zcarnut

Nissan used the outer lever for the cruise control function and the inner one for the accelerator pedal function. The outer lever is positioned further away from the shaft than the inner one so the mechanical lever advantage is more. The cruise control is powered from a vacuum diaphragm so it may need the added leverage. I followed Nissan's method when I used the 240SX TB.

It appears to have both the throttle sensor (potentiometer) and the throttle switch:

It can be done, but Jon is right, it requires some forethought. I use a banjo fitting on the caliper end of my SS brake lines with my Toyota calipers but it required some machine shop work to create a smooth enough surface around the opening so the copper washer would seal. Normally this is a “as cast†surface and there is no guaranty that it will seal. The inner flare piece is easily removed by threading a sheet metal screw into it and then pulling it out.

I copied the below info from a web site that no longer exists. I did not copy the pictures. I cannot verify its accuracy but I think you will get a good idea of what the author did: 280ZX Rear Camber Adjustment Correcting your rear camber and rear toe (or just making it adjustable) is accomplished by slotting the bolt holes on the rear trailing arms pivot bushings. Essentially you duplicate the Z31 factory setup used on the inner bushings which allow adjustment. Basically you slot the inner pivot bolt holes for camber adjustment (slots run up/down) and the outer pivot bolt holes (slots run front to back) for toe adjustment. You will need _two_ pairs of the Z31 inner pivot bolts, pivot bushings and the off center washers. The Z31 bolts have a larger diameter than the 280ZX pivot bolts so you will also need to replace the 280ZX pivot bushings with the Z31 inner pivot bushings. You can do the slotting using a large round file with a coarse surface (bastard) or a die grinder with a 1/4" milling bit. You need to carefully lay out the slots using a machinist’s square up against the crossmember bushings mounting circles. If adding the adjustment is for the purpose of correcting an excess negative camber problem (tires tilted inward at the top) you make the inner slots in the direction shown only. If you don't have a camber problem and wish to be able to dial in more negative camber (for racing applications) you would file the slots in the opposite direction. Make the outer slots in the direction shown for toe in adjustment as toe out is never desired. When filing the slots you must maintain accuracy. Check the slot width often using the pivot bolt. Excess slop in the slot will cause alignment problems. Make the slots 1" long. Cut steel blocks out of 1/4" square bar stock, each about 3/4" long. To get a good fit the blocks may require a little grinding. Position the blocks using vice grips and weld the blocks on either side of the slots. The blocks should be positioned so that the off center washer just fits between them. Only weld the back and side surfaces, not the surface that the washer contacts. Make sure the welds are well burned in and with a large filet to provide support. When assembled turning the pivot bolt will force the pivot bolts to slide back and forth in the slot, changing the alignment. Tightening the pivot bolts nuts will secure the bolts preventing movement. I used 1.0" of negative camber and 1/8“ of toe-in.

Your problem is that during turn on the motor’s initial current surge is pulling down the supply voltage going to the ECM. This supply under voltage glitch can cause problems to the ECM even though the duration of the glitch may be very short (on the order of milliseconds). When a motor is first turned on its speed is zero and therefore the “back emf†it generates is zero and the only thing that limits the current is the parasitic resistance in the circuit wiring and the motor windings. Since the parasitic resistances are purposely kept small, the resultant current is much higher than it would be under normal running conditions. Wheelman is on the right track with isolation of the Taurus fan circuit. However the correct wiring procedure is to wire the fan directly from the battery positive terminal and return it’s ground wire directly to the negative battery post. In this manner you are isolating the “loop†of the fan motor circuit from the rest of the vehicle’s wiring. Always use a fused link in the positive lead for protection from a short circuit. In addition bundle the positive motor lead (the “send†lead) with the motor ground wire (the “return†lead) together to reduce the loop area of the fan motor circuit. This will reduce any EMI which can also cause ECM problems. Why use this wiring circuit? Well the battery is the lowest impedance point on the 12V power supply. In a basic circuits class you are taught that an ideal battery has infinite capacitance. In the real world the battery has a very high level of capacitance so it resists voltage changes across it including glitches. Twenty plus years of EE experience has shown me that most circuit interaction problems are a result of improper wiring and therefore can be repaired as such. Alternators by design cannot do anything to prevent glitches. Alternators put out current under control of the voltage regulator and because of the slow response of the feedback loop the glitch is long gone before the alternator sees it.

