Namerow

This website -- www.donsbulbs.com -- will give you some insights into how incandescent-type light bulbs are spec'd and named. Terminology like 'miniature bayonet', 'festoon', 'base type' and 'bulb type', as well as sizing rules, become a little more understandable. The site also provides some comprehensive x-reference charts for bulb spec vs. manufacturers' product names. Although it's probably self-evident to most of us, one of the primary challenges facing the LED lighting industry is the absence of beam spread. A lot of work is being put into the development of 'lens' technologies for LED's in an effort to correct for this. An example of the problem can be found in most of the LED-type work lights that are available for automotive work. No matter how many LED cells they have, the light is difficult to aim so that it's on-target -- intense illumination in a small zone, very little illumination elsewhere. I have about 6, all of different design, and I don't like any of them. I've gone back to my old-fashioned incandescent and fluorescent units.

Getting those instrument pod lips properly contoured is going to be a challenge.

I experienced the same conundrum last summer. I already had a dash cap (uninstalled - came from the PO at time of purchase), but it didn't fit, so that made it a bit easier to decide to go the fill-and-sand route. It was a long job, but I'm happy with the results. The only question mark is long-term durability. Only time will tell. If you decide to fill-and-sand, here are three tips from my experience: Have a look at the 'Dura-block' sanding blocks available from Eastwood.com. The big block with the tear-drop-shaped cross-section is perfect for dealing with the multiple-shape/multiple-direction contours of the top surface of the Z's dash. It also worked well in and around the instrument pod openings. You might have to buy a whole set to get this particular block, though. Check the Eastwood website. A 'Work-Mate' type folding workbench is about perfect as a platform to hold the dash while you're working on it. Slide the dash over the table, then use C-clamps to clamp the back top lip (sits under the windshield) of the sheet-metal 'armature' (dash skeleton) to the table-top. You'll probably need to tape some wood wedges in place between the lower front part of the armature and the front legs of the bench. Use a good-quality bench (Black & Decker recommended). The cheap-o units are too flimsy and wobbly. After you're all finished with the foam, fill and sanding, remove the dash temporarily and put a sheet of painter's poly-sheet film over the workbench to keep it clear of primer and paint. While most of us have used bumper repair compound for the top-coat filler, I'm still not convinced its the right solution. There's been mention of dash-specific compounds in at least one thread on this site, and I think that might be a better (but more expensive) bet. More flexibility = less chance of separating along the edges of the cracked vinyl.I have some misgivings about your starting point. I wonder if you might be better served by buying another cracked dash (should be cheap) that still has most of the top vinyl in place. That way, you won't have to guess about getting the proper contours. My 2 cents. From my experience, count on investing 3 or 4 weekends of work to complete the job.

Nice picture gallery. I'm in the middle of the same process, working with a combination of the best parts from 3 separate units. In all cases, to a greater or lesser extent, the black plastic housing has warped from excessive heat. I wonder if this design might be a good candidate for LED lighting. Anyone tried this? Also, the gaskets in all of my donor units have torn. Any thoughts on where to source a sheet of 1mm-thick neoprene?

Consider this: Shelby Cobra 289 listed for an MSRP of $5995 in its hey-day. Jag E-Type coupe, IIRC, listed for $5495. An up-market Sting Ray listed at slightly less than the Jag Not much changed, price-wise, between '65 and '69. At the time of its launch, there was very little available between a base Corvette and a Triumph TR or similar. The Z fit very nicely in the gap. It made the Brit sports cars irrelevant (except to ex-pat Brits) and didn't need (or want) to compete with the Corvette.. At least, not at the time. The arrival of the ZX reflected changing times and changing Nissan corporate ambitions.

From my '70 Z... Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy, but you can just make out that it's a Phillips head screw. Good luck. Mine dropped down into the back of the IP after I unscrewed it, and I never found it again until I pulled the dash to start crack repairs.

Interesting mix of parts. Appears to have Series 1 engine cooling fan (metal), and Series 1 Brake and Clutch M/C's, but the rest of the gear looks like later-issue (e.g. air cleaner with 'summer/winter' control flap, 'Nissan OHC' valve cover, balance tube with top vacuum port). Not sure whether those are 3-screw or 4-screw SU's. The rear hatch glass has the vertical, Series defroster grid but the hatch itself lacks the Series 1 extractor vents. Seats are the early design (adjuster knobs).

