NewZed

It's not clear that you know the difference between the two, or have two different models. Better to call them the E12 or matchbox distributor, and the external ignition module distributor, or something similar. Since they're swappable and it's been 35+ years you might be looking at two ZX or two 280Z distributors.

79 used the E1280, or matchbox, module on the side of the distributor, and the big six pointed variable reluctor and six pointed ring pickup. 74-78 used the ignition module in the cabin and the small six point reluctor with one or two pickup magnets in the distributor. They are different sizes but easy to tell apart. Could be that you have bad bushings in your distributor and the shaft is letting the rotor hit the cap.

Tried to find specific info on what ITM sends with their pistons but there's none readily available. I got the impression that they might use Nippon rings. Found an interesting article about piston rings that's pretty informative, in general. http://www.npramerica.com/attachement/Introduction1.pdf This guy says ITM pistons come with chrome top rings but I couldn't find it on the ITM site. Chrome rings take longer to seat, I believe, it's a harder material. http://datsunzgarage.com/rebuild/ Another cool reference - http://korihandbook.federalmogul.com/en/section_3.htm

The hone, or final surface quality, needs to be specified to match the material of the rings. I don't think it's a killer as far as getting the rings broken in eventually but it can take longer. If you don't know what you started with or what the machinist did you might get to a point where you just start using it hard to get the rings to wear to the bores. The amount of detail you're giving suggests that you left it up yo the machinist to decide. So unless you know what he based his decisions on, you don't have a lot to work with. If you have loose rings you can get oil burning to cause smoke and blowby that will affect your air quality when the PCV system's connected. You don't have any measurements either, so it could be that you really could have used a boring. I'm no expert, I just don't see any detail or numbers to work with. You depended on the shop to get it right and it sounds like they might have missed the mark. Did you get any paperwork, even a receipt for the machine work? Might tell something.

Seems like your oil scrapers maybe aren't scraping. The bottom set of rings. Everyone focuses on the sealing rings but the oil rings are important too. You haven't given any details on the type of rings, the matching hone, or who did the work and their experience with Datsun motors. Just a machine shop that did a hone. Do you have anything more to work with? NAPA is just another parts store these days. Who really knows who's in the machine shop or if it's even not just farmed out.

I think the upgrade that Nissan made when they cast a new front case/bellowing to match the VG engine was to enlarge the countershaft bearing. That's why I asked about the bearing. They made other changes over the years and many of the "71C" transmissions are actually G or H or some other letter. Double synchros, wider gears, double synchros on several gears, reverse synchros. Many variations but all for the VG engine after, 1983. The answers to the questions I asked will tell something.

The bolt pattern would be different because it was on a VG30 engine. So it's probably a 71C. Did you have to do any machine work to get the shift rods to fit and clearance for the gears. Swap bearings or enlarge the 4 sped housing hole? Maybe the trucks did use the VG front case on 71B transmissions. The casting letters and numbers don't seem to indicate much. People have put guides out there but when you check against known transmissions, the codes don't work. I think that the seals are the same across the B and the C and the G and the H.... They didn't change the shaft sizes over the years. You can tell if the front seal is leaking because there's a weep hole in the front case that will have oil coming from it. I had a leak from the clutch fork pivot ball. Turns out the threads need to be sealed. Someone took it apart and didn't do that. The oil runs down the fork in that case.

Looks like somebody just put it together wrong. But it does also imply that he mixed up his rocker arms. You should just take it all apart and inspect and put it back together correctly according to the FSM. Basically, you bought a collection of parts that might make a workable cylinder head. The rocker arms can twist on the pivot when in action so the angled gap doesn't mean a lot. The orange RTV is concerning. No idea what's in the coolant passage. There's nothing in there that should break.

People with 240Z's seem to like the Eibachs, and some have problems getting the correct Vogtlands. People with 280Z's seem to have the opposite problem. I'd go Vogtland if had a 280Z.

site:hybridz.org "site" plus a colon then the site name.

Sounds like what you're really talking about is ring gear runout. There's an assumption made, I think, that runout is small compared to backlash, so it's inconsequential. I don't think that the ring gear will deform permanently, but it might take the shape of the surface it's bolted to. Maybe remove the ring gear and measure runout of the other surface. Or loosen the ring gear and see if you can move it to where runout is low. At least you'll know the gear is right. Isolate the various components, the bearings, the gear, the carrier, etc., take measurements and see where the variance comes from. Take a bunch of measurements before you tear it down. I'm just spitballing, I've not been in to a diff that deep.

Still curious about a couple of things. You never really explained what you meant by "piggybacked". Everyone is answering MS questions but what's the original ECU doing? Is it connected to anything? Does it even come on to play in this thread? Secondly - does "baggedgoods" refer to marijuana? It does, right?

Just having some fun. I'd focus on what happened in the few weeks after the above. You had it in your hands, and it got away somehow. It "sat" only? You timed the engine, shut it down, went about other business for a few weeks then it ran like you never fixed anything? Did you do any stuff that "couldn't possibly be part of the problem"?

