Dave WM

wow you can get repro glass with the vert grid. I did not see any for 280z with horz grid lines. Considering the effort to try and fix it by hand I would be interested in that. I presume the repro grid is like the OE and not some stick on variety? or if it is a stick on its the same quality as OE? I never got back to trying my masking tape designed for pin stripes. I was planning g on doing that when I pull the hatch to install the outer rubber seal, just have not gotten to it (my rolling restoration wants to keep rolling more than restoring...)

what are your engine temps when starting? as mentioned its really only for cold climates, I presume your location is cold now. When the EFI is working right it pretty much starts in a fraction of a second. and you can drive right off. it works well when everything is perfect. I don't know if you car has an o2 sensor, if so it is a little smarter in that it can go into closed loop and try to compensate for problems with the fuel mix. the early ones (like my 75) work great as long as every sensor/injector is work properly. The is no feed back from an o2 sensor for the ECU to compensate with. Glad you got it working, if it works well without it then you have a simple fix. plug it. If it every starts being hard to start when its very cold, you can revisit this.

Now you can trouble shoot that, it could also be the thermotime switch, less likely as it tends to fail off, but easy to find out. try hooking up the CSV to a 12v source, use some clip leads to it and supply a 12v (unplug the csv from the wire harness, connect the 12 directly to the csv, never the harness) it should "click". if not its prob stuck, you maybe able to get some carb cleaner into it and try cycling it a lot with the outside source. Not a bad idea to run some good fuel injector cleaner with your next tank full of gas. I thought about it more, the thermotime ONLY gets 12v during the crank so even if it was stuck on, the only thing that would happen is the injector would fire regardless of temp and would fire as long as you held the ign in the "start" position. I don't think that would allow enough time for the flooding you are having. So pretty much has to be the injector.

Yea!

the cold start valve is supposed to inject fuel when temps are low, its controlled by the thermo/time switch. Its fires only when its cold and only while the ign key is in the "start" position, and then it should only fire for no more that 9 seconds. IF for some reason the Cold Start Valve (CSV) is stuck open, it will just shoot gas constantly into the intake manifold. You can try disabling it by pinching off the fuel line that goes to it. Be gentle with the hose connection, the CSV is plastic and being old you could break it. They are expensive. Another source of excess fuel causing flooding (presuming this is the problem) is a break it the diaphragm of the fuel pressure regulator. the FPR has a vacuum line that connects to the intake manifold. Pull this and see if there is any raw gas leaking when trying to start, there should be NONE. Lastly if an injector is stuck open you could have a leak from that. If I understand the issue you are having a leak closer to the mouth of the throttle body, that would point me towards checking the CSV since it is located near the entry to the intake manifold (more so than say the injectors). You did not answer if the spark plugs are wet.

are the plugs wet? if you suspect flooding you may want to make sure the CSV is not stuck open. so nothing was changed prior to the non start?

"we do it right cause we do it twice" (Mustei1) Yesterday was removal day, today was surface prep day, I did a much better job of trying to get every remnant of old gasket material off than I did the 1st time. LOTS or scraping and solvents. I looked at the coolant passages, it was clear the gasket/rtv I used was not doing its job. I think I may have been a contaminant on the surface as there was practically no bond between the gasket and the cover. This time I was careful to use brake clean and not touch either the block or the cover after dousing with brake clean. when the surfaces were dry I used a liberal amount of Permatex aviation sealer around the water passages on both surfaces. Less was used elsewhere and just a very light amount around the oil passages (did not want any squeeze out in there, besides a minor leak there is of no consequence. I have the cover in place but not torqued. Just tapped into place on the dowel pins and bolts in just to a very light finger tight. will let it set for a couple hours and go back and torque it. I want the Permatex to have a chance to setup a bit. Not sure if that is the right thing, if not well, I am getting good at removing TC covers. Been taking some short videos including a look at the gasket fail, will post up when done. I was going to use my brand new TC cover but the casting on it was not as nice as the OE casting, I doubt that it would leak, but figured the old one was looking good after I did a good clean up on it. I will use a new water pump, I just don't feel like cleaning the old gasket that seems well stuck. I know now that it was the correct call to remove the cover based on the visual inspection of the water passage joins, there was no way it was ever going to stop (corrosion would never seal it).

its a mechanical VR, I have not had a recurrence of the orig problem since replacing the alt. I wish I had kept the core to evaluate. Now the only issue is an occasional flux, happens at idle and after the car has warmed up some and there is a load beyond just the EFI, like the fan or light. No more wild swings that last or flare up of voltages (head lights flare up) since the change. My SWAG is after warm up my idle is less stable, prob due to leaner mix, I have it set up pretty darn lean (pulling the dip stick can effect the idle, remove the oil filler and it dies in a second). I may richen up the idle circuit just so its a bit smoother sitting at a traffic light. But anyway the theory is, unstable idle means unstable alt speed, add a bit of a load and the VR will have a time switching the field current quickly enough. The ammeter needle does seem to go with the idle changes. I am slowly noticing these things as I generally don't sit and stare at the ammeter, but of course since the orig problem (flaring up lights etc...) I have become much more aware of it. I suspect the alt was the whole problem, I will be reinstalling the OE hitachi VR now just to confirm it was never the issue.

yes that is the plan I just have to make a better hookup to the meter. I was also going to try and simulate the intermittent by poking around the wiring harness, tapping the VR etc to see if I can locate. This setup has a better resolution and I can see it while poking under the hood.

yes the good pair of snap rings is essential, the idler will get the best of you with out them.

a milling machine is NICE to have. My goal is to eventually get a 2 post lift and a shop to work in. the older I get the less I like working on my back. As far as the "hobby" yes it is and its great to take you mind off other troubles in life. I have had several hobbies (RC aircraft/Vintage electronics/Cars/Construction) all done out of passion to learn and not be afraid of failure.

clamp on ammeter to test with

if you have some V blocks it would be a good idea once you strip it down to check the main shaft for straightness. just support the two ends, get a dial indicator on the middle and give it a spin. Its def something I would do now knowing what I have learned from doing a rebuild. IF you have an issue there is a place somewhere in the mid west that corrects this, I don't know if it would be a DIY thing as I presume it would take some experience to know exactly how and where to press if its bent. You maybe able to detect with it intact by spinning the main shaft and just looking for obvious run out of the synchro hubs. All that being said, these are really not that complex, just keep up with the order of disassembly, the small ball bearings used to located some of the parts on the shaft, the orientation of the parts as they come off (like thrust washer on 1st gear). After you have done it, you will be "wow that was not so bad".

I think trump was great, so there. Too bad politics has to come up, but lets see how ole joe does from here. Looks like time to ignore again, wish you guys could lay off politics.

Before replacement I had a whine that sorta sounded kinda like a diff whine coming from that location but did not change as power was applied just seemed to follow speed. (I could hear it and when turned my ear towards the right rear it was louder). this is what got me to looking at it in the 1st place, that and the age, just thinking about 45 year old grease had me worried. The whine was not very loud, but it was noticeable. Todays test ride had no whine anymore, so maybe I hit the cause with the bearing replacement.