Daemione

It's the inner pivot point that I'm skeptical can be easily fixed. It'd take a VERY precise weld to patch up without locking the pivot action at the same time. Although unbolting the clutch pedal completely from the assembly would lessen that risk, I'm not sure how much faith I'd have in a bodge fix like that. If I had my own sandblasting/welding/grinding equipment, I'd absolutely do it. But I found a replacement assembly for less than the cost of an hour of labor. Although I'm very tempted to try and reinforce the new one before installing it, though. If I never have to take apart another dash to pull a pedal assembly, I'll be very happy.

Well, 32. I actually found an affordable used one earlier today, and ordered it. Hopefully will get here by Tuesday or Wednesday so the car won't have much downtime. And while she's laid up, I've got a new set of brake lines & a thermostat to install. Plus the dashboard I can fix all the cracks in while it's out . . .

Wish I had a better camera than just my phone, but you get the idea. Top & outside brackets are completely separated, the small inside bracket is almost torn through, and the inside pivot is halfway torn off. Any opinions on if it's fixable? I'm bringing it to a local guy later today so he can see it.

No rust visible from what I can see . . . the one part of the break I can get a finger on is completely clean & sharp. I'll find out tomorrow for sure.

Anyone ever had a problem with where their clutch bolts into the pedal assembly? I was driving around today, and when I depressed the clutch I heard a fairly loud crack from the pedal box - no more clutch. Took a look under there, and the fulcrum where the pedal meets the metal has cracked so it can no longer push the clutch clevis far enough to disengage the clutch. I stopped by a local repair shop that I saw on the way home, and he took a look at it . . . "huh, kind of a bad design - really thin metal that the clutch is levering against". I tried to convince him to rig me up a push-rod with a handle that I could use with my left hand, but he wouldn't do it. Did quite a bit of searching, but didn't find anyone mention this happening to them before . . . was this just a fluke thing, or should I be worried about it happening on a replacement pedal assembly as well? I'm working tomorrow on pulling out the assembly, already have the steering wheel off and the dash mostly apart so it hopefully won't take very long. I'll take pictures of actually what happened once it's out.

I'm with you on the "out of sight" preference - I'm always much happier with a car that surprises rather than boasts. But I honestly don't know what I'm going to do about speaker placement. The footwell area of these cars have enough flexibility to build some kickpanels if you're handy with fiberglass, but might require moving some things out of the way (ecm, fuse box, etc.). Kickpanels will be pretty well hidden from someone peering in - probably less so from a passenger. And I assume you've got an S30? I've seen pre-built door panel pods for sale, that'd probably be the most oem look you could find. Sound quality may not be as good as a purpose built pod aimed at your ears, but certainly good enough. Hard to say, really. The wiring & dash area on an old Z is pretty damn flexible, so it's really only limited by your own creativity and the amount of time you want to spend on it. I still don't know what I want to do in the speaker department, but I'm probably a year away from deciding. Much bigger fish to fry (rebuilding my entire dash, replacing my seats, carpet, & all interior trim). I'm hoping inspiration will strike somewhere along the line of restoring the interior - I haven't seen any other s130 stereo installs that quite fit the bill.

I've had good luck with fastenal.com . . . even if there isn't a local one, the website is pretty good. Reasonable shipping, and they've got just about anything you want, in any grade/finish you want. Might be expensive if you only want a few pieces here & there, though. Usually when I get something, I'll buy a pack of 50 for the same price a local retailer will have for 2.

I'm probably just gonna go with coaxials. Unless you're willing to invest in some custom kickpanels, getting good sound stage in a Z is pretty much a lost cause, in my opinion. :shrug: Those Alpine decks with the mini-amps are a neat solution - I just wish I liked the styling of their head units. Never have, for some reason.

