jmortensen

Seems like that should be the answer to your problem. Why bother with all the rest? Throw a timing light on it and set it to whatever you're looking for and call it a day.

You can take the signal wires from the distributor and run them to the Magnetic Pickup pigtail with the violet and green wire connector. Then you can wire it just like the diagram at the top of page 11 in the manual. RED + battery, BLACK - battery, orange + coil, black - coil, red switched power, distributor wires to the violet and green. Completely eliminates the factory module, which I believe was big and bulky and located inside the car IIRC. Should work just fine.

Steve is correct. Powertrain parts swap into the older Z's but the ZX has a very 510-like suspension setup with steering box and tie rods behind the struts, TC rods attach up at the radiator core support IIRC, and semi-trailing arm suspension in back.

Both bolts allow the distributor to turn. IIRC the 8mm bolt allows more movement than the 10mm. Most people just use the 10mm and don't even know about the 8mm. As to your problem maddos, screw the manual. Adjust it one more tooth and you'll be fine.

Just to make sure, you do know about BOTH adjustments, right? There is one on one side of the distributor that is kind of hidden, uses an 8mm bolt I think. Then there is the more visible one with the 10mm bolt. If that 2nd adjuster doesn't allow enough movement, then it is definitely #3. If the dizzy is 180 out it will barely run, and since the timing slot isn't 173 degrees around you wouldn't be able to get even close to 7 degrees BTDC. Pretty common for this to happen when swapping distributors or pulling the timing cover IME.

Here is a quick test. After the brakes are nice and hot, crack open a bleeder screw on the master. If the fluid squirts out under pressure, well, then you know that you have pressure in the master when the brake pedal is not depressed. If it just runs out, then there isn't pressure in the system.

Zsaint is 100% correct. As I said before, if the port to the master cylinder reservoir can't open because the pistons can't retract all the way due to no free play in the pedal, then the pressure in the master can't be released. When you first start driving this might not be too noticeable. The more you drive the more heat gets into the fluid the more it expands, the more it puts the brakes on, the hotter the brakes get, the more it expands, etc. When the piston in the master does retract all the way it just barely opens the port. So ANY amount of preload on the piston will cause this problem IME. Must have free play, it is absolutely necessary.

As I recall the ST's were quite a bit lower than the Tokicos. My friend had the ST's in her first Z, then put the Tokico springs in the next one. It's been probably 10 years since that car went to the crusher, but it was LOW and she had to go into driveways at a serious angle. She also dented the crap out of her twice pipes on speed bumps. There are definitely a lot of opinions on this one, if you could get measurements to the rockers from people who have the various spring combos that might give you a way to remove the subjectivity from the issue.

Summit Racing sells ST sway bars, so I'd bet they can sell you the springs too. My friend had them on her Z with blues and it was extremely low.

Poly on the strut insulator isn't a very good idea IMO. The idea of the insulator is for the rubber to flex and allow the strut to change angles as the suspension goes through its travel. Nissan used a lot of rubber, and the rubber is relatively soft so that the angle can change without putting too much bending load on the top of the strut shaft. Going to even the same size poly insulator would dramatically increase the stress on the strut shaft, but IIRC the ones that I've seen are also shorter to lower the car. So then you have a shorter piece of a much less pliable material doing the job. Sounds like a recipe for blown struts to me. It's similar to the poly TC rod bushings. Putting poly in this spot is not the best idea because in order for the suspension to move the TC rod must flex the bushing material. The TC rod has to be allowed to move, otherwise the stress will eventually cause it to break. And, whaddya know, seen quite a few broken TC rods with poly bushings. OT--but one answer to that problem is to put a rubber bushing in the back and poly in the front bushing cup to lessen the stress on the TC rod and not stress it as much. Poly is better for the control arms, where its resistance to deflection means the suspension remains more consistent especially for rear control arms where bushing deflection means unwanted toe change. It's just not that good for areas where the bushing's deflection is required for the suspension to move. Just my $.02.

Some are wound tighter, some taper the wire size down, some are shaped like a beehive. The thing about the Tokicos for the 240 is a lot of people don't think they're progressive when they just look at the spring. Once it's on, they're thinking the spring is broken because the first couple coils are almost bound. I'm not sure if they're wound tighter or the wire is tapered, but I'd guess the latter based on the threads I've seen. I don't know about the 280 springs, but the 240s are progressive in front according to Tokico. Someone should call them and find out for sure about the 280 springs.

I got a free Hobart auto darkening helmet when I bought my Millermatic 135. It would flash my eyes on occasion, and I was beginning to think auto darkening wasn't the way to go. Then someone on hybridz suggested the HF helmet, and showed me that it had the same size viewing area as my helmet and darkened in 1/20000 of a second, so I figured what the hell. I bought it on sale for $50, and I don't think it has ever flashed me yet. I've heard that they need to be replaced every so often. I've been doing a hell of a lot of welding on my car and it still seems to be functioning well after a good 6 months. I'm sold on it for mig use anyway.

If you read the thread I linked to the guy called Tokico and Tokico said the fronts were progressive. That's straight from the horse's mouth. The spring part numbers are in the thread if you want to be sure.

