Zed Head

Kind of seems like the damper might have slipped and might still be slipping. You used to be able to see it, but it wasn't really in the right place. 2 degrees retarded is pretty far off, if the points were correct for the engine in the beginning. Then it was at 20, you could see it, but now it seems to have moved again. See if you can move the pulley on the crankshaft end by hand. Wiggle twist torque on it. See what happens.

Here's a 72 that's ending today. 1037 pictures. #319 shows the engine stamping. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-225/

Here's the link again, below, so people don't have to go back a page to see it. If the guy is in to the weeds of Series 1, 2, etc. then he probably knows if has an L24 or L28. Besides the engine serial number, the symbols L24 or L28 are stamped on the block ID plate. It looks like a pretty nice old yellow 240Z. Don't get too caught up in originality if you're looking for a car to drive and enjoy. Many people buy these cars for their collections and never drive them. Browse the BAT 240Z listings if you want to see what people are paying and what they're getting. The market decides the price, you just have to decide what it is you want to pay for. Originality, drivability, cool factor, whatever. They're all out there. https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/la-crescenta-1971-datsun-240z-series-15/7506539433.html

The video suggestion would work well if all of the wires and other parts are clean and intact. But bad wires, crusty cap, etc. might lose the spark before it jumps that big gap. Might get sidetracked. It's worth doing but a spark plug in the wire will give a test of the ignition module and distributor trigger. Then the video gives a spark strength test. Just saying...

If the engine has sat for 20 years it's possible that the cylinders have dried out. I had that happen on an old 1963 Bonneville. We cranked and cranked and even tried towing it to jump start it (automatic, you have to hit at least 40 mph, apparently, to get the engine to turn. It was fun.) but it wouldn't start until a farmer drive by on his tractor and said "squirt some oil in the cylinders". Fired right up. Squirt some oil in to each cylinder to help the rings seal, to generate enough compression to get it to fire. I'd probably do that anyway just to be sure that the cylinders have good lubrication prior to the first start in a long time. Might save some rings and cylinder wear.

$19,256 for a crusty old de-bumpered 1975 with an odd paint job and a rebuilt engine. Impressive. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1975-datsun-280z-36/

2000 was a long time ago...

I found it on your profile page. You can put that info in your signature and it will show up in every post. "Zcars Owned 280z About my Cars My car is a 78' 280Z that has not ran since 2000. I purchased it from one of former student who knew my love for the car. SInce I am retiring this year, my first goal is to get it run with the engine that is in it." Here's a link to the Signature box. It's in "Account Settings". Don't know why. https://www.classiczcars.com/settings/signature/

You have fuel, apparently, now you need spark and injection. Have you checked for spark? The distributors and ignition modules on these old cars tend to be bad. Just do the old school way of sticking a spark plug in one of the plug wires and grounding it to the engine block while you crank the engine. Or squirt starter fluid in to one of the ports on the intake manifold then crank the engine. If it starts but dies you'll know that you have spark, and can focus on injection. It would help too, if you told people something about the car. When did it last run?

It's in his other thread. He found some sparkles. Must be having a storage problem, maybe this link will work. https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/66478-what-is-this-part/#comment-637408

You can't drop the "subframe" (crossmember). The engine mounts are bolted to it. You can remove the oil pan though and do things that way. Pulling engine and/or transmission ease kind of depends on how much room you have and the equipment. A cherry picker in a tight garage is harder than an overhead hoist in a barn. Here's a thread from Hybridz about doing things from underneath. Just to demonstrate that people do it. https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/81528-replacing-piston-rings-with-the-engine-in-the-vehicle-l-series-faq/

My mistake. Seems odd that a turbo head would be drilled for carbs though. I thought the holes were different. Maybe I was thinking of the non-US market N42 heads that aren't notched for EFI. Oh well. I've never had a carb'ed Z.

Don't let your rocker arms and lash pads get mixed up. Take em off and label them and put them right back where they came from. Others know more, but there are many ways to go wrong...

Not sure who actually recommends adding oil, but KYB specifically says don't, and it looks like they are the only readily available choice. I assume that Koni is still supplying struts too, just through the Z Store. Technically, it is still a "strut" too, which can help part searching. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1978,280z,2.8l+l6,1209260,suspension,strut,7584 https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/23-1033 Oil or no oil is a hot topic -

Carbs or EFI? I don't think that the P90 will take carbs. The N42 will. The P90 will give lower CR than the N42, 7.4 versus 8.3, but should run fine, just low on power. The N42 looks like the most straightforward choice. Plus the camshaft should already be broken in.

Pretty common for people to hear the aftermarket pumps. Mounting them loosely in rubber makes the difference. Some people hear the Walbro 255 pump even when it's mounted well. It pumps way more volume than the system needs and will make noise due to the strain of pumping through small lines.

They don't come that way from the factory but many people (at least one, me) do stick a spongy or foam-like material inside to prevent oil droplets from coming out. The droplets stick to the material and drip back in but the air can come and go freely. Similar function to the screen used on the crankcase vent tube.

Here are a couple of threads on the topic just to fill it out. One talks about head gaskets for sure. https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/59029-head-cooling-on-cylinder-5-solutions/#comments https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/98875-90mm-gasket-coolant-holes/

There was a whole big conversation on Hybridz years ago about head gaskets and holes. The end impression that I got was that not all of the holes were meant to be open. You'd probably have to see factory original gaskets to know for sure what the engineers intended. The head design in general has uneven cooling as I understand things. Cylinders 5 and 6 on the turbo engines are the ones that detonate most often. People took extensive measures to try to improve the cooling, drilling in to the passages and adding a manifold to control coolant flow. The funny thing was, as I recall, that the guys that got it evened out would just get detonation on all 6 cylinders at the same time.

Engineering type nerd talk but I took a GDT course long ago and Fidanza's concept makes me nervous. Stacked error (wrong term, can't remember, probably stacked tolerances). Are you supposed to have that plate skimmed before usage or just bolt it up and go? Make sure that you understand well how it's supposed to be used. Even if Fidanza is confident it wouldn't hurt to have it checked.

Piston availability has varied over the years. Here's an old post about alternatives. Takes some extra work. https://www.zcar.com/threads/honda-xl500-pistons.45301/ Datsun Spirit has possibilities too. Expensive of course. https://www.datsunspirit.com/shop And Rebello might have something. Haven't seen much written about what's happening there, but if he's still building engines he needs pistons. http://www.rebelloracing.com/nissan1.htm

Are you losing spark or injection? The resistor is part of the 280Z tachometer circuit. Here are the instructions for the Crane modules. People often have problems when they use aftermarket ignition on the 280Z EFI systems. Not sure why. I have had odd problems with loss of injection if the ECU doesn't like the tach connection. https://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/xr700 instructions.pdf