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I am reverting to type (I'm an Interior Designer), and using my knowledge and experience, to produce bespoke Carpet Kits in the very near future. This all came about with dissatisfaction with the shiny nylon loop pile fabrics currently available. These carpet sets will be high quality, European & Australian made, Woven 'Wilton' & 'Axminster' (not tufted or needle punch) carpets in plain colour cut piles, and 'Brussels Weave' (level loop) piles, with colour matched, leather bound edges. These are the types of carpet you would have found in high end, luxury vintage and classic vehicles through to the late 1960's, until it was cheaper and easier to produce the shiny nylon fabrics that we are all familiar with. Now, I know this isn't for everyone, and will upset the purists, striving for originality, but more for those who want to lift the overall quality, looks and feel of their vehicles interior. Much like fitting an all leather covering to their seats. No, not original, but way more luxurious and aesthetically pleasing, when done correctly. I am currently templating from factory complete carpets for exact fit, and will initially be making to order, with a view to stocking sets in factory colours and some other variations, similar to those one might found in MZR Roadsports vehicles (https://mzrroadsports.co.uk/) I'll also do a transmission tunnel & upstand behind seats, as an option for those would like it. I'm also looking at making high density recycled PET underlay sets, to replace the original hair felt underlay. This type of PET material in now used as backing for carpet tiles and has a less than 1% moisture absorbance and Noise Reduction value of 0.25. Next on my agenda are fine (thin) leather covering kits for the hard plastic trims, and leather replacements for the soft vinyl trims, found through out. I'll post pictures and information in the Resourses Links area as these products develop.

So, sitting at a red light... Does the idle stumble with your foot on the brake? What about stopped at a red light using the hand brake instead? If it stumbles only when you have your foot on the brake pedal... check the brake booster. When sitting at a light with foot on brake, can you hear a hissing / air leak at your feet? Plug vacuum line to booster and test idle (careful if you drive). I have found that the booster can still work but leak at idle with brake depressed....which will make your idle drop.

Yes, at some point, no more surprises

Here's what my transmission looked like after adding the access hole.

My bad wording... should have said all the EPA, DOT and other Federal Regulations. Associating component parts of a motor vehicle with its VIN was, AIR a DOT regulation. It was intended to lower the number of stolen cars that were being taken for their parts to be resold. I'm sure it was pushed by the Insurance Companies and welcomed by the Police. At first GM stamped the actual chassis serial number of the vehicle on the engine blocks - that was were the term "matching numbers" originated back in the 60's. Car manufacturers started stamping the VIN on places on the frame and in some cases hidden in other places (with only Law Enforcement agencies given the location of the hidden VIN's) - so if the visible Dash VIN was changed.. the real VIN could be found in other places on the vehicle. I have no idea what changes in the laws took place in the later 70's...

Thank you, my car only has 75k miles or so but the outer tie rods are shot for sure. I'll be replacing just the outer tie rods tomorrow and redo my alignment aswell at work after that. Nice, I actually just upgraded to 4 piston front, SS lines and all that a week ago. I should've replaced my bearings but they seemed okay so I just repacked them. Just need a bigger master for the brakes. Do you have a link because it only shows one inner tie rod for me and to my mind that would mean Right hand for the driver side

I haven’t posted on this thread for a myriad of reasons mostly because I have followed Captain Obvious’s advice. Let the medical professionals be your guide. I’m lucky that I’m married to a Doctor and she’s 100% pro vaccine and pro COVID-19 vaccine. She’s blown away there are people not getting vaccinated because of conspiracy theory’s. When in doubt trust your physician and when people make crazy accusations I use Occam’s Razor (Principle of Parsimony) the simplest explanation is usually the most accurate one. The government doesn’t need to fake a pandemic to make you take a vaccine to alter you DNA or whatever you Facebook buddy came up with. There are many more logical avenues to do such a thing if you were so convinced they would do such a thing. Bruce: to answer you question this might be helpful. Passed to me by a friend who is a doctor and says this guy Is spot on with COVID info. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Enjoy everyday you wake up. It's over folks. We had some fun though...

<Sigh...> So is the Lambda covered well by the current vaccines? I know it's just a matter of time before this thing uses the unprotected pool of donors to mutate into a form that is NOT picked up by the vaccine, but I'm hoping that hasn't happened yet.

