NewZed

Do you mean that the brakes don't slow the car? Or that the brakes are difficult to control? The rock-hard pedal is typical of a missing reaction disc in the booster. Measure vacuum at the end of the booster supply hose. Maybe you have the check valve installed backward. The MC cylinder size won't affect pedal feel as much as pedal travel.

Do the basics with a meter. Turn the key on and check for power at the coil and at the injectors. Check for coil power when you turn the key to Start. Check your fuses and fusible links and grounds. Could be a simple loose connection or something like a bad ignition relay. Once you know what's getting power when it should and what's not you'll have a clearer idea of what might be wrong.

It did this?

Make sure that you don't have some sort of current draw that is draining your battery. Are you jump-starting the car to get it going? It is very very very common for reman alternators to fail. Many people get bad reman alternators directly from the parts stores. The parts store should not give you too much trouble. Their supplier is used to get a high percentage of the product back under warranty. It's also very very common for the parts stores' test machines to show that they're not bad. You have to be forceful. They're used to it. Search "reman alternator failed" on Google and you'll find stories that cover every brand of car.

The 81 280ZX alternator is essentially the same alternator as the 1978, it's a direct bolt-in. They're both 60 amp, it's not an upgrade. You're right, there is no swap to worry about, no wires. The L wire is there to charge the windings, 11.8 volts is fine. The auto parts stores are well-known for giving misleading test results. Just convince the guys at the store that it has a bad bearing, because of the noise, and get one of the free life-time replacements. That's why they have the replacement policy, because so many of them go bad.

The 78 ignition system doesn't use the ballast resistor. It has a more powerful spark. The distributors themselves can be swapped easily by disconnecting the red and green wires. Leave the 78 ignition module in place, it's better. Use the distributor with the best breaker plate. Check the bearings and lube them up. The get rusty. If you want to dig deeper, take the breaker plate out and check the centrifugal weight numbers to see how much advance you'll be getting. Make sure the springs are good and the slots aren't worn out. You won't have to worry about the drive gear unless you remove the oil pump on the new engine. The 78 distributor will drop right in once you get the tang aligned with the slot. If the 76 engine was correct, you'll be fine on timing. It's a straight drop-in swap.

Not Tim, but...your video looks right, with the light coming on with the key (current passing from the battery through the charge/warning lamp to the alternator windings) and turning off when the engine starts (current generated by the alternator stopping flow from battery). But, you should rev the engine to 2000 - 2500 RPM too be sure that the regulator is limiting current. Z's are notorious for having low output at idle RPM, and it's possible that over-voltage could happen with more RPM. It should stick at 14.7, your idle voltage by your meter, as you rev the engine. Up to 15 or so would be okay also. 16's, not so good. Assuming that the regulator is regulating though, everything looks right. Nice result after a lot of work.

I don't know that system exactly but I've worked brakes in general. It looks right to me. Just make sure that the passage from the bleed screw to the caliper piston cylinder hits the cylinder at at the top. You can see the casting marks from the outside. The calipers are designed for a certain orientation and the bleed screw is positioned for convenience. The screw might might be right, but the passage might enter low. Think about air bubbles.

People don't seem to be reading each other's posts. My images were from what is supposed to be a 1975 FSM. I've seen discussions about whether it actually is in the cars. It might be that Nissan used old images but never put the light in the early Z's. Even the 1972 FSM shows a Charge lamp, and it has an ammeter. I suggested that the Charge lamp might be burned out also. Maybe Charge lamp and Warning lamp are not the same. Who knows. In the 1972 image they call it a Warning lamp, see below, in 1975 they call it a Charge lamp, see my previous post. Your image is from the models with a "starter interlock", and they've cut out a portion of the diagram. The arrow starts from nowhere. The ones I inserted show the circuit back to the ignition switch. They all go to "L" on the voltage regulator though. "S" is typically connected directly to the battery positive, at the starter lug, where the positive cable attaches. If you attach L to S there will be a constant draw on the battery, through the windings. That will probably drain the battery. Whatever you decide to do, use your meter to confirm that you have power on the wire.

There are workarounds. https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=Lr5FWvq0CIbmjwO3rr6wCQ&q=photobucket+fix&oq=photobucket+fix&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.2378.8124.0.8334.15.9.0.6.6.0.126.597.8j1.9.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.15.658...46j0i131k1j0i46k1j0i10k1.0.opuekT9VkiA

As ben a implies, apparently the L circuit of the GM alternators is sensitive to current. So, a resistor or a light needs to be in the circuit. Your test was probably okay on it, but if you ran it that way it might be damaged by heat build up. You should be able to figure out why the wire in your harness does not have voltage. That wire should have the right resistance since it has a charge lamp in the circuit. I have heard of the charge lamp burning out. It's not common but it might explain why you don't have power on the wire. I don't know exactly where it is in the 75. In the ammeter most likely. My 76 has a voltmeter, as does 77. Your 75 does not have the wiring of a 77. Here's a 75 diagram. I think that I got it from the atlanticz web site. Also, the charging circuit from the 75 FSM, showing the charge lamp. Also got that from atlanticz. 75_280z_wiring.pdf

It's "scrimp", not skrimp.

