Zed Head

Saw the 1970 and assumed 4 speed. I'm losing it. Good luck. Put an ad in the Parts Wanted area. http://www.classiczcars.com/forum/21-wanted/

Found it. Thanks to John Coffey for saving the old information from his Beta Motorsports web site. Scroll waaaayy down to March 5, 2014. https://www.facebook.com/BetaMotorsports-LLC-143989191670/ Actually, this "permalink" might work - https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151884802416671&id=143989191670 I re-read your post and wonder where you're measuring from though. The best measurement is from flange surface to flange surface with them squared-up to the shaft. That gives a number to compare between shaft types.

These are fascinating numbers because they open a very old can of worms. Several people measured a bunch of 240Z and 280Z halfshafts and decided that they were all the same length. You're showing a difference. Are you sure that they were fully compressed. The reason they measured is because when you put an R200 in to a 240Z the halfshafts often bind at full compression. So you're showing that your CV axles are longer than your stock u-joint axles, which should make the problem worse for you. Maybe why Darrel went back to u-joints. You've raised many questions. I'll see if I can find the old info about halfshafts. Many people even modified their u-joint half-shafts by cutting the ends off of the inner shaft.

True, if the event is the top priority. Pulling the transmission itself may knock him out of the event though. Put a tow company number in your phone and just run the event and hope. Assume it's toast anyway. You'll provide entertainment when it starts grinding and self-destructing. A way to make new friends.

Odds are it's a 75-77 4 speed then. Very common. I think that you can see those adapter plate bearings from either the front or the back so splitting it would let you see the damaged bearing. It takes some work to get to it though. Check the 1976 MT chapter of the Service Manual to see what's involved. You can tell by the damage though that the cage got ripped off by some gear teeth. Probably an end came loose, it flapped around a but then got sucked in to some gears. Many paths possible. Tear it down and install new bearings, find a used 4 speed, or take the opportunity to go for a 5 speed (it's a direct swap). http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/4-manuals/

I just took a guess because I've seen one of those bearings failed. I bought an abused 5 speed and took it apart. All kinds of carnage along with the failed bearing. Some of the balls had fallen out also. Even though the transmission still works well I think that the shaft is now misaligned because the balls can all move to one side. This would let the end of the shaft move to the other side. Close to double the original tolerance, I'd guess, but not quite. This makes the gear surfaces non-parallel and puts odd loads on them, I would think. Four speeds are plentiful and relatively inexpensive. People tend to swap in late model 5 speeds and end up with leftover 4 speeds. You might consider just buying a used unit. Or buy a used unit and rebuild the original. Although, your 1970 might have the "monkey motion" shifter and unique gear ratios. So, might be worth a rebuild anyway, for originality.

That is a bearing ball cage, or separator. Holds the ball bearings separated in the bearing assembly. Not good, it means that one of your bearings is loose and failing. Probably one in the adapter plate. Here's some links and a picture. http://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/mechanical_components/bearings_bushings/radial_ball_bearings

I see that now too. Sorry about that. Just so easy to get things twisted. HS30-H, to be fair, does have a point in his post. But the "China" issue has been beat to shreds in other threads. No use going over it again. I'm breaking my ignore rule. Back to constructive things...

Capacitors (aka condensers in the automotive world) can serve many functions. RF noise suppression is a common usage. There's one on most alternators, for example. The function of the one by the coil on the electronic ignition cars is unclear, although I have an extra one on my car to fix a tachometer problem. The tachometer won't work without it. It's not the condenser, it's one of at least two (on the 280Z's), maybe more. Could be that the 280Z condenser filters electrical noise for the tachometer or maybe even the ECU, for injector pulses. I wouldn't worry about it, but keep it in mind if you have problems.

My mistake. I missed the deviation to another web site. zcar.com. But that's how things go bad when you start paying attention to the negatives. HS30-H started on Blue, Lumens agreed, then deviated. And a whole negativity thing started, bringing up memories best forgotten. It just makes a mess. I tried to stay on the logical, high ground side with Tony D once in what started out as a good discussion, and was doing well as he spiraled down his own bung hole. But at the end I couldn't hold out and the thread ended weirdly. I choose to ignore. Which I will for the remainder of this thread.

