Zed Head

There are springs, you can see them in the drawing. But after 40+ years they might not be doing much. Edit - just saw EuroDat's post. The drawing shows springs but maybe they don't actually exist. I read on a Datsun 1200 forum that only USA cars have the switch. It's one of those safety features that only the US has. They got rid of it later when they went to the fluid level sensor in the 280ZX. Apparently us US citizens are forgetful idiots who don't know how to maintain their vehicle's and will let the fluid level drop so far that the brakes stop working correctly.

Could be a broken motor mount. Sometimes they feel like you ran over small bump in the road. One side of the engine lifts up and you feel the thump when it drops back down.

That type of switch was used on many different brands of car. You could probably find one and plumb it in as a surprise for a future owner. That might be fun and it would be a new part. I posted a Ford thing below. I had a pressure differential problem when I first got my car. The light stayed on but it was pretty obvious my front brakes had low pressure because the pedal went to the floor and the front brakes didn't work (calipers on the wrong sides, big bubbles). After the ordeal I realized that the switch and the light really didn't add much value. You could just get rid of it entirely and be just fine. If the seals don't seal you might also get fluid transfer from one end to the other. Another thought. http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77162

A typical battery has WAAAAYYY more than 60 amps available. "Strain" is initiated by the load not the availability. You might only run in to problems if you tried to charge a dead battery with the alternator, the charging wire might get hot. Even then you've only added 10 amps of capacity. No concerns seen.

Another thought- make sure that the actual charging wire, the thick one that connects to B+ is intact. The fusible link is one of the four in the two blocks up by the battery. Check that black link. Might be that the alternator is charging but there's no way for the charge to get to the battery and it's taking an alternate path. Not sure how that would work, just a random thought. Also make sure that the main ground cable is firmly connected at the starter bolt. And that the black wire is connected to E at the alternator. Might be that the problem is actually a ground path problem. Looks like Nissan has it labeled "A" not B+. You can see E also.

Here's one of those human interest stories. Local, I've been through all of the towns mentioned. 52 is not that old. All from the same family, some made it, some didn't. https://www.kgw.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/covid-vaccine-skeptic-changes-outlook/283-394587c2-2c23-4696-a60a-35c15e7405cd

Actually, if you had smoke I'd just take a good hard look at the wires and the connector, and the VR itself. Something should be brown and/or warped.

RTV was new space age stuff back then. https://www.permatex.com/who-we-are/history/?locale=en_us

That's a good point. Glass adds stiffness. The hatch might be warping as he moves it up and down. I'd also take some measurements just to see if those sides will ever fit in to the body correctly. And, see if the top rail can be moved, squeezed downward. Back to glass adding stiffness, and shape. You might be trying to fix a problem that won't exist.

Good luck. I predict a big number. Nice driving video, I think I saw a 56 Chevy. That's a good sign!

If you got 14.5 volts then the alternator was working. With an external regulator you can get up to 15 volts. I'd check the wires to the VR for short circuits to ground. Where did you get the VR? What brand is it?

I see the same thing as RacerX about the length of the hatch, or length of the car itself. Just doesn't look possible to get the front gap right and have the back edge match the back of the body. It is not possible. Looks like the back end of the car has been worked on and it's not right now. And it's not just the center of the hatch lid, the sides look right at the front corners, but the length of the side rails is too long for the car. The car is too short. Sorry to be so brutal. These two things cannot coexist.

Browse these listings and see how yours stacks up. Yours is kind of up in weekend race car zone, with the 12:1 CR. Without pictures, really it's just a list of parts. Good luck. Put it up on Hybridz. https://bringatrailer.com/datsun/280z/?q=280z https://bringatrailer.com/datsun/240z/?q=240z

I pulled a few things out, out of order. Fuel pressure should never get down to 20 psi. But you can check that without the engine running. That will tell you if the pump is running and if there's fuel in the pump. Just disconnect the small wire at the starter solenoid and turn the key to Start. But maybe that's what were doing with the AFM flap. If you have to wait quite a while for pressure to build that's not right. A good pump and clean filters and pressure will jump to 36+ in seconds. Might be that you have a blockage or a bad pump. There are stories about pumps that overheat and quite producing pressure and I've had one myself. This was me just testing a pump off the car. Started out just fine but after a minute or two of running it started making noise and pressure dropped. The bouncing resistance I'd guess was just bubbles passing by the sensor. I assume you tested with the engine off, so no flow other than convection through tiny holes in the thermostat. Not sure why it doesn't start. But once it does use a timing light to see where your timing is.

That's true of pretty much everything. You should add a driving video.

Probably fine for a short time running but you might check your oil for gasoline. Gas-thinned oil is probably bad for new bearings. And cylinder walls/rings.

So it's not really for sale. You put 1978 in your ad, but the title says 1975.

Kind of vague. "Etc." and "nothing" implies that you did not find a single 280Z part on rockauto. Rockauto is full of 280Z parts. Even one of the ones you asked about specifically. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1978,280z,2.8l+l6,1209260,suspension,control+arm+bushing,7532

Could also be the throttle valve switch. A meter and some time spent at the ECU connection will give a good idea of what's working right. This book has all years through 1980. Page 59 is where the meter tests start.

Couple more red ones coming up. One has 300,000 miles. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-195/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-192/

I wonder if the collecting/investing community was nervous about crossing "TheGuild". Does his opinion influence the value of a Z? He put his bid in early then implied that car might have flaws. I didn't read all of the comments. Maybe he overbid. Or maybe the seller lost out because TheGuild scared away bidders. Most buyers wait until the last day to make their bids. The auction flow was not normal.

Weird. The ZGuild guy bumped the bid by $5000 to $40,000 at the very beginning of the auction and nobody bid after that. No 2 minute extensions, just faded away to that first day bid. A ton of comments on the auction page though. An odd one.

Dave Irwin, aka Zs-ondabrain, designed those and made them for MSA. He has moved to the boonies and might be hard to contact but worth a shot. @Zs-ondabrain https://www.facebook.com/DatsunLEDS https://www.datsun-240z-upgrades.net/ https://www.datsun-240z-upgrades.net/home/products/ https://www.datsun-240z-upgrades.net/product-info/

Koni put a lot of effort in to getting those gland nuts made. Wonder what went wrong. The gland nut is meant to center the shock body in the tube in addition to clamping it in to the bore of the strut tube. @KONI Lee @Joseph@TheZStore

76 had a 60A and an external VR. There's a procedure in the FSM for checking the VR.