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Lawn art....better than those plastic pink flamingos. 😎

Stayed home another day to be around in case Mrs. Racer needed anything. She is actually adapting reasonably well, considering the limited mobility with a splint almost all the way to her, um, well yeah. She got out of bed on her own, and was able to use the bathroom without help. So, after I fixed us breakfast, I went out and cleared some more brush, liberating some more of the eight Z cars hiding in plain sight. So far, a 280ZX, a 280Z, a240Z, and a 280Z 2+2. The next Z is a 240, not quite visible on the right.

Thanks Ryan. I'm always amazed how many people read through this whole thread, even though it is quite inactive at the moment. Thanks for your kind words and i hope to be able to post an update soon again... Some other big projects are coming to an end this week, so i hope to be able to focus on my cars again soon...

And you will not have Tachometer positive (tachometer function) Turn signals Proper alternator function.

Casting in brass??? Pardon my French, but you're out of your mind!! LOL!! Unless you're going to make a hundred thousand, just turn it on a lathe! I could make that part in less than ten hours. Nine-and-a-half to figure out how to make it right, and then thirty minutes to make a good one.

I've had one of @zclocksunits in my car for over 10 years. Great workmanship, well worth the investment.

Found a few. https://www.classiczcars.com/search/?q=bcdd block plate&quick=1

I'm happy to report that the flasher's fuse hasn't blown yet. I'm not sure exactly where the culprit(s) were, but I did 2 things that might compliment one another that fixed my issue. 1. Clean the connector (6 wires connector) for the AC blower as it has greenish build up. 2. Replace the flasher as mentioned above -- the flasher might be on its way out that might cause the fuse to blow intermittently. Who knows 😉 Beside the flasher fuse stop blowing, the new flasher actually is very good. I'm able to hear the clicking sound without looking at the dash to know if the turn signal is engaged 😉 Let put this at issue at rest for now. Highly recommend the flasher above if you need some reaffirmed that the signal is engaged. Brand new issue is coming on new thread shortly 😉 Thank you everyone for a superb help. regards

What? You don't want to try casting?

Yes, I'm out of my mind. Is that important? With a lathe, there is less chance of burning something/catching something on fire. Where's the fun? Now with molten metal, opportunities abound! Seriously, I might just buy the delrin rod.

I would think that friction resistance is probably most of the reason. Also the parts supplier may have had access to injection molding equipment that would allow them to knock off a bunch of the plastic parts as opposed to machining the metal bits. (Dang it, now you have me thinking about the possibility of casting with brass. You are evil, @Captain Obvious!) I am tempted to see about getting a 4mm delrin rod to play with to see if I could make the plastic part.

It is the BW wire. However, if Duffy connects the pink wire at that point, there is no protection for the wiring. That's why my instructions are as detailed as they are. Mind you, I do controls engineering for emergency power, so I do look at how to prevent the magic smoke from escaping from the wires.

Well interesting, I will have to look which wire this is, ballast or off the back of the tach, I assume an ohm reading will be best for that. I see the ballast circuit goes off to other branches, and would be a not as nice spot for me to tap 12v from. I will ohm check the rest of the ignition wires, but they also seem to go off and branch. I will put a fuse inline no matter what I do. What circuit would you tap for the keyed 12v to my haltech? Behind my dash I found two, one was defrost(unplugged since I got the car) and the other is a ?. I was using the defrost, it's just a relay switched 12v, so very thin wire, so I assume low amp draw. I do own a brewery and a wakesurf boat:) Come on up.

In stock sold. Building another!

18 years is a long time to sit in the grass...

Actually I’m going to be offering them for sale soon. It is a shrub, a woody sort of thing that grows on the forest floor around here. The 280Z also had one, growing up through the vent in the hood. I left these eight Z cars here 18 years ago, when we bought this property. The 280ZX, and the 280Z were both running when I parked them.

Whhahaha... they are standing there for some time.. a tree growing out the engineroom??? wow...

I put a single relay on my 76 to take the heat out of the switch. If I recall right you just cut the red wire from the switch to the fuse panel and insert the relay there. I punched a hole through the rubber plug in the firewall to the battery terminal. Full power still runs through the dimmer switch but the combo switch only sees the amps to actuate the relay. The circuit is kind of odd to look at because power comes through the switch from the W/R wire (on a fusible link circuit) then passes through the switch on the way to the fuse box. So the relay doesn't control power in to the switch it controls current out. Instead of supplying the fuse box through the switch you supply it through the relay, controlling it with the red wire out of the switch. I have vague memories of posting (maybe just thinking) incorrect logic about the fuses in the past, I think because my thinking was backward about the current direction. (One way in which the internet sucks. The internet forgets nothing.). I thought that the fuses saw less current with the relay in place. But they see the same current just from a different source, the power still passes through the fuses on the way to the headlights. Assuming my 2022 logic is better than that past logic. I could be wrong. Only adding in case someone sees an old post. Maybe I'll dig it up myself. (Just remembered that the fusible link is actually taken out of the circuit, not the fuses. Rambling...) p.s. if you take a few minutes and study that headlight circuit you see that there is "potential" in the factory setup to run 40 amps (assuming a green fusible link is 40 amps) through that tiny switch if there's a short in the red wire that heads to the fuse box. Seems like the switch might melt before the fusible link. p.s. 2 - the running lights run through the circuit right next to the headlights. It's just a bad design. Lots of heat.

