moritz55

Thanks for the input. Was it easy to setup?

Occasionally on really hot days my 240z sometimes doesn't turn over. I hear the "Clicking" noise but no soleniod/starter action. It's ussually after I've run the car a while around town so it's hot and the heat is close to 90F outside. My electric fans work fine, all lights work, the radio works and I'm upgraded with the 60amp alternator hookup so my battery stays charged nicely. I've checked all my grounds and cables and could not find anything. I've seen other threads here with others that experience this problem. Question: Has anyone installed this Starter Relay Kit; was it easy and did it make your staring more reliable in the Heat of Summer? It's listed on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220393746648&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT Many thanks..

Hi Randy. So you noticed the dash! It's the 1st time I pulled off the dash cover and front dash grill. It's a great suggestion to repair the dash but I'm in a real bind and can't find the time to do it. If only I planned this as part of the overall windsheild replacement project. I'll have to live with the dash cover for now, while I did have them clean up nicely and refresh the defroster vents with Low Gloss Black paint. The car came with a nice dash cover. Thanks again ...

Here are the photos with the channel painted Green - same color as the body. Looks pretty good and I'm glad you all suggested I have this done first. No heat lamps or accelerated drying is being done since the windwsheild won't be here for 6-7days. The shop has the cord(rope), weatherstrip, lubricant and the sealant all ready for the new windsheild. As I understand it - they'll apply the sealant to the windsheild channel on the weatherstrip before attaching it to the glass. Next they insert the stainless trim peices. Insert the cord into the body channel on the weatherstrip. Then lubricate the channel and gasket and start the installation. I'm pretty satisfied thus far and hope it continues to go well. Thanks all...

Thanks Keith... I assume this is the Nissan Windshield PN. I was not able to find one on the East Coast . so I went with the Pilkington Glass. Should be here Monday or Tuesday. All, I stopped by and took the photos at various stages. Overall the channel looked really good. These photos are of the channel right after 36+yrs of weathering once the windsheild was removed. You may notice the Paint Ridge since the car had 2paint jobs done:: Silver recoat (must have been 25+years ago) and the Current Green coat done ~15years ago. We think the paint ridge will be covered by the MSA weathersrip lip. Overall no real rust, some slight oxidation in the corners, but the metal and channel was very solid. Stay Tuned ... Next posting will be the painted channel closeups.

I've seen them available at MSA and sell for around $95 new when I was inquiring several weeks ago.

Just an update folks as promised. I hope to have photos posted after work tonite of the channel before the paint is applied as I'll be stopping by during lunch. They pulled the old windshield off yesterday and cleaned the channel. They said it looked very good. - no rust to worry about. The Rubber was real hard and did pull up a couple small areas of paint on the roof that they felt needs some touchup, however if the MSA rubber lip is almost 1/8" longer it may cover most of it. The Installation of the New windsheild will be delayed till early next week becuase the glass they received from PPG had the Tinted Blue 6" Strip across the top. Not my preference as I wanted as close to the stock look as possible so we had to scramble. PPG's warehouses were out of the Non-Tinted version so we had to order from Pilkington Glass in Ohio the correct style. It should arrive by Tuesday of next week. At Pilkington they called it "Solid Blue Glass" and it cost $290 plus $100 shipping, so this project is costing me $220 more than planned just for materials. I rationalized that it's better to be correct for my taste than regret it down the road. Many thanks for listening - stay tuned.

Hi all , I just wanted to share how I resolved my Door Slamming issue after I added the MSA Precision Weatherstripping using the separate Welting. It started last year when I instaleld the MSA Weatherstripping (that requires the separate Welting) on both my Driver and Passenger doors. The Passenger Door finally softened nicely and closed well after about 1month of letting the door sit closed. The Driver side never closed well - major slamming was needed. I noticed that my Passenger door weatherstripping came in a Nissan OEM bag, where as my Driver side came in a Precision Green labeled bag. ... Hmmm should have reacted to this immediately, however I was anxious to finish the interior and enjoy the ride last year! About 2mos ago as I put my '73 240z on the road, I called MSA and inquired about their Nissan OEM weatherstriping (the type that requires welting to also be added) in an attempt to resolve my Driver door slamming problem. I noticed from my left-over pieces that the Passenger door strip was softer than the Driver side strip. When I called MSA they only had Passenger door weatherstrip so I ordered it figuring I can convert it to a Driver side: 76801E41 and Nissan's PN is 76801E-4100). When this arrived, I noticed it was much softer and compressed nicely! When the time came to do the Driver Door - I cut the Long run at proper length where there is actually a seam and attached the cut piece to the shorter run using Permatex Contact Cement. This converted the Passenger weatherstrip to a Driver weatherstrip for installation. It spliced superbly - looks like a factory seam and installed easily. Now both my doors close very nice without slamming and nor air leaks - in fact I could pull the doors in closer to the body for a better fit. They also look like original as seen in the photo. Hope this helps others who have lived with door slamming. Many thanks ..

