Zed Head

Pretty sure the engine won't start without the inline resistor. I had mine unwrapped and it fell out once. Not even a pop until I put it back in (no CSV, so no fuel supplied at all without the injectors firing). Fun to try though. I've had two engines, also, that wouldn't start without the tach connected.

Yes, those are all typical signs of a failing module. Some of the auto parts stores can get replacement modules, or try Black Dragon, Motor Sport Auto, or Zpecialties.com. They're expensive though, in the high hundred or two hundred range. The wrecking yard is another option, or an aftermarket ignition module, like the GM HEI module. Or you could swap to an early ZX distributor with an E12-80 module. But you will lose the temperature controlled 6 degrees of timing advance, since the factory module is designed to use the two pickups in the distributor. Unless you have a California model. Quickest might be a wrecking yard 75-77 module, if you can find one. They're mounted up above and in front of the fuse box. Edit - Got curious. Change the hundred and two hundred above to three hundred and four hundred - http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Ignition+Module!s!Control+Unit!s!Ignitor/02801/C0334.oap?year=1977&make=Nissan&model=280Z&vi=1209248

If this is his web page - http://www.datsunspirit.com/index.html - you should let him know that it needs some serious work. It's all 404 errors and broken links. Maybe he has enough business that he doesn't really need it.

I have noticed that they're not straight, but since it appears to be a forged steel piece, not machined and built from straight rod, I can't be sure that they're not designed that way. It would make sense to form some pre-bend in to the piece to give it some shock absorbing properties. For the original purpose of the car, an inexpensive sports car with good performance, it seems like it suits the purpose just fine. They only seem to break when mismatched bushings are used. There was no recall on them, and they lasted through 8 design years. I'd feel like I had accomplished my goal if it was my design. The TTT TC rod is an upgrade but I wouldn't call the original crap. I just wanted to see what kully was thinking.

How about some reasons for why you say the OEM rods are "crap". The more technical,the better. I'm always interested in learning something new.

bhermes has a 76. The plug is designed for 70-73. I don't think that it will work as a simple plug-in and go fix. The externally regulated alternators appear to be labeled F and N on the T plug. They are also smaller than the internally regulated alternators. The internally regulated alternators appear to have no letter labels on the T plug, but if they did, there would be an L and an S. Any auto parts store should have a testing machine that will tell you what kind of alternator you have.

They've been known to break in service, apparently. Look down at the bottom of Post #1 (about half-way down the page under Stub Axles) here in JMortensen's thread from Hybridz - http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/49194-differential-cv-lsd-hp-torque-r160-r180-r200-r230-diff-mount/ Maybe you just got lucky and yours broke while it was still accessible. Do you have a picture? Broken stuff is always interesting.

Happy Hawaii Trip Anniversary, Bonzi! Seriously, I can see how someone could get some wires crossed in doing the conversion, especially considering that many of the original wires are left disconnected when it's done, just hanging around waiting to cause trouble. I still have a spare hot wire and a switched hot wire hanging loose in the engine bay (insulated of course), waiting for some purpose along with a few dead wires. I tried the conversion by "connecting colored wires" when I did mine even though it was against my normal inclinations and ended up with a dead battery the next day due to one small difference that hadn't been addressed in the instructions (1976 has a brake warning lamp check relay wire that runs through the external regulator), as helpful as they were. It's always better to know exactly what each wire does before doing anything. In Quinn's case, new wires could be run from the battery and a switched source just to confirm that the alternator works correctly, leaving the old regulator completely disconnected. A voltmeter would be needed. Then the appropriate wires could be chosen from the original regulator wires, just to neaten things up, if wanted. Of course, some of the regulator wires might have a dual purpose and that's where other problems can crop up. But those can be tracked down individually. The internal alternator really only needs four circuits connected to work (#4,the ground, typically comes through the mounting points). Which brings up one thing that's typically not checked but which should be - confirm that you have good ground from the alternator case to battery negative, with the old regulator disconnected. An ohm-meter will be needed.

