ZHoob2004

The bright/marked links only work if you know where both of them are. The far more important thing is to set the block and cam both to TDC and then simply put the chain on wherever it falls. The bright links won't line up on the marks correctly every rotation, and it's entirely possible you have the chain in the wrong spot if you didn't verify the bright link on the crank gear as well. I recommend you turn your balancer to TDC and look at the cam sprocket to see if the TDC mark lines up. The notch and line/groove should be pretty closely aligned with the balancer at TDC and the cam lobes on the #1 cylinder should both be upright away from the rockers.. Positions 1, 2, and 3 are for accounting for chain stretch so it could be any one of those.

I haven't done this myself, but I think that your best bet is to cut a piece of steel a little larger than the base of the recess such that it sits flush on the low side and rides up the edge on the high side, then weld it in and fill the remaining gap.

I'm not particularly familiar with California smog inspections, but I was under the impression that if it's not an OE part and it doesn't have a carb number, then it's not going to pass, so your intake would disqualify you immediately. That said, I understand you can get away with quite a lot depending on who you take the car to for an inspection. Might want to hold onto a stock intake and think of a way to swap it on in case you have any trouble with that. Someone else can provide better information on the motor build, but iirc you don't need much for 300, maybe pistons? I've heard that the non-turbo pistons have weaker ring lands and you might as well benefit from the 50+ years of development that piston technology has had since these motors were new. R200 diff should get you there just fine, LSD more so.

I did energy suspension on the whole car (77) and removed the bushings and outer sleeves from every location with the exception of the transmission crossmember, where the bushing shell must be left in place.

I don't have specific experience with the 280zx and these bushings, but if the crossmember I linked above fits both cars, and the bushings go in the crossmember, wouldn't it stand to reason that the bushings fit your car, despite what energy suspension might have on their site? And for $15 with easy returns, I'm not sure why you wouldn't just buy the bushings and visually check them before doing anything irreversible.

The link was just an example. There are energy suspension parts for early Z cars, and if the crossmember is the same that means the bushings are the same. https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspension-7-1101G-Transmission-Crossmember/dp/B004ALJWHM Special note with these - You have to keep the bushing shells installed in the crossmember. This is the opposite of normal energy suspension bushing installs, so double check every step before you destroy the bushing shells completely.

Like this crossmember? https://zcarsource.com/transmission-crossmember-240z-260z-280z-280zx-72-83-coupe-74-78-2-2-used It would appear that was used from 72-83, so you should use the same parts as for an S30 if they aren't listed for S130

The 280z tach (as far as I'm aware) needs a high voltage impulse, so a standard 5v or 12v square wave isn't going to cut it. If I were you, what I would do is set up a mini ignition system using a coil, some sort of ignition module (just about any will do) and an old spark plug. You can trigger the ignition module with your square wave generator, and connect the tach to the coil negative just as it is in the car.

archive.org https://web.archive.org/web/20110430025055/http://members.cox.net/chipsbyal/page/project/280z/index.htm

I don't think I have pictures, but I'm doing basically the same as above using RX8 seats except I'm using the mazda sliders, so my adapters go between the sliders and the chassis. I just bent a few pieces of steel strap to mount the new sliders at the same angle as the stock seats and then I'm going to weld on a few cross bars of the same material to adapt to the wider rails of the new seats. Looks kinda like this from the side ________ / |__ I'm going to have to do something like above to clear the seat pan, but I think I'll end up with seats just barely lower than stock with a lot more bolster and most of the slider range from the rx8, which being a 2+2 car is a lot of range. I'll likely gusset the 90 degree bend on the rear part of my adapters as well just for some added peace of mind, but I don't think they're going to flex once they're all bolted in.

My car had disconnected AC and non-functioning vents when I bought it, and it currently has no dash or anything else, so it's not really relevant until I start reassembly again.

If you're not happy with it, why not give them a call and send them the pictures? Any vendor worth dealing with will have insured that shipment, and I don't speak for them, but I think they should gladly take that back and send you a new set without the damage.