@psdenno Kroil by KanoLabs It actually is a class above everything else I’ve used in 60 years. For the average car guy one 10 oz spray can will last several years. Granted it is a little pricey - but well worth spending the extra few dollars. I always used to order it direct from Kano Lab’s - but now I see they are working though sales outlets and distributors (and it has gotten more expensive as well) https://www.kroil.com/where-to-buy/

I'm going to do my best to respond to your post and not get you pi$$ed off. You've probably noticed that you're not getting responses to this thread and are getting frustrated. There are at least two reasons for no responses: (1) it seems you are ignoring the help offered last week in your prior post, (2) you are trying to fight/hack the factory wiring instead of tracing and fixing the problem. There is NO need to ground any wire at a door switch - all of the grounds are in place at their proper location! There is one wire to each of the the door switches that should have constant power. Last week our fellow member wal280z edited my comment to say this is a fused wire. On the driver's side switch the other wires go to (1) the ignition buzzer and (2) the dome light. The buzzer is already grounded and so is the dome light. The fact that your dome light works at the light switch says you have constant power there and the ground is good. This is a different power circuit than the one coming from the door switches. The passenger door switch has only two wires - one for constant power and the other going to the dome light. Since neither door switch works, the problem is likely no power, possibly traced to a blown or bad fuse. You need to locate the fuse for the door switches power circuit. Check that power is coming TO that fuse (probably direct from the battery). Replace the fuse and see if you now have power coming to the door switches. Its not uncommon for these switches to fail but if you can confirm power, then replacing one or two door switches should be a simple matter. I hope you have the FSM for your car and are making an attempt at following the wiring diagram.

I'm in! I'm flying but bringing my '73 (aka Motorman7's "flat top" restoration) in a commercial trailer with several other Zs from the Z Owners of Northern California. (ZONC)

During the last three months, I have ordered two large items that required FedEx handling because of the size of the box. Both items arrived impaled. Both items were packed well. The boxes held up and were not deformed, just a big gash in the side that made its way through to damage the contents. I have had no problems with USPS or UPS, just FedEx.

Few updates on the Z. Tail lights are back together with trim and gaskets Added some color to the license plate frame. Used the L series engine blue and 280Z yellow I had from a previous car. And finally, getting the drivers door back together. New hardware, seals, and rubber bits.

Jonathan...Thanks for your comments. I ended up doing exactly as you described - sanding down the PU bushings (slowly) with a belt sander and bench grinder/sander. The sleeves provided with the PU bushings were the same diameter but longer so I ground those down to the required length as well. The existing sleeves seemed in good condition so I ended up using a new ground down sleeve on one side and a cleaned up existing sleeve on the other side. Apparently, this type of transmission mount cross member was installed on 240Z's manufactured up until July of 1972, then the newer type cross member was used (my 1972 240Z was manufactured in November of 1971). Energy Suspension (and others) only provide a PU bushing kit for the newer type cross member. I also procured a new transmission mount but it was for the newer type cross member as well. I could not find a new transmission mount that fits the older style cross member so I Installed the new mount on my cross member and it seems to work fine.

Just a few random observations and comments here from the peanut gallery. I have two good friends, both PHDs in biochemistry and California State University professors. One thinks the vaccine and mRNA technology is amazing and is very pro-vaccine, the other is on the other side of the coin and won't touch the mRNA vaccine. Both far more knowledgeable than me on the subject, both have their arguments for their stance. I find that pretty interesting that both highly educated professors have such diverse opinions. Also, I have mentioned this before, but I have a hard time with the altruistic argument of getting a vaccine for the safety others being discussed on a car site. https://www.nsc.org/newsroom/motor-vehicle-deaths-2020-estimated-to-be-highest Also, looks like Dr Fauci says our vaccinations may not protect our friends https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.firstpost.com/health/vaccinated-people-can-get-delta-variant-remain-asymptomatic-and-become-carriers-but-shots-prevent-severe-disease-9800741.html/amp&ved=2ahUKEwirperotOrxAhXHK80KHfn4BskQFjAMegQIHRAC&usg=AOvVaw3iUtYVK54bUEf8WO2YJ2Sp&ampcf=1 Just some observations. Feel free to fire away.

