MEZZZ

I did the twist bit with the door jamb switches that control the dome light and same thing, flickered intermittently before, now they go on every time I open the door. I did switch out the dome light to LED and its a huge difference. I toyed with the idea of doing the LED gauges but ended up going with the Speedhut kit. I just finished the speedo/tach about an hour ago and ran a hot wire to see them all lit up. They really look nice but I bought the reverse indiglo where only the numerals, etc light up, not the entire gauge face. Problem with this setup is the face goes dark and you cant see the needles. I ended up taking the green dome out of each housing and putting in new bulbs. Then I painted the needles flourescent orange. Now the gauges are lit up white around the edges with the numerals backlit and I can see the needles just fine. Its a job I can honestly say that I dont want to soon repeat though, my hands are about shot!

I removed my 1/2 cap this past weekend to get the tach/speedo out as I couldnt remove the gauges otherwise. I tried to carefully start to peel it up and even went so far as to use a metal blade in an effort to seperate the silicone. I still had no luck around the gauges. The P.O. used ALOT around all the gauges and try as I might, it took CHUNKS off it around the lips of the small gauges. I ended up attmeting to cut it into pieces to remove it a little easier. I figured even though it was one of the better looking 1/2 caps I've seen, it gave me an excuse to buy a full cap and it arrived today. Got it from MSA and it looks SO much better. It covered all the damage I did removing the old. My question is simple. I dont want to use alot of silicone again because I am thinking I want to reuse it if I ever need to remove it, i.e., dash bulbs in the tach/speedo. Is it possible to attach this cap sparingly, maybe around the edges only without it popping due to expansion/contraction, etc? I really dont want to buy a new cap everytime I need to replace a bulb

Wow, I had no idea there were 3 steps. THe bottle I bought last week was just called PlastX polish. It did a very nice job though and Im pleased with the results on my gauge lenses. I had bought something the day earlier at a Walgreens Drug Store. My wife dragged me in there and I thought, what the heck, I'll look for something in the eyewear area. I found an eyeglass scratch remover kit, it was terrible! You use a cleaning solution on it and then apply another liquid to fill in the scratches, using an applicator. The results were horrendous, I threw it in the garbage. Thankfully, the PlastX took it back off and made them look nice again.

I have awhile before I paint it, I still have the interior to finish, all parts bought, need to have some welding done first. Then I am going to do some suspension work and then finally body/paint. In other words, still some time to decide but I have leaned towards a charcoal since day one. Like you, I guess the quyality of my bodywork will dictate how dark I go. The car id pretty straight now, one ding on the pass. side door. The pass. fender has damage low from improper jacking I am guessing, pretty mangled. I will get a new fender. I am pretty confident I can get he pretty decent to accept paint. On the gauges, I replaced all stock bulbs while the gauges were out. I did take all the green lenses out while there. I got the reverse Indiglo gauges from Speedhut. I read they were a quality product and I didnt like the stock lighting at all. I looked into alternatives and figured this was the way to go. I was going to remove the stock bulbes but with the reverse indiglo, it was hard to see the needles, even after painting them flourescent orange. Leaving the stock bulbs in helped alot and I still get the numerals lighting up very nicely. I went with a silver face and dark blue numbers/letters. A little ricey? Probably, but I actually like the look and wanted something a little different.

I plan on visditing a dealer soon and tracking down the color. I've had an eye out for quite awhile, every now and then I see a car and think, thats it! I agree with you, whatever of the three it was, it was gorgeous. The sun was setting and the light bouncing off it was great. I am not really a fan of silver, my first new car was silver and no matter how much I waxed, it always looked the same ('79 Honda Civic). I wish I could have gotten a color code to make sure it was the one I wanted. I saw a new 350Z not long ago that looked very close if not the same but this Infiniti had me longing for the paint shop.

