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240z with stock suspension and brakes: About a week ago I replaced the wheels/tires on my 240z, having found an opportunity on Craigslist I couldn't pass up. I was running 205/60R/15 Bridgestone.. somethings... on the 280zx Honeycome wheels, and they would rub just the slightest bit at full lock. It was never really an issue. The opportunity I couldn't pass up has me back in 14" wheels, running 205/60/14's. The very next day after I had those tires mounted and put the wheels on my car, I ran into a local Ferrari guy who gave me the 205/70VR/14 Michelin XWX tires that came on a '79 308GTS he bought, but decided he wanted more aggressive looking tires on a Cromodoro style wheel. The tires aren't new, but they're new enough that there's still rubber from the mold on them, the tread is great, and there's no sign of dry-rotting. Question 1: Will this 205/70/14 tire rub any more than the 205/60/15 did? Question 2: I've only seen one other car wearing this size before; Will the ride quality with these things be discernably different with the larger sidewall? Question 3: Is the Michelin XWX simply overkill for an otherwise stock 240z? The only big change I plan is swapping the SU's for some 44mm Mikuni's in the Spring. My car can't go 180+mph, and since I JUST put the other tires on, I'd feel like a fool going back to the tire-shop a week later to do the switch, so I'll sit on these for awhile until I figure something out. But I wanted your 2-cents. Thanks everyone, Bill

Tidewater Z Automotive is in your backyard.

You might want to try the East Coast Z Car Center. The guy can be a bit offputting, and he'll offer you a ridiculous price, but I was there recently and he has stacks of door panels in a Shipping Container, in various conditions. They were NOS when he put them in there years ago, but I suspect the cardboard isn't as good as it was. I bought a hood from him two weeks ago. I talked him down to half of his asking price, at which point he said "aw hell I'm closing this business down soon anyway." Give it a shot, who knows?

Haha Thanks olzed, I'll attribute it to the extreme relief I had that this part of the project was over. Took the car out to Middleburg the other night (~2 hours round trip) for a quiet drive, and aside from failing to have the battery secured down tight enough (fun surprise when I entered a round-about with gusto) it went off without a hitch. Photos coming, hopefully tonight.

