NewZed

That guy wrote a lot of words but never addressed what he said he was talking about. The one thing that could be a factor in ported versus straight-to-manifold is the Venturi effect and Bernoulli's principle. The pressure difference at the throttle body port might be greater than at the fairly static wall of the intake manifold, because the air is moving faster through the small opening at the throttle blade. That would lead to more advance at low throttle opening for ported than for direct. You'd have to generate a timing versus throttle opening curve to know for sure, or pressure (vacuum) versus throttle opening, at the two vacuum sites. Seems like there should be that effect so my comment about "once you open the throttle they're the same" is probably wrong. Logically though, assuming the same pressure differential at both positions, the only reason you should see a change in performance is because you retarded your static timing to lower the idle speed. Which everybody will do because idle timing will be more advanced with direct. You'll see an effect but it's not caused directly by the vacuum source. It's an indirect consequence. The logic just doesn't work at larger throttle openings. Timing will be more retarded everywhere with direct. Maybe your timing was just too advanced, in general. With a mild cam you could probably get both to work fine, but the distributor advance curve might need to be tuned for the vacuum source. Just finished a pot of coffee....

I've found that different ignition systems can affect how the tach behaves. I have a GM HEI module and my tach wouldn't work right until I put a capacitor (condenser) on the blue wire. I'm not saying that will fix your problem, since apparently neither one of you has confirmed that the blue tach wire is actually connected to anything. No offense intended, but that's step #1. You can't do this kind of work effectively without using a meter and taking some measurements. Since you know where the blue wire is at the module, the simplest thing to do is to measure voltage at the wire end with the engine running. Or even with just the key on and engine stopped. If your meter has frequency measuring capability you might even try that to see if there's something to count - but that's complicating things, so don't even think abut that yet. You're both doing too much hoping. Just get a meter and figure out what's happening.

Sounds like you're not sure. Could just be a jammed circlip. Look in to the hole. Take the cover off and inspect. Post pictures. We like pictures. You might be jumping the gun on a "swindle". If he knows the cars and you've left nasty misinformed messages he might be avoiding you for good reason. It's difficult to converse with people who don't really know what they're talking about, especially angry ones. Confirm damaged goods first. The T5 needs more than just a console trim.

Your first question is really - "are the transmission and diff ratios of a 1983 280ZX 2+2 suitable for an L28ET in whatever car you're planning to install them in?" Maybe. There's more to the calculation. They don't seem to be what the typical turbo ZX had though, if that's what you meant. In other words,what you traded ws not the same as what you received. The transmission in the ZXT was probably the Borg Warner "T5" which takes work to install in a Z. Which is probably what you have. If you gave good parts away,any good parts, for broken parts, that's dumb. Are you sure they're broken?

Attached a sample from the FSM. It's in the Air Conditioning chapter. The small vacuum hoses at the vacuum solenoids tend to split and leak. One sign of no vacuum is cold air from the center vent at all settings. The vacuum bottle needs a good source. There's electrical valves that need power (can't remember if they're normally open or closed). It looks like some engineer had a wild idea and nobody stopped him in time. It's a mad house. If you have a fairly intact system, don't tear it apart assuming you'll be able to figure things out later. There's a lot of hoses and nipples and the labels on them don't make much sense. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/

Are Gus and hwvigo the same person?

Doesn't the adapter change the loads across the engine transmission interface? What used to be handled by the outer shell, or bell housing, with good leverage, down to the front cover bolts, which are on a smaller circle. If I understand the concept correctly. The front cover probably isn't designed for those loads, although it may be fine. Worth keeping an eye on.

Others have mentioned this - air close to the road is actually pretty hot. Pavement absorbs sunlight and heats the air close to it.

Check the carpet.

Has there ever been a better brake shoe to consider for the Z system? Tens of race pads to choose from, but you don't see much on shoes. I've also found that the aftermarket shoes seem to be designed for already turned, oversize, drums. The diameter of the shoe is greater than the diameter of the drum, so a new shoe only contacts on the ends. Lowers the contact area, making weaker brakes. This is likely, although it may not be seizing - " it pulls to the left when I brake, i suspect a seized front passenger caliper". I had a newer caliper on one side with an older one on the other. Just the mismatch in seals, either age or quality, or design, caused a pull. One set of pads hit sooner than the other. The rubber seals in the calipers are what determine pull-back of the pistons in the cylinders, and pads from the rotors. .

