NewZed

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.

Is your fan on a temperature switch or does it use a controller? Where is its sensor located. The fact that the temperature creeps up to 205 shows that you have a cooling problem. The thermostat is actually a heating device. It stays closed until coolant temperature reaches its set point. But the coolant has to flow past the thermostat in order for the thermostat to equilibrate to the same temperature. So you actually have two odd problems. Do you have your heater core bypassed? Maybe the pump isn't pushing enough coolant to heat up the thermostat, with the bypass, and also not pushing enough to cool the engine.

If you're sure that everything is right then the only solution is to replace the pump. Because it went bad, it had to have gone bad. It must be the pump because you are positive that everything was right when you put it together and magic would be required for anything to change. See the logic problem? If you're positive, then the only thing left is a bad pump. Maybe try a different brand of pump.

You already had one bad pump. Maybe you got another. Switching carbs won't fix a bad fuel pump. Have you confirmed a good power supply and good grounding? That's a very basic electrical component troubleshooting step. Are you running it deadheaded or using the return lines. Are the return lines open? Are you using a filter before the inlet? Does it flow enough to supply a gravity fed pump? Those inlet filters can cause a lot of problems. Doesn't seem like you've double-checked the basic stuff. It worked for a while you should be able to make it work again. If the pump's not designed to deadhead or if you're cavitating due to inlet restriction you can wear the pump out faster.

Isn't this almost exactly how the last 8.8 project started? Deja vu...

You know, it didn't work for my email. I see your @ but did not get an email. I think that notifications have to be set to get emails. You might send him a PM by hovering over his avatar.

He was on zcar.com a few days ago. http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/412105-brake-issues.html Does the @ function work on Hybridz? @NewZed @AlbatrossCafe Yours looks wrong. @cgsheen

The brakes are completely separate from the differential. You could install a Ford, Chevy, Mopar, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kia, etc. differential and not have to touch the brakes at all. At all, no bleeding, adjusting or anything, not even the parking brake.

In the Nissan Factory Service Manual. It's from the days when people could read a page or more in one sitting. I'm a dinosaur.

Stock to what? Nissan stock?

Hasn't? Did you mean "has"? Is there a real problem, is the question. The system is designed to move and flex and dance around a bit. Is something breaking? Many people have found that the solid front diff mount is a mistake. You might be over-solidifying. Maybe go back to a more flexible front mount, like the RTZ style mount. In an endurance racer, driver comfort is a factor and having the diff solidly tied to the body could be am auditory torture device. Isolate the diff noise, let it move, let the u-joints get a little work-out (makes them last longer). Even the AZC billet mount uses PU bushing ends. If you fasten the the mustache bar to the dog bones you'll be at full metal jacket level.

Somebody on this forum has a pretty nice 2+2. Maybe Careless? Can't tell. The new site software seems to have destroyed all information about members. http://forums.hybridz.org/profile/1767-careless/?tab=activity @Careless

Aren't the simple answers "No, there isn't except that it will make disassembly difficult", and "why would you do that?". The easiest way to firm up the mustache bar is to use PU bushings on the ends. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/23-4139

Odd that a person would install a short-nose diff but with different internals. Why not put better guts in the long-nose R200 it came with? And I thought that AZC had pulled their short-nose diff setup for reworking, because it's hard to get the short-nose mounted firmly. Looks like a nice collection of parts though. "From the output shaft, the driveshaft spins up a Q45 R200 differential with a Tomei 1.5-way limited slip differential. " Here's a link to the info part - http://www.speedhunters.com/2017/11/gas-monkey-garage-goes-jdm/

Here's the manual that I was thinking of. I get Jags That Run and John's mixed up. I think that somehow they are connected but not sure of the details. http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Datsun_Z_V-8.html Here also is another kit from a pretty reliable Z parts supplier. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/classic13 They probably jumped in to to fill the void when Broken Kitty dropped out. Most people are in love with the LSX swaps these days, even though the old small block swap has the bugs worked out and is pretty much a paint-by-numbers swap. Good luck.

Sorry, I always miss the title information and focus on the post. Missed the 1976 in the title. There are a ton of options for you. Carbs and a distributor and a motor mount kit are pretty simple. Choice of transmission is a fairly big deal, any manual transmission can add a lot of cost. Choice of how to build the engine is not really related to the car. It's just an SBC thing. There's a book on this web site that most people recommend. Looks like the web site is pretty messed up though. Might be better to call. http://www.brokenkitty.com/zcar.htm