TomoHawk

Can you tell us more about your dash lights? PM me if you want. I thought of putting in l.e.d. bulbs for the gauges, thinking they would be brighter, but would like some confidence from others first.

All you need is to hook up a battery with patch cords to the dash harness so you can clean & test the lighting circuit. I've traced the lighting circuit on the wiring diagram for my 280Z and drew it up in a separate notebook (for future reference) so I can see the simplified circuit while I'm working on things. I've got a few circuits drawn up in there: fog lights, wipers, radio, dash lights...More as I need them Do the other connections/circuits too? which circuits are there for you?

I usually just go with the usual alcohol, you get at the DIY (Home Depot) store. I've used it on many plastic r/c model (boats & car/truck bodies) with no damage whatsoever. I prefer NOt to use nailpolish remover of any kind. I'm also undecided on Mineral Spirits, but it sounds like it should be OK for that 'tough' plastic you get under the hood.

The Z used by Chevy is actually spelled "Z/28", which was the designation for the powerplant, drivetrain, suspention and other options used on that model Camaro. IMO, referring to "Z" for your Datsun only happens as an affectual way to abbreviate the line of Z-family cars. I'll bet the BMW people refer to their Z3s and Z4s as "Z-cars." Maybe they don't know or don't care about the Datsun Zs?

I think you gotta remember one important thing: If your car isn't already in perfect alignment, what good will a strut bar do, besides keep your car in its currently twisted condition? Before you go to fit a strut bar, make sure the geometry of everything is absulutely perfect. Some strut bars may have adjustable ends on them, but that's there to adjust the length of te bar to fit exactly where your bolts are, not to push apart or pull together something that's not in perfect geometry. Think of it thisway: You'll have to use that little screw to stretch the radiator support apart (not going to happen) or to pull together the struts that are connected with a steel brace that's even stronger than the strut bar itself. FWIW

OK, per Carl's request, I'll ask HERE, for the trans doctors if there are any shift kits or mods available to the JATCO 3N71B 3 speed trans, to improve shifting, or adust the shift points, or whatever? An add-oneverdrive would be nice. thx

I think it's the sand or aluminum (harder) media that heats up the body metal and distorts it. The soda, or even plastic, makes less heat. The good thing about soda is you can wash it out of the little crevices, and dry with air, where sand, aluminum & plastic may get stuck in there, and that traps water, making it easy for rust to get a start. The worst part of blasting your car body (or anything not done in a blasting booth) is that you get the media ALL OVER: in your hair, in your shirt, down your pants.. No matter how good you think you shake out your clothes & hair, you still end up bringing it in the house. You might consider going swimming in a pool or a bike ride to get the stuff off you and not bring it home. Maybe you have a buddy that's building himself a garage, so you can borrow it and cover the floor & walls with media, like we did.

My gas foot gets a little warm on summer days too. the MSA/VB catalogs tell you to use THEIR header wrap to keep the heat in the pipe & away from your foot. Anybody try header wrap with success? BTW, I just have a stock exhaust manifold. thx

I hope your insulating against the outside/underside temperatures. I don't recommend you do the doors, so you can hear the traffic around you, police sirens, emergency vehicles, etc. I couldn't hear an ambulance once in my Z last summer and I had the radio off & windows down! Fortunately, the light turned green and I was able to get out of the way.

If you have rust/particles in the fuel, it might be able to jam the injectors open, and they spew fuel constantly. Backflushing the injectors to clean the tips is one thing to do.

You mean 21/2 Ohm, Not 1/2 volt? If you're getting voltage from the battery Neg. terminal to the chassis, you definitely have a problem. thx

Good pointr. I had one link go bad from disconnecting it so many times while working with the doors open that it broke inside and I couldn't tell until I tested it.

Fuse links for t he Z cars are sapecified by thickness in sq. inches, or sq. cm., not gauge. Make sure you got the right one. You could just buy the right one from MSA. I think the lower right one is for the cabin power, right? what are rthe other two? thx

Now that I'm thinking about ground connections, how would you test them to see how good they are? Would you go with the restance accross the ground point? How would you test the ground connection for something like the headlights, or the gauge lights (highest on my wiring l'debug' list). thx

I even have a buzzer thing made up so I can test for power by myself, like the horn circuit, or any time you need people in two places while testing. It's basically a tongue depressor with a Radio-Shack 12-volt buzzer glued to it. One wire on the buzzer goes to a probe/pin (so you can clip on a wire with alligator clip) and the other wire has a ground wire/alligator clip to clip onto a ground. You might even invest in a0.99 (Dollar store?) circuit tester with the bulb in it. thx

On my car (1978) the headlight plugs at the front are round with two small pins and one big pin (round pins, not flat) and it has a triangular notch to key them. They even have a rubber "cover" to help seal against the elements. AFAIK, only the connectors inside are the blade style, those exposed to the elements are round with the rubber seal. I haven't been able to look, but has anybody found out if you can get at the bottom on the fuse-link blocks? It would be te ideal place to tap for power (maybe). thx

I might switch to the Talbot-style mirrors, the plastic black things on my car won't stay where you adjust them to; Close the door too hard & you gotta readjust them. The only thing is that I don't think the mounting holes match on the mirrors I have

Somebody mentioned that their engine will stall when the a/c is on, so I mentioned there is a thing to increase the idle speed to compensate for the extra load.

I've been after some software that allows you to put together photos to build a 360-degree view of the car, so you can rotate it. A screensaver would be nice, but if you could put it on a web site, other people could check out your car by rotating it around, maybe even the top & bottom! Any ideas? thx

At least on the 280Z, there is a vacuum thingy controlled by the vacuum solenoids to increase the idle speed when the a/c is on. Since I have no a/c, I took that off, along with the EGR which wasn't workling. I might put it back on to see if it would help, since it was sucking fresh air and not connected to the exhaust manifold.

It says: Shareware Version - Distribution Forbiidden

I have some finer rubbing compound. #1, I think? I was going to try that on the glass, since I don't have any brasso or the other stuff. I had a can of Mothers Al polish somewhere, too....

All you need is a piece of aluminum or steel tube. flatten the ends & drill a hole, or attach mounting plates. then maybe bend the middle with a curve for clearance. Anybody should be able to make one of those.

I would agree with Enrique that you don't want to grind your glass any thinner, to preserve its strength. Isn't there some kind of coating, like you put on your eyeglasses, to fill the (micro) pits? I might try an experiment, to skin on a very thin layer of clear polyurethane. thx

the one on my 280Z has a LOT of glare at night or driving with a low sun. I assume the Florida air had "sandblasted" it that way, so I either have to get it coated or polished. thx