Zed Head

A penny saved can be dollars lost. @Joseph@TheZStore

If you remove the nut or bolt on the front of the head that holds the fuel rail you could probably even leave the rubber hoses connected. But, if you have old hoses, it's a good opportunity to just cut the hoses to get everything off easily then take your time removing the old hose with the manifold on the bench. Actually it's a good opportunity to replace all of the old hoses and insulators and injector seals.

Forgot to say, it's not uncommon for people to measure voltage or use their test light across the connector pins. That's the wrong way and will show zero. Measure voltage from the pins to ground. The block or manifold or some other path back to battery negative.

Yes, you want to examine the circuit FROM the battery to the injector connectors/plugs if there is no power at the injectors. The ECU is on the grounding side of the circuit, the very end. There is power (voltage) in the wires and injectors all the way to the ECU as soon as you turn the key On. When the ECU grounds the end of the circuit, current flows and the injectors open. Fusible links are notorious for corroded connections. The will also blow if the wire between the injector connector and the fusible link is shorted to ground. Becuase the resistance of the injector is not there to control current. Take your Fluke, find the fusible link for the injector power and see if there is power on both sides of the link. If there is then work your way up to the injector connectors until you find the break n the circuit.

Are you on a phone, smart or not? Here's a smaller snip of the picture I posted. From my computer. I labeled the picture "the battery". Edit - I finally got a smart phone and understand how the big pictures get lost on the tiny screen. It's not smart to use a smart phone to look at big wiring diagrams.

The injector power exits through the ECU but does not start there. You're looking at the wrong end IF the injectors really don't have power. If you mean that the injectors aren't opening though, the ECU is a possibility. And 1982 non-turbo (NA) engines don't have a CAS. Kind of reads like you're new to auto electrical. Don't replace until you do a few tests. Make sure you're working from the FSM, EFEC chapter. http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/14-280zx/

It's just a shape with two screws that hold it on. Fab something up out of plastic. You could probably use scissors on a coffee can lid and it would make a nice shiny flat cover. The 6AL has two official trigger options, plus I think that you can trick it in to working with other methods (apparently, since JSM and others do it). The same way people use the GM HEI module in place of the ignorant on the turbo cars. But, summarizing everything you said - if you want to have the E12-80 readily available as a back-up just leave it on and run the wires out from behind it. I'm sure that you can create a gap without harming the function of the E12 module. Otherwise you have to remove your new cover and reinstall the E12 which would probably be taking up space in your glove box. https://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/msd-6425.pdf

You've done an uncommon thing so won't see many replies about what people have actually done. If the E12-80 is dead you could just file a groove for the wires and use it as the cover. Even if it's still good, you could leave it on.

Nice car. Not many ZX people on this site. You might try zcar.com too. And bringatrailer.com is more nationwide. You're probably not getting the right eyes on it.

Lack of Coriolis force? Confused Coriolis effects maybe. Too much laminar flow?

That's right, it doesn't matter. You're just passing current through the solenoid coil to energize it. Direction doesn't matter.

Are they really from Pakistan? There was a big kerfuffle about Nike soccer balls being assembled by Pakistani kids, a few years ago. Maybe they moved on to seat covers.

Good luck. "New" does not mean much these days. Beware.

No, I just posted that to contrast with 246's post about setting timing. Just another view, about the current state-of-the-situation. sweaty got a lot of suggestions about popping and timing when apparently it wouldn't even start any more. Looks like he has/had two problems at the same time: popping and setting timing. Probably two different causes, bad spark on 1 and 3 and something's off mechanically.

The 1976 diagram by Saridout, here, is excellent. The other unlabeled diagram is unknown, but here's a 78 link, 2nd one, I remember from the past. It should be inthe Download section. @Mike http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/1-wiring-diagrams/ The FSM's are here - http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/13-280z/

It runs now, with four solid sparks and two hit or miss, apparently, but not clear if it's popping now. Just realized that when you use the rotor to determine if the distributor is right, there's an inherent assumption that the spark trigger is in a certain place. Either points are about to open or the electronic trigger is about to hit. I would start from scratch, lining up damper timing mark, cam lobes, and rotor, and see where the trigger mechanism is. The facts suggest that it's not where it should be. With the range of adjustments on the Nissan distributors, there are many possibilities. The trigger needs to be just at the trigger point when all of the other stuff is right.

Which one was that? There are a lot of threads out here. I'd be happy to help but I'm not interested in searching. You can post a link to the other thread, or copy the relevant words from it. Just saying, make it easy for everyone.

Can't remember what problem you're trying to fix. But, both wiring diagrams are available on this site and have the Hazard switch wires shown.

Check your wires too. And connections in the cap. Not uncommon to not get the wires seated fully. Swap wires to check, with the timing light. Bad spark will follow bad wires. If ti's the cap it will stay on 1 and 3.

My "disable the cylinders" comment wasn't just a flyer. Find out where the popping is coming from. You might have a bad cylinder.

Try putting the timing light lead on different cylinders and see if the flashes make more sense. Might give a clue. Seems like you're locked in mentally that things are right and you might be missing something. Cognitive dissonance.

The things suggested will affect all six cylinders equally. You might see if the problem is from a single cylinder by disabling one cylinder at a time. If you have electronic ignition make sure that you ground the plug wire before starting the engine. Sometimes they don't like it if the spark has nowhere to go. Takes more time but it's less risk. If the popping goes away with a certain disabled cylinder then you can start thinking about other things.

Maybe an exhaust valve stuck open? Is it like pop pop pop pop pop ....? "Continuous" implies that the same thing is happening every series of cycles, unlike the somewhat randomness of ignition misfires. A compression check or leakdown test might show something, or a very close examination of the valves and rocker arms. Double-check the lash.

Did you just do everything at one time? Not clear what, exactly, worked. Weird that Nissan had those parts designed so tightly. Maybe that spring-loaded ZX shifter is more subtly complex than it seems. Has anyone compared the action of the two? Maybe we should be bending ZX levers to fit out old transmissions. There's a lot of parts there, a scenario that automakers try to avoid.

Loose bushings can amplify the shifter problem. I have tight new bushings, and my 76 4 speed shifter worked fine in three of my 5 speeds. There are tiny nicks from contact but no big notches like you're showing. I wouldn't overthink it. Get the parts right then see if you need new parts.