Ok, I said I wouldn't get into the serious discussions around this topic because I am not a medical professional and I don't know how this virus or vaccine even works. But I do have something to say based on the perception of what's going on in this thread. First, you seem to be putting most of the population into classifications of vaccinated vs unvaccinated. While I get this is simple because of your media and internet research, I don't think it is fair to bash or ridicule those who have not vaccinated. I truly believe this has serious social repercussions and has the potential to tear humanity apart. This is just not something I want to be a part of, nor do I want that here in the club. Second, we must also try to understand that some people simply cannot take the vaccine. Are we going to throw exceptions to these people? I mean, do they need to come to a car website and read about how much of a bad human they are just because they don't fit into the statistics we've all read on the CDC's website? Do you think that's fair? Lastly, I don't understand why everyone is so opinionated about this topic. Health is a personal decision, much like your sex life. I don't know anyone asking if you like anal sex... and I don't really want to know.

Did the idle drop occur before the tune-up?

This forum has been very helpful to me. As a means of documenting some of what we have done and to help others avoid some of my mistakes I thought I would post the installation of a vintage gen II mini AC system. Background: My son and I are restoring a 1973 240z. We call it the bucket, as there was a significant amount of rust that had to be dealt with and our other choice – Money Pit was already taken. We are changing the color from 113 avocado green to mango orange, it has an L-28 engine and a 5 speed gear box. At this point: the car was taken to bare metal, metal replaced where required and any rust has been eliminated the rear clip is painted, front and rear suspension has been restored/upgraded and installed brake system has been restored/upgraded and installed half axles, differential, driveshaft, transmission, engine have been restored/upgraded and installed fuel system has been restored and is installed cooling system has been restored/upgraded and installed electrical harness has been restored/upgraded and the cockpit harness is installed When we purchased the car, it did have a non-working aftermarket AC system, probably installed at the dealership. We decided to replace the AC, defrost, and heater with an integrated system from Vintage Air. Vintage Air recommended a Gen II Mini The Gen II is a replacement for the original heater core, air box, and under-dash AC evap. As you can imagine the gen ii is quite a bit smaller than the original components, but it is a universal system and therefore it needs to be shoe horned into a space under the original dash. Because I removed so much original material, I thought that I would be able to fit the combination evaporator/heater and air box above the transmission tunnel and behind the instrument panel. This gets it away from the passenger footwell and centers the defrost and climate openings. I found someone that had done something similar so I was fairly confident that I would not have a fitment issue with the dash. Brackets are provided with the Gen II but I did not find them to be particularly useful. Mounting is fairly straightforward, but if you are like me sometimes it takes a few proto-types to get something that satisfies you. Mounting the Evaporator Once the evaporator is in place you can decide where hoses need to enter/exit the firewall. It is always nice to use the original holes, but you need to consider the radius of the bends for the hoses as they do not like to make sharp turns. I decided to install bulkheads for both the AC hoses and the heater hoses. I like this luxury because if the engine has to come out or if anything goes wrong with the evaporator/heater then disassembly stops at the firewall. Also if any of the hoses fail you don’t have to disconnect at the evaporator to replace an engine bay hose and vice versa. Working these stiff hoses and close connections under the dash is not the most comfortable task, The only downside that I can think of regarding bulkhead connections is that there are additional breaks in the hoses that now require some sort of mechanical connection and this is yet another opportunity for a leak. I did not have to cut any additional holes in the firewall but I would recommend that you buy individual bulkhead connectors as opposed to 2-way or 4-way bulkheads. This probably makes it easier to use the original holes. Bulkhead Connections water connections are behind the evap, compressor connections are near the main harness entry. Those are EZ-coils fitted on the hoses to help keep them from collapsing due to a sharp radius you can see the water connections on the passenger side of the engine just below the level of the valve cover. Compressor lines enter the bay just above the passenger frame rail. I would have preferred to do all of the hose routing with the engine out of the way, but I was concerned that I could not visualize every aspect. The AC compressor is a bit of a chore to mount so I will do that while the engine is on a stand. Here is what is being replaced – a Nissan bracket, and a sanden compressor. The original compressor is much lighter than most that were used in the day like York, but the original combination still weighs 24 