Didnt know there were so many Buckeyes on here! I would love to do a rotissirie job but lack the skills and the time to learn them. Maybe some day after we get these things roadworthy we can do a little ClassicZCar Ohio meet. Mine is running as of today and soon will be going to the welder to have the door molding rivet holes welded shut, a patch on the pass. floor taken care of along with the Bad Dog rail. I found an area on the rail about 1/2 inch and quickly opened it up with a finger. I was going to get rails for both sides but John from Bad Dog said if it passed the screwdriver test to save my $ on the 2nd rail. Hopefully, in the next couple weeks I can get the welding taken care of and then finish off the interior.

No problem on the gauge, I figure us silver "77 guys need to help each other out. I have to say when I read your post, I was expecting it to be a bit darker but as Stephen said, a 1000% improvement. I am so tired of staring at my terrible attempt at a silver paint job, I want to change it. Ive been leading towards a charcoal metallic but saw an Infiniti G35 coupe today in a platinum color that looked great. Darker than silver but more silver than charcoal with just a wonderful array of light coming off the curves. Had I not been on a bust street I might have whipped around and attempted to nab a paint code.

Good luck from another Ohioan! I understand about the mid-life crisis thing. First, I bought a Harley at 43 and my wife was supportive, until she noticed the amount of time I spent reworking it. It was 2 years old when I bought it and bone stock and in great condition. It started innocent enough, a chrome piece here and there, before I knew it, and several thousand later, I got bored with it. I sold it and bought my 5 yr old a 60 unch Sony Hi Def TV he was jonesing for. Then I realized I wanted a Z. At first my wife protested, until I got her the Jacuzzi she always wanted. That paved the way and she said ok, but remember this is to be a hobby and not an obsession...yeah right Anyway, I bought a frame rail from John at Bad Dog. I have a '77 so mine is different but I can attest to the quality of it. Very impressed with it overall, nice and beefy as you say and John was a great guy to deal with. Good luck with your rebuild, sounds like you will have your ahnds full for awhile.

Thats pretty much what I though as well. I do know that at one time the mystery wire was nutted together. After I climbed under the dash and pulled off the electrical tape to get a look at what was going on, coupled with the hole in the side panel where I originally found the wire, it dawned on me the connection was broken. I now remember that that wire was hanging outside the car about 3-4 feet. I also remember backing the car out of my garage (my wife doesnt like the fumes ) to try and start it and running over and breaking that wire. Obviuosly, it didnt dawn on me at the time that I just killed it. Regardless, thanks again, Im off to the auto parts store to get the new pick-up coil and attempt to tune this thing now that its running again. Its back to work Monday and starting tonight I have to spend the rest of my week off mending fences with the family with a weekend trip to Gatlinburg, Tennesee

I'm lost, what should read tachometer signal wire? Anyway, an update. I got everything back together, ECU, etc. I took the "speaker wire" and spliced them back together. Put the battery cable back on, put the keys in the ignition, crossed my fingers..turned the key... IT FIRED RIGHT UP!!! THANK YOU STEPHEN! The billowing black smoke is gone from the last time I cranked it over as well. It seems to idle much better as well. I had someone look at it earlier this week and he noticed that the EGR valve was froze and he freed it up by pushing on it until it popped free. Once I started the car, I pushed up on the EGR and the idle went rough so that might have been part of the problem as well. I did replace the wires, plugs, rotor, dist cap, ignition coil, battery, injectors, fuel filter, and assorted vaccum lines as well, so that might have helped cure some of the problems. It was missing badly before and it seemed much smoother. The guy that looked at it told me my spark wasnt a nice blue one and suggested I replace the pickup coil in the distributor, I just got a call from the store and it is in so I will go ahead and swap that out (I've read up on the subject) and then get back to where I was 3 weeks ago and adjust the timing. One thing I did notice is it seemed to be smoking a bit from the exhaust. Not the billowing black as before but more of a white. But hey, at least it is running and I owe you a huge amount of gratitude! Thank you again!

Wonderful! Thats the answer I was looking for. I had thought the same thing but wanted to get your valued opinion. Hell, maybe its not speaker wire, it could be lamp cord When I got the car, there was a "ground" running from the valve cover to the strut tower, it was a piece of 12/3 outdoor I will go ahead and give it a try and let you know the outcome. Thanks!