There's a return spring attached to the throttle linkage. It's kind of hidden behind and underneath the throttle body. They break. The boot has little to nothing to do with throttle return besides maybe getting in the way. There was also an issue with the PCV systems up to mid-77 where the throttle body and blade got gummed up inisde with crankcase vapor residue. There was a Nissan fix, rerouting the hoses, but not all cars got it. You can fix it, in the medium term, by cleaning the inside of the throttle body with carb cleaner. Take the boot between the AFM and throttle body off, open the throttle and you might see a bunch of brown varnish and gum inside.

As soon as you touch the throttle you go to manifold vacuum. Idle settings and driving settings are two completely separate environments. So when you're driving, you're always on manifold. Ported vacuum is used to give you a low advance and a steady idle. Not jumping around due to vacuum pulses. It's pretty simple if you think it through and the arguments about it are just nonsense. Hit the gas and the port opens. The datsunzgarage site is just one guy with a Z who's good at putting a web site together. Not a team of experts. Of course, I'm just one guy on Hybridz, so it's a break-even.

Just remembered something that I did myself on my first ever clutch for a small block chevy. 1979. I put the disc in backward. The disc springs rubbed on the flywheel bolts when the clutch was disengaged. Bad noise was produced.

You'll be back.

This implies that movement can be caused from the outside - pedals, cylinders, and linkage - but something's wrong inside. Assuming the "bad noise" is coming from inside the bell housing, there's not much you can fix from outside. You've already defined the range of movement as from "nothing happens" to "bad noise". If there's not a happy spot in between those two, you're kind of screwed.

The hazard switch contacts can get corroded and dirty. Take it out and clean it up with some contact cleaner. You might be able to pop it out the top without removing the console, if there's enough wire to get it disconnected. Watch the tachometer when the stuttering problem happens. If it's working normally, but starts jumping around or reading incorrectly when the problem happens you might have an ignition module problem. It's not uncommon. There are other parts that have been known to overheat also, like the fuel pump, and various relays. Those are a little bit harder to diagnose. Here's a reference. Read the Engine Fuel and both Electrical chapters. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/

You're getting your hub axles confused with your diff axles.

Nobody can give you measurements unless they know all of the numbers. And then they'd have to do the math. Too risky. I do notice though, that you've left out a critical number - actual wheel diameter. The rubber. You give rim dimensions, but if you run low profile tires, it's a whole different thing than "normal" profile. 17x9.5 isn't enough information. Ride height and shock travel are the two things to focus on. Set ride height, determine how much shock travel you want above and below that, and that will determine the distance from the hub to the top shaft mount (edit 5 11 - actually ride height determines spring perch, and travel above and below set point of shock shaft determines strut tube and spacer length). Might be worthwhile to mock everything up on the car and cut your way down to where you want to be. You could even cut the top off of the tube, leave it off. and use a spacer under the Koni to get shock travel right, then cut the section out to make the strut tube fit the Koni body. Lots of paths to get there but all fraught with peril. Full disclosure - I've never sectioned a strut.

So you have what the drag racers want, but would like a little more show when you go? Kind of funny. Doesn't suspension setup affect traction pretty dramatically? If you have adjustable shocks you could probably crank them up to max damping and get spin a little easier.

Did you do this...

Here's what seems like a good example of a successful autocross setup - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/122227-fs-datsun-240z-f-prepared-fp-125k-obo-texas/?do=findComment&comment=1143065

So what you really want to know is what 1978 280Z component has white/black stripe and black/yellow stripe wires, and connected to something under the driver side dash of the 1978 280Z. Have you measured resistance across the two wires? That would be a clue. The 78 wiring diagrams on the internet aren't really high enough quality to see wire labels. Too bad.

What year S30? What year and type of Z31 harness? Which harness did the plug you're looking at come from, S30 or Z31? Have you looked at any wiring diagrams at all or are you just connecting colored wires?

Too much information. Try to be more concise. You're following somebody's guide thread? Probably bumble zee's?

That's not what most people would consider an L28ET. The F54 block maybe, but the N47 head is a 77-79 NA head. The P79 head is an 80-83 NA head. With the unknown cam it sounds like you bought a cobbled together turbo setup. What other parts came with it? Engine management, turbo, exhaust system, etc.