fiveleaf

I don't have any specific models of amps in mind, or a dimensions book... Two more great websites you can try asking at are http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/ and http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/ EDIT: The "Precision Power 4400" I just took out again is 13"x9"x2.25". It's 4x50WRMS @ 4Ohms (or 2x200WRMS @ 4Ohms). Other amps in the same line (I believe they are the 4200 and 4800) are probably the same dimensions with different levels of output.

I received an email from the PO (dad) about 30min ago. There is a cap on the dash, and all photos are with the cap on. The Orginal Dash has seen better days. I'm trying to glue up the crack in the dash cap at the moment. I'll take pics and let you know how the repair goes on this. EDIT: Upon looking further into this (and some other issues), I decided to rebuild the clock (off-time) and tach (dead). Doing so means the removal of the dash cap. There was so much glue in there it started to take chunks out of the orginal dash as I carefully pulled it off. It's like duct tape on cardboard, to a lesser extent. The current cap is also tearing the centre crack much larger. It's terrible. So... anyone know where to get a new dash cap for less than $100? EDIT v2.0: MSA has the cheapest full cover dash option, for $100. Many of them out there are $150+

You really have to ask yourself what you want from a system. Do you want to reprodce the orginal music, and pick out the different insturments as you listen? Do you want to invision yourself at a live rock concert and hear it as it was played... or do you enjoy turning up the base every now and then.. Absoulote Sound Quality (SQ) systems very considerably from max Sound Pressure Level (SPL or "thumper") systems in everything from the size of the speakers, materials used for speakers, and especially enclosure size (and power required). A subwoofer will sound quite differently depending on the enclosure (larger genreally = SPL, while smaller = better response time/less lag). Many people (even those looking to spend a lot on a stereo) are adverse about putting a sub in their car (especially a z!). I am not, and believe that they are necessary to produce the sound you would hear from say... the drums, or the tuba, or low resonating base guitar notes. A sub does not have to mean loud base. There are many fourms availbiale; try google searching for them. Look out for posters with little rep/post count. Even post count is misleading. As far as car audio is concerned, I use www.CanadianCarAudio.com, but www.CarAudioFourm.com is popular as well. Different crowds, same idea.

Charlie Osborne at Datsunzparts has since sold all of his parts to someone from the US. The Thousand Islands Z Car Club has since disbanded. Unfortunate, as that would have been my home zcar club after driving her out here.

I was wondering, does my dash have a dash cap? I don't want to try to remove it, only to find that it isin't a cap at all! Also (while I'm at the dash), a dremel and POR15 is probably the best way to remove this rust and protect for the future? Just had to add... my wife is great for letting this happen in the living room Sorry for the hi-jack! If this dash does have a cap on it, then this is testament to how they actually protect your dash... EDIT: here is what the dash looks like overall. EDIT: It's confirmed -- there is a full cap on this dash.

I really don't believe the car is the place to go all out with top of the line equipment... but I do enjoy quality sound reproduction for the car. I'm going to leave out competition units. Though they are very nice... they usually have the best quality (say a 15% increase from a quaity brand), but cost twice, 3x, or 5x as much. For me, that's overboard in a car. Everyone will have their opinion on brands. Brands like Alpine, Eclipse, Genesis, Focal, Earthquake, McIntosh, Precision Power, Fusion, and Precision Power make some very nice components (amps, head units, speakers) all around. Head Units? Clarion and Pioneer are on par with the above list. Amps? Phoenix Gold, Rockford Fosgate "Power Series", and Orion are on the above list. More high mid>mid>"wallmart level"? Clarion (Amps, Speakers), Kenwood, Polk Audio > Boss, Infinity > JVC, Jensen, Sony. Stay away from SPL, Rockwood, Kenford, Legacy, Performance Teknique, Sheerwood. This is not a complete list, and I have missed many. They are also subject to my personal bias. I suggest joining an American online audio fourm. Usually there will be a car audio sub-section. And clasified adds that are of much better quality than kijiji or craigslist. Beware of bad advise -- some fourms are better than others. I don't know if I have to disagree with the above comment on speaker wire; they are not all created equal. Just make sure not to run them parallel to your (+) power wire. Even the ammount that overlaps in my diagaram is usually unacceptable. Here is a decent article on wires: http://www.caraudiohelp.com/car_audio_wiring/car_audio_wiring.htm#car_audio_speaker_wire Zs, don't tempt me with those small amps... I'm overbudget already.

I can't get the uploader to work. Here's what I ment with the wires (drew it when thinking of where everything could go) Edit: Re-learning how to resize in HTML. I'll be back.

