AkumaNoZeta

May I ask what you used to strip off all the paint? I need to strip my down to bare metal, I don't trust ANY of the previous owner's work because of how many cracks are in the paint.

I think if that happened to me I would pull the engine again to see if it still turns outside the car and if it does I would than pull out the transmission too and mate them together outside the car to see if it turns because if it doesn't then it would be easier to find the bind with the parts out of the car. That's just me though.

So what's the car look like with the hood open?

Well, I got all the correct parts for my car now and I got the timing close enough to run and drive easily but the timing isn't perfect so I looked all around the pulley and couldn't find the notch that's supposed to be lined up with the pointer. So I sanded all the way around it thinking maybe it got filled with the paint that's on the pulley and still nothing... What do you do if there's no notch on the pulley? Where did the notch go?

I have am E12-80 280ZX distributor on my car but the distributor I got didn't come with the base so I just stuck it on the one from the Z so I can't lock down my timing, so if any one has one, I need it. I'm also looking for a voltmeter/fuel gauge from a 280Z.

I would just get the MSA Type 1. I don't like how that one just bolts to the lower part of the car unlike the MSA where it bolts under the bumper.

I played with the timing. Advancing it allowed me to get it down to about 1500 but wouldn't go down anymore. Idle adjust screw all the way up (not pushing on throttle), idle mixture screws 1 turn out. It won't start up with the timing advanced that far though so I have to retard it back in order to start it. I had the vacuum on the distributor off, but then I tried manifold vacuum and port. None of that seemed to make a difference. I'm new to working on something this old so it's all new to me.

Well, the car starts now but at a high RPM. My tachometer doesn't work but I would have to guess about 3000-3500 RPM and if I let it sit for a couple seconds it just gets higher. The bowls fill and are set right now, I started with the idle mixture screws 1.5 turns out but closed them up to .5 turns out and it still doesn't it. Still does it with the fuel pump unplugged too. Could this be timing related?

I don't know what the fuel pressure is because it's the factory fuel pump and I don't have a gauge or anything. I figured if the secondary bowl fills right with no problems, the primary one should too. I guess I'll just have to take it off and see if there's anything visibly wrong on the inside of it. When I checked for spark I used one of those spark testers you clip to ground and it has an adjustable gap by screwing the part in and out. I had a blue spark jumping about 3/8" on all 6 cylinders.

I rewired my 260Z similar to that of a 240Z to get rid of the safety and emissions wiring. Running an Arizona Z intake with 390 Holley, 280ZX distributor, and 280ZX alternator. I have plenty of spark (before the re-wire I had none) and when I go to start it, all it does is crank. If I pour gas into the primaries then it would try to start, I'll get some popping, but it just doesn't start. Electric fuel pump works. The needle valve on the secondary side is set at the right height but I can't seem to get the primary side high enough to get that trickle of fuel to come from the hole on the bowl. I have the needle valve adjustment thing on the top of the bowl out as far as it will go and it's still not coming out. It's a brand new carb too, not a used one or anything. Anybody have any ideas? Should I try to return the carburetor to Summit and have them replace it with another?

I've seen other set-ups where they did that with the sway bar in one of my suspension books, there wasn't any mention of any downsides.

Here's the forum that I got it from and the links to other articles are in it. http://eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=83185 BTW, it's not like I'm looking into it as a design for my car I just love spending my free time looking up stuff like this.

I came across that from eng-tips.com where the inventor was answering questions about the design. On a Ford Expedition it reduced the roll from 32* to 15* and eliminates the roll bar completely. He also said that he was able to get both tires to camber into the corner which increased the turn-in ability. I also read that his first design the roll center was at the COG height but since it didn't roll at all it inspired too much driver confidence and was a safety hazard in that concern.

I came across this yesterday while doing more research on designing suspensions and I thought I would share, http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument;jsessionid=13C6C64008D11983666AE283DDF3C382.espacenet_levelx_prod_6?CC=US&NR=2003067135A1&KC=A1&FT=D&date=20030410&DB=&locale= Enjoy.