lbs. Original Bracket and Compressor I tried to use the original bracket. Even though it is heavy and bulky it is clearly better because the compressor can be mounted so that it does not have to move to install a v-belt. There is an integral idler pulley that is adjustable. I spent valuable time cleaning the bracket and the pulley in preparation for painting, but alas I could not figure out a good way to modify it to accept the new compressor and properly align it with the engine pulley. The bracket that I purchased from Vintage is simple (no idler pulley) but it is made to convert a York bracket. Unfortunately, it does not line up with the bucket’s pulley. So my choices were to somehow modify the simple bracket or build a new bracket. I decided to attempt a mechanical solution as opposed to modifying the bracket by welding a piece on. The problem really has two pieces: the compressor must align with the engine pulley and because there is no Idler pulley it must rotate to install and adjust the v-belt. Here is what I came up with. It is 9lbs lighter. I will continue to look for a more elegant solution with an idler pulley, but I need to get the engine back in the car. NEW AC Bracket and Compressor With the engine and radiator in place it is an easy task to route the Compressor hoses to the bulkhead. Vintage offers a connect system called “easy clip”. I have not used this before but it allows me to construct all of the hoses myself without the usual expense of a crimping tool. This will make start-up of the AC system much simpler, because I will be able to go to a shop and only require evacuation, drying and filling to get the system working. This should take about an hour as opposed to waiting for someone to construct the crimp hoses and depend on someone else to route the hoses to my satisfaction. Hopefully, the easy clip system works well and does not leak. Condenser The condenser and drier were both part of the gen II kit. Bracketing the condenser was fairly easy. You need to take into account the holes in the radiator support as the hose that sources the drier must go through the support. It would have been nice to mount the drier ahead of the support where the air is coolest but it was more convenient for me to put it on the engine side. I converted to an aluminum radiator with an electric fan so I installed a trinary switch on the drier. So, the routing of the hoses is: Evap to Comp, Comp to condenser, condenser to drier and drier back to the evap. The route that I took was evap across the firewall to the comp mounted driver side low, from the compressor thru the radiator support across the condenser to a connection on the passenger side of the condenser from the condenser thru the radiator support to the drier, from the drier along the passenger frame rail to the firewall to the evap. That is a 2 row aluminum radiator painted black with a dual electric fan setup. I still think that it is strange to use a 2 row, but based on what I read I convinced myself that 2 rows were actually better than 3 or 4 for the same overall length and width. The condenser is visible here - in front of the radiator Climate Control Panel The last piece of the puzzle – mounting the controls. When this project began, I had no idea what I was going to do with regard to the climate control panel. Trust me this restoration has had enough challenges, but I wanted the controls to look they were part of the car. Originally, I envisioned the new panel hidden behind the original panel with mechanical linkages to control the system. I ordered a panel from vintage air, their least expensive. It allows for 4 slide type controls: AC compressor on/off combined with AC temperature control, Heater temperature control, Fan speed control, and Mode (defrost, feet, body, body+feet) control. Now that I have good handle on the mounting of the evaporator and know that the dash will fit without interfering with the evap I can consider using the original Datsun climate control panel which had the original mechanical controls for the vent, heater and defroster. The bucket had an aftermarket AC system, but it did not have anything integrated so the compressor control and the AC temperature control were all hung external to the dash. The Datsun climate control panel accommodates three slide controls: outside air, heater temperature, mode (defrost, feet, body, body+feet) control; and a rotary fan speed control. The controls for the original AC system were appended to the dash and did not compliment the look and feel of the car. The original climate control panel and the vintage air panel I decided that I was going to attempt to integrate the vintage air controls into the 240z panel. My control panel was not in very good shape so I decided to use it to trial fit everything. I opted for the luxury of replacing my panel with a new one. MSA does make one – it’s approximately $130. Its plastic, well built, but nothing special. They have a slightly more expensive version with chrome accents – I was not smart enough to order that version, so I spent more to have the fun of trying to do chrome accents myself. The first obvious difference between the original and the vintage controls is the fan control. I ordered a rotary fan switch from vintage air to replace the slider that I originally purchased. The hole in the 240z panel must be opened a bit to accommodate the vintage air control. If you go this route, remember to be careful as you are working with plastic, so cracking