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We’ll gang, happy to report the test drive with the new rad installed is showing a marked improvement. Like for like conditions but without the constantly variable electric fans installed (which I had on the old rad) temps are 15°-20°c lower than with the old rad - and that’s purely with the mech fan. The twin electric fans run off a second thermostat in the housing that signals a PWM driver - which varies their duty cycle from 20% to 85% depending on how hot the car is. That way the fans don’t just kick in when it’s too late but rather constantly adjust to help the car cool as the heat builds but without constantly sucking big juice out of the alternator. I also have an off position that does 7% duty cycle to keep them spinning so as to not be a blocker to the mech fan. I also have a 100% position on the switch for emergency cooling. The fans also work on a delay off timer that keeps them on for 5 mins after the car is turned off. The switch fits perfectly here! I have to make a new bracket to fit the elec fans to the rad panel as previously they were on the rad core and I never like that for obvious reasons. Especially bad on an alu rad! Why am I running two fans? Because they are high quality, came from a UK club member for peanuts and I like the fact that if one fails, the other will likely continue working. Paranoid, maybe definitely!

The market has peaked... for now. Once we have an economy that people believe in, the prices will rise again. Personally, I wish the Z market would crash back about 15 years. I loved buying and selling S30's for parts. There is no such thing as a parts car anymore. Every seller thinks they have a future Barrett Jackson car when they really have a $500 parts car. This holds true for every classic sports car. When a Porsche 912 brings $45k, something is seriously wrong. You couldn't give a 912 away 15 years ago and it should still be that way.

Your car has a voltage regulator. I can see the plug. Frankly I don't trust reman alternators anymore. I have been advising people with bad alternators or regulators to do the Nissan Frontier swap. RockAuto lists "new" alternators for the 2000 Frontier 4 cylinder. You have to buy the plug for the sense and switched circuits. That is readily available on Amazon. I also went the extra step to buy the 6 pin Yazaki YPC male plug to make the jumper to remove the voltage regulator. I haven't had someone come back to me about the RA alternators I suggest failing.

Apologies first of all for cluttering your thread with my problems! I'm still going to remove the rail & flush it. I have had situations where regulated pressure indicated was in range, but volume under demand was not. I'll have to see if I can record line pressure somehow on this system. Sorry for the confusion with the coils & ballast. I am NOT using the ballast with the HEI setup, that was when I switched back to the stock setup to test. The coil is relatively new (old stock), however I did try a couple others I have, no change The 125A breaker is on the starter feed, so the current draw with dwell/timing out must be very high. I can switch it out for a higher rating, but that won't resolve the cause. I've left this alone for now so I can get the interior /dash reassembled. I've also installed the WBO2 for the AEM controller, so I can see what the AFR's are doing when the symptom manifests.

wired my relay feed to the L terminal via a new charge indicator bulb. Circuit works exactly as @SteveJ described. repurposed rear defogger lamp for charge indicator Bulb holder w/spade terminals

Thanks Steve. I will check those out. Tonight, I put the differential strap in. I reused the original differential arrestor strap. It is in decent shape - it even has original yellow paint dabs on it. One of the things that really excited me about this car was that it spent all of its time prior to my ownership in AZ/CO. The restored hardware is so nice - not pitted from rusting. As these parts go back on the car, some pictures capture the resulting "art":

The stock throttle body mounting bolts are on a 60mm square. Here's a sketch I whipped up a while back for a throttle body spacer I made. Might have some other interesting measurements on it, but the bottom line for the question at hand is 60mm square:

It idles well and revs when parked. I won't know more until I can drive it.

Or I could unhook the alternator and run off the battery. It wouldn't be the sketchiest thing, considering the 5-gal gas can in the back for a fuel tank.

I love those pictures!! Especially the detailed pictures of the proper bolt head details

Thanks Kats I assure you, your English is far superior to my Japanese! 😁

They make new crush washers?

To be on the safe side you could/should chip up all of that original sound deadener, chance are you will find more than the couple you know about. That sound deadener was applied over top of bare metal.

I think the $3770 offer was the best it's gonna do. I would probably contact that bidder and see if I could work something out...

I also sprayed the rear tail light panels with clear matte today per Jim A's recipe. I worked on the trim for those panels also. I removed it to make it easier to paint them and polish the trim. We will see how hard they are to get back on. An interesting note, these piece are carbon steel and must be plated. They are magnetic. I was surprised they weren't stainless! I also got the last vent line at the tank worked out by lining it with a spring. I then got the tank straps installed and the filler neck all setup. If I could have found all the clamps I needed I would have gotten the vapor tank all taken care of too

If you're looking for a switched source that isn't going through a relay, that would be the B/W (On and Start) or L/R (Acc and On). Neither has terminations near the center console. You could get a set of male and female 6 pin 6.3 mm connectors from Vintage Connections and get the power from the back of the switch. I would advise fusing it as close to that connector as possible.