Mikes Z car

Thought I would add the emissions decal on the underside of the 1973 hood that is on my 1970 car. I don't know the VIN that was on the donor car as the hood was installed by the PO.

INST3D, If I am interpreting your question correctly that turn does not exist on the bottom as the driveshaft tunnel just continues back and gets smaller. You can see the continuation of the tunnel in my car looking down into the stowage area. I can't get better pictures from the bottom as my car's driveshaft/ exhaust are in the car at this time. Maybe someone else has a close up of the bottom area? Mike

You may want better pictures from different angles. Some of these aren't as clear as I would think you might want. Best I can find now. Apologies to whoever took these pictures, I don't remember where I got them.

I remember a little more now, I THINK I read Cadillac was using zener diodes in the alternator. Not sure how they would do that, though that would be charging with more of a square wave rather than a series of brief pulses I would think. Pulses may be better? Captain Obvious, I will keep an open mind on the subject of unusual ways to charge batteries, not ready to give up yet. Mike

INST3D, I remember seeing pictures of Z cars, 240, 260 and probably 280 that were taken when the cars were on a rotisserie with everything stripped off. The best ones I think for doing drawings were painted (or coated) all one color. I just looked on the web searching for "240Z rotisserie" to see if I could find a picture like that but no luck. I am still looking in my own Z car picture collection though I am sure I have one just can't find it. Somewhere there is a picture that will help you.

hls30.com, From reading that web site a fascinating aspect of the battery charger you are using is that it does pulse charging (these kinds of things fascinate me). I remember reading some years back that Cadillac was using pulse chargers in their cars though I never saw that independently documented and never heard it again. I also read that pulse charging is supposed to be able to reverse some of the sulfation in a battery (seems to be what you are experiencing?) thereby bringing it at least partially back to life something I understand an ordinary DC type of charger or alternator can not do. Mike

I have one called "Battery Tender" sold by O'Reilly's that has worked for a few years. The other charger I had kept overcharging which caused the electrolyte level to fall below the top of the plates which caused a permanently dead battery (sulfation).

I am curious with no answers, do you have points or something like a pertronix ignition?

Yes indeed it was a Dodge Challenger. Thanks for the pictures.

Maybe a dodge charger? Been a while since I have seen the movie "vanishing point" with the charger in it.

This might be a bit heretical but the very front of the car with the bumper and surrounding chrome remind me for some reason of the Pontiac GTO sold in NA.

Hi all, I was reading the other thread on rear suspension rebuild and remembered that on the 71 240Z I had I replaced all 4 struts by compressing the springs and unbolting the top of the strut from the car. I didn't unbolt anything else. Then I pushed the strut down and swung the top of it outside the wheel well. I had to protect the wheel well lip by taping cardboard over it followed by taping sheet steel over that. Even though that worked two people would have been better as I wasn't strong enough to prevent the strut from contacting the wheel well lip though since it was protected there was no damage. Anyone else replace struts that way? Is that a bad idea as it puts strain on the brake line connection? Mike

I am the last guy who should say anything about carbs but what if you unhooked the springs and then turned the throttle shaft by hand, pushing in different directions that would simulate the forces that would be put on the butterfly in normal operation? Maybe push towards the engine, down a bit and also in line with the springs.

Mike, I really appreciate your pictures of both sides of the valence as I have been trying to decide if I have the welding skills to replace mine. Other Mike

Nice quick fix! Back when I had my 71 240Z which was rusted because I bought it in Maine I got one off the slow way by using a cold chisel and driving that through the side of the nut that wouldn't come off. When it finally split it made a loud "crack" noise. I didn't know about impact wrenches then much less that some worked a lot better than others.

I don't know how to powder coat in chrome but would love it if someone who has done that could post a picture of the results, I am curious.

SteveJ, Thank you for posting this! I just pulled off the turn switch stalk to clean/fix it a few days ago so this is really convenient for me. Thanks! Mike

Geezer, Thanks for the straight on picture. Mike

Geezer, Is the 5 SPD shift knob in your picture the same as the one provided with cars that were sold in Europe with a 5 SPD? If it is would you take a picture of it straight on looking at the map, not at an angle and post it here? If you can get more close up that would be great too! Thanks, Mike

EScanlon, Thanks, now that you mention it I have seen those small plastic slide pieces on switches. Mike

Azclouds, My car has the same problem, thanks for the picture and the writeup. My headlights sometimes work, they are the last thing wrong with my car, I THINK I have fixed everything else. Anyone know if packing the switch innards with dielectric grease would help prevent this from reoccurring?

Captain Obvious, That looks really good. Mike

Only thread in history with three posts by the originator and no replies. ha! Usually when I talk to myself I mumble so no one can tell what I am saying... I might clarify that I did get my hand brake switch to work with the junk yard part. The reason the brake switch was missing I think is because the handbrake cable assembly installed in my car by the PO is NOS or it appears to be as it looks like it is new out of the box. It has shiny cad plating that looks like it has never gotten dirty. For some reason it appears that Nissan chose not to install the brake switch bracket on the new cable assembly. Maybe they thought the old one could be re-used though I did not see how you could re-use a part that you could not remove unless you can do that by taking the whole assembly off of the car. I was not able to tell in 2010 if that would have worked. I think there is an echo in here...

To answer my own (old) thread I eventually discovered that the part that holds the push button switch is loose from the rest of the hand brake assembly but goes around the hand brake axle making it impossible to remove or install easily as far as I could tell. The solution was to use a hack saw at a JY to cut a switch holder from another car. I cut it where it goes around the axle and bent apart both sides of the slit until it went over the axle right next to the handle in my car. Works great.

I just got in okay