Another source of rattling is the bolts that hold the glass onto the frame at the bottom of the window. A little loctite and re-tightening these bolts will help a ton. If your window flops around when you grab the top of the glass and wiggle I can guarantee you that the bolts at the bottom are loose.

This is just plain ol wrong from every thread I've seen on the subject. If they're Tokicos, they're progressive in the front. They might not be as progressive as Eibachs with the coils pretty much bound for the first 1/4 of the spring length. You're probably only going to buy springs once. You might want to search "tokico" over at hybridz.org. I've seen probably 10 different threads on this particular subject over there. Here is probably the best one: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=94933

Summit Racing sells the Energy Suspension bushings cheap too.

I know the rack bushings are different between the 240 and 280. I believe that the 240 rack and bushings will be loose on the 280 crossmember, but I'm not positive. This begs the question could you use the 280 bushings, and again I don't know the answer. Other than that I know the "horns" that the rack sits on are reinforced on the 280, but I don't think that makes any difference with regards to your question.

The ones in the picture are not for a 240Z. My understanding is that they do not make a non-progressive front spring. I suppose you might be able to round up the rear 240 springs and use them in the front with the rear 280 springs in the rear. That would be a little stiffer than their normal spring package but still should work well on the street. Arizona Z Car also sells linear springs that are 180/200 in lbs front and rear. You could also call Tokico to find out.

The 280s are made for a front mounted bar and have a mount which hangs down below the frame rail. The 240s do not. When I pulled my rear MSA bar off which mounted in front of the diff, it was binding BIG TIME on the frame rail. I think that if the mount had been down lower this wouldn't have been an issue, but I haven't checked on a 280 to verify this. I know John Coffey tells people to use the rear mounted bar on 280s as well, I don't know if he came to this conclusion through trial and error or what, but if it involves Z suspension and he has an opinion it tends to be right. If you have a ST 240 rear bar and you use the supplied end links, the rear mounted bar shouldn't hit the half shafts, at least I haven't heard of it. What can happen is that the bar can bind on the uprights behind the diff. This is easy to fix by spacing the bar back 1/2". That's the only issue that I'm aware of with the rear mounted bar. I got pretty hung up on making the swaybar adjustable, strengthening the front frame rail, and getting it as friction free as possible and came up with this: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105596

Those probably were the original hone marks. Datsun blocks are TOUGH. I'd suggest you slap some rings in it and clean the pistons. Hone with the old style ball hone that you get from the auto parts store. New valve stem seals (since you have it apart anyway), could do a valve job if you want, and slap it back together. Throw some bottom end bearings in it and call it a day. It's not hard to do and the parts won't cost very much at all. Even the valve job isn't that bad if you bring the head to the machine shop disassembled. Get a flywheel from Mat_M, he's got a few, and have that machined, throw it in with a stock clutch kit, your kids out of trouble for ~$500.

A picture would be the best way, even them there are a lot of similarities between the different manufacturers. The best design for a 240 mounts the bar behind the diff on the suspension uprights. If it is mounted in front of the diff I wouldn't bother.

Cute story, but not true: http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/recoil.asp

I don't know what Isky's stage II cam is, but I ran a .490/280 which is about the equivalent of MSA's stage IV on the street with my 44s and had no trouble at all in stop and go traffic. I also had a 12 lb flywheel and an ACT clutch too, and 2.5" exhaust. No problem. I think the difference was that I had a 3.70 diff and a ZX 5 speed. Now I've finally stepped up to a 4.11 diff which I think will make it even better, but it won't be on the street anymore. If you want to run triples, everything should be set up for triples. They're made to make more power at higher rpms, so things like close ratio trans, lower diff gears, and shorter tires help quite a bit. If you want it to idle like a kitten and have grunt at 1200 rpm, forget the triples. But you can't have it both ways, and the stock cam runs out of steam at 5500 to 6000 rpm.

Yep, you guys pretty much got it. You need free play in the brake pedal. If the brake pedal can't fully relax it can close off the port the the master cylinder reservoir. When this happens the pressure can't release. When that happens everything is fine when the car is cold but the longer you drive the more heat you put into the fluid, which expands it which pushes the brakes on harder, which heats it up which expands it more etc. Had that same problem with the clutch once but in that case as the fluid gets hot the clutch starts slipping. Adjust the rod so that you get 1/8 to 3/16" free play in the pedal before the pin that moves the master even starts to move, and shorten the piece between the master and the booster so that it isn't touching, and you should be fine.

It's a mixed bag. I am a cheap bastard, and I'll be the first to admit it. So I definitely fit his description of a "scrounger". From the seller perspective, I sold a smog rail that had never even been installed and the buyer complained about the condition of the zinc coating on it. So, yeah, I can sympathize with this guy. A lot of Datsun owners either have no money and want it for free or they want it so perfect that not even new condition satisfies them. On the other hand, I've done quite well on some of my auctions, so I know Z parts do have some value. You just have to be lucky enough to find the right bidder on the right day. Anyone remember the $400 tail lights that sold on ebay? Sometimes you don't just find the right bidder on the right day, you hit the jackpot! (no, that wasn't my auction but it was pretty crazy!)