The receiver will probably overheat & fry itself. By bridging the channels, you're effectively halving the resistance in order to double the power - and most in-dash units aren't designed to do that. For having something fun to listen to, finding a speaker that will run good & loud off a single head unit channel isn't hard. Spend more time on solidly mounting those speakers & reducing noise in cabin will be much more worthwhile than more expensive speakers. My general plans for my '79: ditching the entire lower dash piece that houses the stock radio, storage pocket, & 12v outlet. Carpeting over the transmission tunnel, and installing a simple DIN bracket under the dash (something like this). Then I can put whatever head unit I want in - although I've had my eye on an inexpensive retro-styled one like they have at Custom Autosound: edit: Ha haha, I just realized you're looking at the exact same head unit. I must have glossed over that on my first read-through. :laugh: Not sure what I'll do about speakers yet, the stock locations in the dash are HORRIBLE, and the others behind the seats are almost as bad. Even thought it'd all be coming from the rear, buying one of those premade rear hatch panels w/ 6x9 cutouts is temptingly easy. Then I've got the rear fender spare tire for fiberglassing in a 10" sub if I want to down the road. But I'm not installing anything until I make the car more secure. Right now you can unlock the car with a damn butter knife, so I'm keeping the interior as worthless as possible. :laugh:

You'll have to check the specs of the receiver and/or check with the manufacturer, see if it can be run bridged safely . . . but I doubt it. Inexpensive 2-channel amps can be found that are really small - small enough to tuck just about anywhere. Takes a little more work wiring, but ultimately worth it. Me, I'd just as soon use some more cheaper more efficient speakers. A Z just isn't a good enough sound quality platform for me to spend money on in that department.

Here's some on eBay that look alright . . . maybe he's got other styles as well.

Wanted to follow up on this - went ahead & swapped in a used fuel pump today from another ZX, and it made all the difference in the world. Shockingly quiet compared to the one that was in there (a remanufactured unit, according to a label hidden by the rubber mount). Also replaced some fuel lines under there that were pretty terrifying . . .

All my emblems are toast, I'd love to replace them with some of these - although I'd pass on the 'fuel injection' emblem, and don't really care about the interior console emblem either. The cursive one is the rear hatch piece?

My Fidanza was $300 shipped - aluminum & 10.5 pounds. It's a daily driver, stock clutch, zero driveability issues at all. I love it.

Thanks for the page link re: fuel pump behavior - I somehow missed that in my read throughs. And I get that these aren't ground-breaking questions/issues - believe me, I'm doing my best to find these answers via search before posting. But finding s130 non-turbo specific information is a lot more difficult than S30's or turbo models. A lot of it is comparable - but it makes searching for the information I actually want a serious chore. And there are a lot of little things I'm discovering that maybe people know about - but have never mentioned or documented. Like, for example, the speed bleeders BDA sells for the '79-83 are the wrong size, I found that out the hard way on Sunday. Another example - the energy suspension sway bar bushings are too thick. It's impossible to install them without shaving them down a decent amount first. I search high & low before buying things to be able to anticipate problems like this, and it's really discouraging to discover "new" issues on a 30+ year old car. I have the downloaded version of the FSM, and I have a hardcopy as well. But I'm NOT confident in it . . . The FSM is unclear in many places, and downright WRONG in at least one section that I've found already (the heater controls - the FSM describes a linkage system for changing from floor/vent/defrost, when in fact the s130 uses vacuum diaphragms). I was going through it a couple days ago looking over a brake pad swap, and found 2 pages completely missing - in their place was 2 pages from the driveshaft section. Unbelievable. The digital version is better in that regard, but I go cross-eyed reading it. Having become accustomed over the past 10 years to Helms manuals & their anal retentive attention to detail & extremely detailed diagrams, this FSM is a serious let-down. The Haynes that I have is slightly better in some regards, but has obviously cribbed a lot of it's info & pictures from the FSM. Anyway, sorry for the mini-rant, I'm just frustrated a little at the amount of conflicting & unclear information out there about this car. In on-topic thread news, I found someone who's selling me the fuel pump relays (another inconsistency, btw - there are only 2, not the 3 that the atlanticz site says). So once I get them in, I'll do some testing to see if that's my fuel pump running problem. And when I get a few extra bucks, I suspect a new fuel pump would be a smart purchase - this is my daily driver, so I can't afford to have it give up the ghost with no warning. With possible damage done to it already, that's not a risk I want to take.