Still not clear why you're doing some things. No offense. The zhome instructions and my comments don't fit what you're describing as being done. The S wire is "on" all the time, not switched. It should be connected close to the battery positive terminal. A common spot is the big lug on the starter solenoid, or just directly to the positive terminal. No diode. The L wire is the one that needs a diode. But you should probably leave the diode out for now. It's only there to keep the engine from continuing to run after you turn the key off. Not sure about your other connections. You said that two yellow wires are jumped to a white wire. Don't know which wires those are. Then a yellow wire starts smoking. If one yellow starts smoking, then all three wires should be getting hot, right? They're all jumped together. If you have a load on the ammeter (battery drain) with the key off that goes away when you disconnect the yellow wire, then that yellow wire (the one that you disconnected at the end) must be connecting the battery to a device that uses current. So that is not right. You've mentioned measured voltages but haven't really confirmed that the wires you're connecting to S and L, and the white charge wire, have the correct voltages before you start the engine. It really helps to be methodical and careful when getting in to the wiring. Confirm that L is 12 volts switched, S is 12 volts always, the white wire is 12 volts always, before starting the engine. I assume that you have a voltmeter. As it stands now, it looks like you have several wires incorrectly connected. It's not clear why. The zhome page is pretty clear, just confirm the voltages at each wire before connecting, in case of differences between years. It looks like zhome might be for 1971, you have a 1973.

Some of your "consensus" comments are questionable. The liners in the P79 exhaust have been shown to be of little to no restriction. They just look that way. "Square exhaust posts have good flow" - no supporting data. They just look that way. Quench is more complicated than it seems. Just because the pad is there, does not necessarily mean that there will be effective quench. You said that you had two P30 blocks but your examples are F54 blocks. If you're autocrossing, predominantly in one gear, then a torquey engine with a flat torque curve is probably best. The best option there is probably the F54/P79 combination. Also the cheapest, machining-wise, since none is required. The comparison between higher compression and bigger valves (E88 vs. P79) would seem to favor the bigger valves, on the L28 block. More flow for more displacement. But, if you wanted higher compression and bigger valves, then the N42 or N47 head on the F54 flat-top long block would be the way to go. No machining required and meets all of your desires. Most people recommend a "bigger" cam with that setup though to keep the detonation problem in check. Edit - Full disclosure - I just picked all of this up on the internet, probably just like you did. But I've been hanging out on the Hybridz site for a while and they have some good information over there. BUT - I may not know what I'm talking about.

Here's a link to a supplier of one of the more popular systems - http://www.diyautotune.com/ The product descriptions are kind of disjointed and hard to figure out though. Here's a link to another forum's sub-forum, focused on EMS - http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/forum/63-ems/

Bummer. So you already have an off-center hole drilled. That bolt is fairly large in diameter. You might be able to get a small rat-tail file in there and try to re-center it. The bolt is the standard right-hand thread but if you're already in to the threads on one side, it's probably too late to try the left-hand drill. You'll probably have to work most of it out by hand until you can get a tap in there. Tedious. A tap will drag the small pieces out once they're thin enough. I think that bolt is fine thread though, so a tap might be difficult to find and probably expensive. I don't think that you can reach the back side from the top either. You have a dilemma.

Not even sure what you mean by "front diff carrier bolt". Can you add some description? If you tried an EZ-Out then you must have already drilled a hole in the remainder of the bolt. How do you "catch threads" if the bolt is still in there? Why would that make it worse? Sorry, but your post is not real clear on what exactly you're trying to fix. If you do have a broken bolt with a hole already drilled in it, that an EZ-Out will get started in, then I would heat it up with a torch, spray some PB Blaster or Liquid wrench on it, let it cool, spray some more penetrant, then heat the area around it again while trying to twist it out.

That's too easy. Just type those words in to the search box. Come back with what you found if it doesn't make sense. Edit - Do you really live in a place called Embarrass? Never mind, I Googled it- http://www.embarrass.org/

"running when placed", of course...

Don't know if this will help, but here's a picture of a disassembled half-shaft - http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/construction%20page-23.html There are drawings in the FSM also, Rear Axle chapter.

I think that they went to the one piece fuel rail in 1978. You're right, the old three piece rail tends to leak at the connections between rail pieces. I had a three foot fountain of needle thin fuel spraying from mine when it started leaking. I have a ZX rail now, but had a 1978 rail for while. They're the same shape and design but the ZX rail was shinier.

