Zed Head

I'll plug one in to a spare tachometer that I have along with a factory bulb and compare. Should be able to get a good idea of fit and a picture. They're shipping ground so it will probably be late next week.

18 degrees F, snowing and wind gusts in the 20's, in the Portland OR area. Not too extreme but unusual. Many car accidents.

Just ordered 2 boxes, $14.19 total. Probably should have got three. Shipping was $9.99. The LEDs look tempting, especially considering the power savings at idle and longevity. But inexpensive wins out today. And the Eikos are rated at 4000 hours. They look good. Thanks for the recommendations.

jfa, thanks for the info and the link. FastWoman had referenced that bulb (the Eiko bulb) also in another thread. That's a great price. I assume that the bulb doesn't look like the picture, since they seem to be showing a Sylvania 53 bulb, probably just for shape. How was ordering from Plant Bulb? SteveJ, where did you use the LED bulbs? Gauge illumination? I used a clear LED although I wanted a diffuse style. They were out of those. And which did you use, they have several options? From what I've seen, and when i was first looking for bulbs a few years ago, the BA9S options of the right size bulb come and go. The only ones I could find recently were either 1 or 1.25 watts. Many of the online higher wattage options were out of stock. Also, many bulbs that look correct are just low durability, low hour flashlight bulbs. Hard to find a good option that will give the right light and last long.

Here's a link to JMortensen's diff opus. Says the R160 is a straight bolt-in swap for an R180. Also has a comment about capacity. Differential / CV / LSD / HP / Torque / R160 / R180 / R200 / R230 / Diff Mount - Drivetrain - HybridZ

Since the u-joints are replaceable I wonder if you could combine half-shafts to make a hybrid shaft that would work. Subie stub and flange on one side of the joint and the 240Z shaft, u-joint and flange on the other. It would only work if the u-joint was common or a suitable joint could be sourced.

I was in a hobby shop looking for Lionel train bulbs with the same base as the Z car gauge bulbs (BA9S) when I saw an LED display (display of bulbs). I ended up buying a package and building an LED gauge bulb. Unfortunately, LEDs have a very directional output and the gauges are designed for the all-around glow of an incandescent bulb, so the brightness did not make its way to where it needed to be when installed in a gauge. It was still fun though and I can see why people get hooked on LEDs once they try a few. I couldn't get a good illumination picture in a spare tachometer I have. Too much glare off the face of the gauge. I did find that the LED turned a turn signal indicator blue over the stock green. The turn signals are straight-on so the LEDs could be used there. Next time I have to pull it out. The last picture is a stock Nissan bulb compared to a low brightness LED assembly (brightness depends on the resistor used). Overall, the LEDs seem pretty robust and easy to handle. Lots of potential.

Post #6 here looks fairly non-restrictive, but is not "cold air" - Carbon Fiber Weber/Mikuni Velocity Stacks - Vendor's Forum - HybridZ

Has anyone tried the new gauge bulbs from MSA? I see that they have discontinued the old, junky ones that would melt the gauge lens and burn out in months. I just got through a whole ordeal replacing an old MSA speedo bulb only to have it burn out the next day, finally replacing them with Wagner BP53's which are 1 watt and dim. Planning my next move. Here's the link to the new ones from MSA. They got the right size now and the description looks good. But so did the description for the old junk bulbs. Motorsport! Dashboard Bulb Kit (15), High Luminescent, 70-78 240Z-260Z-280Z - The Z Store! Nissan-Datsun 240Z-260Z-280Z-280ZX-300ZX(Z31/Z32)-350Z-370Z Parts Old junk from MSA - Motorsport! Dashboard Bulb Kit (15), Higher Watt, 70-78 240Z-260Z-280Z - The Z Store! Nissan-Datsun 240Z-260Z-280Z-280ZX-300ZX(Z31/Z32)-350Z-370Z Parts

Hot air under the hood is likely when sitting but has anyone actually looked at air flow and temperature while driving? The air through the radiator has some extra heat energy but at speed it seems like most of the air flowing through the engine bay is excess and probably at ambient temperature. Hot air in to the intake probably only happens at stop lights. It may also happen on the dyno unless they have some really good fans. Measuring the temperature would be a little difficult since a probe could pick up radiant heat also. It would have to be in the intake opening to really know. Just thinking. I've always wondered about this when I hear about underhood temperatures and cold air intakes.

Can't edit - cam timing would also explain the loss of power at 4200 RPM. Too advanced, I believe.

Looking for the odd clue, as superlen said, in Post #28 - "kind of falls off at about 4200RPM". That doesn't seem right, especially for an engine running rich. The stock L28's accelerate/rev to 5000 RPM easily. Maybe a restrictive exhaust system? On the subject of rebuilding - have you confirmed correct cam timing via the notch and groove?

Did you try Google for youtube videos? Here's one.