Sweat. Lots of it. For hours on end. Dripping down from the forehead, running off the nose; your shirt clinging to your body, screws lost in your grip. It was that kind of day in the garage. 'Heat Bubble' was the weatherman's term. 98 in the shade and 80% humidity made the hours drag by. All eleven of them. Jason got back into town Friday night. From Germany. He stepped off the plane in Jeans and a long sleeve shirt, describing the weather back home as having 'nearly hit 70 degrees.' When the doors of the terminal swung open to let us into the parking lot the wall of heat made him lose a step. Nearly a day of travel to sit in a garage to mend a 41 year old Japanese car. He was clearly re-thinking his decision. Honestly he flew in for a wedding, but since my progress on the electrical system has been... unimpressive (Read: An Embarrassing Catastrophe) he was held up to work on the Datsun. The car went in for it's VA Safety Inspection on June 30th. Classic tags would avoid this headache but the car would lose some of it's swagger. Like an Aircraft Carrier museum. A once mighty war machine now tied up and rusting from below, guns silent as tourists half-heartedly walk it's decks waiting to be impressed. Lest anyone think this green 240z has lost some of it's temperament, those VA Plates were going to stay on my car. It is, after all, a fire breathing beast. On July 1st I was going to begin pulling the dash to replace the wiring harness, bulbs, and install the radio. At the same time I was going to install new Aux Driving Lights, and so I didn't concern myself with the non-functioning fog lights that were on the car already. Those fog lights caused the car to fail the inspection. "Can I un-bolt them? Will only take a minute." "Sure ya can. Gotta' pull it out of the garage first. Can't promise I won't find something else though." This was pointless. I let it fail the inspection and took it home to begin the simple task of replacing some bulbs, some wiring, and adding a stock radio. This would be a breeze. After four 8-hour days of crushing heat and endless wires, I was defeated. Despite researching it extensively, the replacement harness was wrong. The radio sat silent and dark. And there may have been a small mishap that 'tested the rigor' of some wires. This exercise in futility was documented elsewhere on this site. I will not recap here. My ego simply won't allow it. So in walks Jason on Sunday morning to find this scene of utter despair. When he left months ago, the car ran like a top and looked great. Now it appeared to be four wheels and the insides of a washing machine. Pretty ugly stuff. Heat shrink and wire clippings covered the floor. Wiring diagrams and tools cluttered the roof, and desperation hung in the air like a bad cologne. He set to work in the engine bay, trying to diagnose why the engine wouldn't turn over. Fifteen short minutes later the car sprang to life without even using the choke (understandable, as the engine was already 100 degrees from the ambient temperature). Things were looking up. I set about cleaning up the interior wiring situation and he tackled the wires up front. Somewhere late in the morning the new Driving Lights sparked to life, and late in the afternoon the radio coughed up it's first static in years. The new speaker and 280z antenna worked in concert to deliver the most beautiful noise we'd ever heard: "Photograph," by Nickleback. Hm. You'll be hard pressed to find that written anywhere else on the internet. The station was quickly c€hanged and the system put back together. Site Note: That antennae is loud when it extends and retracts. All I could think is back in the '70's some young guy was probably trying to make some moves at the end of a date, and as he slowly reached to turn the radio on to let some quiet, smooth jam play and set the mood, that 'WWRRRRRRRR' noise would punctuate the moment like a tap on the window. On a second thought, the image of the antennae extending might have been quite suggestive. Perhaps this played to his favor. The car finally got a glovebox installed (2 hours at the DMV a month ago because I lost my registration may or may not have had anything to do with this), along with a glovebox light switch. My dome light now works, which is evident because my door switches clearly do not. Dome light does not turn off. The PO had installed an aftermarket oil cooler citing overheating issues. Having replaced the thermostat a few months prior, the decision was made to remove this extraneous appendage. Oil pressure issues might diminish, and the slight ticking the valves emit when letting off the throttle would hopefully disappear. Both turned out to be true, and there still aren't any issues with overheating. If it was going to happen, it would've happened yesterday. The wiring harnesses were all wrapped up properly, leaving a clean car all around as far as the wires were concerned. Buttoned back up around 8:30, the beast pulled out of the driveway under it's own power for the first time in a month, and took off eagerly to the gas station. It turned out to be a somewhat humbling trip. A stranded motorist needed a jump and the Datsun shared it's spark to bring the other vehicle to life. The car started the day as a non-moving electrical nightmare and ended it as the road-worthy machine it truly is. Not all my photos are off the camera yet. Will post them over the next few days.

I'll count my lucky stars that my dash is still uncracked and stick to the parts I can source locally/internet. I like searching around the country and seeing the various states of the 240z though. What struck me about this one was just how complete it appeared to be, despite being ignored for so long. Rest assured, everyone, I have no plans to go rescue this old beast.

Wish I lived in Upstate New York - Despite being rusted, there looks to get a good number of parts that might clean up well on this thing. I asked him for a few extra photos of the interior. Call me crazy, but is that an uncracked dashboard...? If so, $750 for this thing is a steal. http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/cto/2497411422.html

Heat wave doesn't make sitting the the 100-degree garage contorting the body to work on wiring sound very fun. I'll try and locate that earlier FSM for clues, and if someone has insight on what the heck that red wire might go to, I'm all ears.

1) The FSM I'm using is for Late '71. That solves the question of why I couldn't find it. 2) Arne - There appears to be no damage to the dash harness. In fact, other than the radio (lights up, but that's all. Didn't work before anyway) everything is functioning correctly. So despite this destructive set-back, the project has still been mostly successful. I'm glad the engine harness is much simpler, and you're right - I only knocked out one wire (that I know of), so once I identify where it goes, I should be able to fix it easily. 3) Mike - The Four-Prong connector (Shown below) comes through the firewall into the passenger's footwell. I suspect this is (lucky for me, right?) one of those vestiges of the early harness, as the '71 FSM doesn't show any wires of this color (in this location, in a 4-prong connector). As for where the wires go, I'm not sure. They wrap up into the dash harness, and unfortunately I'd already spent the 1.5 hours putting the dash back on, so I wasn't quite ready to pull it back off to trace the wire. I'm hoping that if I can track down the right diagrams I can figure it out. I'll investigate the wire tracker, though considering what I did to that harness, I may outsource my electrical work from now on. Everything seems strong, and other than not turning over it cranks just fine. I'm wondering if I flooded the engine. If, in fact, the wire I fried was simply the Fog-Light option wire, then I haven't destroyed the ignition system. The only argument against this is the fact that I've never had the car not fire up, and I'm sure I've inadvertently flooded it before. Thanks again everyone, hope you had pleasant weekends. Cheers, Bill