is a real possibility. Next, I removed each of the slide switches from the vintage air panel. In my opinion the best/easiest way to integrate them into the 240z panel was to create an intermediate metal panel to house the vintage air controls and then mount the intermediate panel onto the 240z plastic panel. The metal panel should help distribute the forces of the sliders and will allow me to more easily position the sliders where I need them. It’s not as easy as it sounds. The travel of the vintage air sliders is quite a bit smaller than the original 240z controls. I considered mounting the sliders a few inches back from the 240z panel which would make the slider travel more similar to the original but it complicated everything else so I rejected the idea. The length of the vintage air slider mechanisms is also different than the original 240z controls. The vintage air heater temperature control is a bit hooky in my opinion. It is mounted to the vintage air panel by being squeezed by their bracket. There is no provision to screw it to a panel. It’s quite small. I used thin aluminum sheet stock to build trial configurations. It’s easy to bend and easy to cut and you can expose a lot of issues very quickly by using a proto-typing process. The AC control is relatively large. I decided to fit it into the top slot of the plastic panel labeled “AIR”. In my opinion - this is where it fits best. You can mount it without a lot of difficulty with one exception – the length of the slide control is too short. If you choose to go this route don’t purchase the vintage air panel (it’s a waste of money), and when you order the controls make sure that they provide full length sliders. When they build a kit with their panel, they cut the sliders to fit their panel and it is too short for the Datsun panel. I very carefully bent the L shaped bracket flat. I then removed enough material from the bracket to allow the slider to protrude through the plastic panel enough so that I could attach a plastic knob to it. I wanted to use the original 240z knobs to help disguise the vintage air system. One of my knobs was cracked and so I searched for a replacement. I found some new ones at Banzai Motor Works that were reasonable. The heater temperature control will fit just below the AC control. I built a small aluminum bracket that pinches the heater control and attaches to the climate control panel. Lateral movement of the heater control is prevented by the aluminum bracket and vertical movement is prohibited because the heater control is held in place by the ac control above it. The mode control will fit in the climate control panel’s third (lowest) slot. Here is an image of the original control panel with all of the controls mounted to it. Also, you need to seal off the cowl vent because there is no provision for the vintage air system to utilize that vent. The only fresh air vent system that you will have will come from the vents on the driver and passenger side which are controlled by individual mechanical cables. These vents actually get their air thru the ducts to the opening in the radiator support. The bottom line is that the original 240Z panel will remain in-tact and the new system will seamlessly fit behind it. You will not be able to tell that the entire climate system has been upgraded. vintage air controls Integrated Panel CONCLUSION If you choose to upgrade your AC system and you opt to integrate the controls into the original climate control panel you can benefit from my mistakes. Do not order the panel/control kit. Instead order the individual switches with full length sliders. Make sure that you order the rotary fan control and not the slide fan control switch. In the spirit of full disclosure I have not fired-up the AC system yet. Having said that, based on previous experience I believe that Vintage Air has done a great job providing a terrific system with more than adequate documentation. I especially like the reduction in physical size and weight. I also like the electronic controls as opposed to mechanical – cable stretch and loose cable connections are a thing of the past. I appreciated being able to make my own compressor hoses (hope they are solid and do not leak). I do wish that they would come up with a universal compressor mount with an idler pulley. All in all, it is a great system. It takes a fair amount of time and effort to install, but I believe you will be happy with the result. I will try to answer any questions that you might have. Good Luck.

You reminded me that it was 11 months on THIS vintage flat top IN 1972 that allowed me to save enough to buy the Z in 1973: USS Kitty Hawk, CVA63, Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Philipines, 1972

Hi, I’m the “gentleman” (Rich may be a little too generous ?) that is the original owner of the ‘73 Z of this thread. I’m happy I managed to hang on to my Z this long and yet ashamed I have let it sit so long. I bought it new from Gubrud Valley Datsun in Mt Vernon Washington shortly after returning from an 11 month deployment with my US Navy A6 Intruder squadron aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. ( which was a great way for a young ensign to save his pay to buy a Z!). I’ll post more info about the history of this car when I get back home after the 4th.

Big job, about the only thing you get a free ride on is the shift knob, looking forward to watching the transformation. Oh just found the close up pic of the shift knob, scratch that.