Folks, I think that we're getting distracted. Blue is/was a moderator. Pretty sure he's the only other one besides Mike. He's "the guy". This thread is devolving in to the very thing it's complaining about. We should all stop.

tool_man's car looks very "untampered with". It even has the original plastic ties on the harness. All I'm saying is check things out before going crazy. He's removing the AFM, but what will he see with it in-hand, that he can't see with it on the car? Here's something though - remove the distributor and give it a good work over before too much use. The breaker plate bearings tend to rust to the rolling surface and break their plastic cage as vacuum tries to move them. Here's another - buy some picks before trying to remove the plug from the AFM, or the injectors, or any of them. They take a little bit of technique to remove..

People have their positives and negatives. A slight shift in his viewpoint and everybody's on board. Product quality does, in general, seem to diminish as companies try to squeeze more profit out. A rant about the people who waste their money on poor quality products would be reasonable. Ranting about where it's made is just misguided. Who knows, he might be out campaigning. Feel the Bern!

Pretty sure he said he was just tired of the internet. Too many ads. An objective look will show that the internet can be unhealthy. Not really meant for humanities well-being, it's been hijacked to sell more stuff. Easy to see the need for taking a break.

Browse through these documents and download the EFI Book 1980. http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/4-manuals/ The 1977 FSM is available here (sorry Blue, it's the only one missing) - http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/ Download that also. There may not anything wrong with your AFM, the fact that the wire in the intake kept the pump running shows that the switch is fine, not dirty. EuroDat was suggesting that the spring pre-load may have been adjusted, causing the vane to stay closed, but any air leak in to the intake system might cause the same. But you can tell if that's the case by inspecting the glue blob on the sprocket. And you don't need to remove the AFM to do that. It's actually easier to get the black cover off of the side with it installed. Looks like it's in great shape. Don't get ahead of yourself, taking things apart. rossiz was on point, speaking from our collective experience. It's the small things that will get you. Poke around and ponder, there's quite a few things you've probably never seen before.

I found that Redline MT90 was better than Valvoline for a 3rd gear high PRM grind, and 75/25 blind of Swepco 201/AT fluid was better than MT90 for a 2nd and 3rd gear grind. Both old worn transmissions. Forgot to say that this topic has been discussed in to minutiae in other threads and could easily add a few pages to this Porsche style synchro thread.

Don't know if this will help or not -

I don't know what manual you found but the best one is the factory's. In your video you were way off on how to open it up. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/

That would be a 72 then, I think. And your colors don't seem to match the 1972 diagram. I would check the colors from the plug, not at the speedometer. They change color sometimes at the connectors. Really though, easiest is to plug the harness in and fiddle with the switches. Not only do you figure out what's what but you can verify that the bulbs actually work and have good contact. Blue bulbs might not give much illumination. The clear ones are pretty dim as-is.

You could power up and see which ones light when. Or you could check the wiring diagram. The symbology is fairly easy to figure out. What year car?

I mentioned loose engine and transmission mounts. One of the obvious signs there is if the gear shift lever is moving. If it's solid, the problem's probably in the back.

Get everything that you can, even the odd stuff. See this thread about disappearing parts -

I have a set of 280ZX CV axles in the garage and have thought about making an adapter to try them. But these days, it doesn't seem worth it. I'd hate to have a ZX, with no source for half-shafts. They might be converting back to 280Z u-joints soon. Here's Autozone's supply.

Reman CV's aren't known for their quality. There may also be new aftermarket CV's that would work although the aftermarket apparently gets their lengths confused. People have received 300ZX axles instead of 280ZX. I have a collection of used original 280Z u-joint half-shafts. The u-joints have Zerk holes, so I just grease them up and use them as needed. I've only had two bad shafts, one was on my car when I got it, with a dry rusty u-joint, the other came on a parts car that had been hit in the back. It must have "Brinelled" the lengthwise race in the shaft itself because it bound up eventually. The best u-joints are the Nissan factory ones that come with variable thickness clips to get the play set just right. The $20 parts store joints tend to be loose. It's a dilemma.

I think also, that there are two lengths, even for the 280ZX axles. The thing is though, that the reman stock may be disappearing. So, you can run one set then be looking for used parts. We'll be using either u-joint half shafts or 930 CV axles eventually.