TomoHawk

Hello! I am installing some driving lamps, and I will use a relay. I can wire the relay directly to a switch, but common sense (state laws) tell you that driving lamps are only supposed to come on with the high beams. So I have a 12V feed from the ACC circuit on the fuse panel to the relay, and I wanted to wire the relay's ground to the high-beam (ground) wire so the driving lamps come on with the high beams, because the high beam switch goes to ground, right? Attached is a simple schematic. BTW- It's a 1978, so the High beam wire is a RW wire, according to the FSM I atached a simple diagram

You can clean & lubricate the linkage, but after it wears or gets loose, there's nothing that you can do to restore it. So a source of a suitable replacement or a way to replace the ball joints would also be a great benefit.

I'm sure you could put in the Ford wiper motor, and it will never quit, until you flip the switch. You could also set up the toggle switch for both slow and fast speed.

Has anyone gotten a decent upgrade for the 280Z wiper motor? I mean something you can get from a post-1985 vehicle, which is when they used the waterproof motors. I have a wiper motor from a 1997 Escort ZX2, and the bolts align almost perfectly with the holes on the bracket, and the shaft fits the linkage just right. The Escort motor is a DC motor with a ground, and switched 12V connections for low- and high-speed. It also has auto-park without the extra swipe the Datsun motor makes. Yes, I cleaned and lubricated the linkage and pivots, but the speed is still just too slow. I used DeOxit for the pivots, and it worked very well.

They sound like the right thing for my needs; fog lamps don't illuminate things in the distance. I will see if there is a compatible Hella lamp with a bit less intensity or a bit more dispersion. But I already have a relay and appropriate wiring installed for the fog lamps. Mine are actuated by the de FOG switch.

Thanks anyway. eBay auctions don't show you photos of the innards, unless you get very lucky. Obviously the sellers just want the do the least work to sell the thing. They usually just have a bunch of photos of the outside. Asian sellers are worse: they have 6 photos of the front, and six of the back.

I"M not interested in finding auctions on eBay. I would like to hear from people who have experience with how well they work, and what kind of bulb is employed.

Has anyone seen or experienced the Marchal 652 Driving Lamps? I know they were used on sportscars, "sporty cars," and Mustangs, etc. in the 1960s, and are now a bit pricey, but I have a chance to buy a pair. But before I spend money on what I may not be able to repair or replace (I don't even know what bulb they use) I'd like to get some informative opinions from people that I can trust. ThxZ.

It seems that the higher wattage bulbs also use a higher voltage. That is, the 70W bulb is 24Volts. So a bulb swap isn't that "simple." In general, I'd say that you could probably put a 70W bulb into a lamp that was designed for a 55W bulb, with a small amount of additional current draw and heat. For such a lamp, is a 100W bulb too much? For a spot lamp, you'd want a LOT of light going down the road, as long as you aim it properly, and don't melt the wires or the lamp.

Yes, those modules are made to work with the extra brake lamp as well as the one motorcycle brake lamp. There are many kinds with different features other than the simple one in the posted link.

I prefer the 3200K light, not the over-bright white light, so when I see the word 'performance' associated with bulbs, it tells my they make white lights, but I will look into them anyway.

What I did was to scrub it with wire wool and brake cleaner, the paint it with a shiny aluminum paint. It looks much nicer now.

That's good, but you still have to get people to pay attention and stop tailgating, so they will have time to notice the improved lighting. Have you considered using one of those strobing/flasher devices, like some motorcycles have?

AFAIK, the Zed has TWO speakers in the rear, the 240Z has them far back by the tail lamps, and the later cars had the under the window behind the seats. I replaced my 4-inch stock speakers with better ones, to handle the 40W stereo, and I have no problem hearing the music. You can also add the aftermarket speaker panel (with 6x9 speakers) that replaces the taillamp cover and rewire the stereo for much louder sound.

I was searching for some brighter 70W H1 bulbs for the auxiliary lamps, and it seems that all you can get is LEDs. Then I viewed a few Youtube videos that pointed out the brighter LED bulbs were bigger and wouldn't fit. Is it worth pursuing an LED bulb to replace the standard halogen, even for the 55W bulb? Where would you be able to get higher-wattage halogen bulb(70W or 80W or more) in a nice 3200K color ? It seems you'll need to order from an overseas supplier, such as Germany or China.