Looks great - congratulations. I just dropped my 73 240z off this morning to have a new windsheild installed. The owner fo the glass & body shop will do mine with a helper. Only problem I have is the base color of the car is Silver and 15 years ago it was painted Green. I'm assuming the windsheild was not removed when the car was painted so I'm hoping between them painting the Silver channel to Green and the MSA rubber lip being slightly larger than the original - I'll get a clean look around the perimeter with no Silver showing or paint line. Anyway - wish me luck. ps. You can read my thread on this.

Thanks everyone. I know this was a trivial question but now I feel better. I cleaned off the Silver overpsray as best I could and then gave it a coat of Low-Gloss Black paint. It came out pretty good. here is a photo. Many thanks again...

Will do Travel'n Man. The owner is very experienced and will do the glass installation himself. He was recommended to my by a fellow Zcar owner that actually worked at the Glass/Body shop that I have the installation lined up for. I'll assure the rope trick is used and the stainless metal trim is installed prior to placing the window into the channel. Here are photo's before the removal and new windshield installed. Many thanks again...

Okay , when I get home I'll try to strip it with Laquer thinner. The thinner should be okay with the rubber boot right?

Thanks both of you for the quick reply. I'll paint it Low-Gloss Black, then it will match the Radiator also. Many thanks...

Hi all, I'd like some input on what color to paint the wiper motor protection cover. I've pulled my "grill" panel off to expose the wiper motor as I took on cleaning up this part of the car and assuring the passenger side drain is clear of debris. Currently my wiper motor cover is Silver and the prior owner painted the car Green. Question 1) What I don't know is if this was just overspray from a Silver paint job many years ago - or did Datsun paint these wiper motor covers to match the original body color which was Silver? Question 2) Should I just paint the wiper cover Green - the same color that matches the rest of my car now? OR should I paint it Black (Flat/Low Gloss Black) ? My initial thought was to paint it Black so it is not noticeable under the "grill" panel openings when I reinstall it however to keep it as authentic as possible maybe Green matching the body color makes sense. Any feedback or suggestions are welcome. Many thanks .....

Hi everyone - I just wanted to update you all on my Windshield Replacement status. I'm currently scheduled for Monday 6/1 to drop the car off for 2days. Day 1 they'll pull the old windsheild and paint the Silver Color channel to match the current Green color of the car - let it dry. On day 2 install the new windshield & rubber. I did get the MSA Windshield rubber and measured the outter lip which mates against the body of the car and it appears to be ~5/8" wide as compared to the stock one installed which looks to be ~1/2". My guess is the stock rubber with 36yrs of UV and aging has pulled back and shrunk a bit. So with some luck - even after the channel painting there will not be any visible difference since it will be concealed under the rubber lip. Many thanks - I'll keep you all posted.

Okay ... thanks Zak's Z on the POR complexity factor, really good input. The Glass Auto Installer is also an Auto Body shop at the same location. They'll do it all for me at $45/hr rate. Anyway - I'll let you know when I get this scheduled. Many thanks ..

Excellent input from both of you and you've helped me make my decision to have the flange painted. Since I must drive the car about 25mins to the Body/Glass shop - most lilkely when I schedule the work late next week -I'll have them remove the windsheild, treat the flange area even with POR and repaint the flange area with exact Green body match paint for insurance. This will also help prevent any rust opportunity since the window is out. I'll try to get photos for reference of closeups before - during and after. Many thanks ...

Hi - I would welcome some advice as I'm about to have my 1973 240z original windshield replaced. I have the rubber wetherstrip ordered from MSA, and windshield in stock ($175) at very good autobody & glass shop ready to go. The autobody shop also has the rubber weatherstrip for this windshield as well. Here's where I need advice - my car was painted Green over the original Datsun Silver in 1996. The Green paint is still beautiful. The windshield was in the car was never replaced by the prior owner when painted Green. My Questions and Advice Needed: 1) Do I have to worry about the new rubber weatehrstrip covering completely all the orginal Silver around the edges becuase as I hope the alignment of the rubber is good? 2) Since I have both MSA's weatherstrip and the one that comes with the windshield, I'd figure I'd have them use which ever one has a wider outer edge to maximize covering up the Stock Silver and sit top of the Green. You think there is any difference in weatherstrip edges? 3) I have Exact Match Green Paint and activator. Should I have the Body/Glass shop paint exposed Silver around the windshield once my orginal one is removed before installing the new windshield. Thoughts or suggestions here? I have attached some photos, but it's a bit hard to see the heavy stone nicks and chips on the windshield that's accumulated over the years. I did polish it using Eastwood's polish - did a nice job on wiper blade marks - but the dings are too deep and there are even air voids between the 2 layers of glass from stone damage. So I really need to replace the windshield. Any suggestions and advice is welcome. I have about 1week to decide on what to do while I wait for the MSA weatherstrip - so feedback and suggestions are welcome. Many thanks, Mark.

