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Wait... I'm supposed to have straps under the seat bottom? So THAT'S what those stiff crusty things hanging down were supposed to be!!

The circumference of a 185/65/14 is about 95% of the original size. So your speedo should read high by roughly 5%. The 185/70/14 I'm running are about 98% of stock and (according to GPS data) my speedo reads a little high as well. Couple mph, but nothing objectionable. Honestly after sitting for so many years, I'm actually quite surprised how accurate it really is. I would not have been surprised if it were way worse!

I'm going to want power windows at some point, but would like a fairly invisible system. Atleast on the door card... I'll keep an eye out for your thread

Well I wanted to get back to posting here so this will keep me busy posting . Years ago I had a friend that had this car sitting at an apartment and it was about ready to get towed off . I offered him all my money in my PayPal account ( 800$) even though I didn’t have a place for it . It was sell it or lose it and he was just glad it didn’t get hauled off . My garage(workshop) wasn’t even done yet but there was a z waiting . This was 2017 . A year later I had surgery on my back so it sat around for a while . It was a complete car with a blown engine . It sat outside for years To be continued

I went with a $70 power window unit that can be gotten on Amazon (JDMSPEED) or eBay. I know that regardless of the vendor, they're all made in China and probably by one particular company. They may change the color of the plastic parts for a large order from a distributor, but they're essentially all the same. I'm revising a tech article on installing the power windows but likely won't have in on the CZC site until later this fall.

what did you use for power windows?

Actually the lug on the alternator isn't switched. The black/white wire on the voltage regulator is switched, though I would not use that to power a light as it is also connected to the ignition coil. It would be smarter to use power from the black white to energize a relay (with a fuse between the voltage regulator and the relay) and use a wire from the alternator to power the lights.

Does anyone sell these float syncs for su carbs anymore?

The fuel stabilizer will probably be good enough for now. I'd suggest taking it out on the road for at least an hour to work out all the issues that gasahol creates. Maybe even pump in a few gallons of fresh fuel into the tank, depending on how much fuel is still in there. FYI, when any car or internal combustion engine sits for 4 weeks the fuel and alcohol separate and the alcohol attracts moisture (water) which goes to the bottom and sits. This happens in the fuel tank, in the pump, in the fuel lines, in the carbs or injectors and so on. I don't think that I have to explain what happens with the water in the fuel system. For a fuel stabilizer in the future, there is only one product to use and it's not Sta-bil. That's an ok product and it keeps the fuel stabilized for up to 1 year but there is a product that is waaaaay better and most of you have probably heard of it. It's called Seafoam and they guarantee it to keep fuel stabilized up to 2 years. I'll take that a step further by letting everyone know that I"ve got first hand experience with the product and I've seen it keep fuel stabilized for over 4 years without any problems. I haven't checked my 79 620 fuel for over 2 years now but it was ok 2 years ago and I parked the truck in 2018 after I seafoamed the gas. My 75 z sat for 4.5 years and I put Seafoam in the gas the day I bought it in April 2018 and didn't start the engine until August 2022. I checked the fuel first and it smelled fine. Two days after I got it started I took off for the Olympic peninsula with it and drove it all over the place without a problem. Still driving the car today. By the way, Z Specialties is alive and well, I never have closed for good, only the past locations were closed for good. I work out of my home now part time and I don't have any employees. Z man of Washington

Thanks, guys. The car is in reassembly after having been totally stripped down, all rust repaired, frame stiffened and lovely repaint in metal-flake clearcoat orange over epoxy primer. Wiring harnesses were re-wrapped and installed. Just finished seating area upholstery and installation of Vintage Air HVAC system. Put in a new 6-circuit fuse block for all the new accessories fed by 10 gauge wires directly from the battery terminals but no battery in place yet. Wiring run for quad speakers and power windows. Putting dashboard back in place is the next step. Just thinking ahead to what needs to be accounted for up front. Wiring directly to alternator sounds eminently reasonable and definitely ignition-activated..

Make it easy on yourself. Attach a ring lug to your wire and attach it to the alternator. Be sure to use an inline fuse to protect your wiring.

Bring a Trailer1971 Nissan Fairlady Z 5-SpeedBid for the chance to own a 1971 Nissan Fairlady Z 5-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #0.Jays car from JDM car parts.

