Hi,
Now that I have fitted the new distributor. I am extremely happy with the results, I never thought the improvement would be so dramatic. Went from poor starting, prolonged warm up required, flat spots, misfiring over 3500 RPM, to easy starting, improved responsiveness, easy accurate timing, revving out cleanly to 6000 RPM
(haven't gone any further than that, is there any need?) and dramatic performance increase. My old distributor was clearly shagged. The timing seemed to change every time I looked at it. In the end I couldn't even find the the timing marks on the pulley with the timing light. New distributor and straight away, the timing marks were close and best of all consistently in the same place every time I checked it.
Anyway this is easy as per the Atlantic Z website etc, although I had my own questions and was a bit concerned. I am very conservative when it comes to changing anything.
Anyway if this helps others, this is what I did.
1. Purchased 280ZX distributor (E12- 80 module) and coil from Tim (RB30Z) to upgrade my 73 240Z.
2. I read up on the swap on-line and was concerned as some sites mention a 280ZX distributor mounting bracket that was required. In my case the the 280ZX distributor slotted straight in. No need for any mounting bracket.
3. I took the black wire from the negative side of the coil that was connected to the old distributor, changed the connection to a spade type and connected it to the C terminal on the ignition module on the 280ZX distributor.
4. I took away the old coil, ballast resistor and little blue capacitor thing? that was mounted on the inner guard next to the coil.
5. I mounted the new 280ZX coil using the old 240Z coil bracket (had to bend the bracket a bit as the 280 ZX coil is quite a lot larger). I connected the existing black/white wire from the wiring harness to the positive side of the coil.
6. I then made another wire and ran it from the positive side of the coil to the C terminal on the ignition module on the 280ZX distributor.
7. I then connected the black/white and green/white wires from the ballast resistor together using a small nut and bolt through the centre of the connectors on them and taped this up with insulation tape.
8. There is a terminal on the 280ZX distributor - just above the vacuum advance unit, I haven't connected any thing to this. It seems it is not needed for a 240Z.
9. I put the vacuum hose onto the vacuum advance unit (had to make a slightly longer hose)
10. I reconnected all of the leads to the new distributor cap, crossed my fingers and turned the key. At first - nothing except one backfire that convinced me I was getting spark. Rechecked position of leads from useful picture on Atlantic Z Car site and found I was one position out on all spark plug leads, corrected this and car fired and ran as soon as I turned the key.
11. Checked the timing, surprisingly it was close to the right position. Advanced timing onto marks as per original 240z owners manual (had to back it off later anyway due to pre ignition)
12. Leaned the carbs out a little as now running too rich and went for a drive. Difference was totally amazing. Performance increase is remarkable.
13. Tach is working fine at this stage. I won't change anything else unless issues arise.
I hope this helps
Regards
Peter