Thanks Stephen, in that case I will keep it as a spare

Jim, I read thios when you first posted it and fought off the urge to tell you I had one. I bought an extra set a few months back to use for the Speedhut overlays. After reading your post, I decided to go ahead on my week off and tackle the job. I do have the volt/fuel gauge that I removed from my car and it is operational. If you still need one, let me know. On a side note, my clock (surprise) didnt work. I was told when I bought the 5 gauges to use for the Speedhuts, the clock didnt work either. I figured it would be a nice one though to tinker with and try to fix per Escanlons thread. The best I got was the movement "jumped" for a couple seconds. I then bought a "working" clock on Ebay, only cost 10 bucks so I gave it a try...it was dead too! Last month I saw another listing for a clock from a "78 model with the quartz movement in it and the guy said he would guarantee no dead on arrival. I used it for the Speedhut overlay, plugged it in the dash and IT WORKS! I actually have a clock and for the past 24 hours, an accurate one at that. Anyway, I digress, let me know if you still need that gauge.

I took a break from this problem the past couple days and worked on other projects. I installed the Speedhut overlays I bought last winter. I had bought an extra set of gauges last winter as well and used them in the upgrade. I did the small gauges first and all went well but had issues with the tach/speedo. I had a 1/2 dash cap on the car and couldnt remove the tach/speedo. I tried to carefully take the cap off but the P.O. must have used a whole tube of silicone on it. I had to end up breaking it off in pieces (already ordered a full cap to replace it). Anyway, I looked at the car yesterday and noticed about a 1/2 inch diameter hole in the vinyl below the speaker panel. I noticed the hole in the past but figured it was missing a plastic rivet. Then I looked at the pass. side and noticed no rivet or hole. I pulled the piece back a bit and took a look behind it, the hole in the cover is right over about a 2 inch hole in the bodywork, this is where I originally found the nutted "speaker" wire. By all appearances, I am thinking there was a kill switch mounted back there at one time. Since the wire was nutted together, it was making a connection and since I ran over the wire a few weeks ago breaking it, no connection is being made now. I fought off the urge to twist both sides of the speaker wire together and see if she fires, I would hate to fry something Stephen, I value your opinion as always.

Stephen, Right now it does not connect anywhere, it is about 12 inches long and just hanging. Originally, it went along side the drivers door and behind the vinyl panel behind the drivers side door, below where the speaker is. It was not hooked up to anything at all, it had a single orange wire nut on it. I am thinking back, my 47 yr old mind trying to remember, but I think the wires were twisted and nutted, in effect, making a connection. I am wondering if this may have one time gone to some kind of an aftermarket cutoff switch perhaps? It makes no sense to me that it ran behind the seat and was nutted off back below the speaker. I looked behind the vinyl panel and see nothing back behind there, only what appears to be the wire for I am assuming the power antenna going into about a 2 inch diameter hole. The connector it is coming off is pictured below. 4 green wires and what appears to be a black wire and that is where it is spliced, although it appears to be blue in the diagram. That blue wire appears to go to pin 1 of the ECU. Then the other side is spliced into a black wire to the ECU. I could attempt to trace the wire to the pin in the ecu connector.

Well, here is the latest in my car wont start journey Stephen,(sblake01), you are up to speed and I wont lay everything out up to this point, I am hoping you can look at some photos and clue me in. First, a little background. I pulled out the carpet, etc, to start redoing thre interior, Por15, dynamat, new carpet, etc. There was a wire running from under the driver part of the dash, clear speaker wire. It ran from behind the ecu panel and continued back towards what at the time was the tool box. I now remember (months later, it went inside the vinyl around the inside of the dogleg area directly underneath the speaker. I thought at the time it was some rigged wire going to the speaker and when I gave it a light tug it popped out from behind the vinyl, not connected to anything and it had a wire nut on the end. asically, it was just laying inside the vinyl covering. Fast forward to now and my car wont start. I have been trying to educate myself about the relays, etc, looking at the FSM and FI manuals. Today, I decided to try and trace this mystery wire as I figured out awhile ago it had nothing to do with the speaker. I removed the ECU and took off all the electrical tape. Here are some photos of what I have found. I am assuming this is the connector for the power relay. For some reason, the red wire (coming off the battery) has been spliced into blue. I once again, am assuming this is the fuel pump relay, once again, the red wire is spliced. Here is the mystery wire that was originally wire nutted off. It appears to be spliced at the connector coming off the connector that has 4 green wires and a black, it is spliced onto the black. Then the other side, is spliced into a black wire coming off the 35 pin ECU connector. A closer view. I put a circuit test light to it and both ends of the speaker wire are hot. This wire was hanging out of my door one day (still wire nutted) and I went to roll the car out of the garage and ran over the wire and it got broken off at the door. Therefore, it is no longer connected. Any ideas? On a side note, I bought a noid light today and have nothing at the injectors. Could this all be related? Thinking back, maybe when I rolled over and broke this wire is when my car wouldnt start but I cant be positive. I dont want to simply "nut" these wires back together to try. My next step is to figure out where the black wire is connected to the ECU harness.

