Zed Head

Looks fairly normal. If you lowered the back end, it wouldn't be so obvious. The wide gap at the top makes the gap in the front look narrow. Compare the back gap to your front tires' gap, with the wheels straight. There's really only two bushings on each side that would let your rear wheel sit forward. The inner control arm (transverse link) bushings. Have you taken a look at them?

Try any old Nissan or Datsun key in the ignition. It will probably work. The ignition locks are usually worn out and any key that goes in will turn it. The door locks are a different story, but my 1995 Pathfinder key will start my 1976 Z. p.s. I wouldn't waste much more effort on it until I saw the title. If he's lost the key and you're getting the run-around, I would bet that the title is unavailable also. Don't take just a bill of sale, unless Texas has really easy title transfer laws.

There was someone on this forum about a year ago (can't remember his screen name) doing the same thing (maybe in reverse, 78 in a 77) and had nothing but aggravation. Is yours destroyed are you hoping that a full replacement will fix some problems? Many parts of the factory stock harness look like they've been "hacked" on but are actually built that way new. Most of the problems in the old harnesses are at the ends where the connections and corrosion are. Might be more worthwhile to work through the problems one by one.

Here's a YouTube video from one of the more popular aftermarket engine management system suppliers, DIYAutotune, comparing a stock 1978 BMW 325IS ECU to their EMS (tuned by them), and including the effect of removing the AFM. Pretty interesting. Of course, it's the tuning that gives the benefits but the tuning is much easier with today's technology.

The 14.4 volts he's measuring at the alternator should also show up as 14.4, minus the voltage drop along the way, at the thick white wire on the starter lug, which should be connected to the battery through the positive cable. That's where it ends up after it feeds the fusible links along the way through the wiring harness. Did he forget to connect the white wire at the starter? He should see voltage at each of the fusible link terminals also. Has he measured there? The charge light is controlled by the L wire, which comes though the VR plug and harness, if I remember right (it's one of the wires that is reconnected if you swap to an internally regulated alternator). The charge light going out when he revs the engine seems to say that the L circuit is there though, since it's feeding back to the light. I would guess that the alternator is bad and is not getting, or properly using, the excitation current from the L wire. More measurements at more points might show something. Edit - found a mistake in the FSM. Deleted my post-comment.

Found some drawings of the three shifter types - http://www.gracieland.org/cars/techtalk/gearing2.html Down at the bottom.

Do you still have the old one? You should be able to count what's left of the teeth. Fewer teeth will speed up the speedometer. 16 is the smallest change you could make to the next level. Here's a link to study, go down the page about half way to see the options and colors - http://www.geocities.com/inlinestroker/ratio.html Looks like you might have a 3.36 and you installed a 3.54 gear. Edit (slow writer) - looks like agreement on 16, color undecided...

Take the cracked one apart.

Just pointing out the reasons that a blanket statement about any single transmission fluid across all Z transmissions, new and abused, is hard to defend. The Swepco blend that I'm using is working well, considering how bad it was before, and I 'm glad that you pointed me that way.

I wrote a whole dissertation in reply, but realized that it all comes down to the fact that nobody has really shown that to be the case. No offense. I do appreciate your sharing your experience. I've done more straight comparisons between lubricants than any thing I've seen on the forums so far. I ended up at 75% Swepco/25% ATF. Is it better than 50/50? For my one situation and what I wanted, it was. Jon Coffy seems to know quite a bit, and he reported that the Swepco blend destroyed the synchros in his worn transmission. Who to believe? It's a problem. Plus it seems to me that a worn transmission is not the same as a new transmission. New transmissions have more texture on the baulk ring, sharper baulk ring and dog teeth, sharper splines and tighter clearances. It seems to me that these factors would be affected differently by the lubricant used. If new and old were the same, why doesn't plain old 75-90W keep working as the transmission ages? There are tons of opinions out there but little reason shown for the results. Most accounts are "I tried X and it worked - I'm happy and done". We haven't even mentioned Synchromesh yet. Without a good study on the subject, I can't say that one is better than another, for solving any distinct problem. The studies that can be found are all suspect in that they're done by companies selling a product. That's the essence of what I meant by voodoo. Who knows, the OP might have 85-140 wt in his transmission and sawdust to stop a leak? Anything might be better. Crap, I wrote another dissertation. Oh well.

http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/forum/37-nissan-4-cyl-forum/

This is a little awkward. That's me over on Hybridz. I never planned to post on these forums so I have multiple identities. To clear up my situation - with my well-used 1978 5 speed, I had gear-grinding from 2nd to 3rd at high RPM using Valvoline 75-90W gear lube. I went to Redline MT-90 and the problem disappeared, and the low temperature notchiness also. It was like magic. Subsequently, I installed a well-used 1980 5 speed from the local wrecking yard and with MT-90 I had gear-grinding from 1st to 2nd and from 2md to 3rd. I never tried the Valvoline 75-90W in this transmission because the MT-90 had worked so well in the 1978 transmission. That's when I started the thread on Hybridz and, at Jon's suggestion, tried the Swepco 201, Swepco 201 50/50 with ATF, and finally Swepco 201 at 75/25 with ATF. That blend is working very well at this time. I should have added some detail, but based on your description of slight grinding when cold, the Royal Purple or Redline, along with the clutch adjustment seemed like the right path. But, in retrospect, since you don't know what's in there now, maybe going directly to a Swepco blend would be the way to go. I didn't want to complicate what seemed simple, but may have over-simplified. I tried to summarize at the end of the Hybtidz thread but it seems like the solution probably depends on what problem you're trying to fix. fandsw, in summary, it's difficult to tell what is causing your problem, but the fluid used can definitely have an impact. You can see in the post #11 in that Hybridz thread that I'm currently using 75% Swepco 20, 25% Dex-Merc ATF blend. It works very well, for the bad synchros but is still a little bit notchy when cold. It's only like that for a few shifts though. To add to my own perplexation, I just took a junked ZX tranmsssion apart (it sounded like a blender on a motor I have set up to run in my garage, due to someone breaking two shift forks and destroying the main countershaft bearing) and found that the brass synchros looked fine but the dog teeth on 2nd gear were wasted. I had thought that the brass was supposed to go before the steel. It's possible though that someone "rebuilt" the trans with new synchros but left the bad gears in. Anyway, good look and sorry for any confusion. By the way, you might be able to tell something about the fluid that's in there by the smell. The synthetics like Redline have kind of a sweet smell, while the old-style fractionated fluids smell like the dead prehistoric lifeforms they're derived from.