It wiyld probably be easier to scrub it and paint the thing, but it has pins and joints with overlapped parts, so it would probably not be completely painted, unless you cut the pins, which I am not comfortable with, considering it needs to be very strong to lift the car.

I was searching for a new jack to replace the old rusty one, and I eventually came across a slick jack that you get with your Mercedes, Chrysler, Honda, Volve, et al. It is a pantograph design is much lighter (about half) than the heavy scissor jack, and lifts the car in a similar way to the scissor jack. What I didn't like about it, is that it only contacts the car on one side of the rocker seam, so it looks like it might slip off. The cars designed to use the jack have a dent or pocket to hold the lifting pad.

I am unsure about those red LEDs regarding the brightness. Ordinary red LEDs aren't bright at all. Super-bright LEDs should be used instead. Are you willing to put your classic car at stake to save a few dollars on a cheap lamp that can barely be seen in daylight or not much brighter at night, when people are driving with tired eyes and not paying much attention anyway?

I finished my light recently. It's a cheap eBay unit with LEDs and an aerodynamic design that mounts on the bootlid or hatch. I also got a neat little electronic thing with some electronics and a 3-D accelerometer in it, that has a programmable flash pattern, and reacts to different braking. If you brake lightly, the light will come on in the usual way, but if you brake hard, the accelerometer will sense that and the LED flashing pattern kicks in. I mounted it on the glass with a long wire, using some rare-earth magnets, and is detachable for shows.

You wouldn't have to bother with any repairs if a spark plug pops out. That was the source of the noise or bang, It must have worked its way out of the hole. You screw it back in and tighten it securely, and the engine is back to normal.

They don't really sell it by the 5 gal. pail... You'll need to degrease the screw first.

My jack seems to be working, AFAICT, but it's no longer new, and could use a bit of cleaning and new paint. I suppose I could either scrub or glass-bead the surface, then repaint it and re-grease the screw. I would prefer a longer crank handle tho. Some appropriate safety or usage decals seem appropriate too. Getting one from the JY would save you the hassle of cleaning and painting, but are they really compatible? IMO, the base has some size restrictions, and the head needs a slot for the pinched seam of the rocker/floor panels. If you repainted it, is there a proper paint? Unless you wanted a concourse-class jack, semi-gloss black or silver seems appropriate. Otherwise you could powder-coat it? Getting the paint into the interior areas would be difficult unless you took it apart, cutting the hinge pins, which means you'll need to figure out what to replace them with and how to do that. thxZ

I believe the head gasket failed on my engine. There was a loud bang, then the sound of air puffing at high pressure. I discovered that air was coming out between the cylinder block and head by the #6 spark plug. I didn't find any pieces of the head gasket, nor any discernible holes, as the hole would be very thin, but you can definitely hear and feel the air coming out. I think there was a small amount of oil expelled, probably only a few drops; there was no noticeable spattering of oil on the side of the engine bay or battery. I was wondering if anyone has anyone ever heard of this happening? Since it's a sturdy material and compressed there should be n reason for the material to be forced out from between the two tightly-fitted metal surfaces, but high pressure and heat can do interesting things. It should not be much of a problem to install a new head gasket, and I would also replace the intake manifold gasket as well; it weeps a little oil too. I'll need to get the model numbers from the cylinder head, block, and intake, then order gaskets. The engine is a stock L28 with the dished pistons, IIRC, so there's no reason to get any "performance" gasket or is this an opportunity to improve things slightly? The thing spins easily when cranking.

I was at a racing event for most of this week, and one thing that was mentioned that people would like to see for next year, is to have live-video of the event- most likely the racing, but probably also some lesser things like a car-parade, a walk-though of the paddocks, the awards dinner, etc. I know some of our European friends have offered live video of the Classic LeMans, so I know it can be done, and I am interested in knowing what kinds of resources, permits, etc. are needed. Is it as simple as starting a live-stream via Facebook or YouTube? Can you use more than one device, such as a webcam, and a phone? I suppose we could have a practice event to try out what we were interested in, like multiple video sources.

Bruce shared with me the 1990s Ford Escort heater core is compatible, but it's a bit small in dimension, and needs some special bends for the connections, but it is very feasible and affordable as a replacement. The current price for the Escort heater core is about $40.