Zed Head

I was just pointing out to CIC that the colors are there in the wiring diagrams. Including the main harness. Just offering a fishing pole instead of a fish. For future work...

I'm not trolling you, but "B" is black, and "G" is green. The wiring diagrams are in the downloads section. Resources>Downloads>Wiring Diagrams. https://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/1-wiring-diagrams/

You could check continuity back to the ECU connector. That's always a good idea anyway.

Gave engine a tuneup. Put at least 20 hours on it afterward, no problems. Car was outside during rain. Engine started running poorly, sporadically, now runs poorly, consistently. Odds aren't bad that something came loose and slowly slipped out of adjustment. I'd recheck the points gap. The lock-down screw might have loosened. There is pretty good force on the points as they open. If they slip, the gap will close and you'll get poor spark. Could also be that the distributor has turned if its lock-down screw was loose. Check timing. SteveJ suggested the same with his gap and dwell suggestion, to verify. Then tried again with the dwell meter question. But since you never answered he moved on. Easier to check than fuel too.

Marketwatch seems like they'd be middle of the road. Biased toward making money, a person would assume. How can less testing be better for anyone or anything? Almost like there's a plan to spread the virus. Barely comprehensible, but the facts seem to fit. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-update-health-experts-express-alarm-at-cdc-change-in-testing-guidelines-that-exclude-asymptomatic-patients-2020-08-26 The Marketwatch link seems to be pay-per-view now. Here's Google's collection. https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqOQgKIjNDQklTSURvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoTUtFUWlOdkkzT2tJQU1FYWpfaWZpWWR5WkRLQUFQAQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

I just get to the heart of things rather than talk around them like they aren't happening. It is what it is. That's why I included the overall comparison. 1.8 versus 3.1. No significant timing there. I anticipated your argument... You're talking around what's obvious. Doesn't really matter much. We all live in our own little thought bubbles. Cognitive bias is a bitch.

Don't get in to a shouting match about mask wearing in a closet. Latest advice. https://www.businessinsider.com/6-foot-distancing-rule-is-outdated-oxford-mit-new-system-2020-8

Tension/Compression. The FSM calls it tension for the ZX's and compression for the Z's, although they work in reverse also, so T/C is more correct. They see both. The rod that connects the wheel hub to the body and hold it in place during braking.

The normalization of this state of affairs in the United States of America is the other major effect. You just compared the USA to Brazil, India, China and Mexico. We used to think of three of those as undeveloped, basically poor countries, and the other as a developed Communist nation with a population of poor people. Look at where we stand now. And look at the image I pasted in my post above. About the same number of deaths shown as India. But India has twice the cases. For today our death rate is double India's. Over the course it's 1.84% versus 3.06%. Isn't that incredible? That's what happens when they play the testing games. The death rate goes up, on paper. The USA used to be the place to go to avoid what's happening in those other countries. Now we're worse than they are. https://www.kayak.com/travel-restrictions

That is quite a few pathways to the body from the road. They probably did the TC rods too, didn't they? Maybe the steering shaft coupler. Not sure why poly on the sway bar, or anti-roll bar, is supposed to be helpful. Probably saves a few mm of roll at most, compared to rubber, but transmits a lot more noise. The control arm bushings would affect steering response so that seems reasonable to do, for performance. You could loosen up the ARB links and see if noise goes down. All that will happen is a little more tilt in the turns. Easy test.

I think a big concern will be that people downplay the severity of the college outbreaks because the younger population doesn't get as sick, and not as many die. Overlooking, either purposefully or just ignorantly, that it's the transfer to at-risk people that is the real issue. These college kids are virus vectors, disease carriers, agents of the grim reaper. They're just young kids though, they don't really know. It's the older educated people that have to keep their minds open to what is really going on. It also seems like the lower testing numbers are skewing the view of the severity, showing a lower case count. But deaths are up by a lot. We've been at 1,000 dead per day average for quite a while. Real people, real families, real death. And it's still summer when the virus is supposed to be muted.

Technology is starting to catch up with the reality of the new world we'll have for a while. Soon we'll have warning apps for our phones to tell us when we're getting close to a hotspots. Run! Of course the app will need access to photos, contacts, and all data on your phone. https://uasystem.edu/covid-19-dashboard?0 https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/university-of-alabama-coronavirus-140343391.html

You should put your videos on youtube. They won't play for many people.

There's a bunch of threads out there, some with the part numbers to order from Kia. https://www.classiczcars.com/search/?q=kia sportage&quick=1

The ZX's have a different type of suspension on the back. Where exactly did you install the bushings? And what type of tire and rim are you using? Tire sidewalls are a significant part of the suspension. Low profile tires probably make more noise. I used to notice a big change in the Portland area roads when I went from the old high aggregate concrete to the newer asphalt. The rocky concrete was super noisy.

There does not seem to be a kit that has all good parts. Best to piece-meal the parts, based on how well they work.

Here is a thread with normal EFI system plugs.

There's that red paint fade we just talked about. That rust looks like it came from battery acid/salts drippage. Very localized. I've seen people just patch holes like that. A good fabricator could do a nice job on it. Survivor sounds like a cool idea. Have you spun the engine yet? 20 years is a long time. If you do some prep work before starting it you might save yourself some problems and end up with a better-running engine. Take your time.

@cgsheen might have some thoughts. #664 might be worth some money if it's not too baked by the Arizona sun.

Wasn't Heddman another? Hedmann? Hedman. Hedman Hedders. Knew there was something odd about it. https://www.hedman.com/headers

Here's some confusion, for me anyway. I had always assumed that the ballast resistor was used because the ignition model did not use current-limiting control. And without the ability to "fill" the coil the spark plug's gap was smaller. And that it was spec'ed larger in 1978 when the better ignition module was introduced. But, here is the actual specification from the actual 1977 Owners' Manual, with 1977 on the cover. I don't really know what to make of it. It seems to imply that plugs without resistors will fire across a larger gap. Also note that Nissan did not recommend the projected tip plugs although many of use use them. Nissan recommended the P tips, then they didn't then, they did again for the ZX engines.

The screw in the AFM is for idle air adjustment. It won't have much effect at higher RPM. Best not to mess with that, it's set at the factory.

I screwed up and left a zero out. 0.032" is correct.

Didn't you have a post about where to put the condenser wire? There was discussion about the ballast. I think that you have a ballast resistor, so you should use the smaller gap. 1977 is a "change" year, Nissan seems to have changed many different things all in the same model year instead of waiting for a new model year. And, even on this site, you'll find different versions of the 1977 FSM. Nissan didn't put the year of the FSM in the document, for some reason. Edit - actually it's only on the cover or the first few pages. But people often don't copy those . You just have to know. 1975 has a similar problem.

Edit - Left out some zeroes below. .032", .043" is correct. Those spark plugs are much dirtier than they should be. Looks like your EFI system is running rich, which is a very common problem with the 280Z's. Have you checked the gap on the spark plugs? It looks too big. 1977 still has the weaker electronic ignition system, gapped at ~0.32". If your engine has the ballast resistor then gap to 0.32". I haven't found an FSM that I'm sure is actually 1977, so there might be specs showing 0.43" gap. But I don't think that's right for a ballast resistor system. The firing order is for the electrical spark, not the injection. The injectors squirt half of the required fuel on every crankshaft revolution, all at the same time. Some cylinders have valves closed, some open. The fuel just hags around until the valve opens and it gets sucked in. But they squirt simultaneously.