You'll find that all of the little things add up. But the EFI 280Zs don't seem to get a whole lot better than low 20s mpg, mixed city and highway driving. Highway driving with a 5 speed would probably get you to mid-20s.

What brand and model of brake shoe do you use? It's a factor.

If it's the 1979 3.7 R200 it will bolt right in. If it's a 300ZX R200 it will have a different bolt pattern on the pinion flange. But, apparently, you can easily (with a big wrench or an impact wrench) swap the pinion flanges between R200s. Many of the 300ZXs came with open 3.7 gears. My understanding is that the LSDs were 3.54. Sounds like gira can tell from the pictures that it's open. I'm not that familiar with the insides to know.

The diff mount can look okay but still allow quite a bit of movement from the diff nose. The clunk is from the nose coming back down (my theory). The diff is supposed to stop the nose from coming down too hard also (you can see a little bump of molded rubber between the metal pieces), but it gets compressed over time. If you look at the front metal portion of the mount when it's on the car, you'll probably find that there's only about 1/8" or less separating it from the metal cross-member. If it's old and you clamp one of the metal portions in a vise, you'll probably be surprised at how easy it is to spread the mount apart with a screwdriver in the middle. The rubber gets weak over time.

There should be more numbers stamped on to the ring gear, I believe. Like 39/11 or 39/10. You could also count the teeth on the ring gear and the pinion gear and divide the big by the little to get the ratio. The 77 should be a 3.54.

Those all sound like the right things to do. I used Redline MT-90 myself to solve a grinding issue at high RPM from 2nd to 3rd. It also helped the cold notchiness. I don't know much about Royal Purple in Z transmissions. I've read a few good accounts about the Redline MT-90 though, and it definitely helped my transmission, a 1978 5 speed that I transplanted in to my 76 car.

You heard air before? This is with the engine running, when you press the brake pedal? You might have a bad brake booster.

There is some weirdness here. Shouldn't #6 be on the exhaust stroke, but in the same relative position as #1, when #1 is on the compression (spark) stroke? That wouldn't be 7 1/2 degrees off from where he is now. Seems like someone might have the plug wires in the wrong holes. That might be why he has limited adjustment at the distributor. You'll probably find that with the timing light on #1 you can't find the timing mark. The other possibility is that you've been looking at the wrong mark on the damper pulley. Might be best to start from scratch, put the pulley mark at 0 on the pulley, confirm that #1 is on the compression stroke, take the cap off of the distributor, find where the rotor is pointing to establish #1, and get all of the plug wires in the right holes. Then set timing off of #1 plug wire. p.s. Or, since it is running well, referring back to one of my original comments about making things wrong work right, just drive it and see where things are at before getting back in to it. Someone probably installed the oil pump a tooth off in the past and "made it work".

The N42 head on the F54 block with the dished pistons will give you an L28 like the 1975 to early 1979 engines. ~8.3 compression ratio. OR, some people will pay good money for the F54 turbo block. Someone, either here or on Hybridz, was looking for one recently. You might consider selling it and pickup a used L28 engine. Rebuilds are kind of expensive, compared to the extra miles you can get out of a used L28. You'll still need carbs or EFI to get it running.

7 degrees is probably from the 1976 specs (my car and FSM). It's more likely that your pulley is fine and your timing is really at 7 degrees. Your distributor might be a little off. There are many common ways to install them incorrectly but also many ways to make it work, with no damage. 12 degrees will probably be just fine until you start tuning for performance. As you've found, 7 degrees runs well, as it should. You're just not getting the absolute most performance out of your engine. You could bump it to the 1977 spec. of 10 right away or even 12 if you're running premium, with no problems likely. It would probably be a little peppier and maybe get a little better mileage.

He's planning for a turbo - L28t - so needs a turbo EFI harness. The L28ETs have their own harness, ECU, distributor, exhaust system, intake, etc. Most people buy a broken down turbo ZX and transplant everything they need over as esmit208 suggested. The alternative is to piece together the mechanical parts and use an aftermarket engine management system like Megasquirt. Here's a good link for options - http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/forum/92-turbosupercharger/ The third one down is good for the transplant method. Look around the other sub-forums there for alternate EMS.

This car will probably require substantial work before it's a daily driver. The FSM, Haynes and Chilton manuals will be of limited use because the engine is customized, the brakes are not stock, and it has coilovers. Since it's not running and has been sitting, you'll be spending a lot of time and more money (possibly a lot more money) rebuilding or replacing things like the hydraulics and carburetors. That's not even considering any body damage that might need repairing. I would look at this more as a project that might sit in your garage or shop for quite a while, than something that you'll be driving. Any car can be a daily driver if you know how to work on it every day to keep it moving. I see lots of extra time and money necessary to get this one back to street-worthy. Forget about the winking, just find a level-headed friend who knows cars and take them to see this one. A flashy looking red sports car and an automotive newby are a recipe for an expensive mistake.

Sounds lean. Have you measured the fuel pressure yet?