NewZed

No offense, but if it was my car,the next step would be to test for voltage at the solenoid wire (the little wire) when the key is turned to Start. And here's another not so common possibility - the mechanical pieces of my ignition switch got so worn that they would not turn the electrical portion of the actual switch. I had to take the switch assembly off the column, open it up, and bend the flat rod that transfers the twist from the key to the switch, to give a little more twist when I turned the key. If you've never had one apart you'll figure it out when you do.

Gave up? Bummer. No Megasquirt for you.

The little wire to the solenoid is disconnected?

If you read the first three threads in the link below, it will help quite a bit in getting good responses from people who know how to make things work. Kind of like not talking with your mouth full, the words are the same but nobody wants to talk to the guy with food spilling out of his mouth. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/forum/68-new-members-forum/ And numbers are always good, to let people know that you've actually measured something and aren't just guessing or assuming. For example, a number here would be excellent - "as for the fuel pressure it is fine as well."

They look like mine. If you look close at the bearing cups you might see KOYO as another clue, at least to where the u-joints came from, if they haven't been changed. You had a Z and you don't have a pile of spare parts to dig through for comparison?

Here's another VLSD reference. It's the short nose though, but should be similar/same, I would assume - http://www.xenonz31.com/vlsdInstall.html

In Post #13 I was going to suggest that you check your FPR for a blown diaphragm. I'm guessing I should have left that comment in. Is that the vacuum line to the FPR pointed at the cold spot? Vaporizing fuel and loss of pressure regulation?

The 73 FSM page BE-5 has a legible wiring diagram if you want one more to look at. Shows power to the coil (+) terminal as - Ignition switch > GW wire > Tach > BW wire > Coil (+) terminal So if you don't have power running through the tach on (GW in) and (BW out) you won't get any needle movement. Assuming the FSM represents what you have and is not in error. www.xenons30.com/reference

If it will run but won't idle, and the idle adjustment screw doesn't have any effect, I would look for vacuum leaks. That would lean out the mix, causing cold start problems that would diminish when warm. A hose might have split. Don't forget that the PVC system is connected to the intake.

Sounds like a part that is common to both setups. Fuel system - pump, filter, FPR - or ignition. Fuel pressure when it happens would tell you something.

So you did find signs of detonation or not? "Scoring" in the combustion chamber? Just curious about cause of the problem.

Since you're injecting simultaneously you could swap injector connections around to check injector vs. spark.

Maybe thinking of the one on this page, down under Other Reference Documents - http://www.xenons130.com/reference.html Edit - Or not. There's not much in those pages. I've seen similar though in a separate document, not the FSM. Maybe here - http://www.xenonz31.com/reference.html Z31 R200 Differential Service Manual under Other Guides Edit 2 - I guess that link is to a chapter from an FSM. Looks like 89.

That's a capacitor aka condenser, not a resistor. One end is hot (probably when the key is on), the other end goes to ground. No help on the female bullet. Floating in space like that it could connect to anything. Might be for the capacitor.

Aeromotive FPRs leak down very quickly once the fuel pump turns off, due to the design of the valve. It's a pain for a daily driver, you have to wait for the pressure to build up before the engine will start, after every shutoff. I had one at one time (it was cheap and I needed an FPR) but switched back to a good stock FPR.

Does brightness matter? A flash is a flash is a circuit made and a circuit broken.

Have you replaced the slave cylinder? You didn't say. If the car sat for 15 years then the wheel brake cylinders and the front calipers are ready to blow also, along with the brake master cylinder. In case you haven't already replaced them.

That's it? The whole problem was "bad gas". Might be the most effort for the easiest fix ever.

Looks like a fun puzzle/project. You realize, of course, that it's a mish-mash of engine parts. 79 ECU with STOCK 280Z turbo on an N42 block. None of those things go together. The body looks in great shape, with nice paint. I kind of like the gold engine bay. Edit 2 - Took some Fairlady comments out. Looks like they're just emblems, according to the other thread.

I live in the Portland area. Who's the shady shop? Seems like three things going on here - - maybe a shady or just incompetent shop. If it's the same owners why can't you deal with the Portland people now? - maybe a tuning issue. Will cast pistons automatically break above whatever boost you're running? Or is it an assumption. - maybe a cast vs. forged piston issue. Are you assuming the pistons are cast, not forged, because they broke or have you confirmed it by some other method? I'd like to learn something here, especially the local shop to avoid if you're positive they scammed you on the pistons. Since you have receipts, it should be easy to show. If the Portland shop is on the level,they should cover the mistakes of their Seattle shop. What's the rest of the story?

The 76es with two pickup coils in the distributor use a different ignition module than those with just one. It has an extra circuit to use the second pickup coil to adjust timing depending on coolant temperature. It's the one thing that you have to give up if you go with the HEI module. The main effect is a low idle until the engine warms up. I think the EGR engines might be when they went to one pickup coil. I had a 78 engine with EGR and a 76 without, one had a single pickup in the distributor, the other had two.

Maybe I've offended a moderator with my comments about Barbara Eden. I've never seen a post just disappeared with no comment and no trace. If my post from last night offended, please accept my apologies. I thought that your snap-in axles had a lot of movement also. You've described it before, but your video shows a lot more movement than any that I've seen, but I've only seen a few. I have a few spare diffs in the garage, and I've had the axles in and out and a couple of CV axles also. None had that much wiggle in them.

Have you tested the one you have? Pretty easy to do with a battery, some jumper wires and an ohm-meter. You can pry the tabs back on the case also, and take it apart if you want to check the guts out for rust and corrosion.

I have to ask - do you mean the horsepower guess is based on a previous guess, or based on a previous measurement? 600 to 700 HP measured? And I only see one RB comment, from the one guy who seems to know more about making power than 99% of people who post on the internet. Who are the other "so many misinformed people"? Just stirring the pot, but they're valid questions, I think.

If you don't want to dig in to figuring out which wire is which, to and from the ignition module up by the fuse box, you could use the GM HEI module with either the 76 or 78 distributor (actually any 74 to 83 distributor). It has its own current-limiting circuitry. Four wires - switched and Start power from the coil positive, the coil negative and two wires from the distributor - and a good ground through the mounting hole. The 76 distributor might have three wires if it has two pickup coils, but you only need two. The old stock ignition modules are all close to death anyway since they're so old. And the HEI modules are cheap. You should consider though, if she'll be using you as her future mechanic, or someone else. If you get too far from stock and something goes wrong, the future guy might be clueless.