volt battery doesn't seem too damaging. I've done it with some and they seemed fine afterward. No smoke. Aren't the resistors 6 ohms? 12 / (6+2.5) = 1.4 vs. 9/2.5 = 3.6 at the asymptote. So, maybe not enough current to open up a gummy or rusted injector. You might just let some fuel blow through the "bad" injector to see if it will clear up. Nissan used tan and light green for it's NA injectors, and purplish brown for turbo. Black is aftermarket. The codes will be hard to see, molded or stamped in to the plastic plug portion. FJ707, A11...., 280 150... are examples.

The workings of the 280ZX distributor are definitely more mysterious than the 280Z's. But they do call it a magnet in the manual. I guess the real question is "does the magnet need to be intact to work at full function?". Apparently, they still work when broken, but how well?

Who flared the rear wheel wells? Don't forget the engine serial number.

Looks like your "gas gushing out" problem is back, the problem that disappeared miraculously. You probably have a stuck or shorted injector, maybe a shorted/bad ECU. Actually, flooding is one of the signs of a bad ECU. Along with no-start. I had a bad ECU and it did both. People have fixed the problem temporarily by tapping/beating on the side of the ECU and/or wiggling the ECU connector.

You're measuring pressure and connecting and disconnecting the pump, but you're not connecting the two actions, the pressure and the electrical connection. Does the engine only start with low fuel pressure, or is the fuel pressure the same when it won't and will start?

Sounds like you're living the good life. Good luck. Don't forget to reset timing with the new distributor.

Clogged air filter? When you open the throttle like that all that you're doing is allowing the engine to pull in more air. There's no accelerator pump like a carb'ed car. The fact that the engine doesn't "grab" more air could be because it can't or something's out of time. Has it had a good tuneup in the last three years?

Rockauto is dependable and the ZX distributor should work fine. Stick with that. We need to know more about this wedding that has a 1970 240Z as the honeymoon car though...

Yes, solid valve trains are noisy. If it's not ticking that means lash might be too tight and you're about to burn a valve. On top of the valve lash noise is the injector ticking which can be surprisingly loud. All you can do is take the measurements and trust the engineers and others who've been there. I've had a noisy #1 lifter for thousands of miles but it's been fine. So, the assumption is that you got all of the seals replaced, all back together, and the engine's running now?

I logged in just to say what site already said. If you haven't already bought the Cardone unit, you might just step back and reconsider everything. What are you looking for in your ignition system, how much do you want to pay, etc.? Easy to see how you got on the ZX path but there are other options. The ZX distributor and E12-80 module are a good system though.

Pretty sure the E12-80 has the modern current-limiting (dwell control) so the Blaster 2 coil should work fine. He has all of the parts, I'm betting that the distributor needs a little work. Whenever I find a ZX or Maxima distributor in the wrecking yard they're always mis-adjusted and have broken magnets. I don't think that they're very durable. Rockauto sells a replacement bushing for the shaft. " The distributor came off a 280zx "

Or disconnect the E12-80 module and do the same test you just did over again. If the module is shorted internally you'll get a stronger spark.

Remove the distributor from the engine and do the same thing with the coil main wire, but spin the distributor instead, with the key on. If the distributor and module are working you should get the same weak spark.

The part that many people seem to have the most difficulty with on these cars is the need to do lots of measuring and adjusting or fixing if the measurements are wrong. At least you have a meter and are using it. You just need to go deeper. You didn't mention pickup coil resistance or the air gap setting. The electronic module won't work right if it doesn't get the correct signal from the pickup coil. Your coil and wires seem fine, it's the triggering system that's not working.

Your wiring seems right. " 12v at the + and 12v at the - " is correct, the voltage is the same because the ignition module is not grounding the coil circuit. You didn't give any information about the distributor. You might have a bad module or a broken stator magnet. Pretty common with the old ZX distributors. Read the swap and rebuild ZX distributor links here - http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/electrical.htm

Forgot to say, those carbs are probably full of old fuel. Take a sniff. Your next move kind of depends on if you like to do things in small steps or one large one. I like to mess around so I'd start it to see how bad things are. But you can waste a lot of time messing around that way.

You have one of those PO puzzles. Each finding raises more questions. Why did the core plugs have holes in them? Was he planning to remove them? Why? Maybe it had an overheating problem? If it overheated, is the head warped? Is a warped head the real reason he decided to swap to a V8? Etc.... RossiZ highly recommends purgng the coolant channels. He did his and was shocked at how much crud came out. The water pump is probably fine since it's in a moving fluid zone. The crud drops out in the dead spots. If it was mine, and things aligned, I'd start it and run it for a few seconds to see how it sounds. I don't think enough heat will be generated to damage things. But that's me, others might recommend against. You're on the edge of just tearing things way down to check them out. Water pump, valve cover (timing chain and cam shaft), cylinder head (gasket and warpage), oil pan...

This one works well, with an extra board lengthwise for reinforcement - http://www.harborfreight.com/material-handling/dollies/movers-dolly-39757.html Not positive on plug size. Your local Nissan dealer might have them also. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Freeze+Plug/02267/C0367.oap?year=1974&make=Nissan&model=260Z&vi=5142642 Here's the head plug. Nissan uses the very proper term of "welch plug" - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-240z-260z/cylinder-head http://www.courtesyparts.com/?p=catalog&mode=search&search_in=all&search_str=11021-E3000 #9 here is the block plugs - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-240z-260z/cylinder-block-fitting http://www.courtesyparts.com/?year=&make=&model=&search_str=01648-00084&p=catalog&mode=search&scat=&search_in=all

You can run down and get core plugs at the OReilly or Autozone. Sorry ZStore. Get a cart from Harbor Freight, bolt up a transmission and starter, and you can get an idea of what shape the engine is in. Looks like it was in running shape when removed. People often remove perfectly good engines when they get V8 fever.