Arne, Steve - Thanks. The Ammeter still flicks to life while the car cranks in a sign that it appears to be business as usual up there. Still haven't had the heart to split that engine harness open yet, but I suppose that's coming. Anyone have a spare engine harness lying around for a Feb'70 240z? Hah!

(slaps face with palm)... Just when you think you're almost done with a project, one moment of carelessness ruins the whole thing. Taking apart the engine harness is the next step, though I was hoping someone might identify where that 4-wire set on the Engine Wiring harness leads to.

Sorry - the photos: #1) The wire inside the firewall that was fried. #2) Wire that appears to have fried up by the Drivers Side Horn #3) Wire that appears to have fried up by the Passener's Side Horn

Accidentally hooked the Engine Harness to the Dash Harness incorrectly in one spot and fried a wire. My car is a 2/'70 240z. The wire friend comes from the Engine Harness, though the firewall, and has a four-wire connector holding a Red, Blue, Blue/White, and Blue/Yellow. The Red wire is the one that is fried. Can anyone identify where this Red wire leads to? Was unable to discern from the FSM. Car cranks now but won't turn over. I'm wondering if this wire leads to the ignition coil. Thanks, I need to re-wire this single wire and don't know where it leads.

Dave, SteveJ, CoopDog - Thank you! Dave, I did fail to mention the build date, etc. right off the bat. I appreciate the help just the same. I feel a lot more confident now that I've put this harness back in properly. I'll need to wire up the cigarette lighter. Then find a good cigar. As for the T-Connector, I DID put in an electric fuel pump later-on, perhaps I'll utilize this connector rather than how it's hooked up currently. Seems mildly appropriate. With regards to the 'slow blow' fuses on the radio - is that wire ultimately grounded? I'm putting a '72 Radio into my '70, and am attempting to do so without hacking my harness at all. The body harness (in the passengers foot-well) has a 4-prong connector with Two Speaker wires, and two power wires for the antenna. They don't have the 'slow fuse' wire, so I'm a bit confused as to where they'd go. Once again - seriously - thank you.

E, That does help, and sorry about that. After having your head inside the dashboard for about ten hours, it's easy to forget not everyone is on the same page. I don't have the wire colors handy, nor can I properly discern from the photos. I'll have to get back to you this weekend. The car is Feb/'70 and I believe this harness to be original. "Option Wires" has a nice ring to it. That confirms my supicions on those. Thanks again, E, Bill

I've thanked you guys plenty for all your help, but I should also take a minute to thank Mike for maintaining the site, the means by which I'm able to rack your brains. So I pulled my dash harness, repaired the oddities, and with the Factory Service Manual in-hand, I've gone about the task of re-attaching it. In this process, a few questions have arisen: 1) What is this 2-prong connector? I'd normally assume Power/Ground, but it's the only T-type I found on the dash. I located it in the FSM, but it doesn't identify where it connects to. I'm having trouble attaching photos via the URL, so I'm going to have to do them by uploading... not sure what order they'll come out in. The T-type is circled in red. 2) The other photo with something circled in red shows two wires taped to the stock harness. Were these the wires that Datsun put in for fog lights? I'm asking not because I want to use them for Fog lights, but to make sure I didn't forget to hook something back up. 3) The Third picture shows a piece of the fusebox in the background. The 'fuse holder' that comes out of the radio... is this a noise suppressor? And, is it typically just grounded? Bonus points if you can tell me what that blue wire with the bullet-type connector should go to. 4) Finally, I've got a few of these spare power/grounds lying around. I know my glove-box light isn't hooked up yet (someone ripped the leads off the switch and sodering isn't going well) but otherwise I think everything else is back. I must have missed something... Thanks,