If you had waited nine days you could have claimed a clean ten year necropost award. 2008 to 2018. Is your statement actually a question?

A simple test of the alternator's function, which would also tell something about the charge lamp wire from the harness would be to run a jumper from the L terminal to the S terminal, right at the alternator. That will power the L terminal, assuming that S has power. The alternator should start charging then if it is on proper working order. If it works then you can go back and figure out what's wrong with your harness, with a little more hope. Posting now even though TimZ has replied...

Just curious - how can you sell a car that does not belong to you, at least in the eyes of the law? No title. Do you have any documentation showing paperwork back to the last owner of record? Otherwise, how does a person know it's not stolen? Did you get paperwork when you bought it, or did you just give somebody some money and tow the car away?

You have air in the system. Sounds like the calipers based on how far the pedal travels. The best way to understand where the bubbles are is to examine the caliper castings closely and figure out where the hole from the bleed screw enters the piston bore. Often the hole is drilled at an angle and if you put the bleed screw at the top the entrance to the hole will be below the high spot. You can bleed them a hundred times but the bubble will never exit the caliper bore if it's above the bleed port. Position the calipers so that the entrance to the bleed hole is at the highest spot. Sometimes you have to unbolt the caliper and angle them correctly before bleeding.

That's a nice schematic. It doesn't really explain the 5 volt signal though, or how to wire up a CAS on the bench for testing. Looks like DIY has repurposed Nissan's original design. I'm sure it's clear to somebody out there. If it is maybe they can add some detail. How to wire it for standalone testing and what to measure when testing. Volts or continuity, on which wires.

I think that what's not clear, at least to me and maybe cgsheen knows for sure, is whether the 5 volts is passed through the CAS, where the CAS is a gate for 5 volts generated by the ECU, or if the 5 volts is generated within the CAS. If it comes from within the CAS then powering those other CAS wires should give the 5 volts as expected. If the 5 volts comes from the ECU, you're not going to see it, with a battery and jumper wires test. If you do cg's test, which I've done, with the CAS/distributor plugged in to a Nissan harness, you'll see the 5 volts. But I've not tested the wires from the ECU to see if they had 5 volts to start. Easiest test for you might be to find a buddy with the proper Nissan who will let you unplug his CAS and plug in yours. Turn the key on and spin the shaft by hand as described, with a meter attached. I was able to do my test because I had a Pathfinder in the driveway. It works.

The dual pickup dists have the same vacuum advance as single. CA v non-CA.

The thermostat stays closed until the coolant in the engine reaches desired operating temperature. But your engine isn't heating heat up properly on the road, it just stays cold. And you live in the Bay area. It has to be producing enough heat to reach thermostat opening temperature. The radiator removes enough heat to keep the thermostat at the point of opening and closing, if enough air is flowing through it. But your engine goes above the thermostat set point eventually, in traffic. Seems like your fans aren't moving enough air. And running one pusher and one puller is odd. Maybe remove one, it's probably blocking or screwing up the other. Even better, remove both. Besides that, you haven't said if you're actually switching the "traffic" fan on in traffic. But you really shouldn't need it anyway. You've over-engineered, for a problem that doesn't exist. Those are two big clues, the staying cold on the road, and overheating while stopped. You have a plain old L28 and with stock parts in good condition shouldn't be having any problems at all. Focus on the basics. Maybe get rid of the electric fans and go back to what has worked, and still works, for millions of cars. Mechanical fans. Then you can put a stock temperature sender in and get rid of the Autometer gauge problem. Once you make it work the way it was intended to, you can put those parts back one at a time.

I think that I misread your post. I was thinking that you dropped the whole pump and the distributor shaft fell out. You should be able to just put the pump back together without worrying about orientation. Turn the rotor until is drops in to place. Still doesn't hurt to read the FSM to understand how things work.

Looks like you might be overthinking some things and underthinking others. Close the heater valve and run with it closed, and determine what happens. It's very important. It might not be the source of your problem but you need to know.

Follow the instructions in the Factory Service Manual. Engine Mechanical and Engine Lubrication chapters both have them.

The thermostat staying shut will cause the engine to heat up no matter what radiator you have. It's the only outlet from the head and engine. High pressure from a good pump might cause a bad thermostat to blow open though. Couldn't tell if your "new" thermostat was new new or new old. If you're using old thermostats try getting a new Nissan brand thermostat and starting over. You might improve getting to operating temperature but still have the creeping to 205 problem. They still have cross-reference charts to new thermostats. You can get one at your local Nissan dealer.

The coolant gushing out problem just came up in another forum I hang out on. I had the same thing happen with my old clogged radiator. I think that it means that the radiator is not passing enough fluid to supply the pump inlet. The bottom hose has to be collapsing, causing an overall system volume decrease, and the coolant gets pushed to the top side. But the gushing is a sign that the thermostat opened. First though, you might try just closing the manual coolant flow valve through the core completely, and see what effect it has. It should force more fluid through the block and head and thermostat housing. If you see an effect it will be a clue about at least one of your problems.