NewZed

Sounds like you have the main charging wire connected to ground somehow. The big white wire. Did you connect it to the ground (E) post by accident? Instead of B, for battery.

Switched positive for negative? Cable colors are often backward on the old Z cars. That's another benefit of using the plug. Unplug it and you'll know if your wiring is wrong or something else.

As Xnke said, everything should swap over just fine if you kept things in order. If you just threw the rocker arms in a pile, you've made an error. Did you wedge the timing chain well, and set cam timing to zero before pulling the cam? P90A heads came with hydraulic pivots, for the most part. NA cars typically have P79 heads.

Clutter? That's the point of the thread, and a forum, in general. Share the knowledge so others don't make the same mistakes.

Still can't get over the pictures of the work and the statements about $100,000 cars, etc. The two do not fit together at all. Why did you edit out the name of the company? I looked at their site and they don't advertise fabrication work, they just sell parts. Are you sure that some sales guy didn't talk you in to work on the side. Still just an odd story.

That's my thought. No need to cut up the original harness and the plug holds all the loose ends together. Just one way to do it.

If I was going to do the swap again I would cut the plug off of the old external reg and connect the wires there. It will look better and be reversible. If you're doing a 76 you might find that you have a battery drain when you're done.

Yes, the 280Z's came with 60 amp alternators. The only reason to swap to an internal regulator would be for fewer parts, or better dependability (assuming that one internally regulated alternator is better than the external system), or just for the fun of doing electrical work.

More clarity - an alternator option for the 73 240Z's, and the standard for the 280Z's, was a 60 amp alternator. Only the early 240Z's had the 40 or 50 amp units.

Looks interesting, has it been tried? Pictures installed? I notice also in the manual that there are only four settings for full advance below 4500 RPM for the switched unit - 2400, 3000, 3600 and 4000. I'm not an expert but the L6 seems to like full advance earlier, from what I've been able to figure out. The tuning options seem limited. Just trying to add some clarity. Can't really figure out what's possible from the web site. You should offer a forum member a unit for evaluation, to get some feedback. Edit - I downloaded the Tune software and it looks promising. Draggable advance settings on an easy to view screen. Pretty cool. Note also - I don't think that comment on the web page about the injector trigger is correct. The L-Jetronic ECU uses the coil negative to trigger the injectors and already has electronic ignition. So it should just see the same thing, no matter what ignition system is used. For example, the GM HEI module is a pretty common swap for the Nissan module. No problems. Might be limiting sales with that comment. The Tune model should work, I would guess and it's the most desirable.

Thanks for the details and the link. I didn't know there was a four pinion open option. More knowledge. I'm going to assume you can do more one wheel burnouts with a four-pinion than a two-pinion. Four is better than two.

Isn't the machined outer surface of the carrier the odd thing for a Nissan R200 diff? Most have a rough cast outer surface. Is that an R200 or an R180? Seems skinny, but I don't know that they put R180's in the 300ZX's.

Maybe it's the economy. I have a ton of ideas and would love to be working on them and talking about them but can't justify it. The other forums I frequent are slow too.

The one in your car looks like an "A" cam, which typically came on the 280Z or early ZX engines. "A" doesn't seem right for a 1983. So you might have a non-stock engine or non-stock cam. Non-stock cam replacement may explain the failure. You didn't show any significant failure pictures. You said the rocker arms looked different but didn't show any rocker arms. Anyway, in general, people say the rocker arms should follow the cam lobes. Hopefully, you marked or bagged each rocker arm with the cam lobe it was used on. If not, based on several cam swap stories, you will probably damage another cam. Others know more. Good luck. Edit - Xnke knows more. Maybe it's not an A cam. Or maybe it's a CWC with a stock "A" grind.

Post pictures. Everybody loves them. Your letter/numbers seem odd, are you looking at the back of the camshaft? Attached a picture of a 1981 F cam for reference.

Body Electrical is the chapter. Relays are boring. If you can't find the shape of the relay, go through the diagrams and match the plug. The pattern and pin number is usually unique to the relay. Each diagram has a drawing of the connector and its pins.

Could be that he has actually seen effects after ceramic coating. But it's unlikely that they're related to the noise the metal makes when it's tapped on. Correlation confused with cause/effect. Really though, your story just sounds like someone being messed with, or his general MO is to cause confusion and look crazy so that nobody can figure out he makes his power. It's a diversion, like a magic trick. His manifolds are probably all ceramic-coated.

Some race car teams install speakers in the engine bay. They've found that the engine makes more power when Metallica is played, Madonna slows the car down, and Lynyrd Skynyrd causes the car to spin the wheels and crash in to other cars. Rap music causes the engine to shoot nuts and bolts through the fenders. What race engine experience did he state? Dirt track or Formula 1?

The flange in that picture looks the proper thickness. The set that I have may be old, maybe Pace Setter actually changed their design to fix problems. Or mine might be counterfeit. Edit - Noticed that the center pipes in your picture seem to be touching, maybe even bridged by coating. They don't look like the current sales pictures for Pace Setter headers. Do you have the original thread for that picture? Are you sure that those are Pace Setters? Also, here's an eBay link to MSA's 70-76 offering. Square ports in to round flange holes. Can't tell if they do a better job of blending square into round. Any projection in to the flow path is bad, especially on the outer radius. http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSA-3-2-TBC-Header-240Z-260Z-280Z-Datsun-Ceramic-Coated-Motorsport-1970-1976-/261382593963

I picked up some Pace Setter headers off Craigslist and thought some people might be interested in their qualities, since they're out there as an option, but there's not much about how they actually worked out. The 70-1037 model is supposedly designed for the 1970-1976 Z cars, implying that they are square port headers. But they seem to fit the round ports better. I compared a used square port MSA gasket, a Victor Reinz round port gasket, a P79 head, and the headers. The most obvious weirdness is two square ports in the middle with four round on the outsides. Not even trying to hide it. Put the the square port gasket on the headers and it looks like they'll disrupt flow on the corners of a square port head. But they look great on a round port head. I also found that the header flange is a full 6.5 mm (~1/4") thinner than the intake manifold flange. So some welding or clamp-washer grinding will be necessary to get them to seal. Even worse, the thick clamp washers land right on top of the weld. No test-fitting of the product before selling, apparently. Just putting it out there for anyone looking at Pace Setter. The design doesn't look bad in general, but the details are poor. Various web sites say the flange is surface ground or milled but they're not, just a scaly looking sealing surface, bowed in the middle. If you don't have the tools to make them work, you'll regret buying them. http://pacesetterexhaust.com/70-76-nissan-240-260-280z-headers.aspx http://www.summitracing.com/parts/psm-70-1037

Adding to Metro's advice. The information is out there. Dig.

The pump running with the key off will not change your fuel pressure. The 42 psi has nothing to do with the relay. And if your lines leak at 42 psi that's a separate problem. They should hold up to 60-90 psi easily. You can pop the holders on the side of the relay cover and take it apart if you decide that you have a sticking relay. And if the relay is stuck then the AAR circuit should have power too. Might be an easy way to get another clue.

It's a check valve for the vacuum reservoir. It's between the intake manifold and the vacuum tank so that your heater valves don't open and shut with the throttle opening and closing. There's a diagram in the usual place.

Talk to the local hot rod shops. Many of the crate engines are shipped in nice big plastic tubs. Maybe they'll recycle you one. Google "crate engine shipping" images and you'll find a lot of pictures.

Injectors need to work with the engine management system. If you're running the stock 280ZX ECCS then you need stock injectors.