Worked into the wee hours of the night yesterday on wiring. My donor harness is nearly tapped out - anyone have a spare female connector for this 6-pin? Thanks much, Bill

Pulled the dash on Saturday and began to install the new wiring harness and bulbs. Despite having checked my Part Numbers for the Dash Harness before attempting the project, I apparantly didn't do enough research. I worked my way from the driver's side to the passenger's side re-doing the connections. I got to the passenger's side footwell to reconnect the 3 harnesses (Dash/Body/Engine) only to find out the connections there are different. That was at the 7 hour mark (I work slow) so I tabled the project and vowed to return when my eyes, back, and legs were fresh. Could be trouble. I need to hunt down a Series-1 wiring diagram, both for the car at large, and the dash harness. I've seen both before for later 240z's, but want to make sure I'm looking at the right one. First question: My hazard light relay has 2 connections that run into it... a green wire, and a white wire (if I'm remembering correctly). When I went to connect it to this new wiring harness, there was only a single white wire to connect to the relay. I haven't had a chance to research it yet, but can someone shed some light on this?

Thanks, MotorMan, Perhaps it's been doing that all along, and this is the first time I noticed the gauge while idling. I'll monitor it. I haven't replaced the sending unit, but I also can't be sure that it hasn't been done at some point in the last 40 years.

Weather has gotten nice, been doing more driving than fixing. But, the next big project is tackling the dash and all it's electrical oddities. 'New' dash wiring harness (PO hacked mine to pieces for various reasons), gauges (green housings on mine are painted), LEDs to brighten things up, and a radio ('72/'73 Hitachi AM/FM). Side note: Is it typical for the Oil Pressure gauge to drop really low, hovering just above 0psi, while idling? I noticed the other night that at traffic lights, it dipped very low, but when driving it was back just below the half-way point on the gauge. I've read a bit where folks suggest it's the oil pressure sending unit. But I've also read you're supposed to get about 10psi per 1,000rpm, thus, idling around 700rpm would put the needle safely around 7psi (or, hovering just above 0psi on the gauge). Car wasn't running any differently. Thoughts?

I have read these forums all day. For literally hours (I started around 11am today, and while I have't been at it constantly, I must have covered nearly every thread on this site dating back to 2004). Everything I've read said 'it shouldn't work.' I bought a 'new' wiring harness for my Series-1 (2/'70). I also bought one of the AM/FM radios from the later models, since I wasn't willing to shell out for the original. It'd be great to have, but supply & demand has wrought havoc on the market for those things. $350...? Reading up today, the early wiring harness should not be compatible (hook-ups, that is) with this AM/FM radio. But out of curiosity, I pulled all the new parts out of their boxes (New Speedo/Tach included... PO ruined the green bulb housings on mine. Anyone know how to remove those???), and lo' and behold, the radio hooks up. That's all I'll say, beyond I checked the P/N for the harness, and sure enough it's an early one. I'll post pictures too, because I can't wrap my head around this anymore. It's too late. On a separate note, I should thank David (zsondabrain) once more for answering my electrical questions. I'm horrible with electronic stuff; sometimes embarrassingly so. But what an awesome guy, taking the time to patiently answer and explain things. I'd be in trouble without some of the help he's given me. Thanks again, David. Cheers, Bill

Quick update: - Installed Dave's HLH and PLH. - Removed old "US Indymag" wheels and threw on a set from the '81 ZX Turbo - Started trying to polish chrome bits. Some of them are actually shining up.

Is this still obtainable somewhere? All I can find on the forum is this thread dated 2006 (http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?22563-Need-240Z-air-filter-housing-gasket). It looks like the P/N for the Air Filter Housing Gasket is 16547-E3210. NismoParts.com listed it as available, but sure enough I got an email from them today saying it wasn't available. Any help would be great. Thanks much, Bill

Thanks Bob, that answers how to get the same color. Much appreciated. Now I need to figure out how to get my bumpers to shine again.