Leaderboard

Hello i am just back from the AACA Eastern Fall Meet at Hershey, PA. I entered my Z in the Historical Preservation Original Features class. In that class you are judged against a standard of originality. Anything restored or incorrect aftermarket gets a deduction. Used, NOS and OEM replacement parts are allowed. Owners are asked to disclose anything they know has been restored or modified. You are allowed up to seven deductions. Under that and you qualify for a HPOF award. My car is pretty much original but has had two minor body repairs/paint and the fuel line in not totally correct (correct routing but a new piece near the filter has been replaced using a Union. Not sure what the judges found (they do not tell you on the field.) I did not attend the awards ceremony that evening but I heard My car did get an HPOF award. it was a huge event…at least 500 cars on the showfield. From what I could see, Mine was the only Z, so it got lots of attention. Jim

I had not seen that thread until now. I'm going to have to start drinking heavily to get those images out of my mind!

Whoa!, I think that belongs in this thread,

It may put out 70 amps but only if there is a 70amp draw, if your Z is basically stock you won't exceed the 45 setting and if it does it will just peg the needle until the draw changes.

Might as well just buy a Vette, I'm all for modifying but I would never pretend I could design a better looking exterior. It's like Ketchup on Filet Mignon.

Here's a photo of my 240Z distributor with a Pertronix Ignitor 2. Background: In 1997, I replaced the points with a Crane optical ignition. It failed in 2010. I replaced the distributor with a ZX distributor in 2012. In 2020 I stole the ZX distributor to replace a bad distributor on my 260Z. When I decided to put the 240Z back on the road, I found the 240Z distributor and decided to install the Pertronix. As part of installing the Crane ignition, I removed the insulated with with the fork that you have circled in green. The female spade terminal you see at the 10:30 position of the distributor is part of the ground wire. It is not connected to anything now. Previously, I believe it was connected to the ZX distributor. My car runs fine without either of the two wires you are asking about.

470 HP, wide tires, and an R180. I think it's a show car, not a go car. "Powered by a 400 cu in 470 hp Blueprint built small block Chevy"

Might be shown un one of the 71 240Z diagrams. Use your meter on that forked black wire and see if it's a ground wire. https://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/1-wiring-diagrams/

The condensor body does not have a wire. It has a metal bracket that bolts to the case of the alternator. In your photo, the ground wire is bolted to the case at the same point. Yes, the wire coming out of the condensor goes to the B terminal of the alternator along with the white/red wire. The black wire at the alternator is the ground for the alternator case. When you attached the white/red wire to the alternator case, you grounded it. That wire goes to the ammeter gauge, and there is a white wire on the other side of the ammeter gauge is a white wire. That goes down to the fusible link. I did a simplified diagram below. If the white/red wire is attached to the B terminal, it is not grounded to the case of the alternator.

I agree with Granyknot. A Z even a mother would be ashamed of. If my dog was that ugly, I’d shave his butt and teach him to walk backwards. Cutting the roof off is tantamount to heresy. At least the dash doesn’t have any cracks, eh?

Well, this one is...unique. It's like the owner couldn't stop cutting and pasting until the z was no more. https://www.ebay.com/itm/324823185020?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D234294%26meid%3D5f0acbf0e3a74447a67110b6cced77d3%26pid%3D101113%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D124932556786%26itm%3D324823185020%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2563228%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWeb&_trksid=p2563228.c101113.m2108

Actually he did have an Austin Healey before he had a family. Positive ground? But he had plenty of good old America iron after that and did all his own maintenance. I think he was creating a "teaching" moment.

That's not obvious!

That might be confusing. There's a forked lug on the condenser case too. The case of the condenser goes to ground. The guts get the positive. My first experience with positive and negative was when I was installing a radio in my car. It came with a condenser and I asked my father how it was supposed to be connected. He is an electronics engineer. He told me to connect the case to positive and the free wire to ground (pretty pretty pretty sure that's what he said). It blew the guts out in my face like a firecracker. Ha ha ha hah. Had to go all the way to Radio Shack to get a new one. This thought crossed my mind. Positive terminals/wires should never ever be connected to the case of anything. Cases and covers and housings are always ground.

The forked lug on the condensor should be connected at the B terminal with the white/red wire.

Perfect. That means we're doing it right. So to your final question about vacuum bleeding vs. pressure bleeding... Again, I'm no expert on the topic, but I would suggest pressure bleeding over vacuum bleeding for a couple reasons. First, I believe you can generate a whooooole lot higher pressure differential with the master cylinder. I didn't research it, but I would expect that when you push the pedal hard, you can generate hundred(s?) of PSI in the lines. But if you're drawing a vacuum, the max vacuum you can achieve is less than one atmosphere (less than 15 psi). So for pressure bleeding, your pushing fluid through the lines with hundred(s) or PSI, but with vacuum bleeding, your pulling fluid through the lines with less than 15. Seems you would be much more likely to generate that bubble-free "slug" of fast moving fluid if you're using a higher pressure differential. Second, the seals used in the system are designed to keep pressure IN, not keep pressure OUT. All the seals are angled in such a way as to designate which side is the high pressure side and which is the low pressure side. The seals are all designed to expand outward and provide more sealing force when the pressure behind them increases. I've run the exact same scenario that Zed Head did (bleeding a clutch slave cylinder) and when I released the slave plunger, it pulled air past the seal back into the fluid side. So either he got lucky, or I got unlucky, but what worked for him did not work for me. I had to pressure bleed because the vacuum generated when I released the slave plunger allowed air in faster than it would pull fresh fluid from the clutch master.

Not sure its wise, but with all my vintage cars I have owned, I've always left them unlocked (short term stay). I figured since I dont leave anything worth value in my cars, its better to let them get in and rummage and leave, instead of sourcing windows, fixing scrapped paint and dents. Like Speed Racers brother said, if someone wants in, there getting in, might as well soften the blow and cost. I do like some of the camera tech thats out there now that records on any bump of the car or break in.