cgsheen1

Did you remove the stock 280Z Electronic Ignition Module or at a minimum disconnect the Blue wire from the Module? The blue wire to the "-" post of the coil originates at the Electronic Ignition Module under the dash and supplies the "signal to fire" that has now been replaced with your 123 Module. The signal to the Tach tees off that wiring and goes through the 2.2 Ohm resistor before feeding the Tach. If the stock EIM is still wired in it could be interfering with the Tach signal. I've used many different ignition schemes and on a single coil ignition I've always been able to drive my tach properly with the stock blue wire no matter what EIM I used. But I completely removed the stock Ignition module under my dash first thing.

Not me... I would have wired in new relays. I've been beat down working on the electrical of these old Datsuns and now I replace rather than mess with the 40+ year old electrical stuff for the most part.

I'd lift up some vinyl around the pillar and look at that. Find someplace that hasn't been shot over the top of.

Why would you connect the High Beam? Just to wizz off everyone in town as you drive your Z? (I mean, sealed beam headlights do suck, but still...) All you need is Low Beam for now...

The A Pillar vinyl is just glued on. The vinyl should wrap around each flange at it's sides. On one side, that will be the windshield flange - on the other the door flange. When the windshield is installed it's weatherstrip will lap over the vinyl on the A Pillar. Likewise with the door weatherstrip - it's welt will go over the A Pillar vinyl. You can use contact adhesive on both sides of the flanges but it's really only needed on the outside of the flange in each case - the weatherstrip holds the inside of the flange in each case. The vinyl above the doors and above the windshield is a different story. That's where you use that welt you have pictured.

The dimmer switch just supplies a ground to the headlight circuit. Looking at those three wires (in your first picture above) that came loose out of the broken switch, the Black is the ground, The Red/White is the High Beam ground (I think) and the Red/Yellow is the Low Beam ground. The switch just changes which wire gets connected to the Black ground wire. To get by, you could just connect the black wire with the Red/Yellow (If that gives you high beams when you switch the lights on, I was wrong - so, just connect the Black to the Red/White instead). Then you'll have Low Beams for driving while you find a replacement for the broken switch. The Ground is always connected to one or the other depending on the position of the switch so you don't need to worry about leaving the wires connected. Power to the headlights comes from the headlamp switch on the right of the steering column.

That was quick! IMO, You'll need a new hose but I think you'll find that the real problem is that fitting. Once you remove the hose from it, you'll find it corroded mostly away.

My youngest son installed a solid diff mount on his '76 280Z several years ago and had to remove it after a few years of use as it had torn the sheet metal of his "differential case mounting front member" (to use the FSM term) - didn't damage the bolt holes in the chassis but tore the cross member up around the bolt holes. We had to find him a new cross member and an RT style mount. And YES! The solid mount transferred a LOT of noise and vibration into the cabin.

Take a paper towel, fold in half, then half again and then place it like a hammock under that fitting and heater hose you have circled in the picture above. Bring it up tight to the bottom of the fitting and hold it for a bit. Then take it off and see if there's any moisture on the paper towel. No? Do much the same on the side of the block under that fitting. Use dry towels each time, continue until you find a damp spot.

Wow. Absolutely no reason to install that type of an oil pan if you're not racing... But I guess a lot of people spend money for no real reason.

So the second owner was racing / autocrossing the hell out of it...

Exactly...

That looks great! It's good to have another Goldie! If you're ever in Phoenix let's get together and see how the PPG base compares to the Sherwin base 🤪... Got A/C, it's 100 here...

It's over $3.00 for regular here in Phoenix and our pipeline from California isn't busted... About $3.50 for premium. Before Biden it was near $2.00 for regular.

We have a Series One in the shop so after I saw this thread I looked at it's console. Never noticed the "park light(s)" embossment in the choke panel before now. The cutout for the switches is blanked off but the lamp icons are there molded into the plastic.