I didn't have stock seats in the first place, but bolted the EQ to the back of the passenger's seat, and the main amp to the back of the driver's seat. The second amp mounted under the drivers seat. There was about 2" under there to play with; I used the "PowerClass 4400" for this. 4 Channel @ 50 WRMS at 4 ohms, I believe. I bridged the four outputs, and ran two front speakers. I recently ripped out the heater core and blower motor and relocated the amp and EQ to under(ish) the dash. It is important that you (1) have in inline fuse by the battery, and (2) run the positive power wire to the amp from the battery, and on the opposite side of the car as you run your speakers. My re-modeled setup is not ideal, as there is a short length where power wire runs parallel to speaker wire. One 90* junction would be ideal. Here's something to give you an idea of what I mean (just note that the rainbow speaker wires are on the opposite side as the red power wire): I also found these tech articles useful: http://www.caraudiohelp.com/newsletter/index.htm

I immideatly saw the male tab in question after looking at the car again (was in the shop). It's juuuust to the left of the red circle above. After about 30min of diagnostic, it was a bad ground. There were 3-4 of us. Too many mechanics, not enough car. She purrs. I also learned the joys of taking the heater core out. Nel (my wife) is taking surprisingly well to the dash in the living room. Thanks again! You saved me both time and money.

Looks like the LEDs in Post 29 took awhile. Really unique -- most DIY taillights I've browsed through look... out of place. I was wondering: why you chose the solid caliper/rotor over the vented?

I hate to drown this out, but I only have 4hrs/day with my love. And much more time to think about her.

Beauty. I don't need a new starter after all. At least the bottom nut of this starter was rusted on, which prevented me from sending it away for a rebuild. You mean that I should be trying to start it from the (+) pink circle to the terminal that is located where this green arrow points? I was wondering about that...

Null.

Excuse my inexperience, after reading some previous threads, I know some of you got pretty good at this... Little background: Was in the shop tracing the wireing harness, and shorted a wire against the starter block. The car did not start after the short. Inline Fuse (Fusable Link) is good, no obvious blown fuses. I have been trying to get it to start by connecting the two closest terminals on the starter, but have so far only produced a "Whrrrrrrr"ing sound (It doesn't engage?) Haven't found a junkyard that has a s30 or 280zx starter (car was L28 swapped), and am going to see a place that rebuilds starters tomorrow. Anyways, before that, I thought I'd ask... By connecting the two terminas circled in pink, labeled (+) and (-), am I giving current to the starter in the right spot?

Why don't they (women) wear watches? Clock on the stove. Why do they have small feet? Get closer to the sink. This next one is **Very Racy** What's the difference between a blonde and a dishwasher? Dishwasher don't follow you around for weeks after you drop a load into it... .

I took a walk over to the z today (parked out front of the auto shop), and tried to hot-wire it (connecting the two terminals on the starter solonoid). It made a "Crack! Crack! Whirr whirrrr Whirrrrrrrrrr... Crack! Crack! Whirrrrrrrrr" sound. I guess the teeth are not engaging now? So the next step in getting the car to run is solving this. Someone in the shop recognized me from the fourms of a local car club site, and helped me try to push-start for about 20min. My z, of course, wasn't having any of this. He recommended a local shop that rebuilds alternators and starter motors. I'll take it there on Monday. Until then, I'll get in into the shop. The entrance to the shop is a steep 7ft driveway that I juuuust barely don't scrape bottom on. I have all of the next week (M-F) off work, so I'll take the dash off and inspect/clean the wireing. I will also, of course, clean up all the terminals around the batt. area under the hood. Here's some great pictures for your viewing pleasure, because everyone loves looking at dirty terminals... and one just to show you the car you're "working on". Maybe, if you were willing to look, I would ask if could tell me if the alternator is NOS 240z or not (I was told it was... but kind of hope it isin't). EDIT: The MSA Fusebox upgrade does not come with a cover or lid, reference email reply from MSA:

Here's the last three photos that did not fit in the last post. Hope this helps.

I do believe this is a 03/72. HLS30-71960 I got a little trigger happy w/ the camera as I was taking it apart.

Dave, you really must love this old jap car. Not only share/collect knowledge, but improve upon the old technology and help advance the whole 'z' community. So this is where I take seperate post to publically thank "Zs-ondabrain". For understanding when the first cheque didn't arrive. For having my order complete, and shipped, about three days after his parts arrived. There was a slight delay for parts (his supplier's roof caved in) -- because of this, he shipped express post at his cost, without asking. I purchsed his products for both an upgrade and possible problem fix (to the issues above). When he realized that the upgrade would likely not fix my problem, helps me find a solution through both this site and emails. He also offered, after reading about my corroded headlight pigtails, to make a new "stock headlight wireing kit". "3pin connector for the headlight bucket, 3pin connect in front of the rad, vinyl sleeving to cover the wires [paraphrase]" I was going to wait until after my current problems went away to post this, but seriously? How great is it that there's such great people involved in keeping these cars alive... and willing to help the green guys (like me) put theirs together? Your efforts make me feel guilty for thinking of driving during the salty winter. Thank you. Anyways, I really want to rip the dashboard off now.

