Zed Head

The external regulator also routes power to the L terminal and contains the S wire connection. That's what the rewiring is for, in the AtlanticZ writeup. I would follow the AtlanticZ writeup, there are others out there that might disable your brake warning lamp relay. I did this work on my 76 and if I was doing it again, I would just cut the plug from the old bad external regulator (leave a good amount of wire to work with, crimp the relevant wires together there, cover them with heat shrink tubing, and then plug it back in. Nice, clean, weatherproof. Don't forget to put the tubing on before the crimping. Soldering would work also.

Are you talking about ignition timing or cam timing? Which marks, the notch and groove or the damper pulley marks and timing tab? How near is nowhere near? 100 degrees or 10? Maybe you have 240Z damper with a 280Z timing tab or vice versa. What parts are you working with? Another thought - the damper woodruff key is not in place. Wild guesses...

I don't have any nylon-based lock nuts on my 76 car, and it was essentially all original when I got it. And I have a bunch of old manifold nuts from a variety of apparently factory stock Datsuns, from the two cars I've owned and wrecking yard parts, and none of them are the crimped lock style. They're all plain old nuts. I also have the MSA nut/stud package and they're just nuts, no lock. The TC rod nuts are the crimped lockers, but not locking much any more after multiple removals. And the transmission mount cross member (aka rear engine mount) nuts, the ones on the long bolts, are the crimp style, but have plenty of lock left in them after several removals. In the immortal worlds of Adam - "I reject your reality and substitute my own". A safety wire or clip through a hole on the end of the rod would be a simple thing to do. You'd save the nut and washer if it got loose while you were trying to figure out your squirrelly steering problem.

These used to be called Phantom Grip. I always wonder when companies change the names of their products. http://3rdstrikeperformance.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8140_144_10502&products_id=16749 It's probably "better" than welded if you want to drive it on the street, and just do an occasional two wheel burnout. That's why most people limit their slip.

To be clear, are the distributor green and red wires (or blue) completely disconnected from the factory terminal block by the coil, or did you just attach the HEI module G and W wires there. You said that you plugged the 78 module back in and it worked but you didn't mention disconnecting and reconnecting the distributor reluctor wires. Without specific details or a picture or a drawing it's hard to tell what people really did. Sometimes what you think doesn't matter, really matters. Also, you mentioned using the coil bracket to mount the module. So it's right next to the coil. Not sure that's a good idea, you can pick up a stray spark there, plus it might be affected by the coil's magnetic field. Might be screwing up the reluctor trigger. Just wild guesses. My module is on the fenderwell, pretty far from the coil, and the wires are run directly from the distributor to the module. I used a stock 78 coil for a while, 1 ohm resistance. And I also had a 78 ignition module also, in place of my 76 module, after it died. Both from a 78 parts car.

I've mentioned this before, but I damaged a module once by leaving two spark plugs disconnected after doing some work on the engine. Started the car, it ran poorly, I realized what I'd done, shut it off and reconnected the two plugs. But the module only put out a weak orange spark after that. It would start with starting fluid but not by the normal method. Replaced the module and everything was good. I don't know what exactly damaged it, maybe a stray spark, but it was ruined. Short answer - maybe you have a bad module. Did you do anything that might have damaged it? Incorrect wiring, even for a moment might do it. If you got the module from a parts store, they might exchange it and you'll be good to go. Also, I believe that you can get the module to spark by itself by applying battery power to the W terminal and grounding G. Each tap of battery power should cause a spark. But you've already shown that the distributor is doing its job, and you're getting spark with one plug. Is it a strong blue spark, or a weak yellow/orange? The 78 module is actually a high-energy system. No real benefit to the HEI unless you're just getting ahead of its eventual failure.

Have you let the temperatures even out? A cap straight from your warm clammy hands might be a little bit bigger than the cold slot it's going in to. Taking it a little further, some time in the refrigerator might help, although visions of a half-inserted, jammed cap come to mind.

Sounds like you have low voltage, or low current through the module. With 5 plugs out there's less load on the starter and more voltage for the module during cranking. You didn't answer the questions in the thread, about wiring or battery voltage. Could be a poor battery, or a poor ground through the module mounting points. The 4 pin modules are actually 5 contact devices.

One major difficulty is removing the colored connectors from the white plastic framework by the fusebox. It looks like Nissan meant for them to go in but never come out. I tried when I had a 78 parts car but couldn't come up with a method. I think I've seen one out on the internet somewhere though.

All four hoses to the can removes the "positive" pressure differential that causes the crankcase gases to be purged. Air could flow directly through the can to the PCV valve without going through the crankcase. The crankcase would be dead air. The ports are separated and placed to cause the "positive" part of PCV. The PCV system has some fine details. Looking at the diagram you can see that a stuck open PCV valve can also cause a leak past the throttle body. Could cause a high idle problem. I'll have to remember that one. I've wondered also why there are so many different PCV valves, all with the same threads and from factor. There must be some fine tuning of the springs inside. Your engine will probably run fine. Just might gunk up the oil sooner than normal. We could probably have a whole thread on PCV systems.

