cgsheen

LOL, ya - I was talking about the engine harness - but that applies to most of the electrical in a Z or ZX as well... In the Turbo car it's more appropriately called the ECCS harness. Just so we're all talking about the same thing. The "pickup" inside the distributor is an LED "optical module" that "reads" the slits on that thin stainless steel disc - many refer to it as a "chopper wheel". That entire unit is the Crank Angle Sensor. And you're using a GM HEI equivalent ignition module which is a common replacement for the stock ignitor. No spark out of the coil at all? But you can get a coil spark manually? Start at the beginning and follow the path. The troubleshooting steps are laid out in the FSM. Don't get confused by the sections for Nissan Techs using the Nissan E.C.C.S. Analyzer. The same tests (almost) can be done without it and you'll find them in later pages of the manual. Please! DON'T open your AFM... It'll be the last thing you'll ever want to fiddle with and then only do it after you understand ALL ABOUT Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection. "Now what would you recommend when it comes to switching out my engine management system?" That's a tough question to answer - I don't know what you want to do with your car... The L28ET is a pretty basic early fuel injection engine. Most modern engine management systems are kinda overkill and may not be necessary at all if you keep the engine stock. If you modify the engine much from stock, you'll definitely need a way to tune it. Start reading here, you'll find many that have switched to Megasquirt but that's not the only thing you can do. There are a number of engine management systems that could be used That being said, on mine I've used the absolutely stock ECCS, I've used an Infiniti M30 (F31 - VG30E V6 engine) ECU "chipped" with a Nistune daughterboard and a custom ECCS harness, and I'm currently using Megasquirt 3X (full sequential fuel and spark using Ford COP coils) with another custom engine harness. I'm a wiring guy so I build my own harnesses.

Did you bleed the brake master cylinder (first, or bench bleed)?

A - What are you using for an Ignitor? (Early on in my L28ET life I read lots of stories about the stock Ignitor going bad - but that has never been my experience. I actually find them very reliable when wired correctly.) B - The ECU LED is not a "power on" indicator. Read the ECCS section of the FSM. Proper operation is: LED lights at Ignition ON and goes OFF when the ECU "senses" engine rotation (gets the proper signal from the CAS). If it's not turning off when cranking, there's a CAS or wiring fault. (everything in the ECCS system starts with the CAS. Once the ECU has verified engine rotation and position, it can start to send the spark signal. The ECU signal to the ignitor is hard to verify without a scope. C - You replaced the optical module in the distributor? More info may be needed... D - Search - there are numerous posts and pictures of the 4-pin plug for the CAS and it's wiring. Do you have the stock ECCS wiring harness? Any modifications to the harness? Like NewZed said above: Make sure you stay in the ECCS sections of the FSM. The FSM has information about both the EFI (N/A) and ECCS (Turbo) engines so don't get them confused. I actually find the 1982 FSM easiest to follow, but the same basic information is in all the Turbo sections 1981-1983. (I have found with my own engine and multiple others that most of the problems with these engines are with wiring and connectors then sensors. If your experience is like most others, you'll fight with the stock ECCS harness and components until you decide to replace it with a different engine management system or at a minimum replacing/building a new engine harness... I wish I had all the hours back that I spent with the stock ECU and harness - BUT I did learn a lot on that journey.)

Jeff, A couple of tips from doing these things in the shop over the years: Take the hatch off and put it on two stands (one stand isn't big enough unless you use some lumber). Set the glass while (or whilst) on the stands and then reinstall the hatch. OR Prop up the hatch slightly with supports underneath while it's on the car. Start your string at the top and work to the bottom. Use a larger diameter cord. We use a 1/4" cotton cord and soak it in water for lubrication. (I originally used a thin cord thinking it would be easier to pull and have used various lubes (usually soap) BUT wet cotton thickish cord works the very best - easy to pull and goes quickly (here in the U.S. it's the type of cord that was used for "clothes line" (outdoors for hanging clothes to dry) back in the day) Lastly - you may not be re-installing the stainless trim in the weatherstrip BUT don't do it after the glass has been set. IF you're installing trim, do it before you set the glass! (A little note: some people don't realize that the trim is not just for looks. The stainless steel trim pieces actually help hold the weatherstrip to shape and keep it from pulling away from the body at the corners. You will notice this much more on the windshield glass. I know many people don't like the "chrome" look these days, but there was actually a purpose for those strips.) Chuck Sakura Garage

The early Z31 ECU will plug into the L28ET stock harness with minor re-wiring (a few ECU pin relocations on the plug IIRC). The stock Z31 ECCS harness would need quite a bit of re-work on an L28ET. In either case, the stock harnesses are old and are generally the cause of many problems we have with engine swaps. I gave up repairing harness bits on my own car and now believe strongly in building a new harness when you're changing ECU's. That's what I would advise in your case... (After the stock ECU on my L28ET, I went with an Infiniti M30 ECU with Nistune Type 2 daughterboard installed. (the Leopard model In Japan - in the US fitted with the VG30E) It ran the L28ET very well even though it's a "non-turbo ECU". We did use Nistune to re-tune it slightly)

Your broken door handle is definitely from a Z. Nissan used similar handles in many of it's other models - I believe your driver door handle is from another Nissan model.

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I've been running one for several months (and a similar non-V-Band T04E for a couple of years before this one (it still works fine, wanted to reconfigure my exhaust and thought it was a good time to switch to V-Band)). Love the V-Band. Boosting to a Bar and it does very well. I daily drive my car and have taken several trips up in the the AZ mountains with sustained boost. It's been working far better than the price would suggest.