'Passing Relay' sounds like it's related to the 'kickdown switch' for an automatic transmission.

MSA is recently advertising a NISMO head gasket as 'back in stock'. US$169.95 "This 0.6 millimeter thick performance metal head gasket fits all L28 280Z/280ZX"

Suggest you experiment with the SEM Bumper-Bite product before getting anywhere close to your dash with it. The set-up time is very short (well under a minute, in my experience), so you'll only get about 30 s. to mix and apply before it starts to get granular and won't spread/fill properly. I experimented with different mixes of catalyst:filler and found no change in the set-up time. I ended up working with very small batches ( ~ 1/2" of filler, ~ 1/4" of catalyst). Tedious, but the only way I found that would work. To maximize your apply time window, mix quickly with the same flex-blade applicator that you'll use to apply the filler to the dash. To reinforce Steve's comments about keeping the SEM layer thin, try this as an experiment: Apply a 1/8" thick layer of Bumper-Bite to a piece of a cereal box. Let it set up, then bend the boxboard. If you get the same results I did, you'll find that Bumper-Bite is only slightly flexible. Better than Bondo, I'm sure, but not flexible like a sheet of polyethylene plastic. Finish-sanding the Z dash is a real challenge, because contours are both convex and concave, and run in multiple directions. I found the contoured sanding blocks sold by Eastwood ('Dura-Block'?) to be perfect for the job (including the instrumend pod recesses, where I had chipped-out sections that needed repair). The SEM product sands very nicely, but you'll inevitably get some pinholes -- which the SEM product doesn't work very well on. I used local applications of Bondo's glazing putty and got good results. Be sure to use eye protection when carving and bevelling the edges of the dash vinyl layer with your Dremel. The cuttings are tiny but very sharp-edged. If you're going to be in the Burlington area, let me know. My bare, restored dash is still sitting in the basement waiting to be built up and re-installed in the car, so you can have an up-close look at the end result (which I'm quite happy with).

How about McAllister Industries' Chamberlain coil spring mfg in Surrey, British Columbia?... www.mcallisterind.com/chamberlain-spring-services.html They offer prototyping services and low-volume production runs. Not sure about their pricing structure, but probably attractive in light of the current state of affairs with our Canadian dollar.

Anyone here who can comment on whether these newer-style Nikki pump diaphragms are compatible with E85 gas?

I repaired my dash this past summer and experienced the same fast-set problems with the SEM 'Bumper-Bite' product. As noted above, you really do get only ~ 30 - 45 seconds before it gets chalky and will no longer spread properly. Interesting that the label instructions offer no cautions about this. I experimented with different proportions of hardener and resin (even as little as 1:5) and found that it really didn't make much difference (!). I wonder if a lot of this stuff has been sitting on the retailers' shelves for too long and has started to chemically change? Even though it was a giant PITA to work with, I liked the semi-flexible aspect of Bumper-Bite and decided to stick with it. I worked with very small batches -- about a half-inch of product squeezed from each tube, then a fast mix with a putty knife, followed by quick transfer and smoothing into the dash crack area. I used a 4" x 6" tear-off notepaper pad as my mixing sheet and just threw away each page after use. Bumper-Bite sands and forms really well, and takes primer nicely. I had to use regular autobody glazing putty to final-treat the inevitable pin holes. FWIW, I used Dow 'Great Stuff' (red label version) foam-in-a-can to fill most of the crack. This was backed it up with an under-layer of fibreglass wherever possible. The foam layer was carved down so that the Bumper-Bite fill layer never had to be much more than ~ 1/8" thick. All of the cracks were vee'd and the edges of the top vinyl surface were beveled. I live in a much more temperate climate than DJ, so I'm optimistic that my dash repairs will last. Not sure that I'd still be that optimistic if I lived in Orlando or Phoenix.

I did this swap for my '70 Z last year, using the blower motor and impeller from a Civic. While bench-testing the unit with the newly-installed Honda parts, I discovered that the output performance (CFM) of the Honda impeller is extremely sensitive to direction of rotation. Perhaps you have your motor wired so that it's running the impeller in the low-output direction? FWIW, I tried the same test with the old Nissan motor and impeller and found that the OE set-up provided about the same CFM output (modest) in either direction! This suggests to me that the Z's impeller is poorly designed and performs more like a paddle wheel than a centrifugal fan.

