Jehannum

Sometimes the ugly repairs are the best. FWIW, except for the cold solder joints, that's how I'd have repaired it. Make sure you cover up the new joints in electrical tape, so you don't ground your board out on the case.

I'll defer to the old wisdom: an E-Z out is a tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit. If it's snapped off below the surface of the head, I'd take it to a shop. If it's broken off above, I'd consider welding a nut on before taking that (now bigger) mess to the shop.

And they're probably soaked in ATF from the leaky high-pressure power steering line.

Stop trying to bolt your exhaust manifold to the block. It attaches to the head. Also: take it to a machine shop, they'll be able to get it out no problem.

Just a few minutes ago, I got off the phone with State Farm, they've come to the conclusion that my car is worth $15,150 (split the difference between the "average" ($10.8k) and "high" ($19k) values at NADA), which is almost right where I figured it on my own. By state law in New Mexico, for a car to be declared a total loss, the cost to repair must exceed the worth of the vehicle less its value as salvage ($2100), so anything north of $13,050 is going to be "total" area. To that end, I've got 4 options: 1) settle for their original estimate ($7500) 2) have a new estimate drafted to include aftermarket parts 3) settle for a total loss (they keep the car) for $15,647.92 to me 4) settle for a total loss (I keep the car) for $13,547.92 to me I won't do 3 (I want to keep the car), and 4 looks problematic for obtaining insurance afterward, so I've given them permission to redo the estimate using aftermarket parts, and sent them the estimates I got last week (between $8 and $10k). Hell, I'm going to take it to one of the two places that I got estimates from anyhow, so I'm not sure what the back-and-forth will be for anyhow. Things are looking up on that front, at least.

Your distributor is grounded to the block...

Thanks, Eric. I've put it out of my mind until Monday. I've got an appraiser coming out (on my dime) to put a dollar sign on the car, and then I'll be in a better position to tell State Farm what I want to do with it. I took the car over to Crown and Loid's today (just had to take the lower valance off, and it drives straight, no tire rubbing. This weekend, I'm going to finish getting my Z32's engine torn down so it can go to machine shop jail on Monday afternoon.

The estimator came this morning, and informed me that State Farm has a policy of only using OEM replacement parts. That's just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ great - where am I going to find a stash of OEM body panels for a 240Z?

Missy, Bring it to the tech session on Saturday. Nelson has more experience than just about anyone else in Albuquerque with the 280ZX. He ought to be able to help you.

I would love to have Hagerty, but I have no garage, so it's a no-go for me.

This is exactly the advice I need. Thank you! Along those lines, I printed up the ads for 240Zs from autotrader classic, as well as the NADA classic value (I firmly believe that I'm somewhere between "average" and "high" in the terms they describe the cars - "average" is a 20 footer, and mine was easily a 10 footer). I'm also bringing to the table the receipts for ~$1200 I spent in March on a new suspension. Are there any other resources I can bring to the table, other than hiring a lawyer? Do you (or anyone) have any suggestions for a repair shop in Albuquerque? I was kind of leaning towards a local hotrod shop called Loid's Rides, as they have experience actually shaping and repairing metal, as opposed to just cutting and welding new panels in. My other sort of "tier 1" choices are Crown Coachworks and Bodyworks by R&C.

Which transistor are you talking about? Yes, you need the ballast resistor. If you run points without the resistor, your coil will overheat.

For ECCS cars, that usually means that the ECU isn't receiving signal from the MAS.

Saturday morning, I was in with my study group at UNM, parked out on the street. I was going to take it over and get it detailed for the car show this Sunday (May 17th), but a Mr. Steele decided that he would take that day to drive while high on pain medications (apparently Mr. Steele is a burn victim, with significantly impaired mobility due to his injuries). He took the mirror off of an F-150 two cars back from me, plowed full on into the station wagon behind me (which belonged to my friend Nate, who was up in group with me), and pushed Nate's 240 Volvo wagon up into the back of my car, and my car up into the Subaru station wagon ahead of the both of us. Where originally, there were three cars, taking three parking spaces, there were now three cars taking two parking spaces. I came out of my study session feeling pretty good about the whole thing, until I saw the cars. I am so *not* looking forward to State Farm trying to low-ball me on the car. I know my insurance will cover what they don't, but it's a headache that I know is inevitable. The car is still straight - it drives straight, and the only bends in the front look like they're ahead of the radiator support. So, what am I looking at here? New shell time, or can this one be saved?

I used the Twin Turbo plenum pull howto to great success last time. On the bright side, you can yoink the water lines under the plenum, and remove the charcoal canister, EGR, and PRVR stuff this time, which makes the plenum pull about an hour's work the next time. Tip: buy yourself a set of stubby metric wrenches. That's the only way I could get the EGR bolts out of the plenum. Make sure you hold onto them, as I lost my 10mm on the last one, and never saw it again. Oh, and repeat this mantra: hands of a child, arms of a woman, strength of a gorilla

I'm undressing my VG30DETT this weekend, so I'll measure if nobody else speaks up.

You've got 3 options here: 1) 300 Degree fuel rails, a whole-cloth replacement for your stock fuel rails 2) a Deatschwerks adapter setup 3) Get your lower plenum machined for new-style fuel rails, and swap those over from a '95+. The advantage to number 1 is that you can replumb the system to be dual feed and avoid starving cylinder 6. The advantage to number 2 is that it's a lot cheaper. The first two have been created to avoid having to do number 3. Either way you go, you'll have to splice new connectors onto your harness.

When you bleed out the bottom, is it all foamy? That was my symptom.

I had an issue quite like that with my Z32, and it turned out to be the rubber line to the slave. It was ballooning under pressure, and took 3 maybe 4 pumps to get the clutch working after. I replaced it with a braided steel line, and it's been fine ever since (though my 4th gear synchro is now worse for the wear).

No objection there, but you don't think it's the least bit disingenuous to quote a Nissan FSM that says no such thing?

...the Z32 FSM has relatively decent instructions on head removal that *doesn't* involve removal of the engine.

Saw this same thing on another Z31, and it turned out to be the coolant pipe to the heater underneath the intake manifold and plenum. Get a paper towel under the joint at the back (the joint is right above where the transmission and the block mate), and let it sit for a day or so. If your leak is from there, it will get the towel.

What does your program say you're shooting for in those RPM ranges, with regards to AFR? You shouldn't have to bother with any of that hootenanny, since the table in the ECU is set up with desired AFRs based on TPS and RPM.

Your turbo is internally wastegated, so it won't fart, pop, or hiss.

You can set timing by loosening and twisting the CAS, but stock it should be 15 +- 2 degrees BTDC. As for rough idle, there are a billion and five causes for the VG30DETT. I'd start by spraying some PB blaster down the air intake side of the AICV (it's acutally a preventative maintenance thing that I do about once a year). If the car is really falling flat above 5000RPMs, I'd start to suspect vacuum issues (which can cause a rough or hunting idle, as well). My Z32 starts at around 1500RPM, and then settles down nicely to 750, and is rock solid.