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So you're on the road at night cruisin' in your Z. Slowly you notice that your headlights are getting dimmer and dimmer. You check your ammeter or voltmeter and see that your system is in discharge mode. Oh crap. Belt fall off? I hope so. Nope, still there and tight. oh oh oreo... Well you got that "big" 60 AMP internally reg'ed ZX alternator just a few month's ago, but I guess it gave up the ghost. Trouble is you're in Podunk Kansas and the local AutoZone doesn't have one in stock and can't get one for four days. Now what? Me, I'd rather have a common alternator, one I can get anywhere. And I mean anywhere. About the only sane choice is the GM 10SI body alternator. I know I know, you're thinking, "this GM alternator thing has been discussed to death", well, yes, but if you go looking you will find a variety of GM alternators discussed and the mounting of them is a bit of a mess. Advantage 1: Available anywhere, Advantage 2: Cheap Advantage 3: Internally regulated, one wire. Advantage 4: Available from 100-140 amp. Electric fans, big lights, big stereo, no problem. Advantage 5: Available anywhere. Yeah, again. Mounting is pretty easy after you get past the first issue, ie that the lower alternator mount has to be modified. It has to be cut and drilled. Here is where to get one. I picked mine up from Mopac in Calgary for $134 CAD all taxes in It fits the stock space well, even uses a 8x1.25 bolt at the upper mount point. You need to cut the mount off to leave 1.75-1.8 inches remaining. The cut face must be flat and flush and square the mounting surface. The alternator position is determined by this face, it has to be decent. The drill out the 8x1.25 threaded hole to 3/8" through the whole thing. You'll need a 4.5 x 3/8 grade 8 bolt, washers to space it just perfect to match the plane of the water pump pulley, and a nut/lock. I used a 4L350 drive belt. 35 inches long. PS, I have one of these in my Z and 510. Don't leave home without. Here is where to get one if you're the on-line type: https://www.performance-world.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=360520 I got mine at Mopac in Calgary for $135 CAD all taxes in. Show Chrome polish was $10 more. Yes really. Cutting, facing and drilling those brackets properly is a bit tricky without a mill. I have a couple of spares if you want one. I can wip them up in 15 min. Or send me yours. All I'm missing here i year/make\model spec to tell the young'en behind the counter when you need to find one in Podunk Kansas. (I've been there, its not so bad...)

I wanted to start a thread where people can discuss the latest value information on our beloved Z cars. I attended Barrett Jackson auto auction on Saturday and only saw one Datsun sale - a 1500 Roadster which sold for $22K. Link below. There were lots of old Toyota Land Cruisers which were selling for between $20K to $50K. Prices on the usual 50's and 60's Detroit Iron were all over the map. Most of the really nice cars clearly sold for less than their restoration costs, which makes car restoration a labor of love and not logic. But most of us knew that already! Impressions were that prices were down. Last year Ron Pratte sold his entire collection of premium classic cars at BJ. No one knows why. Since Ron is a savvy businessman, this "dump" leads many to believe that classic American car prices are heading down, since some say baby boomers are losing interest in cars as they age. And some say the next hot area may be Japanese cars since this is what many millennials drove when they were young and now that they are older & working they have disposable income for the fine Jap classics. In any case, post your thoughts and/or information in this thread! http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1965-DATSUN-1500-ROADSTER-189458

Dave's (and MSA's) harness does not deal with the under dash combo switch harness at all. It "splices in" to the harness up front at the two head light connectors in front of the rad. This makes it possible to work with all the various 240 switch types, It "could" work just fine with the 280's as well, but the problem is with the new round, 4 pin (only three are used) weather proof connectors on the 280's. No one (including Dave) has found the plugs to build the head light harness to connect in at that spot. This is why I have seen discussion about putting the relays into the harness at the combo switch. But as you mention, there are differences in the plugs across the years at the switches. Anyway, I'm working on a solution that everyone will like. Simple, cheap(ish), high quality and retains ALL of the advantages of the original harness design.

Back to my bumper bracket saga. I made a mock-up of the towing bracket with the bumper support to see if my calculations we anywhere close. The angle on the bumper face is a little off. About 5degrees. Might be in my calculations. Yuo can see it in the left image where it touched the bumper. Im also looking at fitting a bracket to mount the horns. Its the vertical line just behind the center bolt.

good chance that squealing is the cam - probably dry as a bone from sitting for 10 yrs. pull the valve cover and cover it in oil before cranking again or risk burning it up (if not already done)

You got me wondering about this. On my 240 I have to use the key to lock the door from the outside. I did some checking about this by reading the various owners manuals found on http://www.xenonzcar.com/s30/ownersmanuals.html and it seems this feature was added for the 1977 280Z. Here are the pages from the 1977 & 1976 owners manuals:

Looking at the latest Hagerty valuations for the 240z ... 2015 was a very good year! A near 20k uptick for condition 1 cars across the board. This should make an owner I know in Richardson TX and two guys here in NW AR pretty happy.

Yes, the spring can be replaced. I have done it in my 260Z. Your neighbor found all of the problems I was describing. The door lock needed to be cleaned & lubed, and a new spring needs to go in to prevent the "auto-locking". I have a door lock on lying on the garage floor. I'm working late, but I might be able to remember to take a photo of it.

Not sure what you mean by spring tensioner Jai. Are you referring to the piece on the end of the lock assembly that turns with the key and connects to the door mechanism? Also, you do not need to use the key to lock the door, if you push down the lock pull at the top of the door & then hold the door handle up as you close the door, it should lock. I always do this to save the wear & tear on the lock and the key. Just don't leave the keys in the car when you do this.

Note to self: Keep Elon Musk away from my 240Z.

There's probably some thermostat housings out there that this would work for. Bolts break off in them often. A plastic plumbing elbow with a rubber gasket might be a better vessel than an old pop can for a cylinder head stud also. I'm tempted to go jam an old rusty stud in my spare engine and see how it works in the real world.