I’ll be happy to assist. What exactly do you want it to do? Can you supply me with a scan of the schematic?

Good luck getting any of the 280ZX rear camber kits from Specialty Products. After this thread ended last year I telephoned them and they informed me that they just had one kit left in stock with no plans of making any more. So I ordered it along with the installation tool and installed it on the inner rear pivots on a 280ZX I had lowered. However there is interaction between the camber and toe of the wheel during the alignment process. I was able to set the correct toe in but I had to accept one degree of negative camber. Afshin is correct. You really need two kits so you can compensate the adjustment of the inner pivots with some adjustment of the outer pivot points. Moving the inner pivot has more effect on the camber alignment whereas the outer pivot adjustment has more effect on toe. One problem with the kit is since you are replacing your pivot bushing with an offset bushing (and adjustment is accomplished by rotating the offset bushing) you cannot go back to the original starting point! If I ever do this again I plan on slotting the bushing holes on both inner and outer pivots and using the adjustable Z31 rear bushing bolts.

Yes, the engine needs to be at cylinder #1 TDC, but make sure it is on the compression stroke. To verify this just unscrew the oil filler cap on the valve cover and shine a flashlight on the camshaft. The intake and exhaust lobes for the #1 cylinder should be pointing up. If not, then rotate the engine clockwise 360 degrees until the timing marks line up. Remove the spark plug wires from the old distributor cap and remove the distributor, the oil pump and the oil pump drive shaft. Depending on the size of your front sway bar you may have to loosen one side of it for access to remove the pump. Try to keep the oil pump upright to prevent oil loss. If you spill any oil out of the pump be sure to refill it before bolting it back to the engine. This will allow the oil pressure to come up as soon as possible. After replacing the pump drive shaft with the turbo one and re-installing the pump and distributor per the diagram in the service manual, verify that the rotor is pointed towards the #1 position on the cap. All the L series distributor caps have raised line indicating #1 spark plug wire. Look for this. Then just connect the remaining plug wires per the firing order, 1-5-3-6-2-4, in a counter-clockwise manner looking down on the distributor cap.

240Z and 280ZX stub axle: 25 splines spline outside diameter = 25.8mm 280Z stub axle: 27 splines spline outside diameter = 27.8mm Z31 stub axle: 26 splines spline outside diameter = 27.5mm

Yes. But remember that the Z31 axles are longer than the 280ZX ones. This can result in the CV joints bottoming out during suspension travel. Increase. The Z31 stub axle flange where the wheel mounts is thicker than the S30 one.

No. I just removed the spring and damper (and lower control arm, of course). My machinist had a large enough lathe to accommodate rotating the stub axle housing with the strut tube attached.

Here’s what I did to fit the Z31 stub axle into an S30 strut housing: After a futile search for bearings that would work without machine work, I bored the strut housing where the bearings fit out from 70.0 to 72.0mm. My machinist was able to do this on a lathe to ensure a precise cut. I used a 6306 type bearing (ID = 30mm,OD = 72mm,T = 19mm) for the inner bearing and a type 6207 (ID = 35mm,OD = 72mm,T = 17mm) for the outer bearing. You can also use the stock Z31 outer bearing (same as a 6207) if you want to. Be sure to use sealed bearings especially on the outer one. For the inner bearing oil seal I obtained a CR 15857 seal (40mm x 72mm x7mm) which worked very nicely. I reused the S30 bearing spacer after it was modified by increasing the inside diameter so it could fit on the tapered Z31 stub axle. Another option is to reduce the height of the Z31 bearing spacer to match the S30 one. I used the Z31 non turbo companion flange along with the 280ZX turbo CV axles to complete the swap. I measured 3.0 mm difference after everything was re-assembled. I just shimmed the Maxima rear caliper bracket (I intended to use) out with washers and everything lined up OK. BTW, Nissan beefed up the rear strut housing on the 260Z and the 280Z. These would be a better choice for modification rather than the 240Z one.