No but when we held the other on the manifold we just covered the bottom with our palm essentially doing the same thing as the plate...

Nylon 6/6 would be my first choice with Delrin being a close second. Both are easy to machine at that scale, but I think the Nylon is a little stiffer and stronger.

Awesome! You guys beat me to it! Glad you figured it out and got the idle down to where it belongs. I think that had been suggested before too. Guess it never happened.

Thanks for this, we got the idle down to where it should be and the sound is gone. The culprit was indeed the bcdd blockoff plate - had no idea you were supposed to silicone the holes inside the throttlebody shut so air doesn't pass through. These blockoff plates really should come with instructions to give the purchaser a heads up that needs to be done. What was most likely happening is the intake noise was the sound of air whistling through that passageway in the throttlebody and then echoing down the intake piping. This is the image that really made it all click from one of Captain Obvious's threads:

So tell us the OD and height. My mind is formulating evil plans as we type!

@SteveJ I have digital calipers

@gotham22Do you have a micrometer that you could measure the dimensions of the tab in better condition?

Yep, that's a problem. It melts down/wears down because of the heat from all of the current flowing through the switch. Don't try to get a 3D printed version. It will only melt down faster than the original piece. @Captain Obvious You're better with plastics than I am. Can you think of a hard plastic that could be drilled/milled/lathed into a replacement?

Also, I have ordered a fuel pressure guage to ensure the pressure is on point.

Yes this is exactly correct. I've ordered from him and had no issues.

The fifth gear clearance can be corrdcted by adding shim stock between the washer (pos 21) and overdrive gear bushing (pos 20). Shim stock thickness 0.01 (0.25mm) is easy to cut with tin cutters. You could try to find shim washers the right size. Google "shim washers din 988". Go for the right inner diameter if you can't find one with the right dimensions. Trimming the outer diameter is easier than the inner diameter.

I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say they weren't happy with Ron's work. @zclocks

Get resistance readings, not tone. I think I have mentioned in one of my YouTube videos that you can get a "false positive" with a tone. Also please be more descriptive with your measurement techniques and testing procedures. Where you put your probes is important. Here's an example, for the B/Y wire, it goes through the solenoid and on to ground. If the wire is connected at the solenoid, you could read the resistance of the wire in the solenoid when doing a measurement. Depending upon how your meter is set up, that may set off the tone. If you're not too experienced with multimeters, these videos may help.

You might want to read through this thread:

Well after hours of reading over numerous attempts and lots of admiring of z parts porn photos I finally got through this build thread! what a journey and very enjoyable, Loved seeing all the cool parts you've collected and don't want to know how much you've spent on them all! cant wait to see more progress on your build. Ryan

Okay, so this happened yesterday, but it's still within 24 hours... After performing well all last week at ZCON 2022, she deserved her spa day. And all done, ready to go for the next drive/cruise/car meet.

Installed my new replica tail lights. looked at guidelines from the web, all suggested to cut a wire under the steering column to separate the brake light from the blinker. Couldent understand why you would have to do that? Theres a connection at the brake light switch, used that and used the new harness from the replica tail lights and everything workes. Ofcourse the oem tail light 4 pin connection doesn’t match the 6 pin connection from the replica tail lights, you have to swap these so they match.

I rally hope the Project gains some Momentum again soon. things are still according to plan, just a bit slow. Meanwhile at least i managed to collect a few nice NOS items: 1) a set of NOS lugnuts for the Steel wheelsin exchange for some parts to get a certain Yonmery Skyline (240K-GT) back on the street. Thanks to Stefan for the Deal 🙂 2) I found this NOS vintage Memorial Badge of the 4 Safari Rallies. Not something i would usually spend a lot of money on, but when this one popped up for sale for 10 bucks in the original box, i just had to get it for my collection. It has never been installed, all the Hardware was included and looks absolutely mint. I think somewhere i have the stickers that came with the same "Quadruple crown" celebration too. That's it. I still owe you a story about our road trip in Norway, which i'm working on, and i really hope to give you some updates on the EK9 and 240Z again soon. I have many things planned, just need to prioritize them.

Woah, Cliff! Ease up there. Don't want to wear it out all at once. 😂

Started clearing brush yesterday. Got the ZX free, and half of one of the 280Zs exposed. Six more to go. I stopped to take a break, texted Mrs. Racer some progress pictures, then went into the shop to take a break. Had a race on the TV. A few minutes passed, and I heard what sounded like someone in distress. Turns out Mrs. Racer was coming out to see the progress, slipped and fell on the back porch steps, and broker her lower leg/ankle. I had to call the aid car, they hauled her to hospital, and we were up all night. Now I am missing work to get her into see an orthopedic surgeon. Good times, eh?