Zed Head

Here's some internet fun. I took one of your Bostech pdf file numbers and Googled it. I got some 280Z references. So I put it in to the CourtesyParts site and it comes up, but is discontinued and undefined. Looking like Nissan did not identify more than the package for their injectors. Lose the paperwork or package and it becomes unknown.

Holey moley, that's one corker of a story. At least you're a new cooling expert now.

Here's another easy test of the radiator. Disconnect the hoses and fill the radiator from the top with a garden hose. You shouldn't be able to fill it faster than it runs out the bottom. If it overflows you'll know the cooling tubes are clogged.

Could be. The top hose supplies the top "tank" of the radiator, from there the coolant has to flow through many small tubes to the bottom tank. The small tubes are what get clogged. Looks like you might have went past well-enough. Might not even be the thermostat opening, but if you wanted to test, you could remove the thermostat. Then you'll get immediate problems.

Yours don't have any numbers or letters molded in to the plastic at all? No A46......1? The colors fade over the years. I have a bunch of old injectors. Here's a picture of one of a set of six, that look awful but were perfectly balanced on my little full-rate wide open flow tester. The other side says Made in Japan. I had them on my car for a while but took them off when I started trying to solve the heat soak problem. They're still on the rail. They came from my 1978 parts car, the rusted hulk that keeps on giving. I have some of the Bosch injectors also. You can have either of them if you can use them.

Nissan actually define it better than just "vapor lock" or "heat soak". They wrote a thing about it.

7tooZ's offer is worth keeping in mind. The MFactory product is apparently of high quality and I think that 7too had his professionally installed in an R200 housing. Properly shimmed, new bearings, seals, etc. It's a drop-in R200 long-nose, which is what the 87-89 300ZX clutch-type LSD would almost be. No need to change the pinion flange with 7too's diff. Drop yours, install his. Not clear what you mean by housing plate or (E) mounts. Maybe you left a picture out? There are two types of R200 - long-nose and short-nose. The transition from long to short was 1990.

Hydrogen is explosive at very low concentrations and doesn't take much to ignite. There's some good reading out there about it, I posted one below. I had a friend check the electrolyte level of somebody's battery with a lighter. The gases lit up in his face. They threw him in another car and drove over a couple of curbs to get to the water hose at the gas station to rinse his face off. That was back when water and air were free. It was Saturday night, cruising night, at the shopping center parking lot. The old days, when we didn't have "phones" to keep us occupied. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/513855main_ASK_41s_explosive.pdf

I have to confess that I might be the one that connected the range of Bosch part numbers together. I have found many of the 0 028 150 116's in the local yards on 280ZX's, back, 5 years ago, when the yards had a regular supply of Z's and ZX's. I ran a set on my 280Z for while until one sprung a leak (they're on the shelf, waiting for me to find that one replacement. Even though I don't even use that style any more). I think that all of the evidence I've seen has been anecdotal, like Fast Woman's story, and my wrecking yard finds, and my projections are based on those and data like the Stan Weiss table, and Chickenman's comments. There's got to be a cross-ref list out there somewhere.

Here's a link to one post in that ancient blog. The links to the source are at the top if you want to dig through more. It's on-topic but doesn't cover your question. Search "Bosch" in it and you'll find a good post from a Ford guy. Even Ford was color-coding injectors back then. http://yarchive.net/car/injectors.html

Here's a typical general reference, below. I think that finding Bosch injectors in your 280ZX is like finding a 10 ohm resistor in the coolant sensor line on your 280Z. Somebody like us either figured things out back in the 80's or a cross-reference list existed. I am 99% certain that Bosch changed their part number with the length of the hose. I think that the range ran from 105 to 120, as you can see in that spreadsheet. Until somebody finds that cross-reference, there will be no certainty, beside the reality that many people use them and that they work very well. I have another old source I can paw through, from a guy who who really understood the system, even suggesting modifying the AFM traces to tune it. He might have mentioned something. I'll have to dig it up though. It's good reading.

