NewZed

Do you have a good ground on the tach's ground wire and on the pullup resistor? I'm more curious now just to see what you're doing. The details aren't clear, no way to tell what you really have wired and how.

Where is this Aeromotive filter? Before the pump or after? The stock Nissan pump is huge so that it can pass enough fuel to support the engine while still filtering. You might have the wrong filter. The high impedance injectors won't hurt anything but if you left the resistors in place you're running less current through the system, including the ECU, than designed. Your pressure and intake vacuum numbers don't add up but 38 psi would be sufficient pressure to make things work right. 19 inches of vacuum is 9.3 psi. 38 - 9.3 = 28.7. Your picture of the gauge at idle shows 25. Probably just two bad gauges, combined, or the camera caught a bounce. Who knows. If the lean-out happens even when you work up to 4000 at part-throttle then the TPS probably isn't a factor.

No, the suspension systems changed in mid-1974.

The small market may lower the value of time spent returning e-mails and responding to queries. I didn't get any replies either. Maybe one of those "here if you want it but we don't have time to support it" deals.

About halfway down the first page in this link there's a diagram (little yellow box) showing the distributor wiring. Connect power and ground to a battery and measure voltage on the "tach signal" from the distributor while you spin it. If you get the zero and five, then your problem probably isn't the distributor. You might need the pullup resistor to get a consistent signal. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/23244-megasquirtnspark-mssmsns-installation-guide/

Your 25 psi at idle implies 22 inches of intake vacuum, which is very high for the 280Z, I believe. And you should have seen 36-37 psi when blipping the throttle. Disconnect the starter solenoid wire and turn the key to Start. The fuel pump will run but the engine won't turn over. Or disconnect the vacuum hose to the FPR while the engine is running. You'll get full pressure on the gauge, it should be 36-37 psi for a stock regulator. Why not use the FSM or the Electronic Fuel Injection Guide to know that the TPS is right? The early one was written for your car. Test at the ECU connector. http://www.xenons130.com/reference.html Those Ford injectors are one lb/hr higher rate than stock. You should be running rich. Are they low or high impedance? If they're high, did you bypass the stock resistors in the power circuit? Maybe the injectors aren't opening correctly. Just some possibilities.

Compare your diagram picture in Post #2 to diagram in Post #1 here - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/23244-megasquirtnspark-mssmsns-installation-guide/ Here's a followup thread to that one with more information - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/56329-megasquirt-overview-for-newbies/

Megamanual? You haven't described the ignition module, igniter, coil driver, IGBT.... What is supposed to be controlling your coil?

No gauge, it's all guessing.

If you grease the steering rack bushings well they will squirm around to fill the gaps when driving. I had about a quarter inch gap I couldn't close but just torqued bolts and drove. They're elastic. They fit perfectly now.

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/use-nicoclub-coms-factory-service-manual-database.html

Considering the MS document, doesn't that just mean you were looking at the plug upside down. Or something like that. The order is the same for each. The line drawn on the LS2 picture implies that it also grounds the A pin through the coil body. Maybe a resistance check of the four pins to the coil body (mounting points) would be the easy way to find the A pin, as a reference point. For future wirers.

Teach a man to fish or hand him a fish, plus several more. Are you sure that the curves are the same? I can't find the full curve for 1976 (or 1973) but the FSM says that 116 ohms = 50 C (BE-46, testing the gauge with a resistor). Plotting 1995 Pathfinder data, (EL-41) gives ~96 ohms at 50 C. It's on the low temperature end so less relevant, but still not the same.

The 3.7 is going to make your odometer readings high unless you changed the speedo gear in the transmission. Same with low profile tires, it's diameter that matters, not width. so your calculations may be off a little bit. My 76 essentially stock 280Z gets about 20 mpg, mostly city with some highway and it runs great, with plenty of power,and very little gassy smell. I've seen a variety of "surveys" on forums and it seems like most people are around 20 to low 20's on mileage, on the pre-O2 sensor cars. I also have a potentiometer on my cooling temperature circuit and can "trim" the circuit while driving, from lean to rich (I have an adjustable FPR so start a little bit lean). The engine is much more responsive on the rich side. Probably because there is no acceleration enrichment until WOT on the early EFI system. So I run on the rich side, for fun. The higher gas mileage people may be leaving some engine response on the table to get their high numbers. It's not obvious either, unless you can play with enrichment while driving. Mileage is also worse in the winter than in the summer, possibly because the air temperature compensation is not quite right in the stock Nissan ECU algorithm. Just a guess on why, but I get 1-2 mpg higher every summer when it's nice and hot out. The 20 is a summertime number. The starting then dying with the angry noises isn't normal. You haven't mentioned your timing specs. either. "Fine" at idle may not be fine while driving. Ignition timing can have a big impact on gas mileage, and performance. The distributor advance mechanisms have to work properly, they're often corroded on the old distributors and don't.do what they're supposed to do. Have you given the engine a good tune-up, including valve lash adjustment? It sounds a little noisy in the video and your vacuum readings are on the low side. By the way, those $15 JEGS gauges aren't very good, I had one that hid a fuel pressure problem from me for quite a while, a few years ago.