Thanks "mikemerkury". Does this ordering through my local Nissan dealer still hold true if I;m in the USA? Many thanks...

Jim , would you happen to have a set of BLACK door panels still available? I'm intersted in purchasing a set for my 240z. Many thanks, I'll also send private emails.

I bought a Choke Cable off eBay a while ago and the switch came with it. Works great - however before I got this, I went to RadioShack and got a $1.50 switch that was a NO (Normally Open) Momentary Micro Switch. They are very small (around 1/4" in dia.) and the head will fit through the metal hole such that it will be able to contact the Choke Arm when closed. It worked great after I fab'd up a bracket to hold the switch in place. I kept it as a backup if my 35 year-old switch fails. If you go to RadioShack with your original switch - you may be able to get something to work. Maybe even a micro switch that can attach it to the plastic housing so it mounts cleanly to the choke frame. Good luck - hope this helps. Mark

I have had my Tach refurbished from the following company: http://www.gaugeguys.com/contact.htm . They will restore a Tach provided you give them specific guidance and instructions so call them before they start anything. They are not cheap - it cost $186, but they did update a 240z Tach for me with new electronics and cleaned the needle and refinished the exterior and dial gauge. With the restored Tach it now is triggered correctly from Electronic Ignition systems like newer tachs do. Only thing I had to do is leave Inductive Loop plugged into my harness so my ignition and car runs once it's started to complete the ON circuit. Good luck ... Mark.

Hi guys, sorry for the error. Yes - I meant "ethanol" .. To Deadflo's question there were several 5spd 280zx transmissions. This page has the different types. Mine is the FS5W71B version: http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/69-83TrannyShifterDrawing.jpg Also go to this web-site : http://www.zhome.com/ and then go down to the: "Index of technical Articles" and click on it. Then go to on the right side of the website: DRIVE TRAIN "Trans/rear end over-all ratios chart" and click on it. You'll see a table to understand your transmission ratio and Rear End. You must have a different 5spd than I do however we have the same RearEnd. Hope this helps... Mark.

I finally did my desired day trip this past week. I relocated to New York from Minnesota and drove through the hills of the Pocono's and Catskill regions on just a beautiful day. I traveled 280.4 miles (my tires are 1.0086 oversized so my odometer actually measured 278miles) on all Highway and used 9.76 gals so my 240z averaged 28.7 MPG. I traveled between 60 - 75 mph (2000-2500rpm) in 5th gear using 91 Octane with 10% methanol. I was pretty pleased and enjoyed trip especially since the 240z ran very nice. Specs: 65mph @ 2300 rpm (90 mph @ 3000 rpm) in 5th gear. Mallory Unilite Breakerless Distributor Mallory Promaster Coil MSD 6A (pn 6200) - Ignition Timing 16 BTDC @ 900 rpm (42 BTDC @ 3000 rpm) NGK plugs - .060 gap. Holley 4BL 390 cfm carb Stock L24 Head and Block Compression ~188-192 psi Tires: BFG g-Force Sport 205/60/15 (about 1% oversized vs Stock) Inflation: 26psi

Well, I just completed a short trip using 91 octane and went 158 miles (15 city the balance highway). Averaged 24.3 mpg with 6.5 gallons consumed. This also helped me calibrate by fuel gauge as it measured 1/2 Full when I completed this small trip. When the tank is empty I can add 13.5-14gals) so I figure I'll get roughly 325-350 miles range on a full tank. I did run on two interstates so cruised between 65-72 mph with my car running between 2300-2500 rpm. I have a 5spd from an '82ZX and R200 rear end. I estimate if it were pure highway, I'd get around 26 mpg at best given in city I get ~16-17mpg. I was hoping for a bit better but anyway I keep my 4BL 390cfm Holley running 1/8-3/16 turn richer in order to get great smooth acceleration and stable idling when the alternator kicks in (idle 900 rpm --> 840 rpm with Alternator on). Specs: 65mph @ 2300 rpm (90 mph @ 3000 rpm) in 5th gear. Mallory Unilite Breakerless Distributor Mallory Promaster Coil MSD 6A (pn 6200) - Ignition Timing 16 BTDC @ 900 rpm (42 BTDC @ 3000 rpm) NGK plugs - .060 gap. Stock L24 Head and Block (Oversized Valves) Compression 190-192 psi Tires: BFG g-Force Sport 205/60/15 (about 1% oversized vs Stock) Inflation: 26psi