Sounds interesting but you're probably squaring your problems, not doubling them. Good luck. Probably going to be slow for sure.

CM's right, MS isn't designed as a piggyback system. How did you even decide to try that? You're inputs and outputs are all whacked out, who knows what's controlling what.

If you're lumping all of the individual suggestions in to one big IT then you probably didn't really use most of them. You wasted the time of everyone who posed there. You should try new fuel like morbias says, and also hive the engine a general tune, with new plugs, etc. You need a good solid baseline to start from. I'd also avoid jumping to unwarranted conclusions. Like why would the ballast or coil go bad all of a sudden? It ran well, think about what could change over a "few weeks". "Did compression test 168 psi across the board, found plug wire 3 and 4 swapped from prior owner, RAN GOOD for a while in garage HAD SMOOTH IDLE and I was able to set timing. Let car sit for a few weeks and then started it and it ran like crap again and backfired, I thought maybe a bad balast resistor,points or coil, " A "spudder" is a person who works with potatoes.

MS must be doing something, if you're actually seeing a timing mark and it moves with RPM. Like CM implies, the distributor (actually the CAS) doesn't control anything. You could set your timing tables all to the same number,no change, and see if the mark stays steady with RPM.

So the question is about how to wire in a Honda push-button starter? The oil pressure safety switch is the hardest part for me, the rest seems functional. The safety switch looks like it's supposed to cut ignition but you show a hot wire directly from the ignition switch, bypassing the oil switch. Can't figure out what function it would have. It's also connected the the starter solenoid, for some reason. Most safety switches get bypassed at Start. Maybe I'm missing the meaning of the C and the NO and the NC. I'm not an electrical expert, just another layman's view. Edit - forgot to say, that is some nice illustration work. Pro?

Sorry for the bluntness. Then internet is a poor communication medium. Good luck.

You can't see the green, red, black, and white in Chickenman's picture, and where they go in to the distributor plug? I could spell it out in ABCD easily. He said what did what, as did cgsheen. It's all laid out in color, on a platter, with silver and a napkin. You need to be able to work from what's here in this post, at the least, if you want to do Megasquirt.

Is that view of the bottom from the top or the bottom? If it's a CAS you're working with, cgsheen has posted by wire color several times. Beside the output there's also an input. Here's a bunch - https://www.google.com/webhp?tab=ww&ei=dq5PVNe5B8j8igLU9ICABg&ved=0CAMQ1S4#q=site:hybridz.org+cgsheen+cas+wiring&* And here's one - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/123254-cas-question-5v-in-harness/

Thanks. $1000 + 42 shipping ($1042) versus $825. Not bad. Now start the new Vendor's thread and the path to how to get one and how much it costs is clear.

Actually, there should be a new Vendor's Forum thread. This is not technically a group buy anymore if he's selling them individually, by PM. But, problematically, asking price must be listed in For Sale threads. I'm not shitting here, I'm just asking what that smell is. How much did you pay?

Who are you responding to? Overall, I just try to battle poor communication. I like things to be clear. I made a simple comment about the thread seeming dead, because I sent somebody over to it then realized he might not even get a response, and exlife dragged up his old hurt feelings from way back and wrote like an ass. He could have said "you're right, I haven't been keeping the thread up to date, thank you!". That was the response i was hoping for. I helped make things clear back in the beginning so that people could feel confident that he had something real to offer. He can't see that through his inflated opinion of himself. He does a poor job of communicating what he's about. And I think he's one the edge of the group buy idea. He's not organizing group buys so that he and others get a better price, he's organizing so that he can make a profit. He's a reseller, here to make some money. He's not doing this out of the goodness of his heart. And, like Sensa Pari from the past, he could organize a large group buy, take the money, and disappear. What's to stop him? I was in early with comments on that mess also. You and TONY C write like fanboys, who seem to have problems understanding how things have developed. I don't think that either of you read the whole thread so don't really know what you're responding to. MFactory lists an R200 LSD for $999.95, while the other comparable diffs are $749.95. But the "fitment notes" on the R200 page are for Honda and BMW. More poor communication. Overall, this whole thing is kind of foggy and unclear. But if the savings is worth the risk of losing all of your money, then take a shot. That's what a group buy is supposed to be, spend X dollars now, or get a group together and spend less later. What's missing here are the numbers. There you go, that's clarity. If we knew how much people saved, we'd have enough information for people to make a proper decision instead of having to please some mysterious middleman with a bad attitude. http://www.teammfactory.com/catalog/mfactory/helical-lsd/Nissan http://www.teammfactory.com/catalog/partno/MF-TRS-05R200

Actually, thinking a little more, I think I see what you have going. Your "group buys" give you a volume discount from MFactory. You mark up some over the MFactory price and make some profit. So, if a person doesn't want to wait for the group number to be reached, they can go directly to MFactory and get it now for a higher price. That's what I've been trying to figure out - what's so special about this thread. And all it is is a lower cost. A few more posts and we should how much people are saving by waiting. Thanks for getting this going with MFactory. It actually is a good idea. Glad I don't have to deal with you to get one though.