Zed Head

Homage is the word that was buried in my brain, couldn't find it. Homage is good. How about replicant? Replicant fits today better than clone. It's not even in spell-check yet. Fairlady Z replicant.

I'm not trying to pick on your project. Any project is a good project. But I just realized the major error of your title. "into a Fairlady Z". No matter what you do, it won't be transformed into a Fairlady Z, as I understand the definition. It might be a clone, or a replica, or a pseudo-, but it won't actually be a Fairlady Z. I think that a purist might even be more offended that someone thinks the "badge" makes the car. This is more of a grammatical thing than a car thing. For whatever it's worth. We tend to like a good label or category, and I'm not sure where what you're doing fits, or what it would be called. What would it be? Maybe we should make a up a new name. Clone is so played...

I think that it would be neater if you found a real Fairlady Z and restored it using all of your parts. Converting "right"-side drive to the wrong side just seems not-right.

I can dunk a basketball on an 8 foot rim. But that doesn't mean I can dunk. Go for it. I'm not really in to collecting old stuff anyway, so my opinion means little. If I saw a real Fairlady Z my first thought would be "that thing must be hard to drive with the wheel on the wrong side".

It won't be a restoration. More of a replication.

Nobody is doubting the veracity of your ad. (Always wanted to use "veracity" in a sentence). But a person can probably find a complete, assembled, 1978 280Z of similar or better quality for a similar price. You're basically selling a jigsaw puzzle to people who want a finished painting, or one that only needs touching up. If I was in your shoes I'd assemble as much of it as possible. Get the engine and transmission back in, interior, body parts, etc. Make it look like a car. The new buyer would know that they need to recheck all of your assembly work but at least they'll see a finished car. Good luck.

Not bad at all. Has a trailer hitch and AC too. $7500. Is there really a Spanish fort there?

Has the engine had work done or is it just cleaned up? And you can't really "match numbers" on a 78. Nissan didn't put the engine serial number on the tag. How many miles on the body and the engine?

Whichever distributor you choose make sure to check the breaker plate bearings for rust and gunk. They're almost always stuck after sitting for years. If you try to use them they might break the bearing cage. The ZX distributors, the one in your left hand with the module on the side, tend to break the stator magnet also. And they have weak bushings. I've seen replacement bushings out there somewhere. You can run a separate ignition module, like an MSD, using the points distributor.

Too many variables and sample size too small to draw any conclusions, it seems. As I noted above my steering was very light and loose in my garage on a dry smooth cold level concrete slab. But my memory says that it's been much more difficult out on the rough driveway or the pavement of a road. Add the height of the car, lowered or stock, to the variable list. And rake, nose down is typically harder steering than nose up.

Seems like it should work. Look out for the injector notches though. Might be better off with a 280Z gasket.

They look like emissions-correct 240Z headers. Those ports with the bolts in them are for the air pump air. MSA looks like a probable source. Check their website. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/15-6002

This might help your door hinge part search - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsuns30/Datsun-Z-Index/Body-240Z/Door-Panel-Glass-Hinge And it's pretty sure that you mean ammeter, not volt gauge, if it's the same car. You'll probably want to match fonts on that part. Nissan liked to change them. Good luck.

Lock to lock could be separate from ratio, maybe. Not sure exactly where the stops are but aren't they on the hubs? 280Z hubs different from 240Z. Different knuckles. Shouldn't we just measure the ratio? Not sure how to make that a one man operation.

I just did my 76 and got 3.1 Surprisingly easy on a cold dry smooth garage floor. I need new tires.

The FMS's kind of blend the lock-to-lock and the ratios together. This is 1976 and 1977, above, 76 above, 77 below. Hard to tell what's what.

I don't know if this will help or not but the graphic is pretty exciting. Safe for work. https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/09/20/datsun-240z-values-show-appreciation

What was the price before? There's no info about the running gear. Engine condition, automatic transmission, etc. Probably fine, but still, nothing there. Looks nice. But y'all are pretty far away from most of us. Might help if there were shipping options.

Could be. Back pressure can make a difference, for sure. If a new pump doesn't fix it, at least you'll have a spare pump. Always good to have spares. I asked about pump position because sometimes people put the pumps in the engine bay. That creates a long path to suck on for the pump. The electric rotary pumps like to have the inlets supplied by gravity. They don't like to suck. I just saw that yours is back by the tank, so that's good. The pre-filter can cause problems also if it's too fine. Too hard to pull. The mechanical cam eccentric actuated pumps have been used for years. That pump alone should supply what the carbs need. Are you getting side-tracked, maybe? You might go all the way back to 1971, remove the pre-filters, use only the head-mounted pump, and a high-flow filter, or just the banjo-fitting screens. Sometimes we're overprotective. Probably fine for a test and might tell you something. Back to basics.

This has been bugging me but I think it's true. His parents will probably have to buy the car for him. Best option might be the "you won't have to drive me around anymore" or "I'll quit borrowing the family car" scenario to his parents to get the ball rolling. Plus it's right there, just roll it down the road. Just saying, basically, the neighbor might not have the patience, knowing that he's not talking to the actual buyer. The OP is basically a negotiator between the seller and the buyer. Identify and examine the concerns of both parties and have answers for all of them. Then get them together and see if you can make it happen.

Here's a thought that might stand alone - get another cross member and just do a swap. Faster, easier, doable without removing the engine. The car is only stuck in its spot for a short time.

The key is stabilizing things. Put the car body on stands with the suspension hanging. Otherwise when you lift the engine the car body will lift also. Support the engine at both front back and sides so that it can't tilt. If you get everything supported and stabilized you should be able to loosen the engine mounts and verify that it's stable before actually disconnecting it from the car body. A potential problem is getting everything ready for separation then finding that you do have to lift the engine for clearance. You should be able to visualize what needs to move though, before actually dropping the cross member. The big realization is that once you get the cross member out, you're stuck with the car and engine in that spot until you're done and it's back in. Of course, you'll want to be able to move the car around so all of this is probably moot. Think of the disaster it will be if the engine falls of of the rigged up mounts. Good luck.

8 implies a voltage drop due to current flow. There's power there. Might be that the solenoid piston is just stuck. Tap on it, maybe, when it's powered, and see if it comes unstuck. Injectors get stuck often and a tap will free them up. Same basic concept as those magnet valves. Welcome to the world of old crusty parts.

They do if you want them to pass vacuum. Looks like they're normally closed. You might double-check your hose connections too. Can't see what's connected to what in your picture.

Check if that first magnet valve is normally open or closed. Might be an electrical problem. Either way, if it's not open there's no vacuum supply. It's all right in front of you in the engine bay, the bottle, the hoses, and the magnet valves. Should be able to disconnect some hoses and see where the vacuum is not happening. Also possible that it's not making it through your selector valve. It's a pretty long path from the intake manifold to that mode door actuator. Or even that the vacuum actuator is holed and inoperable. Or that it's disconnected from the mode door. I think that it's a piece of wire that ties them together. Or a mouse built a nest in the ductwork. They love Z ductwork. Many possibilities. You found the right picture in the FSM. It's quite a system that Nissan put together.