Zed Head

I've stopped by there and they do seem like good guys. What kind of work did you have done? And what kind of work did you ask the other shops to do? Without details, it's just aimless venting. Better to be nice, no one is going to volunteer their services if they think you're hard to please.

Headlights do get old and die. If you have power at the fuse (measure voltage from the fuse to ground), there's probably power to the headlight. I bought a bunch of new fuses and just replaced all of mine. Cheap insurance. I found one that looked original, probably been in use since 1976. Maybe 35 years old. Most of the others looked pretty crusty on the inside. Your ammeter won't bounce between high and low until the headlights work again. No current (amps) is flowing. The connector probably had a poor connection causing resistance that caused heat. When you opened it up and put it back together you created a better connection so the heat went away. When cars sit without moving, the heating and cooling cycles are enough to open up the connections and allow light corrosion to fill in. Use 'em or lose 'em.

A couple of classics for sale in the area, at least one looks pretty nice - http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/3245214464.html http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/3245040229.html

Volt/ohm meter. And don't forget that red is not always the positive cable.

Funny, I have one good one that I bought from someone local when I thought I would need it soon, and figured that I would never find one in the wrecking yards, and another that I found in a wrecking yard about two weeks later. But it has a groove in the splined input piece, from a worn seal, that may or may not be in a critical spot for my use, which would be a 300Zx transmission with a swapped bell housing in a 76 280Z. But the groove would definitely be in a bad spot for an early 240Z. In short, I have a good one and a bad one but want to keep the good one. What do you need it for?

You say that you have the pump powered through a toggle switch. Where does the power to the toggle switch come from? What "connector under the dash" are you testing for voltage? If it worked before, the most likely problem is a loose connection or blown fuse.

I measured the old one from my 1976 Z, off the car, and the rod measures 3 3/4" to the end of the rod from the firewall mounting surface. Fully extended out of the bore by the internal spring. 2 5/8" fully compressed. Stroke length of 1 1/8". The auto store cross-reference shows that they should be the same cylinder. Hope that helps. If you disconnect the rod from the pedal at the clevis the rod should extend out to its maximum, from the internal spring, which would be the desired starting point to get maximum travel, and slave cylinder movement. Might give you a clue on how far off the pedal is from what the master cylinder needs.

You mean the short ones, used with the diffs that were mounted forward. I have a couple of those. I got 21 1/8" from the center of each yoke.

What year car?

To confirm, either the 72 FSM is wrong or the zhome numbers are wrong for 1972. The FSM says the 4 speed is 3.9, zhome says the 4 speed is 3.36. I've always heard that 3.36 is the stock 240Z R180 ratio, but the FSM says otherwise.

The 1972 240Z FSM, PD chapter, has the ratios the other way around from the Zhome site. Kind of confusing.

Might as well get the coil to go with the ignition module on the distributor. Make sure that you get the mounting plate with the distributor also, it's different. Then you'll have a drop-in electronic ignition. With different advance curves, centrifugal and vacuum, than your 240 but they can be modified.

Probably from your writing. Above you said that you're working on the fan clutch, then said that your early 260Z doesn't have a fan clutch. You're either talking about two different cars or just not explaining things clearly. I thought that you had two cars also. Now you said that you've added more weight to the fan clutch which also doesn't make much sense either. Overall, it's hard to tell what caused the over-heating and why it would be better now. But, if it works for you, good luck with it.

beerman made a good point - you might just have a bad battery. How many batteries have you replaced along with the six alternators, over the eight years?

"stumble wen it gets hot" isn't really enough to even make a guess, is it? And who are "they"?

Details of the car and engine, and how far the needle gets toward red would help. The gauges aren't known for accuracy.

This site is handy and informative - http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/spark_plugs/faqs/faqcode.asp?mode=nml If you're on a phone (I'm hoping that's the reason for the effortless grammar) - R means Resistor.

www.xenons130.com/reference The factory manuals don't suck.

You're not measuring the correlation of spark and distributor, you're measuring the correlation of spark and piston position. If the mark is at zero when the piston is at TDC, then the flash of the timing light will be accurate. That's why a timing light is used, instead of setting things at the distributor.

I tried to read Posts 1 and 4 but couldn't get through them before I ran out of breath and started to feel light-headed. I got "the 1977 280Z 5 speed won't rev above 3500 RPM and has regapped spark plugs". Is there more?

What year/type of car? Has it been modified at all?

The procedure described for the 240SX transmission will work for the 300ZX trans. The reason the front case/bellhousing needs to be swapped is that the VG30 (V6) engines in the 240SX and 300ZX are tilted farther over than the L6 (straight 6) in the Z cars. I did the swap on an 85 300ZX transmission. The cheapest method (the one I took) is to swap the countershaft bearing on the 300ZX trans. to the smaller bearing so that you don't have to pay to have the precision machining done. The other machining or grinding, and drilling work can be done by hand. If you want the bigger bearing, for more strength and/or longevity, then the bearing bore needs to be machined out, very accurately since it locates the end of the countershaft. You'll need to modify the transmission mount also, get a shorter driveshaft, and the right shifter lever. These links are good - http://www.motortopia.com/cars/1973-datsun-240z-11118/car-pictures/240sx-transmission-swap-14041/DSC04293JPG_Thumbnail1.jpg-266482 http://home.comcast.net/~zheimsothtn/transmission.htm http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/240sxtransmissioninstall/index.html

Pretty sure that your car would end up sold to a wrecking yard, where the ins. co. would get about $200 for it. Everything is negotiable, especially with insurance companies. I think that they're starting way high to try and save the most money on the payout. You could buy another 71 that runs and drives for $4000. Don't forget also that the car will have a salvage or reconstructed title if you try to put it back on the road. That will lower its resale value dramatically. $4000 seems like way too much to me, I'd offer $500. The insurance company will do the math and if they come out ahead they'll take the money, and move on to the next claim. No way they're going to get $4000 from any salvage yard, they're trying to bleed you. That's just my opinion though, the last car I bought back from the insurance company was a 1967 Chevy pickup, in 1984, for $300, after I got the payout from the ins. co. of the guy that hit me. But it was a work truck and ran fine after I put a new radiator in it, so it was a no-brainer.

Congrats on the new Z. Your screen name might have scared people away, it sounds unhealthy. You said it starts right up and drives great. Is there some reason you think this won't last? The more detailed information you share the better. How much is "not much" in the past few years?

Thanks Steve. I'm still curious to see what he finds, if he looks. Brand and store it was purchased at would be even better. Looking for ways to avoid a similar problem. The rebuilt alternators, in general, are known for poor quality, I wouldn't be surprised if a part just broke or came unbolted and shorted something. I'd like to know,the more specific the better.