We just did this in the shop on Saturday - stock 280Z. It's a mite easier when you have the car on a lift but it IS doable without and without lifting the engine. "Patience is the key to joy." (Fortune Cookie circa 2015) Just make sure the number one piston is UP (so the crank shaft isn't in the way at the front of the pan) and you have the car as far off the ground as you can manage. Dropping the oil pickup is pretty easy, and there's actually a bit more room than you think there would be to get the bolts back in once you're ready to reassemble - refer to Fortune Cookie quote above. My fingers are fat and beat up in my old age and I could do it.

Every 260Z/280Z console I've had come through the shop has either: 1. Had the block-off plate missing. 2. Had a hole drilled through the block-off plate and/or had a switch installed by some PO. Same with my 260Z when I bought it...

We use Meguiar's Hyper Dressing on plastics and rubber. You can "thin" it with water and it actually protects and helps restore plastics and vinyl.

That looks like a fairly average S30 that you'd find in the Southwest US or California. The stock frame rails have definitely been covered with an aftermarket repair rail not unlike the BadDog rails. The floor has been patched on the left side as noted above. The undercarriage could use some attention but that's pretty common - make the top look good, people rarely look underneath. I've seen a lot worse even here in Arizona where we have almost no water... Those pics aren't going to tell you the whole story. You're going to want to look under the hatch at the sill corners, the door bottoms, the rockers, the dog leg in front of the rear wheels, the bottoms of the front fenders, under the cowl, under the carpet and seats in the cockpit and maybe the spare tire well. On a 280Z you might want to check around the windshield frame as well. Look for bulging of the paint in any of these areas.

He told me he's ordered foam gaskets to be made for them so I think he's getting close.

You'll find them in Factory A/C 260Z's and 280Z's. Mine has one that mounts under the steering column. Can't tell if it had one for the passenger cuz the ducting was all gone (destroyed by the Arizona heat) from that side. Mostly gone from the driver side too but the tee to the "foot vent" was still there. I have several of those plastic vent outlets in the shop as I tend to horde stock A/C parts. My son's 76 also has similar plumbing. And, no, the tubing that goes to those small foot vents is not rigid - it's flexible ~1 1/4" vent tubing. Like the larger stock vent tubing it was insulated. The answer(s) to low vent airflow in the 260Z/280Z are: Kia blower upgrade and replacing the stock center duct diverter with an UltraHeaven replacement. I hope Lucas (the engineer who designed this amazing ductwork improvement) will soon be selling those to all you 260/280 owners. I have the prototype in Goldie and airflow out the center vents is DRASTICALLY improved while maintaining stock airflow out the side vents...

We have a '75 "museum car" in the shop. It's all mostly original with only 8,400 (ya, I DID say 8,400) miles. Usually runs like a dream but it "heat soaks", "vapor locks" when the weather is warm and you drive it to the store and let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then want to start it again... I thought this was mostly an Arizona thing but MANY Z owners from all parts of the country (and Canada) have had the issue. Nissan made many modifications over the years in attempts to solve it. The problem was mostly solved when they started using ECU's that "primed" the fuel system and pushed air bubbles away from the fuel rail. Moving the fuel rail away from the exhaust manifolds was an even better idea... With the intake manifold sitting on top of the exhaust you'll always jump through hoops to keep heat soak to a minimum.

Your Tach is expecting the stock 1.5 Ohm coil to still be there. If your new coil is a different Ohm value it will affect the Tach operation. I had the same issue here in the shop.

I just installed the Newark Auto Products carpet kit in my early 260Z. The 7-piece kit is correct for originality but I am installing the 11-piece kit - or most of it... I actually like the carpet pieces for the sills rather than the vinyl it had and I'm not quite sure if I'll use the trans tunnel carpet piece - it's not supposed to be in a 260Z and I LOVE the small diamond pattern vinyl that the 260 has. (I personally don't care for the "large diamond" pattern vinyl of the 240Z's and would replace that with carpet in a second - but that's just me...) However, I really like their kit and definitely recommend it.

He doesn't. He mentioned a stock GM coolant sensor (like most standalone ECU's use) which is a standard thermistor type sensor with an analog signal (a variable resistor whose resistance changes with heat) - he just doesn't realize it's not digital... The stock Datsun coolant sensor has very close to the same characteristics as the GM sensor. I don't fault him for using the GM sensor - it's cheap, plentiful, standard, and well supported - even though it's not digital...