After years of chasing oil leaks I wised up and purchased one of the UV leak detection kits: UV Leak Detection Kit Works great and no more guessing where the source of the leak is.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=95230

Small world....I also have a 1993 V6 King Cab Nissan Hardbody Truck with a five speed! 150K miles and it still runs like new. Anyway, it sounds like you have some carbon build up in the throttle body which is preventing the throttle blade from closing completely. Common problem with high mileage VG30 engines. The proper repair procedure is to remove the throttle body and clean it with some carbon solvent (I use lacquer thinner). However, a quick fix is to remove just the rubber boot between the throttle body and the mass air flow sensor and spray some carb cleaner into the throttle body while working the accelerator linkage. It also a good idea to remove and clean out the Idle Control Valve that is bolted to the intake manifold. It can cause similar problems.

A problem with trying to use the 1987 Z31 rear caliper on an early Z car is the parking brake operation. On a Z31 the direction of pull of the parking brake lever on the caliper is to the front of the car. When the right and left side calipers are reversed (i.e., left caliper is used on the right side and vice versa) so they can be used on a 1970-78 Z car, the direction of pull of the parking brake lever on the caliper is now to the rear of the car. This is difficult to make operational. The [custom] parking brake cables have to be routed so they pass under the fuel tank and curve back to the caliper avoiding the strut tubes and the exhaust pipes. I spent some time trying to make this work but I eventually gave up. I would recommend using another rear caliper that can handle a vented rotor. However, there not a lot of junkyard choices. The late 1980's Mazda RX7 had vented rear discs and rear caliper has the parking brake lever angled in a more usable direction. It is also made of lightweight aluminum. The bolt spacing of this caliper is much wider than the Nissan units so you would have to fabricate a bracket to position these calipers. The Nissan Z32 and the Toyota Supra also had vented rear discs, but used the “drum in hat†concept for the parking brake, which is a much better way to handle the parking brake but would require a lot of modification to the early Z car rear strut. There are a more choices when it comes to finding a suitable vented rear rotor. Some front rotors from other Nissans, Toyotas and Subarus will fit. There is no reason to go to 5-lugs (unless you just want to) just to use a rear vented rotor. The front rotor from a 1985-88 Maxima (which is what I used in my experiments) will fit the rear hub of the early Z car with just some minor grinding.

For radiator dimensions I like to use: http://webbase.transpro.com/radcat/

Have you used the The Z Barn before? Roger ships parts to Europe all the time: The Z Barn

Why not use the 5 lug Z31 stub axles? They fit your 280ZX rear suspension arm with no mods needed. Is the bolt pattern of the Z31 different than the BMW?

I got a set of these from TRW and another set from my Nissan dealer within the past year.

The early [1970-73] and later [1974-78] racks are interchangeable provided you swap the corresponding rack bushings. The later front crossmember has two additional gussets for improved strength but otherwise they will also interchange.

One difference I will point out that is that the alternator of the 1978 280Z is internally regulated whereas the 1977 has a external voltage regulator. Because of this there are minor wiring harness changes. So, in other words, the alternators will _not_ swap.

The 280ZX stub axle (NA and turbo are the same) has 25 splines like the 240Z stub axle but the diameter of the 280ZX stub axle is actually smaller (30mm vs. 32mm) than the first generation 1970-78 Z cars. I think Nissan decreased the diameter of the 280ZX axle because they went to a larger (increased outside diameter) outer bearing for the 280ZX. In order to use a “standard dimensioned†bearing Nissan decreased the diameter of the stub axle. The smaller diameter of the stub axle would not allow using 27 splines so they went back to 25. BTW, Nissan basically copied the Datsun 810 stub axle design for the 280ZX which had been in use since 1977.