NewZed

Hope it's not the case, but it could also be the wrong, short, throwout collar. You can get an idea by looking at where the fork sits in its hole, and its angle, when it's pressed against the collar. If it's angled back and sitting at the back of the hole, that's a problem. Could also be an issue with the fork pivot pin, though that would be uncommon.

Which manual are you using? The 1972 diagram seems pretty simple and straightforward. There's not even a relay to figure out, just three wires from the switch to the motor, a ground, and a power wire to the fuse box. If you have the switch and the motor, all you need is wire. Even the later models with six wires have everything shown and labeled, 1976 for example. You just have to work through more connectors, the ignition relay and the intermittent amplifier. Talking about the Factory Manuals, not Chilton's or Haynes.

360 HP is 90-95 300ZX. You'd be looking at the 81-83 ECU replacement. They all look like scams though - "The results are proof positive" - then they don't show any results. Surprised to see MSA selling those. Seems like they're going down the "new customer born every minute" route. They'll be selling gas mileage improvers by vortex technology soon.

Maybe the problem is in the transmission. You never said if you tried to turn it by hand, but since the engine is out it should be easy enough to remove the transmission and give the engine a spin by hand. If the transmission is still attached do a before and after test.

Take the valve cover off and see if the eccentric is intact. Crank the engine and see if the pump lever moves.

CR would be about 7.7. You probably won't be able to take advantage of the bigger valves, even if they don't hit the cylinders due to the smaller L24 bore. No more power, more problems. You could probably trade that P90 head for a complete running L24 engine.

I have an 83 5 speed in the garage. It has four switches. Attached a picture. My 1976 had two switches - top gear and reverse.

1979 is more like a Z then. The 81-83's have a bunch. Popping fuses to find the bad circuit might tell you something. Good luck.

Check the wires to the various switches at the transmission. Maybe one is shorting or you connected the wires to the wrong switch, lowering voltage enough to kill your gauges and the turn signals. The turn signal flasher requires enough current to heat up and flip the circuit, low voltage might not get it there. The ZX's seem to have a lot of transmission switches.

See if it's repeatable. If you let it cool down, then restart and drive and the same thing happens, it's probably something overheating. If you let it cool down and the problem is still the same as when you shut it off, it's probably something that came loose in your ten mile drive. If you start randomly replacing parts new problems could pop up and you won't know if you created them or they're part of the original problem. Also, read up on how the gauges work. I think that they depend on 12 volts to work right, if you're getting weird readings it's probably because base voltage is changing, either high (bad alternator regulator) or low (short circuit somewhere).

The Nissan dealers still carry the nylon bushings for the Z shifters for a few dollars (no need to go brass if you're not in a hurry). Wouldn't be surprising if they still carry ZX shifter parts also.

Apparently the ratios are different depending on 4 wheel drive or 2 wheel drive. So it would help to know that, to start. If the transmissions are out and he'll let you examine them, you could do some measuring/counting. Always good to spin things anyway to see what shape they're in.

Describe the repairs you did - battery, transmission, etc. - and maybe someone will notice a possibility.

Yoga pants and stance? Really? I'm afraid to click.

Take a battery and see if the injectors click. Take a meter and see if one side of the injector circuit, at the plug, is shorted to ground. Might tell you something.

Do you have a volt/ohm meter, or even a test light? If not, you're in a bind. No way to figure out what you're dealing with. Even with a good diagram and set of instructions you need to test the wiring to make sure things are as they should be. You can't just connect wires and hope, that rarely works. It's probably what burned your wires in the first place.

Since you're beyond just the fusible links and in to the fuse box you should consider adding relays, at least for the headlights and running lights at the combination switch, and maybe for the starter solenoid (260Z's apparently have problems there). It would take some study though. And didier's used Peugot fuse box, designed for long-term automotive use, is probably better than a brand-new Walmart unit. Sealed from weather and designed for heat. That Walmart unit could just end you up back where you started.

That must be one big baby. Is that a 77? Looks in great shape.

You're looking for wire colors, aren't you? You're on the path to sadness and bad smells...

Why assume when you can know? http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240z/ Even better - meter measure.

Pretty sure that the bearings can be replaced from below, engine in car, with some ingenuity. Here's an old link for example - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/81528-replacing-piston-rings-with-the-engine-in-the-vehicle-l-series-faq/ Somewhere out there he describes the process in detail. He did not remove the engine. I think that the hardest part is getting the oil pan off. You could also try putting the car in high car (if it's a manual) and giving the car a shove to see how tight things are. Maybe it just needs a few spins to get lubed up.

I would open up AT-40 and go through the troubleshooting chart. After making sure that the shift lever was attached to the transmission control rod. There's good stuff on page AT-10 also.

Just make sure the primary circuit resistance (+ to - terminals) of the new coil matches the resistance of the original ZX coil and you should be fine.

Note to BLOZ UP in the thread titled BLOZ UP about the BLOZ UP.com link in the sig. The link doesn't work.

It's more likely that something went wrong in the injector control circuitry. holding an injector or two or all open. The injector's default condition is closed (spring), so unless you got some crap through the fuel filter and the injector filter, there's no reason for them to stick open.