Replaced all my steering linkage today, and this is what I ended up doing. Here's what the ball joint end of my center link looked like - the ball joint itself was in very good shape, but obviously the boot is toast. Stopped by a few different parts stores (napa, autozone, etc.), and eventually found this at Advance Auto Parts: The 9/16" size boot is just right to fit over the threaded part, and the base fits over to butt up against the remainder of the old boot with just a little stretch. So I picked up some 2-part epoxy to hold it in place: Cleaned & degreased the center link, and cut off the old boot down to the base of the ball joint. Also used a metal rasp to roughen up the outside base edge a little: Then packed grease around the joint & inside the new boot with grease as best as possible, avoiding the edge area where the epoxy will need to grab hold. Then mixed up the epoxy & seated the boot down around the ball joint. Used a couple wrenches & the castle nut to hold it down in place while the epoxy set. Anyway, I don't know how long it'll hold, but if it lasts me the winter I'll be happy. I'm unemployed right now, so after buying all the other tie rod ends, adjusting tubes, & idler arm, another $275 for the entire center link wasn't going to happen. $12 in supplies for this job. Maybe it'll last a long time, maybe not. :shrug:

Oh, and for what it's worth, I put a new fuel filter on. It might be a little quieter now, but it also might be my imagination. I'm gonna try to take another video & compare that way. I'm really curious as to how clogged the old filter was, though. If I were to cut open the old filter with a dremel, what are the chances of it turning into a little fireball?

Arg. Think it's worth taking off the top cap to take a look? It'd be a pain since the screws stripped out - I'd need to unmount the pump, and then clear it of all fuel traces so I can dremel slots in the screws to get them off. I'll probably just pick up another fuel pump. And also figure out what's up with the relay(s), if anything. :sigh: Any chance another '79 owner could confirm their pump behavior with the key in the 'on' position? I'm still reading a lot of conflicting reports on what's normal.

So the inlet filter screen . . . is it a sure thing that a '79 has one in the same place as the 280z? I didn't spot one on mine.

Wow, lots of info there, thank you! Here's what concerns me: When my key is ON my fuel pump is most definitely on as well . . . which according to this is not correct. But on the other side, the FSM only mentions 2 fuel pump relays, not 3. And the fuel pump operation chart in my FSM (page EF-14) doesn't seem to have a listing for the ignition switch being on, but the car not started (so no oil pressure or alternator generation). So I haven't found in the FSM yet anything where it says definitively what the fuel pump should be doing with the car not running, but the ignition switch ON. Electronics isn't my strong suit, but I guess I should test/replace the fuel pump control relays. Any suggestions on where to start?

Good suggestions - thanks. I already have a spare fuel filter hanging around, but haven't put it in yet. Need to get a fuel pressure gauge, I suppose. Tomorrow's project is to replace all my brake pads & flush/bleed the fluid with new stuff. I've got all my tie rod ends & idler arm that need to go in, but if it's not too much of a hassle I should be able to get the new fuel filter in as a start.

No markings that I can see as to what brand/model pump it is - there might be something covered up by a bracket, though. Rubber mounts are also all there, if a little dry. No obvious hacks/splices in the wiring either. Any ideas?

Excellent, thanks - weather permitting, I'll have the rear end up in the air tomorrow to replace some differential oil seals, so I'll get some pictures then.

Hey everyone - I posted this question in the fuel delivery subforum several days ago, but haven't gotten any responses. Figured I'd try here, see if anyone had any input . . . I've got a '79 280zx, and the fuel pump is awful noisy. For the month I've had the car, I just figured it was a normal symptom of it not being an in-tank pump, but I read something that makes me think that something might be wrong. Is the pump supposed to prime loudly for a few seconds & then stop if I don't start the car? Mine just hums loudly indefinitely until I turn the key off, or changes to a higher pitch if I start the car. Anyway, here are some videos - the first one is from outside the car, about 8 feet away. I toggle the key from 'on' to 'acc' once, it's not shutting off on it's own. As far as I know, it will buzz like that indefinitely as long as I leave the key in 'on'. Mic doesn't pick it up as loud as it seems in person - it's the humming at a pitch of F#. Second video is from sitting in the drivers seat, windows up. It's covered up some from the engine/exhaust noise, but when I start the car pitch raises to a G#. Again, the rear trim is missing, so it's probably a little louder inside because of that. So any thoughts? Is it supposed to be running that loudly that long before starting? Should I be worried about the pump dying on me in the near future? Or is it all just normal noise as a result of an external pump? Thanks in advance!

Any thoughts on this? I got all the other steering parts in I need, but still am not sure what I'm going to do about the center link.