cgsheen

Yup, that's them. You can probably also find them at MSA ("theZstore.com"), Black Dragon, & etc.

The stock L28ET will idle at ~1000RPM if you've disabled or removed the AAC. Without the AAC operating it's running slightly rich. The ECU applies vacuum to the AAC (through the VCM, which is just a couple of vacuum solenoid valves that control vacuum to the AAC and the EGR valves) at idle to admit a little more "bypass" air which balances the AFR and should pull your RPM down to ~750. There is no idle speed ajustment or adjustment screw on the stock L28ET. The ECU controls idle speed. The ECU controls spark advance and initial timing at idle should be ~20 degrees BTDC. As stated above, that's normally about center of the adjustment range of the distributor...

Ya, I pulled the socket off the back of the IGN Switch, cut the Start Signal wire (left the existing wire in place in the harness) used a solder type butt connector to attach a new wire (didn't want a crimp connection again) - heat shrink to cover the connection, then ran the new wire under the dash - out the grommet on the passenger firewall - along the existing harness to the starter, (cut the existing start signal wire as it came out of the loom and pitched it) - reused protective sleeve from original wire - new female spade connector to attach to the starter solenoid - re-taped as much of the harness as I could to cover/protect the new wiring. You'll have to search for the info on adding a lower voltage starter solenoid/relay... Made Famous by TonyD, I read it long ago, but chose to replace the single wire rather than adding & wiring up a new relay.

Besides throwing out the starter gear, the solenoid also has a "switch" that is supposed to pass full battery voltage to the starter motor when the solenoid is engaged. So it's important to test it as it is meant to be used: +12V to the solenoid terminal, Ground the case, apply +12V ("signal") to the spade on the solenoid to engage and spin the motor... In the old days we used an old screw driver and jumped the solenoid to kick the starter over - there are more elegant ways to do that. If the starter tests fine, you may be overlooking the famous "starter click" problem of early Z's. It can be due to the condition of the wire that runs between the ignition switch and the starter solenoid. There are a couple of solutions: Completely replace that wire, or install a lower voltage soleniod (relay) as described in many other posts in these Forums. I had the intermitant "click - no start" in my 260. I abandoned the existing start wire from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid, ran a completely new wire, and haven't had the problem since.

Very common problem, and if you search, there's quite a bit of info on the latching mechanism, striker plate, adjusting for fitment, and etc. Seems everyone has this problem at some time. Besides all the other things that could be causing the door not to close completely, here's another tip: clean and lubricate the latching mechanism on the door - make sure it turns freely. (Just a week ago my Son was SLAMMING his 280Z driver door to get it latched all the way (usually it didn't - only went to the "first click" sort of like yours - or just bounced back open) I checked it to make sure the plastic cover piece I installed years ago was still on the lobe of the latch, then I just cleaned it up, lubed the heck out of it, cleaned it up again checking all through the process that it rotated freely. The door closed completely on the first try and hasn't had to be slammed since.)

Did you remove the bleeder valve and poke something in the hole to make sure it wasn't clogged there? Happens occasionally...

You're running the ECU powered ON at all times? You bypassed the electric fuel pump safetys?? Your '76 already had an EFI L28 - there should be little difference between it and the L28E in the ZX. Seriously, your Z already had an EFI Relay - use it to power the ECU at IGN ON as it should be. It also has (or had) safetys to shut down the electric fuel pump in the event of an accident - always a good thing to NOT have gasoline pumping out of the tank if a car gets mangled... +1 on getting the FSM(s) and learning all about these engines. I think you may be making this swap more difficult than it needs to be...

Nope, they changed the blower in the ZX... It's bigger and turns the opposite direction. Which is probably a good thing thing for him - almost every other car maker uses a fan that rotates the same way the ZX blower does. Now, to find one that fits and blows harder... (When searching for a blower for my S30, I looked at every import in the junkyard - the only ones I found that were similar in rotation to the stock Z fan were the afore mentioned Civic (of which I thought the squirrel cage was too small) and a few Kia models. I pulled my newish blower out of a Kia SUV...)

The screen is a secondary protection for the expansion valve. That's why it's mounted where it is - on the liquid (high pressure) line just before the evaporator (just before the expansion valve). The screen is sized so that whatever will go through it will also pass through the expansion valve. If your new evap has an expansion valve with it's own filter, you don't need to worry about the original screen except as a seal for the flare connector. Won't hurt to have the stock screen in place, but won't be totally necessary with the new evap.

Gallons? It's a Z, not a battleship... (Sorry, had to be a smart-ass for a minute) This really depends on a few factors: Whether you're shooting single stage or 2-stage, the quality of paint you're buying (some have a very high solids count and cover very well, some don't and could require more coats), perhaps how the paint reduces, and whether you're doing jambs, and/or engine bay. We shot my sons 280 with a very dark gray metallic, 2-stage, Sherman Williams B6 (which is a fairly "heavy" base paint) and he initially bought a half-gallon. He didn't plan on painting the hood (he likes it black) - and didn't have to re-shoot anything major. That was enough for everything including jambs and under cowl but not the engine bay or the front valence pieces. Probably would have taken him just under 3/4 gallon of base coat to do everything but the engine bay. Probably the same amount of clear.

Two-pin Bosch connector - you'll find them in every early fuel-injected automobile. They're also used on many other components - not just injectors - and on much newer cars. You'll find them on a KA24 (Altima, 240SX) - any Nissan engine that has an "air bypass valve" (which is nearly all of them - the KA24DE, and RB20 in the back of our shop have one that looks identical to the one on the L28E(T)).

