EverRude

Figured out the wires I mentioned below the fusible link box. The alternator. It's not installed. Don't know how I didn't notice. Is the alt on the 81 280zx the same as the 75 280z?

Yeah it's been sitting in a field for awhile. Not sure how long. Not sure I'd trust the previous owner telling me had I asked. It's a 1975 280z. It had a ton of wasp nests and most of the rust is surface. Only a few holes Thanks for the responses so far guys. Seems no magic bullet for the fuel problem unless that missing fusible link box is the issue. Possibly removed? Would the 81 280 ZX Turbo I got with this car have that part I could steal? It's raining now so I'll get more pictures posted after. Maybe something else will be it. Meanwhile I'll be going out to replace my multimeter. Darn thing won't work in continuity mode. BTW the Nissan L6 forums has exterior pictures of this car and the ZX Turbo I got with it. No sure about the rules about posting a link to another forum here so I won't. Just letting you know it exists if you curious what this car looks like aside from the wiring.

Well if those are the EGR solenoid wires it explains why they are disconnected. Notice below my hand in that picture the EGR valve has been removed and a block-off plate installed. Anyone happen to have a picture of the second fusible link box I should have?

Cars are home. I'll post the interior and rust pics later. Having trouble with the 75 now. Tried to start both cars. Neither will crank but the 75 tries with starter fluid. So I'm troubleshooting a fuel problem now. Posted in the troubleshooting section. Some pictures there but not what you're looking for. I could use help though. Before I bother trying to crank the ZX I'll see if the Z really has the "bottom end knock" the guy claimed it has. I do want to swap motors but I just need to know for sure it's required. I'll just strip the ZX and do the swap later if the Z with run and drive as is. Thanks for all the advice and oppinions so far. Very much appreciated.

I've got no power to the fuel pump. Nothin in the "start" or "on" (with AFR opened) positions. I jumped the pump to a 12 volt source and it works. Now before we get into the troubleshooting stuff with the air temp sensor or thermodyne or tempeture sensor..etc. Please keep in mind this car has been setting a long time but not before it's electrical system was hacked for whatever reason. A modern stereo was installed that doesn't have power. Lots of splices in the steering column and under dash. Several strange things under the hood. Heck, every single guage bulb socket was removed the the guages and are just hanging loose behind the cluster. No instruments work when key is switched on. It's a mess. But the stuff that currently worries me is the disconnected wiring. I took pictures of several wires that are just loose. The 2 that stump me the most are at the ECU connector and I'm wondering if they are my fuel problem. I just don't know where any of these wires hook up. I can't find what they are supposed to connect too. So please if you know, post. I think my eyes are bleeding trying to find these wires on schematics. See the 2 white wires with female bullet connectors. They coming from the ECU plug. Where do they connect? Or did someone mod the harness for something? This shows the passenger side fusible links. Below there is a burned out ground wire and 2 unconnected wires. No idea where they connected before. I'll take a better picture of those later. Just realized they didn't really show well in the mess. The 2 wires come from a 4 wire bundle leading to a junction block below the coil. Shouldn't the be hooked up to something? The are solid red and solid green. This shows a wire coming from the ballast mounted above the coil. Again what was it connected too? Thanks in advanced. I know if I looked harder I might find some of this stuff in some harness schematic. I've looked at the body, EFI, engine harness, and dash schematics. I'm sure they are there somewhere .... I'll keep looking.

Guys I appreciate your responses. I probably should have done this post in the Body Specific section and just post the motor swap questions here. If a mod wants to move it I understand. Oh believe me. I'd love to keep both cars. I wouldn't hesitate to fix them both. However a few things stopping that. I'm in the middle of a 1970 Mustang Fastback restoration. The car is on a rotisserie now. That is getting all the money and most of the time right now and rightly so. It cost more and it's worth more. A larger investment I need to finish so I can drive it or sell it. The ZX has rust issues. Mostly in the front cowl areas. The lower channel of the windshield is rusting through badly. Some fender and quarter rust but it's the cowl that sucks the most. Also the interior is shredded and missing alot of parts. It's a parts car with racecar potential. Lastly in the interest of family harmony I cannot leave that extra car anywhere. I have to strip it and get rid of it immediately. It is a shame because it has a clean title. I may post it on craigslist and/or here once I have what I need from it. I'm sure someone would want a 81 Turbo ZX T-Top body. So back to the topic at hand. I found a few nice writeups about the swap. L28E to L28ET so that seems fairly straight forward. The flywheel / clutch worries me the most. I read that there's a spacer I'll need to remove from the automatic motor prior to installing the flywheel / clutch. I'm not sure what this looks like or where exactly it is but hoping it'll be obvious once I have everything apart. Also from what I'm reading the Turbo ZX's had a larger clutch / flywheel that the N/A's. I'm assuming I can drive the car with the smaller N/A setup for now. Ofcourse since I don't even know what the 5 speed currently in the 280z is from it's all up in the air. Maybe I'll get lucky and it's a former turbo or 2+2 setup. Hmmmm. Not alot of engine specific questions even in this post. I really shoulda posted this on body specific. And search more than I did prior to posting. Sorry. Still thanks for all the info and and suggestions so far. Ray