Compare resistance values between the two sensors. Use a meter or check the FSM's. My 95 Pathfinder FSM has resistance values listed, just like my 76 280Z FSM. They call it the "thermal transmitter" in 1995.

Get a voltmeter and start probing. Eventually you'll find a spot that has no voltage when it should. Once you try it you'll never go back.

A lot of the P79/F54 ZX engines have the K cam. It seems to have been neglected when someone put the specs. out on the internet (specs. which may or may not be totally correct anyway). It's the standard NA cam for the ZX engines. The specs. in the FSM are probably as close to right as you'll get.

Total rookie on head work, but would new valves be an option? If you can't find pads, or they're very expensive. Maybe the valve tips were dressed to equalize lash and it was overdone. New valves might get you back to where you need to be. Page 80 of the Honsowetz Modify book says that Nissan Motorpsorts has up to .330" stock lash pads. Of course, that was in the year 2000. They might be out there somewhere. Feel free to ignore...

Save the thing you want to paste as an image (.jpg or whatever), click More Reply Options on the Hybridz page, and attach the image. A great tool for saving images is the Snipping Tool in Windows 7 and beyond. It's in the Accessories folder. It saves files with a .png extension.

Don't overlook reputation, competence, and trustworthiness. DatsunParts LLC is relatively new and has made some mistakes in the past, for unknown reasons. AZC has a real person with what seem to be real skills, and a good reputation behind him. DatsunParts has a mystery person, of unknown skills, with a sketchy business reputation. It actually looks like he's selling other people's products under the DatsunParts name. And the fine print won't make you feel comfortable. We have included NEW Wilwood Calipers, Pads, Hoses, Brackets all for a direct bolt on! However some minor drilling and adaptation may needed to be made to make this kit fit properly as not all Z cars we made 100% the same as modern cars. We recommend professional installation by a fabrication shop with experience and comfort with these type of conversions. **Note, you will NOT have an ebrake funtion with this kit** Why buy from Datsun Parts LLC? We are a professional licensed Datsun Restoration Business. Our parts are backed with a 100% money back satisfaction guarantee. All we sell are quality new and restored parts that are sure to fit your special application. Our goal is customer loyalty and we want your return business. Our feedback rating is one of the best and our website is listed with several customer reviews. Trust in a ebay pro seller!

A torch on that fitting would probably get the male portion out. The brake fluid will boil and smoke and might catch on fire but it's not a big deal. Expansion from applied heat has amazing effects. And a wrench on the block itself will take the bending bracket out of the picture. OReilly Auto and other parts stores have a selection of pre-flared and fitted brake lines of different lengths, with the proper metric fittings. It's the quickest easiest way to get back in action if you don't want to make your own. Many have pre-fitted fuel lines also, usually called fuel line repair kits. I've done all of these on my car.

The cooling system is always pressurized, so the thermostat opening is not what caused the cap leak. It could just be a bad cap or it could be signs of a head gasket leak. Pull all of the spark plugs and look for signs of coolant. When the engine runs combustion gases get pushed in to the cooling system. Then, sometimes, when the engine stops running the coolant pressure pushes the coolant in to the leaking cylinders. That's just one possibility. There could be other things going on. Do you have the FSM? They're free to download at nicoclub.com. http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/nissan-300zx-factory-service-manuals.html

The stock setup does essentially that but there's a fusible link in between. Otherwise you could short your battery through a bad alternator or an accidental ground at the B post.

It's not a stock Nissan relay, it's aftermarket. You'll have to see what the wires are connected to. The connector and its wires colors will offer good clues.

With a bigger, torquier motor, you could just change the rear diff ratio to get the highway RPM down. What ratio does the car have now? The 73 automatics came with 3.54, you could go to 3.36. Seems like you might just be assuming about things you need, and things that are possible. You don't want a 5 speed auto, you want an auto with overdrive. Which doesn't appear to be available for the L engine. Who knows though, maybe you can swap the bellhousing with a more modern transmission.