Congratulations on figuring out how to get things done. The rebuild kits that can be found on the internet don't seem to be very credible, with mismatched year to style numbers, and various reports of mismatched parts, like yours. Could you share the brand name of the kit that Autozone sold you, or any part numbers, for future reference?

It's a little bit disingenuous to suggest a value for Hardway's car when you obviously don't like the 280Zs. You're just taking the opportunity to trash the 280Z style: "find someone into the 280s", "no curb appeal". Why even respond if they're not your thing. Especially Healey Z, who drives a Healey! Hating is not pretty... Edit - the post was intended as a reply to #2 and #3. But still, if you don't like 280Zs, you can't really judge their value to someone that does..

This is a new thread from your other thread? The 79 internally regulated alternator to replace the bad one from Autozone? http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?45187-S30-battery-boiling-over-need-reg-jumper You still haven't described which procedure that you used. Did you try the one at zhome from Post #3 in the other thread? (I glanced at the zhome article and it looks like that's the one you're using). 1973 should have an Ammeter and apparently they don't have Charge lights. The Ammeter tells you if it's charging. + = charge, - = discharge. What does the Ammeter needle do? Battery power at the white wire is good. It's supposed to be connected to the battery. The wire that goes to the cross bar on the T plug should always show battery power also. It's the Sense wire (S at zhome) and senses whether or not the alternator should be charging. The other part of the T, the bottom, should have switched 12 volts, but probably needs a diode. If you put the diode in backwards, the alternator windings won't energize and you won't get any charging. Did you install a diode? Everything above can be checked with a voltmeter before you start the engine. If you're not getting switched power at BW, you might have a blown fusible link or fuse. I'm not sure where that wire comes from but a wiring diagram will probably show you where to look for a fuse or fusible link. Check http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html in the Body Electrical section (I just looked and it looks like BW runs through the fuse box). No power at BW means no energized windings, no magnet, no charge. You mgiht have a bad fuse. Good luck.

Actually, that wire should go to ground from the condenser/capacitor shown. The factory setup connects to a bolt on the distributor. Probably to damp electrical spikes (noise) from the distributor. A good idea to connect it as the factory did to reduce the odds of damaging your ignition module or ECU. You coil setup should work, mechanically, as long as it doesn't fall out. The coil is usually matched to the ignition module though, so the new coil may not be as "Super" as the label implies. Edit - 5th, I think that they moved the lamp to the driver's side in later years. My 76 has it in that vicinity. But, as stated, it should have another length of black wire going to a distributor mounting bolt.

Sounds like TPS. It's under the black cover on the throttle blade shaft.

Looks like you could get 50 or 60 amps in 74. 76 had 60. 60 auto store rebuilt amps would probably be better than 30 Nissan amps, for sure. If the OP does decide to do the swap, don't forget about the brake warning lamp check relay under the passenger seat. It might get battery power after the swap, instead of the designed "engine running" power, and drain the battery. It's caught a few 1976 owners, including me. Basically, if you want simple, just replace the regulator. If you want to dig in and modernize your car, be prepared for a little time and aggravation.

For the record, the 280ZX alternators only put out more current at ~2500 RPM (~1250 engine RPM by pulley ratio if my math is right), according to FSM specs. At full output, they're the same at 60 amps. And the specs are for factory alternators, not aftermarket. My experience with one auto store rebuilt internally regulated alternator is that it was lower output at low RPM than an old Nissan made 1978 factory alternator. Just something to think about. In theory, if you were working with Nissan made parts, the internally regulated alt would give more output at low RPM. But in reality, your old Nissan alternator, with a new regulator might be a better bet than a "new" rebuilt internally regulated alternator. The auto store alternators are known for poor quality.

Heat will help a lot. Aluminum expands more than steel with heat so putting a torch on the head around the bolt will help the PB Blaster/Liquid Wrench or whatever penetrate. It will also open up the hole, reducing the grip on the broken bolt. You don't have to heat it to red hot or anywhere near where you'll risk warping the head. Heat it until the penetrant smokes, then try to twist it out.