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Just finished restoring my tail lights and one thing I did may help people so I'll pass it on. Not really mind blowing but useful :-). When I took them out I noticed the "melted plastic" I'll call it that retained the nut and cap for each hole was so brittle it wouldn't hold the nuts in anymore. Half or more of the 16 total nuts were falling out the back because the plastic the factory melted over was dried out and nearly gone. It's a miracle the PO didn't lose these lights honestly. Went to home depot got this fix it putty I've used in the yard to stop PVC leaks and it was excellent at repairing each nut placement. It even dried an exact match to the color of the plastic housing. What was nice was it was pliable and easy to mold before it hardened, unlike some of the epoxies that become a mess too quickly. I didn't want anything liquid that would seep through to the nuts and ruin the threads so this was the perfect consistency. I had to use a little of it on the inner side as well and it really did a great overall job strengthening the integrity of each hole.

I'm thinking there's a possibility you have an intermittent connection and when you move the wiring harness around to change the alternator, maybe you're temporarily bettering the connection. For the 78-83 alternator system, there should be two W/R wires going to the back of the alternator that are always hot. One big, and one small. The big W/R is power output from the alternator and the small W/R is the sense line. Those two W/R wires are connected together inside the wiring harness. I've heard of other owners finding that the connection between the two (buried in the harness) corrodes over time and becomes intermittent. That, or as SteveJ suggested above, maybe the contact(s) inside the two position connector on the back of the alternator is flaky dirty intermittent.

My alternator recently gave out in my 73 Z, so I ordered the MSA 60 amp upgrade kit. I decided to give their alternator a try instead of sourcing one locally. Of course they warned me it's made for 70-72 Z's, and additional work is needed for a 73, have a pro install it, no warranty, etc. There are a handful of threads here for a 73, but some with broken links, and some with unanswered questions. Maybe this thread can be used to consolidate 73's. From what I gather, for a 73: Install new alternator and connect per instructions. The regulator plug (Dave's) is the same for 73 as 70-72. Extra wiring is required if you are running an electric fuel pump. I am not, just the mechanical one. Thread here for electric fuel pump wiring, with safety wiring. If the car has had the "vapor lock fix" or "electric fuel pump modification" or "V-3 modification" done to it, which added some wiring to a fuel pump relay. I'm not sure if cutting off the "yellow wire" is needed only if the fuel pump relay exists. I couldn't find a fuel pump relay on mine. Is this step needed only for cars with the modification? Add an 8 gauge wire between the alternator BAT connector to the starter solenoid where the positive battery cable connects to. So here's the old and new internally regulated alternator, Dave's plug, and instructions, from MSA. Here's the installed setup. Seems to work fine. My starter connection is getting a bit crowded with all the relay connections. The Pertronix seems to be work better, but maybe it's my imagination. Amp gauge moves a tiny bit at idle, and little more with hazards on. Anyway, I just want to make sure I'm good and won't burn my car down! 😏 Thanks! Ken

Couple more thoughts on your alternator thing... First, if you find the overcharging issue happening again, you can take voltage measurements from both of those W/R wires on the back of the alternator. They should be identical (because they are supposed to be hard connected together inside the harness). If you find 15.5 on the large W/R and 12.5 on the small, then you've got a problem with that connection. Second, it IS of course possible that you've had multiple voltage regulator failures on multiple alternators. However, as the number of them goes up, the likelihood that you're got something else going on goes up as well.

Thank you for the pic - I checked the parts catalog I downloaded, and it shows the same. I wish the images were crisper 😞

Sounds Like that is the way to go. Fun project, good thing I am good with solidworks:)

Measure voltage to ground on the backside of the connector. One pin should have voltage with the engine off. That is the battery sense. Also, look to see if the connector is corroded.

For sure. The lines on a 240Z are tucked up inside the transmission tunnel, the lines on a 280Z are alongside the inside of the right frame rail. So changing to a 240Z floor and tunnel would require reconfiguration of the plumbing too. Again, unless the structures require replacement for corrosion, changing simply to use different floor covering seems pointless, as the covering materials could likely be done without changing the structures.

https://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/carboncan/index.html Happy Father's Day @240260280 "Fart"