I think that's what most of us do... The original stuff was asphalt and cork. Tin Benders (HVAC guys) use ( might be "used" - back in the day) something similar to insulate the suction side tubing on A/C systems - to keep condensation off of it. I have some, wonder if you can still buy it... They probably just use closed cell foam tube now.

This is from the 1976 FSM: Front Axle 1976.pdf

Jeff, the torque procedure for the front axle nut is very specific. You'll find it in the Factory Service Manual. You'll lose your wheel bearings if you don't follow it. Also, there's supposed to be a "cage" that goes over the nut. After you properly torque the nut, you fit the cage (which is like a castle nut - a "castle cage" I guess...) such that you can get the clevis pin in place. The clevis pin through the castle and the cage over the nut keeps the nut in it's proper place post-torque. (A picture would be worth more than a thousand words in this case - but I don't have one...) An actual castle nut would work as well.

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Jeff, hate to keep harping on the transmission slave cylinder, clutch fork, collar, and throw-out bearing... BUT... I strongly recommend that you get the correct length collar and use the stock throw-out bearing. When all that is correct inside the bell housing, the fork should be pushed forward far enough that there is virtually no play between the fork and the stock slave push rod. In it's current configuration I believe you may well have trouble with the collar moving too far forward and slipping off the tube that it should glide back and forth on. If it does that while driving you'll be in trouble... The collar length needs to match the pressure plate thickness (not necessarily the type transmission you have but the clutch package). I have 3 different length collars in my collection. I also have fear and trepidation about that mustache bar. You definitely have an R180 diff and you need an R180 mustache bar that's mounted properly. The Z differential has a tendency to move - a lot - in it's factory fresh condition and I always want those bolt holes to fit nice and tight because the nuts will NOT hold the differential to the bar (without moving) by themselves.

Vibration is not your only enemy here. Even IF you could stiffen the attachment of the urethane to the hood, as to limit it's mechanical motion, there are still the laws of thermodynamics to content with. Plastics and metals expand and contract at highly different rates with changes in temperature. Even if you used the new flexible body bonding agents (which are amazing) and secured that interface well, you're still going to have the two disparate materials moving differently with temperature change. Plastics are very thermally active - sheet metal not as much. It will always eventually result in a crack between the two dissimilar materials. I'm with JMORT and Miles - leave an exposed seam.

What slave cylinder are you using? The clutch fork you have is from a series one "monkey shifter" F4W71A 4-speed (1970 here in the US). That slave had an adjustable rod and a retaining spring. All the later transmissions used a solid fork (no holes) and a slave with a non-adjustable push rod.

The early 260Z has the same bumper pistons that the 280's used. So, even though the early 260Z bumpers look similar to 240Z bumpers, they are not. Even though I believe these bumpers will mount on the 280Z pistons, I doubt that the side mounts will be similar. The early 260Z has the bumper depression (or recess) in the quarter panel like the 240Z - the 280Z of course does not. Because the early 260Z pushed the front bumper forward and put it on pistons for US crash standards, it also had "fillers" between the bumper and the body (and grill) that the 240Z did not. Mounted on the piston, the 260Z bumper sits probably 2 1/2" to 3" farther forward than the 240Z bumper did. Personally, I didn't like the early 260Z bumpers - even though they are more 240-ish. I removed the all pistons and put 240Z bumpers on my early 260 so they would fit tighter to the body.

PM sent

You're talking about an early S30 - 1970-1976, right? Not a '77-'78? The rotating mechanism in the earlies can get sticky over the years and the grease turns solid. A temporary fix is to lube the rotating mechanism on the outside of the door with some spray lube. Overdo it - turn by hand and release until it rotates smoothly and easily. The real fix is to take apart the door, remove the entire mechanism to completely clean and re-lube it before re-installing...

Does the dash cap prevent the dash finisher (Instrument Garnish) from being removed? There are a few bolts under the finisher - at the bottom of the windshield, the rest are under the dash and shouldn't require removal of the cap. Unless you can't get the finisher off... Most dash caps glue on but you probably won't know what they used until you try to remove it. Good luck.

1974 (any) - 1976

Look at the picture of the temperature sender. The "top" has come off - I could tell that from the black goo oozing out in your pictures. That black "wire" you're pulling out is the internal wiring to the thermistor. It's broken so you don't need to be gentle with it anymore! Pull it out and disconnect the yellow wire from the top of the sender... Remove the nut and pull out the rest of the sender from the thermostat housing. Buy a new temperature sender online or at your local parts store and get it installed. (Save the "hold down" nut just in case the new sender doesn't come with one.) Nissan used the same resistance value for these senders for many years of Z's (and ZX's).

Not fuel, just vacuum from the manifold (there's a check valve in the supply tube that keeps boost from the VCM). It has two vacuum solenoids that control EGR and AAC. There are four hose connections in the stock installation: One from the intake manifold, one from the cold air boot (IIRC), and two to hardlines on the side of the manifold that lead to the AAC and the EGR valves. I think most people with turbo engines in their early Z have already removed the VCM and capped the lines... It does leave you without EGR and AAC however - assuming the VCM is actually still working.

Well, the temperature sender itself is just a thermistor - a variable resistor that changes with heat. There's a chart in the FSM with approximate resistance values at various temperatures. Easy to test with a multimeter - one probe to ground, one probe to the male bullet on the end of the sender. Otherwise, it's following the circuit diagram and testing the wiring, connectors, and the gauge...

You don't need to remove the dash. The blower housing will come out with the dash in place. The nuts that hold it in place are on the firewall so they're not all really obvious, but if you get in there you'll find them... Look in the FSM to see how it's mounted.

If you can't locate the stock sub-harness, this is the connector that mates with the CAS optical unit: http://vintageconnections.com/Products/Detail/81 You only need the "female" side, but one of these will allow you to make your own replacement plug for the CAS.