It's all about cost, skill, luck, and time. How much of each or any or any combination, do you have? Here's an option that looks quick, fairly low skill level required, but expensive. https://whiteheadperformance.com/performance-parts/datsun-240z-260z-280z-1970-78/240z-280z-diff-differential-axles-lsd/

No advice, just curious, but how bent is the head? The head on my 76 engine was bowed up in the middle about .008". I set it back on with no gasket and found that I could pull the bow down really easily with a single head bolt and a ratchet handle. Seems to me that having a bent head machined with a torque plate then bolting it to the engine to run it straight makes more sense than shaving material to get the surface flat but the valve guides off axis. Just a thought. I wonder if the requirement of straightening is really required. I never re-used the head so have no evidence either way.

There's this one - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/127169-mfactory-r200-helical-lsd/ which seems pnp. Then there's the OBX, which takes some work to make sure you get the right one, and flip the gears, and replace the low quality washers inside. https://www.amazon.com/OBX-Helical-Nissan-300ZX-Silvia/dp/B00QHQWMQ6 http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/88099-obx-differential-inspection-and-installation/

I'll bet that the gear is cracked and that's why the engagement ring is loose on it. Maybe the dislocation is enough to affect the needle bearings. And/or whatever caused the crack also affected the needle bearing cage. I'll send that gear out. I dinked around with it but I couldn't get the gap to open or close. I'll send the needle bearings out also, just in case.

Here are a few references, but none specifically connect the 280Z to the data. It's kind of generally accepted that the Bosch 0-028-150-105 is the model for the Nissan injectors. The part number molded in to the Nissan injectors is the same for all of the varieties of the time, so it's not worth a lot. And the different part numbers for the early Bosch injectors seem to relate only to hose length, but the injector is identical. So, there's a range of early Bosch injector numbers that will work, with a hose length change. Anyway, these three links are worth browsing through. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/injectors/index.html http://users.erols.com/srweiss/tableifc.htm#BOSCH http://www.witchhunter.com/injectordata1.php (hose end sheet)

The front case locks down the other end of the shafts. Clues seem to point to a bent shaft.

Looks like you made it past the two red battery cables. Good luck with it. The projects that don't cost you much if they get screwed up are the most fun sometimes.

Bumping, just because $12,280 is pretty good for a 76 280Z. Hagerty numbers make somewhere in the 20's seem reachable. Polish those treads... Six days. https://www.hagerty.com/apps/valuationtools/1976-datsun-280z

I just looked at my 4th gear (the one on the input shaft) and 5th gear and the "engagement ring" (been Googling, proper name) on those two is pressed tight against the gear. 3rd has the .014" gap. I wonder if it's coming apart. If you get yours to work I might give mine a little tapping with a hammer to see what's what. Did the gap close up tight on yours or just even up?

I'm tempted to try and pry the synchro cone off of a gear just to see if I can.

The owl or an identical one comes back every year. Then they raise a family in another box in the yard. After they kick the squirrel out (and maybe, eat its babies).

So the gear is the right one, but, as you might recall, this transmission was severely abused. I got it for cheap and used the front case for a 71C conversion. Here are a few pictures of the worn bearing surface and the blunted dog teeth. USPS will be cheap, I'll just send it under out under our last transaction, but it might not be usable for you. I did come up with another way to look at the wobble though. A feeler gauge in the gap between dog teeth and gear. I found that mine would take a .015" gauge all the way around but got tight for about 6-7 teeth on one side. Let me know if you still want it. The synchro surface looked worn too.

I highlighted what I think is a critical statement. It was at 15 but something changed. I went with the easy one of a misplaced hose. Another thing that can change, on its own, is for the breaker plate to get stuck in the advanced position. Broken Z and ZX breaker plate bearing assemblies are very common. One way to check is to reconnect everything then watch what timing does when you apply vacuum to the vacuum advance canister. If it doesn't move it's probably already advanced and stuck there. Or you can take the distributor out and examine it, and move it by hand.

Aren't you going to count them? I think I have the right one. Here's a little bit better picture showing what I think must be the splines used to lock the synchro cone on to the gear. I've noticed the pattern before but never really thought it through. Metal can stretch so maybe a good beating can actually break those two pieces apart. The back of the input shaft shows a really clear line. And a bonus picture of my neighbor, since he was out. Edit - some good micrometer or caliper measurements might pick up a wobble.