Driving to the shop (at night), I blew the brake and headlight fuses at once. I didn't realize how hard it is to see the road with no lights until today. I did both switch again, just because after reading the guide, I realized I missed the proper terminals. I now do not have brake lights. TS and 4-way's work in the back. Tested the Green-white wire under the passenger seat (taillights), no current when the lights are on. So my problem is further inward... Following the wires forward (through the firewall), I bumped an electeic interconnect near/on the starter motor, gave the distinct crack/spark of a battery short-circuit. I didn't think much of that (except to disconnect the batt. and tape it up [fix later]) until the shop closed, 20min later. After the car didn't start, I had enough time to look at the starter's connection to the batt, and check all fuses, before pushing it into a parking spot outside the shop. Bad car. Go sleep outside. I do not believe this 240 has a fusible link. Might actually be speaker wire. 10,000A fusible link... I should change that. I'm thinking an inline fuse (like for car audio). In the meantime, can a starter motor die from a short-circuit?

That fusebox is too easy. I remember that white-green wire. I'm sure that's the problem. I'll connectivity test it with the other side. I remember this being a real pain to try to clean (the pigtail that holds the green-white, under the psngr area). If it's the issue, I'll probably end up snipping and connecting around it 'until I can find a replacement pigtail'. I had the car on a hoist awhile ago, headlights hanging, I looked at the front pigtail and it was grossly corroded. I cleaned it up with no result. I am going to look back to the combo switch, this time using the Repair Guide. We'll see how those two do later tonight.

Dash lights, front markers (under the headlights), and front side markers work. Taillights and rear markers do not. All bulbs in the headlights are new; I get one low-beam and two high. Tried to clean up the interconnects by the grille/airdam awhile ago... had one hi-beam and two low for awhile, they it switched back. TS and brake lights are fine. I believe the talilight issue is a bad/loose connector in the "above the passenger's feet" area. I have played with this before to get the talilights to work. They then worked intermittently for awhile. Not anymore... I'll install this fusebox right now and see if it makes a difference. All of these "new" products are upgrades, so I'm happy even if I don't get these problems fixed after installing em.

I guess that would explain the little metal clamp-screw on the right side of the fusebox, and the hole I can now see drilled into beside where the other wires come out. Cool. What a great site. I had the whole garage scratching their heads, when all it took was 20min on classicz.

One headlight works, both hi-beams. I rebuilt the switch to no avail. Ordered HLH and PLH (no taillights either) from Dave, as well as the MSA fusebox upgrade for the 72' (short pigtail, I believe). This is supposed to be a "Plug and play" upgrade, and would be... but I have an extra wire from the orginal fusebox. It is possible that the previous owner tried to mod the OE fusebox to prevent a meltdown. I believe this z came with a halogens, and at one point had a prettty nice sound system. Whatever it is, no meltdowns running halogens all night accross Canada. The "extra wire" comes from the rear of the fusebox, and is connected to a metal bridge, spanning one side of the (bottom right) three fuses. It almost looks professional. This wire looks about 12ga. It's noticeably thicker than the others that connect to the fisebox. White with a red stripe. I took a bunch of pictures, they will come when the camera-computer cable shows up. At any time was a bridge used in these fuseboxes? Should I try to follow the wire into the console? Was there a common earlier attempt to make these fuseboxes more 'stable' before the MSA upgrade? Thanks guys!

I have the exact same headlight issue (unresolved), and thoughts on your running lights. Headlights; I have taken the headlights apart, cleaned all terminals, tested the bulbs, and tried (most unsuccessfully) to clean the terminals on the harness, by the air dam/front grill. My switch was recently replaced with NOS with no change in the problem. Turn signals work better/easier, that's it. I have yet to install a new fusebox (MSA upgrade) and Headlight harness (Zs-ondabrain) to hopefully get this. I'll install them separately, and let you know. I hope it's the harness, but my fusebox <i>is</i> a little melted... but I have not had prior problems with it. Running lights; two issues were causing mine not to work: First, taking each individual light bulb out, testing it, and cleaning both the socket and bulb with sandpaper (or whatever else does the trick) to remove rust/dirt/etc. This was the initial issue with all running lights. They worked well for the first 2,000Km across Can. Second, was a grounding issue. On my 72' 240, they connect by the passenger's feet electrical coupling mess. After playing with all individually, cleaning them out, etc., I found the right coupling, cleaned it out, and had working lights for about 10min. Checked them again to have the same issue. Going to replace the harness (upgrade ondabrain) when the car get's back from carb tuning (Read: Engine rebuild).