Here you go - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/fuel-injection-s30/51416-runs-rich-high-idle-after-restart.html#post449632 The engine runs better when you remove the filler cap because unmetered air (hasn't gone through the AFM) gets sucked in through the PCV system. It just confirms that the engine is running rich when cold. After the engine warms up, the unmetered air leans out the mixture and the engine doesn't run well. The best thing that anyone can do when these engines don't run right is to go through as many of the tests in the FSM Engine Fuel chapter as possible, and write down numbers for each test. Fuel pressure, resistance at the coolant temperature sensor, voltage at the injector plugs, etc. Then, in their thread, give as much detail as possible about the parts on the engine, if they're new or used, and if anything has been removed, like the EGR system, for example. Every component on the engine has a function and can affect the way the engine runs.

You should start your own thread and put a link in it back to this thread. Otherwise you'll just make a mess of this one.

You didn't say if you've ever seen it work right or it's always been this way. But, the cheap way to choose between points and tach is to just re-install the points (there's a whole range of points for sale between $1 and $2 on RockAuto.com). If the problem goes away then you can focus on making the "good" tach work with Pertronix. If the problem stays, the tach is probably bad.

On my 76 car you just peel up the carpet right next to the outside edge of the passenger seat and the wires are right there. Right in the corner, where they can't be stepped on.

The description and drawings in the 1972 FSM probably apply to 1971 also.

One important fact here is that the potentiometer can only make the mixture richer. You can only add resistance to the CTS circuit. The only to reduce resistance would be to add a resistor in parallel and that would change the shape of the enrichment curve dramatically. This thread started with the comment that "it still runs very rich". The actual parts being used haven't been fully described (in this thread, maybe in another). You said the injectors were replaced 500 miles ago. Did you replace them because of the rich-running or did the rich-running happen after replacement? Did the engine run okay before the work? What brand/model of injector are you using? Maybe someone gave you turbo injectors, which are of a higher rate. - - - Updated - - - One important fact here is that the potentiometer can only make the mixture richer. You can only add resistance to the CTS circuit. The only to reduce resistance would be to add a resistor in parallel and that would change the shape of the enrichment curve dramatically. This thread started with the comment that "it still runs very rich". The actual parts being used haven't been fully described (in this thread, maybe in another). You said the injectors were replaced 500 miles ago. Did you replace them because of the rich-running or did the rich-running happen after replacement? Did the engine run okay before the work? What brand/model of injector are you using? Maybe someone gave you turbo injectors, which are of a higher rate.

You can't really say it's dumb with the information given. Anyone who's dealt with insurance companies knows that there are multiple ways to get screwed over and if the situation is not clear you can get in to an extended frustrating battle to get things right. It might be obvious to the two parties who's fault it was, but if siteunseen had his nose over the white line or it was dusk and his lights were off or etc. the insurance company could make life difficult. Besides that, maybe he was just being a nice guy. Many would also argue that 1977 is not a classic. But that's in the mind of the beholder anyway, in all cases. Forgot to say that, apparently, those rubber pieces are available from Courtesy Nissan. $84.67.

LSD's have a clutch or mechanism of some kind in the carrier (the center structure with the small gears in it) to distribute force to the wheels, where in your picture you just have four spider gears (the small gears). That's a good picture because it shows the spider gears and their shafts, no clutch. People do weld the spider gears together to make the wheels turn together. Most load up with lots of weld material but it's probably not needed. The one in your picture could be welded even though it's not obvious. Here are some links with pictures of R200 CLSD's. An R180 or R190 would look similar. The second and third pictures are the best because they show the ramping mechanism (the diamond shaped piece) that distributes the force through the clutch. Nissan OEM 3.90 R200 LSD Diff Limited Slip Differential Clutch Type Datsun 240Z 260Z 280Z 280ZX 300ZX Z31 | Whitehead Performance Datsunracing.com Image Gallery :: My '73 240Z :: lsd http://www.nengun.com/nismo/nissan-motor-r200-lsd-for-mechanical-177132

You didn't ask a question and you posted a picture of an open diff.

Pretty common, also, for the ground side to get gummed up. There are two switches - one to supply power and the other to provide a ground. It's the high/low dimmer switch in the turn signal assembly. I've fixed two by squirting contact cleaner in to the switch and working it. I've also fixed a power switch by tightening the little tabs on the side of the circuit board (two circuits). It's on top of the column. But if you have the column cover off and you're there it might be worthwhile to bend the tabs back and take it apart. The contacts get pitted over time and can be cleaned up. Watch out for the little parts and remove the power source first.

Unplug the switch and see if the problems go away. The assembly is two parts - key and tumblers and an electrical contacts switch. There is a small rod between the two that transfers the key twist to the contacts. If you take the switch off, you can unplug the electrical part and actuate it with a screwdriver. If your switch has never been off you'll have to deal with the headless screws. The screwdriver slots are designed so that thieves can't easily remove the switch.

Looks like you need an o-ring that will fit inside the gasket hole but not clog the port. The oil port is much smaller than the actual headgasket hole, it's tiny. Any standard shape o-ring that fits inside the headgasket hole won't clog the small oil port. I would fit the eyelet and o-ring to the headgasket and not worry about the block or head. And as madkaw suggests, you might not even need an eyelet, the copper crush ring will do the job. OR, as I've seen recommended, you could just carefully apply some RTV to the oil port area. Do the water passages too while you're at it. Edited - added a picture from my N42 L28. you can see the oval outline of the copper (in the HG as noted below). The port in the head is big but the orifice determines the flow.