Zed Head

Cheapest power to money ratio is the small block chevy engine. The engines are inexpensive and there are kits available with all of the bugs worked out. You can run carbs, with no turbo and hit your numbers. The smaller six cylinder engines need turbos and fuel injection so there's big cost and complexity there. I'd recommend making a list of each engine and collecting the costs and the effort required for each. Some of them have high risk actions you'll need to take, like buying an RB engine from an overseas importer. Then there are maintenance costs. I'm convinced that many engines are popular just because the names sound cool. RB, JZ, LS, etc. No offense. But when you do the math they don't seem so cool.

Google search works well. Type "site:classiczcars.com" before the search terms. Could also be that you're not choosing "All content" from the drop-down box.

I see your problem. I just uploaded some 1971 FSM supplements that have wiring diagrams on page 34. Not sure if it will help though.if wires have been cut. It does show another circuit if the car is an automatic, to the inhibitor switch.

Did you get a new pressure plate? You might verify that the throwout bearing collar is the correct height. There are a variety of different pressure plates out there, and bearing collars to match. 92 mm from the surface the fork rides on to the surface of the flywheel seems to be the correct number, +/- a couple of mm. If you're using the old plate and collar then no issue. Another confirmation of 92 mm would be worthwhile though.

There are several ground points in the harness and at various components and lights. Have you looked at any wiring diagrams? Your questions are very non-specific so they're hard to answer. "What is the purpose of the black wire at the body harness connector?" You talked about a whole of red/black wires but didn't mention a black one. The door switch? You could re-establish the original purpose. Here are some resources to work from. http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/1-wiring-diagrams/ http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/11-240z/

The more writeups the better. There are many different ways to get the same job done and reading about them helps understand the basic principles behind the work. You can break a pilot bushing in to pieces with a chisel to get it out also, for instance. I had to do that once, when my new pilot bushing was too big to insert fully. You might add a few details about you and the car just so people know who the heck the new guy with the 280ZX is. That flywheel looks like it's been sitting for a while.

Nice writeup. The 225mm flywheels are hard to come by. There's another trick people use where they pack the area behind the pilot bushing with grease then stick a dowel in the hole and hit it with a hammer. Hydraulic pressure forces the bushing out. The Factory Service Manual is pretty good. Did you not like it? http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/14-280zx/ And you posted in "CAR TALK > 510 cars" for some reason. This is a 1983 280ZX right? Maybe Mike will move it for you. @Mike

Who told you? If they don't understand SU's then they don't know what they're talking about. Like me. I do know though that if the pistons don't move, then air won't flow and the engine won't make power. But it will idle because the pistons are at their starting point (Edit - actually I don't know if this is true). What kind of oil are you using in the carburetors? Somebody had a very similar problem recently.

Does it do the "start and idle, then bog after a half-minute" thing even when the engine is warm? Or are you describing a cold engine? One could be fuel supply, the other could be a warm engine problem. And did you do all of the replacing after the problem showed up? Or are you just listing all of the work that you've done and the problem happened in the middle somewhere? S/U's are an odd type of carburetor and can have their own odd behaviors.

You went from "don't want to turn the engine over" to "drive it up and down the road"? Sounds like something I'd do. We're still guessing but it seems like the focus should be on where the excess oil is coming from. Head gasket still sees reasonable. Combustion gases pressurizing the crank case, blowing oil vapor through. Maybe. At least it's not a path of destruction problem. Something happened but it seems stable. That's usually a good sign.

Sorry, wrong car, missed Post #3. There is an adjustment though, a bit more complex. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/510/510 Service Manual Chassis and Body/510 Service Manual ST.PDF

One thing that I found when I was experimenting with removing the clunk was that some solutions caused more diff noise in the cabin. The clunk was gone but gear warble took its place. Beware.

There's a procedure in the Steering chapter. Tighten then back off 20-25 degrees. You can pop out the internals also and pack some new grease in. What's there will probably be dried out.

The tach counts sparks. The module could be sending extra pulses to the tach. You're going to need to find a full size computer and download the 260Z Factory Service Manual. The details of how to remove the tach are in it. It comes out from the front. http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/12-260z/ Your car is a 1974 model. SteveJ knows the 260Z but he likes a good description of the problem. Your forum style might not work. Worth a shot though - @SteveJ Good luck. Add your location to your profile.

If it is a 260Z it could be a sign that the electronic ignition module is having problems. Or the tach might just be dying. How long is forever?

That kind of just leaves the PCV hose as the source to distribute oil to the carbs and the cylinders. A pressurized crankcase. So a hole or broken rings or blown head gasket sounds likely. I'm back to head gasket. Things move and twist around when the engine cools off. Fits the fine when parked, bad when started scenario, I think. Good luck. Edit - The volume of blowby gas, carrying oil vapor, would increase dramatically after the hole, or broken ring, or blown gasket. Just a guess.

Old engine , blocked PCV = lots of blowby pushing oil and blowby in to the filter housing from the valve cover?

The oil in the filter housing probably got distributed through the carbs back to each cylinder. How it got in to the filter housing is still a question. It could have come back through one carb, from one cylinder, or through the PCV hose. How about a bad valve seal, and maybe guide, on one cylinder, on the intake valve, fouling the plug so there's no fire, then sucking oil in from the head and pushing it back through the intake runner. It's odd that the problem seems to have occurred either while the engine was off and sitting, or at the restart. Edit - I'm liking a PCV hose route more than a valve seal. Just because there's more air velocity. Any chance that you got a hole in the crankcase seal somehow? Rear main seal blowout, cracked valve cover, oil pan falling off? How about a plugged PCV valve? I'm not clear on the carb PCV system. I do know that they can cause problems when they go bad.

Sounds like it's running on five cylinders. You can remove the injector plugs one at a time to find the cylinder that's not firing. Your video is all choppy and hard to watch. Might be my computer or maybe the recording. You might start a youtube account and put it there. Took a long time to download 74 MB. Take the vacuum hose off of the FPR, red arrow, and see if there's raw fuel inside the hose.

That's a good point about the ballast and too much current. But Nissan stopped using the ballast in 1978, last year was 77. The stock 1978 coil is spec'ed at .84 to 1.02 ohms. Maybe a super-duper high power coil, low resistance?

I think he's saying that it runs and drives without dying now, but it runs rich. It's almost normal.

So, two problems at once and you solved one? You said it wouldn't start when you pulled the TVS connection. Does it not start with the TVS connected? Might be worthwhile to restate the current problem(s).

Somebody actually reached up by the fuse box to touch the ignition module, to see if it was hot? Just want to be sure you were looking at the right part, or don't have an aftermarket setup already in the engine bay. The thing with the throttle valve switch (should be TVS, but people use TPS) is interesting. Maybe that's the circuit in the ECU that goes bad and causes ECU problems. Weird that it wouldn't start with it disconnected though. I think that should show the ECU the position between idle and full throttle, so just a little less fuel than at idle.

I just remember it from when I used to watch some of the financial shows, back when the stock market made a small amount of sense, before the government bailed out the financial institutions and forever corrupted the markets. Yes. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/deadcatbounce.asp?lgl=rira-baseline-vertical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_cat_bounce Here's a UK site - http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/108600.html