Looks like constant hot by the diagram. It comes directly from the fuse block and has a ground. Not sure what you're working with or if it's together or not (why not just check with a test light or meter?) but if it's apart you can check continuity back to the fuse block, or if it has a fuse in place, check continuity back to the positive battery cable end.

Thank you for bringing this up and providing this detail. It reminded me to look at what I put on my car because I was wondering why my speedo was off. I have 185/65/14, and now I know why my speedo is inaccurate. :D

I'm trying to find an ignition-activated wire in the front of the car that I can use to power some LED driving lights. Could someone with a working car tell me if the wire to the engine bay inspection light is continuously "hot" or is it activated only when the ignition is on? That's just something the FSM wiring diagram doesn't tell you. If you know of another ignition-activated wire in the engine bay, please let me know. There are bullet connectors for fog lamps on my harness, but the car never had those so I have no knowledge of how those might be wired in the absence of a switch.

I think that the common high pressure electric fuel pump uses steel rollers in a steel cage. I took an old one apart once. There are other designs. The old Z fuel systems are pretty leaky. They let moist air in to the tank. The gas filler cap vacuum relief seals are usually shot. Wouldn't be a surpise if you had condensed water n the tank and the gasoline has dissolved water in it. Gas will hold some water, especially ethanol-containing fuel. If you don't want to drain the tank it might be worthwhile to use some HEET or other dewatering agent. https://www.goldeagle.com/product/iso-heet-fuel-line-antifreeze-injector-cleaner/

Ya - I had one of those clear paper filters that everyone has. fuel pump filter

Do you have a pre-filter before the pump as well?

Gotcha - so me knocking it loose in that case sent it to the engine, was caught by the fuel filter in the engine bay, and the car now runs great since that blockage is gone is what it sounds like?

I suspect the pump was fouled by crystalized fuel. Could be rust but I doubt it. Unless it's a cheap pump. Most internals in fuel pumps are aluminum or coated in some fashion.

If originality is the goal maybe something like this would help your back. https://www.amazon.com/SAMSONITE-Ergonomic-Lumbar-Support-Pillow/dp/B072K59NYZ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?th=1 Since originality has not been a thing for me I took the "comfort" approach and replaced the seats in my early 71 240Z with seats I scored from a 77 280Z with new seat foam and new leather seat covers. The big things for me were the seat back and the spring base of the seat bottom vs the straps. With the original seats I hated the extremely limited range of adjusting the recliner angle, with the 77 seats I can easily adjust the tilt and tilt the seat back way forward for access to the tool storage compartments on the floor behind the seats.

Were they stuck with gelatinated gas or internal rust?

Just before the trip, I replaced all the tires. Four corners, and the spare. I got them at Firestone, but what I put on was dictated more by "what was available near the size I wanted" than anything else. The original tire size was 175 SR 14, and the web says that back then, when the aspect ratio was not spelled out, it was 78%, So using that, the original tires were 175-78-14. The closest to that size I could find near me was 185-70-14's, which is a tiny bit smaller than the original size, but only about one percent different. Close enough considering the availability. I went to Firestone and got "Suredrive Touring A/S 185/70/14" on all four corners and the spare. Nothing special, but very close to the original size. And the date codes were from late 2024 which was a whole lot fresher than the tires that were on there before.

If you would have asked me that question before I drove to Nashville and back, my answer would have been more definitive. Now, I'm cautious about how my back reacted to the journey. The rest of the car, however, worked great! Other than the radiator needing to be cleaned out, everything was rock solid! He drives like a dream. Starts almost instantly*, handles well, electricals were perfect day and night. Really a pleasure to drive, even at speed. But my back has me a little spooked. My 280 has different seats, and I didn't realize how much I appreciated them until I spent extended time in the OG. And putting different seats in the 240 flies in the face of the originality aspect. Haha!! Maybe I'm still stung from the road... Ask me again in a week or so. ☺️ *During the banquet, I made a comment to Madkaw about how easily the OG started, and he said he might challenge me to a "start-off" with his car. Well after seeing just how quickly and easily my car started, he withdrew the challenge. LOL!