I doubt just compound will take almost 40 years worth of scratches out of most paints... White is fairly good at hiding that kind of thing until you really clean it up and look closely. (BTW, compound is also "scratching" the paint - but if you do the whole process right, it's supposed to be fine enough that you don't really notice...) Meguairs Ultimate Polish on a random orbit polisher might help take out some of the swirls. Then a good coat of their Carnuba or Tech Wax... You can also try buffing it again, but I'll bet you're going to have to wet sand with a good 2000 grit (if you want it really smooth), then buff again with compound (and maybe polish) - I just don't know that there's enough paint left on the car to do that.

Sounds like you've got the coil and ignitor wired correctly. From the ignitor, Black/white goes to + on the coil, Blue goes to - ... There's a second blue that runs off the - pole on the coil and runs to the Tach through the Tach Resistor. (Blue is of course the pulse that's supposed to fire the coil) Black/white to the ignitor is power and Yellow/white is the trigger from the ECU. The ECU controls the spark. It uses the CAS info to determine when to fire the coil. The ignitor is a transistor "amplifier" - it turns (amplifies) the signal from the ECU into something that will cause the coil to fire... I don't know if there's anything in the FSM about how to check the ignitor. It does give the resistance values for the primary and secondary windings of the coil. But it sounds like you should be checking the output of the ignitor (Blue wire) rather than the Yellow/white that is the trigger... The green LED on the ECU is operating correctly. It lights when the IGN is switched to ON, and goes out during cranking or at startup. It won't come on again generally until the engine is warm enough (CHTS over 140 degrees I believe) for the ECU to consider running "closed loop" - then it signals a "Rich" condition being reported by the O2 Sensor. I think I'd double check the dizzy and the CAS signal / wiring and connectors. Actually, wiring and connectors are some of the biggest problem areas for these engines... Check and clean them all.

2000 is pretty fine (that's why we use it last)... Even on a small piece, it could take some time to remove enough clear to make a difference. But - can't hurt - try it with 2000 first if you want. I think you'll find the 1500 first, then 2000 to finish will be the better way to go. Both are very fine grits.

Then of course you're going to buff it out to a high gloss with a good compound and orbital buffer... In the shop, it'd just be easier on a small part to sand it down and re-shoot it (assuming there was no plan in the first place to wet sand and buff the piece).

A little more information might be helpful... If you're talking about installing an L28ET ECCS engine into a Z that had an L28E EFI engine: You won't use any part of the stock harness for the L28ET. If you don't need or want it otherwise, if no one else needs or wants it otherwise, do whatever you want to it. Won't affect the swap... I don't remember it being that difficult to remove the EFI engine harness. We still have the EFI harness from my Son's '76 280Z completely intact. We turbo swapped his 4 1/2 years ago. Still have never found a use for the harness, but there it is...

The early 260 has an ammeter, not a volt meter with charge lamp. It has a shunt like the 240's to drive the ammeter.

Thanks for the Syncromesh tip! It eliminated the slight grind from 2nd to 3rd in my 5 speed. I've also gotten back the ability to downshift 4th to 3rd and 3rd to 2nd. Shifts like a different transmission now. I can put off a rebuild for a while.

I've pulled spindle pins (both sides) 4 times now in two different cars. Mine were installed with anti-seize and they didn't come out that easily a few years later (when I changed the control arm bushings)... The only time they ever came out that easily was when I had already taken them out, cleaned them up, reapplied anti-seize, and just put them back in - THEN they came back out with a few taps. Of course I never used a steel hammer, single jack, or sledge on the bare threaded end of a spindle either. That's not to say I didn't hit them, I've just never been a fan of destroying the end of anything threaded if I didn't have to. Lug nuts are the same size and thread as the ends of the spindle and you can use them in a few different ways. I used a punch to drift the pins out and a lug nut or two to save the threads and end of the spindle. I also found if you can make the spindle spin, you can usually make it drift... Using a impact wrench on the lug nuts installed on one or both ends of the spindle can usually get the spindle turning. Once it starts turning, you have a better chance of punching it out. A time or two, my Son needed to pound on one end of the spindle with the punch while I was applying the impact wrench and turning the spindle on the other end.

Why wonder? It's easy to disconnect fuel tubing to the carbs - get a longer piece of tubing if you need to - run it into a can, gas can, bottle, whatever - crank the engine and verify the mechanical fuel pump is actually delivering fuel to the carbs... (you can trace this from one point to another if need be - all the way from the fuel tank pickup to the nipples on the carbs (and every point in between)) If it pumps fuel, see why the fuel isn't getting through the carbs to the engine.

Forget the "11:25" and make it look like the pictures from the FSM... I could tell from your first pics that your dist. was off. My rotor points much closer to forward at TDC (like the diagram in the FSM).

The pin IS small - and it's made to be difficult to remove, on purpose... (Although I don't quite know why. Once you're there, you can take the switch off the back and turn it with nearly anything to get the car going.)

When we turbo swapped my Son's '76 280 I used the existing wiring to connect the Tach. Can't remember if we pulled his transistor ignition module from under the dash though... The Tach signal wiring has a connection to it. His Tach worked fine for over 4 years then turned flakey just a few weeks ago. We abandoned the existing Tach feed and ran a new wire straight from the coil to the resistor. His Tach is back to working correctly. (I regretted using the existing harness shortly after I did it, but never changed it until now...) On my 260, I ran it that way from the start and have never had any trouble. Wirng the swap on the 260, I used all of the 280ZXT donor wiring I could, ran new where needed, and abandoned as much of the stock wiring as possible.

Double check your power wiring from the ignition switch to the coil and ignitor. My son's L28ET had an intermittent short that showed these symptoms. Check both FSM's and make sure your coil wiring is as per the L28ET diagram.

Sounds like an L6! Good job...