There's a vacuum hose that passes through the firewall near the glovebox and normally goes to the vacuum tank, then goes to the intake manifold. There should be a check valve somewhere in there, but mine was missing so I don't know where it goes. What I did as a temporary/permanent fix was to buy a vacuum check valve off the shelf at my local parts store and run a line from the intake, through the check valve, to the line inside the car. Vents seem to work just fine, though they may drift out of place under prolonged periods of WOT (but they'll go back as soon as you lift)

I can't speak for apex, but I know technotoytuning and @Invincibleextremes both make the same or similar parts, and I know at least T3 will sell them separately (they'll sell you anything separately).

Injector order isn't really that important on these engines. I can't remember if the injectors are fired in 3s or all 6 at once, but either way it's not a precise event. I assume the distributor rotor is pointing at #1 with the engine at TDC?

Have you verified your plug wire order/ I tried to trace it out from your picture, but it's too low of resolution to make out for sure. It almost looks like your 3 and 4 might be swapped. Timing marks look good, but to be extra sure you'll want to pull your #1 plug and use something to indicate that the piston itself is at TDC rather than trusting the damper, which can break free and move when extremely worn (and aren't 100% accurate to begin with). How's the cam and valve lash look?

The beauty of this setup is there's no longitudinal twist applied, since the motor, diff, and wheels all turn on the same axis. You don't have the driveshaft twisting the car like on a v8 swap.

I can't tell from the pictures, but if you're not using a purpose-built guide coat you should try it out. I'm using an aerosol guide coat (SEM I think) and it's amazing how much it improves the visibility while sanding. Supposedly powdered guide coats are even better, but I couldn't find any in the limited time frame I was working with.

This was/is me with the bodywork on my own car. Once you start laying down guide coat and blocking, everything turns out a lot less flat than you had anticipated. In my case, I put down a layer of epoxy primer over the bare metal before any filler and I think that helped to level things out a bit before I started filling.

How does the height of your new stack-up compare to the old one? That's flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate all bolted together measured from the crank mounting face on the flywheel to the fingers on the pressure plate. I did the change to an rb26 flywheel with 280xz turbo clutch on my 280z and didn't have to change the collar at all. If your throwout bearing is a different size you'll have to take that measurement into account too.

So I've been working with this project for a few years now, and I think it's finally time to try and bring some attention to RusEfi. RusEfi is a DIY ECU, not unlike megasquirt. The big difference, however, is that RusEfi is lower cost, uses modern, 32-bit microcontrollers, is completely open-source, and supports electronic throttle bodies. Here's a recent demonstration video using 2x MicroRusEfi to control a BMW M73 V12. From BMW, this engine was controlled using 2x 6-cylinder ECUs each with their own complement of sensors, including crank and camshaft position sensors. Now it is being controlled with 2x MicroRusEfi units, sharing sensor data via CANBUS, and controlling a pair of electronic throttle bodies. Technically, MicroRusEfi is currently intended for a 4-cylinder engine, but it has 6 ignition outputs and ETB support, so here we are ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If you have any questions, feel free to ask in this thread or check out any of the links below. We have a pretty active Slack channel as well, for ECU development as well as installation help, project planning, general engine theory, and whatever else. https://github.com/rusefi/rusefi https://github.com/rusefi/hw_microRusEfi https://github.com/rusefi/rusefi_documentation/wiki/microRusEfi_DIY_TLDR https://rusefi.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1632 EDIT: MicroRusEfi is intended for 4-cylinder and simple 6-cylinder engines, which would work well for the L-series crowd quite nicely, IMO. Of course if you want more, there are several more feature-rich models being developed that you can run right now, supporting up to 12 sequential cylinders with dual electronic throttle bodies (the ECU that should really be running this v12)

So I assume the reed switches are supposed to change state when enough current is being drawn through the coil, and that lack of state change is what triggers the dash light. If the reed switch is normally closed, you need to desolder one leg to leave it always open. If it's normally open, you need to jumper across the reed switch to make it always closed.

About 14" for the bar on my 77. Was a pretty rough measurement under the car, but hopefully that helps you out.

I figured someone already got to this. I can get this tonight. Message me if you don't see it within 4 hours.

I'm not sure if this is Ron's car, but I found these in an album called "chassis stiffening inspiration". Looks like a similar mod. Album here https://imgur.com/gallery/X86Cl