You'll have a sealed system but little air flow. No fresh air supply. No purging of the crankcase. The PCV system is more sophisticated than it looks, it has fresh air flow through the crankcase, carrying moisture vapor and other combustion byproducts out. Don't want to muddy up your thread, just hate to see a lot of work going to something that won't do what you thought it was going to do. I would just run a section of hose from your new vent position to the same spot the old one was. Put the can in between if you still feel the need. Might keep the intake cleaner. I'll stop now.

I think that you would get new lash pads with a new cam grind and that would get the hydraulic pivots (they're not really "lifters") back to the right range. Many people swap the hydraulic pivots to solid, with Timersert inserts (to get the proper thread in the hole). The hydraulics can fail and I don't think they're available anymore. A P79 head would give you 8.8 CR with those pistons, or an N42 or N47, about 9.8.

You'll suck unmetered air (doesn't go through the AFM) in to the intake manifold. Through the catch can, then the valve cover, crankcase, PCV hose, PCV valve. Big no-no if you plan to keep the EFI. Plus you've lost the baffle that stopped oil spray. At lower RPM you'll run lean (may not even run), at full throttle you'll blow oil vapor in to your catch can. Looks great, just not as functional. A well-tuned 280Z won't run with the filler cap removed because of the air leak. Carry on though. You'll come up with something that works, I'm sure.

You should sic him on the guy with the yellow shed car. Offer him cash and a lead on another car. Maybe he can work his verbal magic and break it free.

If you don't block the PCV under the intake manifold you'll have suction through the catch can back to the intake manifold, a vacuum leak. If you seal the catch can, it will be a dead zone with no real function. Not picking, just exercising my technical brain. The Emissions chapter shows the various flow paths from the crankcase of the PCV system. Actually fun to study. You could just bend a hose along the edge of the intake manifold and retain the factory functions, but with a cleaner look. Most people use catch-cans on race engines that produce lots of crankcase pressure, to catch oil mist before venting.

Do you have urethane front and back or the mixed rubber and urethane? Mine would loosen when I had full urethane, until the end broke off of one of the rods. Now I have rubber in the back, urethane in the front, double nuts, with the back nut a lock nut, and thread locker.

Looks like fun. FYI, the Fairlady moniker is typically reserved for the left-hand drive cars from Japan, I believe. Yours is just a 280Z. Not a big deal but this is the site for the purists, along with the rest of us. Classic. Buy some contact cleaner, like DeOxit, and some nut-buster like PB Blaster, and start spraying so it can start working.

Genius, Nobel prize level thinking. I wonder if the insurance rates are lower because of that. Although, I can eat a donut and shift at the same time. I'm sure some kids have worked out a way to text.

Smooth and sleek. You could probably fill any divots with solder (lead) if you're planning to coat it. More durable than body filler, I'd guess. It may be in the 26 pages somewhere, but are you planning for carbs or just disabling the PCV system? Just curious about why you want a catch-can instead.

What are the upgrades?

"I hearing"? So you're having an auction, with the starting bid at $13,500. Good luck.

Loosen the cap while it's sitting and see if pressure buildup is part of the problem. There have been discussions about the tank holding pressure before. Somewhat inconclusive. My 76 has zero pressure buildup. When I remove the cap, nothing happens. Could be that my check valve is toast, or they changed the valve in later years. The diagrams show a spring-actuated check valve, but there's no information about the pressure it's designed to release. It's between the vent tank and the charcoal can. Since you have a decent view of the leak area you might also jack up the passenger side of the car, creating a new low spot. If the leak is in the hose, you'll see a trail down the hose from the hole. If it's at the metal-hose interface you'll only see fuel at the seam. Use a mirror to get a better view. That's a lot of gas.

How much?

Drove by the other day and it's still there. Buried under old shed wood. There were a bunch of vehicles n the drive, a white van and many 5 gallon paint cans. Looks like a working guy who sees his dream sitting there every day when he gets home. Can't blame him if he doesn't sell. If he had a garage and some internet access he'd probably be here. Maybe we should leave him a note with "classiczcars.com" on it.

One thing to be careful of - you could decide to get new parts and "upgrade" and find that you need an adjustable FPR , and end up right back in the same spot with an FPR that doesn't hold pressure. Many of the shiny aftermarket FPR's don't hold pressure. Also, on testing injector flow, I had unbalanced injectors for a while and I'm pretty sure it contributed to a buzzy, rough running feel at high RPM. Made me decide to swap a 5 speed for my 4 speed. But now, with good injectors and a good tuneup, I often find myself in 4th gear on the freeway when I should be in 5th. Stuff to think about.