NewZed

Could it be that the shaft was either too long or too short? Looks like the balls were getting forced to one side of the cage. How does the other cage look? And the balls.

Put the gears in neutral, turn the key On, and short the small spade on the starter solenoid to the big cable from the battery, at the starter, using a wrench or screwdriver. That will power the starter with about the most energy available possible. If it starts, you'll know it's not the starter or battery or cables. And you'll have a fail-safe method while you try to figure it out. Make sure it's in neutral since you'll be bypassing any safety mechanisms. There will be some sparks, just hold it there while the engine spins. You can also use a length of wire from the solenoid spade to the battery + terminal. If you want to go one step further, measure voltage at the coil when you turn the key On to make sure it has the potential to start.

Dang, I wasted 2 minutes on Google. SleeperZ got here first.

If it's like the 280Z's then it controls coolant flow based on heater core temperature. Like a thermostat, except it only covers a range of temperatures around the manual setpoint. Keeps things from getting too hot when coolant flow is high, and too low when coolant flow is low, like at idle. Can't find it described in the ZX FSM but I think I've seen in the Z FSM's. They're liquid-filled tubes and usually blown out by now. If you find yourself turning the heat down as you get on the highway at higher RPM it's probably not working. You'll have to take more parts off to find where it's clipped on to the heater core. Here's a source for valves (aka watercocks). http://www.datsunstore.com/heater-control-valve-7983-with-manual-heat-rebuilt-p-276.html

I'll stop after this one. The better CV shaft topic is just too interesting to leave. I don't see a lot of "plunge" room on Joe's axle shafts. Kind of suggests that he's going with the non-floating design. So, "trust but verify" would be the way to go.

I wonder who is making the "kit". He says "the manufacture®" on the page. [Odd, "r" in parens = ®.] He seems good at collecting the right parts though. The factory type CV shafts will probably disappear eventually as the reman market runs out of used shafts. This kit is rated at 800HP by the manufacture.

As I understand the 930 design, they can change length by both means. The CV joint has a range, and the axle splines have a range. Some people lock the joint on the spline and just use the CV range. Or let the joint float for more range. But if the joint floats on the splines then the splined surfaces become loaded sliding surfaces with all of those inherent problems. You'd need to know how Joe built his axles to know what to worry about. And comparing the range of lengths is apples-to-apples. Too short is too short, too long is too long. Just sayin'... Speculative answers is why people post questions in the forums. New ideas. The more the better.

Some people with adjustable control arms just move the hubs out to get clearance for the stock shaft lengths. But that changes the track width. So plans of usage for the car matter.

The size of the ring gear is definitely a limiting factor. It's about leverage. But the too hot for an ungloved hand, maybe not so relevant. That's not very hot. I love a good reason to go dig up some obscure information though. I'm sure the diff got much hotter than too hot for a hand. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20100020960.pdf

The control arm may be broken but the casting at the bottom of the strut assembly is also, for sure. You need another. You should probably put the suspension link mounts back where they were also. I'd guess that someone thought it was a good idea to make room for the back of the diff through moving the dogbone down by dropping the hangers and the control arm mounts. But that changes the geometry of the suspension movement. Wouldn't be surprised if the "shock" shafts in the strut tubes were bent also. The angle of the strut is changed. The front mounts would have to be dropped also. Are they?

That was your L wire. Light Emitting Diode. The diode fixes a different problem.

Never mind.

It would help to know also how he made the diff axles. Looks like he probably got a 930 flange axle blank and machined the splined end. There are different spline shapes out there, some loose, some tight. Could affect strength and the way they drive. The older R200 shaft splines are pretty loose and that's part of what makes them clunky. Nissan tightened things up in the later VLSD diffs. Looks interesting, I hope he got the details right. Not trying to be negative, that's just the stuff that I look at. Good luck.

It would be useful to know the range of length for both the 930 style CV axles and the Z31's. RZ has to change axles because the range is limited with the Z31 axle. If you had the actual low end and high end for both that would be even more useful. Flange to flange, compressed and extended. Guys like Joe should put those numbers on their web pages.

The "L" wire at the "T" plug on the back of the alternator is not getting power when the key is On. Make power go there. If the Charge Lamp blows, you'll lose that power supply. Might be a wiring problem, might just be a bad bulb. I'm not familiar with the 1975 system though. If you do find power at L then a bad alternator is likely.

You want this then - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/121613-s30-ultimate-88-irs-swap-kit/?do=findComment&comment=1137567

The Chequered Flag Joe kit is probably the way to go then, if you can confirm that he checked everything for binding. That's the problem people run in to. Or pulling the axles out of the diff because the CV's are too short. That's the other problem. Also it's not clear that the new axles are stronger than the factory axles. You haven't said though, that you're looking for stronger, so who knows. Here's his other web page - http://www.chequeredflagracing.net/Datsun.html Call him up.

I wonder if you could add diesel to E10 to get back to the energy content of old formula gasoline? The volatility loss might not let it work though. On the previous point about solvent effectiveness - it depends on what's being dissolved. On the idea of using phase separation with water to pull ethanol from E10 - you'll probably end up with less ethanol in the fuel but more water, and still some ethanol. And the hydrocarbon portion of the fuel will be fully loaded with as much water as it can hold. A few heating-cooling cycles in the tank and moisture from the air that gets pulled in will start phase separating to the bottom of your tank.

That's the "hanger" for where the back two bushings of the control arms mount. The "dog bone" connects them. Basically angling the control arm down at the back unless work was done on the front also. Maybe why the spindle bolt broke out of the hub. Seems like it would be torquing the top of the strut also, at the insulator. Not a suspension guy so more thought would be required to venture more. The ugly welds caught my eye. Maybe it's actually the stock position... Edit #2 - Added a picture of stock position. That piece of square stock is not stock, as I thought. Edit #3 - the mustache bar seems to be on backward also, for the R180. Maybe it's all part of the R230 setup...

Saw some odd things on the back end (besides the split open "fuel cell").. The rear mounts for the suspension look like they've been dropped with some square bar pieces. One of the hub castings looks split or broken or ground off. Hard to tell what it is, but I don't think that you should be able to see the spindle bolt. Maxima calipers. Maybe some companion flanges came with the car and that's why they're missing on the hubs. Looks like plain old rusty 240Z axles though. Seems pretty solid, otherwise. Edit - on second glance it looks like the spindle bolt broke out of that casting. Must have been quite a blow or maybe the modified mounts put things in a bind. You should take a good look at what's happened or happening back there.

You're going to need a bigger phone.

Can't remember if you're one of the numerous guys with V8's looking to "upgrade" parts, or of you still have an L6. Or if it's a 240, 260 or 280Z. But there's a fairly simple method to get 280ZX CV shafts in the back of a 240Z. If that's what you have. You should probably list "every single piece" also. There's a lot of pieces back there.

If you had KYB's or Tokicos in the tubes then this isn't relevant. I just remember an assemblage of parts hanging from a rod when I took apart my factory struts. Still have them if anyone wants them.

1981 has no AFM switch.

You might not be understanding when the pump gets power. Take some meter readings. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/ Edited for wrong year chart. (Still no AFM switch, they stopped that in 1978).