If you wanted to go that far, why even get a Porshe transaxle? Just plug up the output shaft of the Subaru's one and use the front diff to run the rear tires.

What gauge sheet metal should I use for the rocker patches?

Oh, I know how much damage there is. I was thinking lately to just get some 3"X3"x0.120" square tubing to run from the front to back. Have it 3X3 from the crossmember in the rear where everybody usually ties their subframe connectors to, to the front seat mount and then just for the extra foot room cut it down to 2X3 going from the front of the front seat mount to the rest of the front frame so it would still be sticking up about an inch over the floor. Then if the sheet metal that's in there now as floors is of good enough thickness (I want to use 16 gauge, maybe 18) I'll re-use it but actually weld it in properly. I haven't worked on my car since Thursday because I've been helping one friend with his 80' Z28 and my other friend with his 77' F100.

I'm a pretty decent welder so chassis work doesn't scare me. I guess I could just make patches for the rockers but I kinda wanted to overkill it. The previous owner didn't weld in the floors or anything and he cut off the frame rails for some reason. At least next time I get a car I won't be as naive anymore, learn from mistakes. The car never really has been driven, even by the previous owner, so the body isn't twisted or anything. I just drove it to my house and then had some wiring problems, a couple of them were chew through. I love the interior though, it's all there and every bit looks brand new. So should I first patch up the rocker, then put up some Bad Dogs, and then lay a new floor on top of it?

I've seen people strap to control arms, but I don't know if that's recommended. In fact on our cars that may damage the gas tank and roll pan.

I just had my 260Z towed to my garage so I can work on it hardcore. I stripped everything and pulled out the entire harness to go through it all and I took a closer looks at the body since I have the time and realized how bad I got ripped off on the car (I was young and still am, impatient to get a Z, first car purchase ever, and had $10,000 in my pocket so a couple thousand didn't seem like much to me back then). Long story short I need new frame rails, floors, and rocker panels. Everything else on the car is in great shape and looks mint (which is why I jumped on the car in the first place). The pictures are below. I'm thinking of getting the Bad Dog frame rails with the inner and outer rockers from Black Dragon, and I have to see where I can get floors. I was even going to get the Bad Dog seat frames as well to complete it but I don't know what order to replace them in to regain structure and not tweak the body. First, what it looks like on the outside. Now the ugly bits.

Nevermind, I had a brain fart when I was thinking about this and didn't notice that it was the ballast resistor. Mods can feel free to delete this and save some bandwith.

I'm re-doing all the wiring in my 260Z (early) and instead of just bypassing the seatbelt interlock I just removed it completely and re-wiring the starter and ignition like it is in a 240Z using a 280ZX distributor. From comparing the diagrams in order to do that I need to splice together the BW and BL wires at the ignition switch with a resistor (that would be the same as the BW and GL on the 240Z ignition). How important is that resistor and how big it is? The closest Radio Shack is like 20 minutes away and I would have to call my sister to take me there so if it's not needed I would just like to save the hassle. I was just about to splice them without a resistor until the thought entered my head "What if that resister keeps it so the starter doesn't keep running after the key is switched to run?" so I came here to ask before I f-something up.

Funny story about that, my 260 came with both 240Z and 280Z turn signals, had a 280 grill, and the big 280 front bumper with no rear bumper. It confused me for a long time, I didn't know if it was an early or late 260Z. But I ran the VIN number and found out it's early. The previous owner shaved the indents for the rear bumper the improper way by just filling it with bond-o which isn't that much of an issue because I need those indents to run the thin bumpers don't I?

What's this? Is it valve-less? Looks very interesting.

You know what sucks? 2.5 years ago I bought the Logitech G25 and GTR2 for my computer and after getting everything installed and stuff, I learned that my computer sucks so bad that with the graphics all the way down and closing all processes that aren't needed it was still jumpy. So now that stuff is just stored away in the closet until I get something better, but with putting all my money in the car I don't think I'll ever get a better computer. Bummer, but oh well.