You could perhaps try an application of regular-duty epoxy to inside surfaces of both bushing shell halves before re-assembling with the bushing in place. If you smear the spherical outer surface of the bushing with grease or oil before re-assembling the retaining shells, it should break free of the epoxy bond after the epoxy has set up. You'll end up with an epoxy liner inside the bushing shells. Warning: I haven't tried this, but I think it would work. If it doesn't turn out satisfactory, you can probably remove the epoxy from the bushing shells with a Dremel rotary tool and then try something else.

This is an old thread, but it came in handy when I started taking my wiper linkage apart yesterday evening. It wasn't immediately obvious to me how to remove the circlips on the intermediate and end shafts. None of my circlip removal tools would work. Here's what I came up with, after a bit of experimentation. Hope it saves someone else some head-scratching when they get to this point: The circlip that holds each pivot shaft inside its alloy casing is made from hardened steel. It has no 'ears' to assist with removal. To remove without damaging clip or retaining groove: 1) Clamp the alloy casing in a vise (use jaw pads) 2) Find two medium-size flat blade screwdrivers (tips should be 3/16' - 1/4" in width) 3) Insert the tip of screwdriver #1 between the circlip ends. Hold it steady against one of the circlip ends so as to keep the clip from rotating as you... 4) Insert the tip of screwdriver #2 next to that of screwdriver #1 and then push outward against the other circlip end. Expand the clip and lift the end out of the retaining groove. 5) Now relocate the tip of screwdriver #2 to sit in the shaft's retaining groove under the lifted-out circlip end. 6) Using screwdriver #1, push against the circlip's still-seated end to rotate the clip so that it progressively rides up over the tip of screwdriver #1 and out of the retaining groove. You should be able to re-use this clip. The circlip that retains each of the intermediate pivot shafts in its eyeball joint does have 'ears'.. but they have no holes and are therefore not of much use in the removal process. What won't be immediately obvious, however, is that these circlips are made out of soft, deformable metal. You can use the same removal technique as that described above for the circlips on the alloy-housing shafts. However, these clips will actually stay deformed as you expand them to lift an end out of the retaining groove. It doesn't seem like it would be a good idea to try to re-use these soft clips -- they'll probably be ready to fracture or pop out of place at some point shortly after you've put everything back inside the cowling. For reference when sourcing a replacement, the diameter of the retaining groove is 6.9mm / 0.27". The OE felt washers measure 21mm OD x 17mm ID x ~ 3.5mm thick. There is one washer fitted to each of the (four) compliant pivot points in the linkage assembly. Hard to say whether they were grease-packed or oil-soaked when new. Whatever was used, I think it was done to prolong the life of the washer rather than to serve as a source of backup lubricant for the mechanical part of the pivot.

If you intend to use a wire wheel for cleaning up the area, pre-solder, I would suggest that a brass wire wheel is the safe choice (less potential for sparks).

Related question: Does anyone sell these new?

Metalmonkey47 makes a good point. I found that the heater valve ('water ****' in Datsun-ese) in my Z was frozen solid at the main pivot point of its linkage. This apparently frustrated the previous owner to the point where he/she forced the 'TEMP' control lever so hard that it bent the control cable. I simply soaked the heater valve in water-based parts cleaner for a week, then cleaned and lubricated the linkage and put a drop of Armorall on the valve's push-pull shaft where it pokes out of the casing through a small, neoprene, disc-style gasket. Now it works and seals just fine. That said, most of the foam gaskets in my car's heater box and blower housing had disintegrated from age. The control lever assy also needed repairs, along with cleaning and lubricating. Although the system might have worked after the heater valve and control cable were fixed (the heater core was fine), I'm not sure that it would have worked particularly well. In the end, it all depends on what final result will satisfy you. It may very well be worth pulling the heater valve first and either servicing it or putting in a new one. If you go this route, though, be prepared for a hour or two of awkward work. IIRC, you will need a 1/4"-drive socket set and a stubby Phillips screwdriver (and maybe an offset Phillips screwdriver too). One or two of the Phillips screws may be reluctant to loosen, so its worth spraying all the fasteners with penetrating oil a week or so before you get started.