Been searching here and on the net. Some nice write ups via Google for some guys have done a simular swap as well. I just haven't seen a mention about the balance issue. Probably because there isn't one. Please keep in mind I've always run V8's. Ford V8's. Just want to make sure I can simply swap the flexplate/clutch assembly from the L28E and bolt to the L28ET without worrying about balance.(assuming I'm right about the engine numbers I used). Otherwise it appears to be a simple swap. If I stay NA. Swapping with the turbo adds the ECU and complete air intake and some of the exhuast systems. And possible fuel pumps. Can the Z's fuel system handle the Turbo motor? Can the turbo motor run NA without a head and cam swap to raise compression and adjust timing curve? I need this thing to be a driver as fast as possible. I can worry about making it a performer later. I'll keep searching here and there but any info will be helpful. Wife is already barking. She'll calm down when the Z is running and the ZX is out of the yard. Thanks in advance. Oh and, noted on the spoiler

Long story short. I've always wanted a Z. 240 was preferable but hard to come by around here not costing alot or too rusted to bother with. I recently sold my "beater" 87 Fiero GT and thought it was time to see about a Z. I got lucky. Just a few miles away a guy had 2 sitting near the road. No for sale sign or anything but I stopped to ask. He said he was selling them and had planned to put out an Ad next week. I took a look. Eh. A bit rusty and beat but not totally shot. Mostly all there and mostly all original. Two Z's. 1975 with a 5 speed from somewhere. And a 1981 Turbo automatic. Both rough repairable. I ended up buying them both for $650. The 75 has a bottom end knock. But the owner claimed the 81 had a smooth running motor he drove till a full pump shut it down. It certainly was clean. My intention is to swap the 81 motor into the 75. Also I plan to swap wheels and tires from 81 to 75. Rearend maybe too? My questions are. How difficult is it to dothe motor swap with the Turbo compared to without the turbo? Is the automatic motor to manual car going to add any problems? Like balance issues with flywheels / dampers... whatnot. Oh and here's some pics. More to come when I actually get the cars home. It was about to start raining and I needed to get home before the wife caught me

Hi all. Been lurking here for awhile. I want to purchase a 70-78 Z. I'm not fond of the ZX's. There are 2 within 20 miles of my place currently for sell. A 260z with rusted floors but everything just about it solid (rails, battery, tirewell, fenders, rockers...etc) Just 2 big holes in the floors. Runs but needs some serious tuning. Haven't driven it yet but would before purchase. It's got it's original L26(?) and smog carbs. It's an automatic (much rather have the 4 speed) Been repainted atleast once. Originaly blue now a burgandy. I can't find bondo in the usual places. Window channels seem solid but the seals have gaps so it won't be too long for they do rust through. The windshield has a large crack. I haven't seen a windshield for sale as a repro. Are these available? Anyways the guys is asking $1250. The lowest he would go so far is $1k. I'm betting I could take it with $850 to 900 cash if I had it in hand when I spoke to him next. The second car is is a 77/78 280z. Not sure which. It's a 5 speed and I'm assuming all original. Gold with white interior. Rusty is understating it. Rusted floors, rockers, quarters, doors. I mean rusted through not just surface rust. This car has cancer. I haven't spoken with the owner myself but I've been told $1500 is his price. That's nuts. I betting noone would buy the 280z considering it's condition. But the old ball status of the 260 with it's automatic makes me want to look longer and harder. However given my current choices the 260 seems like a steal. I've seen higher prices and non running rusted cars online. I know sometimes guys here find good car for low prices but is this atleast average? I know a salvage yard with several wrecked 280zx's. I'm thinking of transferring the entire driveline (motor, tranny, and rear) into the 260 body. I'm betting I can get one of those cars for $600 or so. So potentially I could have a 260 with patched floors, L28, 5 speed, and r200 for something like $2k roughed out. Sounds ok to me. Just realized during my "research" prior to buying phase that the 260 had dual Weber DGV's. Better than the smog carbs I guess. I want a driver car I can occasionally cone race at local events. Any advice?