Everything I have read on replacing the wire connectors say to solder. I just replaced mine a week or so ago and it wasnt that bad. The most common mistake with soldering is people try to use the iron to melt the solder. Use flux to clean the connection, place the tip of the gun on the wire and hold it there about a minute, then touch the solder to the wire, not the tip of the iron.

I remember following a link on here quite awhile ago from someone that fixed a dash very impressively. I found the link and here it is... http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23919&highlight=dash+repair Maybe you can incoporate some of his process into your console repair?

I know Ive read into this on here before, it looked a bit more than I was willing to bite off Here are some links http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6981 http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4429 http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7291

Thanks Stephen, I will give that a try tomorrow, I appreciate the reply.

Another Ebay link, but a very nice looking car, at least to my semi-inexperienced eye. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1970-DATSUN-240Z-ALL-ORIGINAL-W-49-089-MILES_W0QQitemZ300240863803QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300240863803&_trksid=p3756.m14.l1308

I wish it were that simple Believe me, the AFM is the first place I looked! I had taken it off soon after buying the car when I was doing some major cleaning of the engine compartment. I really wish I had taken before and after pictures, its amazing what a couple bottles of degreaser, some scotch brite pads and 5-6 hours of time will do. Anyway, not long after I originally pulled it to clean, I noticed it missing a bit. I pulled it back off thinking I forgot something but the connection was tight and the ground secure. I did wipe inside the chamber and at that time, checked the flap for fluid movement, which it had. A couple weeks ago, after replacing plugs, wires, fuel filter, etc, I couldnt get it to start. Thats when I noticed the tank almost on "E". I got a gas can and bought a couple gallons of fuel and dumped it in and got her to fire, although still running rough. Thats when someone (maybe Stephen) suggested I look for cracks in the AFM boot and make sure the connections were clean. Thats when I couldnt get it to fire after doing that. I went back to the AFM first. The connection is tight and I even sanded the metal where the ground is to ensure a good connection, still nothing. Can either of you guys tell me one thing? Should I have power at the relay with just the key on? I used a circuit light and got it to light up on the fuel relay but no light on the power side. I have to start at that point I am thinking. I believe that relay gets its power directly from the battery via the fusible links attached to the battery cables, then sends power to the AFM from there once the key is in the "on" position. You are correct Stephen. I noticed the F.I. Manual would refer to the 1975 FSM "page whatever". I do have the one for a '77, its just a matter of time and patience and learning. You guys are definitely a big help as well. Thank you

Thats why I posted this link, it is the best reference by far I have found in my searches on this subject. I doubt you will find a more comprehensive test on the web. http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/ On the cheap tool issue, it depends on the job I am buying it for. I bought a heat gun from Harbor Freight for $5.99. I'm sure its not the same quality as a Craftsman for 4 times the price, but for the couple times I might need to use it, it makes sense. BTW, it worked great

I assume he is speaking of the stainless trim around the windows, possibly the door handles and locks as well. I have looked into having these powdercoated when i strip my car down for painting. Ive been told powdercoating is the only way to go, sanding painting will flake over time. I still remember older G.M. cars, notably Firebirds and Camaros that had the blacked out trim around the windows and it would peel off in sheets