I went thru the steps to pull the heater/blower assy in my '70 Z last year. Although I was able to remove them successfully w/o pulling the dash, I eventually decided to do that too... so I now have experience with both strategies and will offer these comments: 1. I you decide not to pull the dash, you'll need to remove both the glovebox liner and the HVAC controls faceplate in order to gain the access you'll need to get the heater and blower out. Many steps along the way require a lot of contortion and will favor agility, small hands, good lighting, and a lot of patience. You'll need to detach the heater control cables from the heater/blower assy. The cable clamp on the water valve could be problematic if there's been long-term leakage. The water valve may be seized, leaking, or both. 2. Removal of the glovebox liner is not an intuitive process, nor do there seem to be any good step-by-step instructions or photos available to guide you (incl. the FSM). It will not come out from the back (there's stuff in the way). It will only come out from the front. IIRC, I had to bow in the top edge first, and then bow in both sides. Eventually, if you bow in all 4 edges sufficiently, they corners will clear the opening in the dash by just enough to pull the liner out. If you're lucky, it won't tear or crumble in the process and might even be reusable. 3. Once you've got everything freed up, the heater box assy can be pulled out from the passenger side (best to pull the blower assy first, as a separate unit -- caution: it may be stuck where it mates up against the cowl panel). Be sure you put down some newspaper on the pssgr-side floorboard, because you're going to spill coolant when you detach the heater hoses and when you pull out the heater box. 4. When all is said and done, you may wish that you'd just pulled the dash first. It might just end up taking the same amount of time overall and it sure makes getting to the heater and blower a lot easier (for both removal and reinstallation). Also might make removal of the glovebox liner unnecessary (not sure about this -- maybe someone else can comment). Pulling the dash will also give you an opportunity to inspect and clean some key wiring harness connectors and replace all of the gauge lights (v. difficult to do with the dash in place, and nearly impossible for speedo and tach if your dash has a cap installed). Let us know what you decide to do.

Is this not simply the glue-on/bolt-on fibreglass body panel kit that someone used to sell years ago? I think it was called 'Alpha GTO'? This car looks very much like that kit (i.e good, but just not quite right, so a little bit cartoon-ish).

p.s. The big crank bolt uses regular threads, so you turn CCW to remove.

I recently went through this process (crank bolt removal, followed by pulley removal) with my '72. I considered all of the alternatives and decided to start with my electric impact wrench (1/2" drive, nothing special). Radiator was out of the car, so I had good access to the crank bolt. The cylinder head was off the engine, so no hope of relying on compression to resist torque applied to the bolt. I just put the car in gear and crossed my fingers. The bolt gave way very easily. Despite the high torque used to install this bolt, its threads live in a very clean environment and are unlikely to have rusted (even though the bolt head will probably be very rusty). Mine had clesan threads from top to bottom. I used a 26mm, 6-point, non-impact type socket (impact type socket's walls may be too thick to fit into the pulley recess). I expect that using a breaker bar instead of an impact wrench will probably require a lot more effort towards keeping the crank from rotating. The 'high-torque chatter' generated by the impact wrench seems to be the key. The next 'non-challenge' turned out to be getting the pulley off the crank. Here, too, I was afraid that the pulley would be rust-seized onto the crank snout. Instead, it actually offered very little resistance and slid off quite smoothly. I used a steering wheel puller, with long-ish bolts (M8, IIRC) threaded into the two threaded holes in the pulley hub. Had to use a tap to clean out the pulley hole threads first. The engine I was working on was high-mileage and I doubt whether the pulley had ever been removed previously. Rossiz posted a nice review of his pulley/timing cover removal process about a month ago, with lots of pictures. Your results may vary, of course, but I think you may find it's not so problematic as you're expecting.

I went 'chemical shopping' on the way home from work yesterday, so now have a full assortment of stuff to try out this weekend. @djwarner: The tin of MEK I spotted at in the store specifically mentioned on the label that it was good for contact cement removal. Out of curiosity, why do you recommend against?

Thanks, everyone. Lots of options to investigate. I think I'll try them all, and will report back later on my results. p.s. the paint in question here is the original factory paint, as applied on the interior panels (rear wheel housings, etc).