Zed Head

https://www.monroe.com.au/trade-corner/tech-info/gas-charging/gas-charged-shocks-struts-replacement-cartridges.html

What was in gundee's secret PM?

The gas in the strut is not for lifting. Not sure what you mean by "spring/pressure", there's no spring inside the shock. The gas charge should be the same across platforms, it's just there for sealing and/or foam reduction. Might be that you got a defective over-pressurized strut/shock. Tokico, the company, has been in limbo for many years, wouldn't be a surprise if there were counterfeits or bad stock out there. Get some reasonably priced KYB's and you'll probably be very happy, with no problems. Here's an old thread about the part numbers. Good luck. https://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/277489-strut-interchangeability-now-can-told.html

Can you pop the cover off of the old one and look for carnage? Magnet shavings, chipped gears, ovaled holes? That would finish the story. We need more destruction pictures for diff problems.

This measurement is the one that determines gear "play", and describes how to adjust it.

Is it a reman? How old? Might just be bad bearings in the alternator. The voltage numbers look good. If it's a reman it probably has a lifetime warranty. Go get another one and hope.

John C and others have said that the old open R180's are susceptible to one wheel burnout failure. The seat for the pinion shafts gets wallowed out.

All of the joints are visible for where you're twisting. See which parts move and which parts. Grab both sides with each hand and twist. The video sounds "grindy".

BZ3038 is the base shock, the others are renumbered based on the gland nut or the space underneath. They're the same shock just different part numbers based on the accessories. I have some of the basic Tokicos in the garage with both labels. I can peel one off and 3038 is underneath. Your problem would be with how long the shock is when compressed. The strut is not settling under the weight of the car. Have you run them through the travel? Maybe they're binding up. You should be able to fully compress the shock by hand.

The fluid passes right through it. Front and back are separated. The piston in the middle moves if there's a pressure differential.

If you can remove the spring and run the strut through its travel you'll know if it's binding or not. It does seem like your spring is incorrectly seated though. The bearing sits in a pocket, if it wasn't seated properly it would move the spring seat downward relative to the body mounting point. Good luck.

Motorsport and ZCar Depot are good starting points. I have a combination switch if you want to go back to the factory light setup. Somebody probably has some window cranks to replace the vise-grips. https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/forum/93-vendor-marketplace/

This bushing has a long side and a short side. Maybe installing backward can cause things to bind up. If so, you can just swap arms, no need to swap bushings.

Here's a 72 image from Hagerty. https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/09/20/datsun-240z-values-show-appreciation

Oops, I didn't scroll up far enough. You can reach the suspension bolts from the side when the car is on the ground. Loosen them up a bit and roll the car back and forth. No danger if the car isn't being driven. Your front end is way up there though. That's probably why your wheels are carked.

Your front end looks very high, like you have high rate springs on the front struts. The wheels will pull in at the bottom as the body and wheels get farther apart. You might be describing the secondary effect of the car not settling at all, due to some other problem. Any chance you got your springs mixed up front to back? Take a picture from the side and post it.

Any chance there's something off with clamping force? Bad bolts, bad threads, funky torque wrench. Are the fire rings crushed flat, like they should be? You're putting a lot of faith in that "chem test". Test products don't sell well unless they show results.

Measure voltage with the key on, on both sides of the links. Follow the power path. If the relays don't click it means they're not getting power.

It's described in great detail in the link at the bottom of site's post from atlanticz. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/fuelpump/moreinfo.htm

I just posted this trick in another post. Disconnect the oil pressure switch and turn the key to Start. That should cause the pump to get power. If it does or doesn't, both will be clues. You might have a bad switch so reseating the plug won't help. Make sure that the wires to the switch aren't shorted to ground either. That would be like having the switch closed. Also, check your fusible links.

It's all described in the FSM, Engine Fuel chapter. BUT, I just remembered the one situation where the pump will run with the key at On in the 1978 model. If the oil pressure switch is disconnected. That creates the "Open" condition shown in the table. It's a flaw in the design, but many 78 owners use it as a trick to turn their pump on.. So you either have the wrong oil pressure sender or yours is broken, if that's the cause for the pump running. Anyway, it still sounds like your rail is leaking down, whatever the reason. I think that the CSV portion of the rail might not refill as fast as the rail itself, because it's on a branch. drive your car, park it, the pressure drops and the CSV dries out because it's hot. Turn the key on, the pump runs and you get pressure, but there's a bubble at the end of the CSV line. So, basically like having no CSV. Get your pressure to hold overnight and it will probably start normally.

The other three happen when the engine is running. Either oil pressure or alternator current need to be present. It is a confusing chart, because Nissan doesn't really describe that oil pressure causes the switch to open.

No, I'm saying that it's not working correctly. It might be shutting power off when you turn the key to Start. I'm saying it's screwed up and wrong. Edit - to be blunt and clear...(smiley face here).

Because it's doing something it's not supposed to be doing, even if it seems like a good thing. 1978 cars did not come with the priming function. It's not working correctly, therefore it might have other problems too.