SteveJ

I took the Z out for a nice drive through North Georgia today as part of the Georgia Z Club Gumball Rally. Including my car, there were 3 260Zs that showed up today. On the way back, the wife and I stopped at an abandoned gas station to take some quick photos.

How long have you owned the car? It wouldn't have been difficult for a previous owner to connect the two wires together and bypass the rheostat if it went bad.

It's looking pretty good there.

Sorry, Jai. I can't remember if I saw a sticker when I had it out. If you do take it out, be sure to disconnect the battery first.

It's definitely not the cold start valve. That is disconnected.

You'd probably need the Chevy transmission or some sort of bell-housing adapter. The biggest pain is to get the computer and fuel injection running right. There are probably some stand-alone systems that would work. It's a lot of work. What are you up for? Are you good with fabrication?

Can you provide a closer picture of the area?

I'm sorry your car got hit, Jai. Vans do not like Z cars. My 240Z was hit by a van 18 years ago. My car was parked at a gas pump and the driver cut the corner too much.

A great way to prevent that from happening is to install LED bulbs for the parking lights. My 260Z draws just over 1 A with just the parking lights on now. It also gives you a opportunity to examine the bulb sockets and look for corrosion in them.

To give more details, Dave's (MSA's) kit is plug and play for the 240Z. It uses the same connectors. I've yet to see anybody complaining about it. I bought the Blackdragon Auto kit. It wasn't worth the money. Also, it used non-standard relays. If one goes bad, good luck finding a drop-in replacement.

Someone has plenty of optimism.

My pleasure, sir.

Try this link: http://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Your-Nissan-Datsun-Engine/dp/1931128030/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446502999&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+rebuild+your+nissan+ohc

First, state your goals. Why do you want a 5 speed? Is it to reduce RPMs at freeway cruising speeds? Second, how do you know your engine needs to be rebuilt? Is it burning oil? What is the compression like? Have you adjusted the valves lately? Is your fuel system in good repair? If it does need a rebuild, what are you looking for? (Again, state your goals.) Datsun Spirit and Rebello are pretty expensive if all you're looking for is a nice cruising experience.

Jai, Fuel tank products that contain iso-propyl alcohol are the best for making water in the fuel tank miscible with the fuel. The cheap products contain methanol and ethanol. I advise staying away from those since they can harm the rubber components in the fuel system. Fuel injector cleaner contains mineral spirits and possibly fuel system detergents. They help dissolve organic based compounds that can clog the fuel system. (Think varnish.) Stabil (and other fuel stabilizers) helps prevent the degradation of sitting fuel that happens as lighter volatile organic compounds (VOCs) evaporate from the fuel. While your car is under a carport, it is subjected to the effects of cooling. This can include condensation of water vapor in the intake and exhaust. It might take a few minutes to heat up the car to burn off all of the condensation. The whoosh you heard when you opened the gas cap indicates to me that you are less likely to have condensation in the fuel tank. That's a good thing.

With my track record? I probably would have snapped off half the bolts on the intake manifold.

Do you have rear disc brakes on the car?

To be clear, I cleaned up the contacts with a wire brush. There wasn't any real testing I could do.

From your description, I inferred that you got the sparks from the battery then the car would not start again. Did I misunderstand that? Did you replace all 5 fusible links? There are four under the covers and one for the EFI. Did you clean out the fuel lines after sitting for a year? They could be gunked up. The firing order should be 1-5-3-6-2-4 counterclockwise. Issues that could cause no spark: Improperly grounded coil Bad Transistor Ignition Unit, TIU (rare) Lack of voltage to the TIU Bad connection to the TIU. The FSM has good diagnostics. You may want to review the EF and EE sections.

The 73 has the mounting points for the 70-72 bumper brackets. You just need to get the early brackets and remove the 73 brackets and bumper. The holes on the fenders line up, and I would advise attaching the bumper there first, while supporting the front. It's a bear to get the bolts lined up on the sides once it is attached in the front.

ALWAYS put the year of your car in your posts or your signature. There are variations in the 280Zs. 1. Buy a decent inline fuel pressure gauge and install it under the hood. That is how you check fuel pressure. Make sure you get one that will go up to at least 60 PSI. 2. There is a fusible link for the EFI. It is separate from the other fusible links. You need to check that. It wouldn't hurt to check the other links, too. Use an ohmmeter to check. Visible inspection is not adequate.

Believe it or not, Rory briefly surfaced a while back. He then went back into hiding. I almost went to look at the 74 when he was selling it. With what he did to others, I'm glad I didn't.

I know someone who swapped in the early bumpers on a 73. https://fiddlingwithzcars.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/installing-the-front-bumper/

I assume one of the sites the two of you refer to is Zcar.com. That site probably bubbles up toward the top of searches for "z car forum". Tony D once observed an influx of new posters with "gimme, gimme, gimme" type questions seemed to correspond with high school kids going on spring/summer/fall/Christmas break. There are also a lot of threads on that site where someone asks a vague question and never responds to requests to provide more information. Many of the regulars tired of that, and their responses reflect that. It takes more effort to find this site. That reduces the volume of school break kiddies. Most of the younger crowd that do show up here tend to be more respectful. When someone is just here for gimmes, the ignore button is a click or two away. I am not that much different from the regulars over at Zcar.com. I will go out of my way to help someone who is willing to make an effort to learn. For the lazy, like I said, the ignore feature is handy.