Captain Obvious

That's cool. I hope it helps him out. I think I have one coming from @Patcon. So thanks for the original consideration anyway!!

Good eyes. That's definately a problem. Those contact buttons are supposed to be welded in place, and it looks like yours just came loose and fell off! Unfortunately, I think the best long term solution would be a replacement relay. Only other possibility I got is... Are they making use of every contact elsewhere in the relay? If the answer is 'no', and all the arms are identical (and maybe even symmetric top to bottom?) maybe you could swap wires or even contact arms around. In other words, maybe move the missing contact to a position that isn't being used anyway? Long shot, but thought I would mention it.

Gilles, The 260 and 75 280 only had one fusible link block with two fusible links under the cover. So if you've got two blocks (with four links total under two covers), then you're engine bay harness is from a 76, 77, or 78 280Z. If you have an internally regulated alternator, you might have a harness from 78. So, assuming you're working with a 76 or later 280Z engine bay harness with two link blocks and a total of four links, then yes... The white wire side of all four links are all connected together inside the wiring harness. Those four white wires are all crimped together inside the harness and become one white wire which attaches to the starter lug (which in turn is connected to the (+) battery cable. The other side of those four links were White/Red, and went off to their respective destinations. So other than a mish-mosh of different years in your 260, things do make sense. Did you have other questions about where those four W/R wires went after the fusible links?

kunzma, Can you take a pic of the area of the relay where the contact is missing? I'm not sure silver was needed in that application. Maybe silver in color, but not Ag in composition? Probably tin alloy. In any event, a blob of solder might get you out of the woods for a little while, but it probably won't last long. And I doubt that even "silver solder" would contain a high enough silver to lead ratio that it would last. Was the original contact rattling around inside the relay cover when you took it off?

Joe, From Vintage? I could use some of the bullet connectors like the ones in your pics. Maybe ten pairs male and female? If you buy a quantity of 25 or 100 of each male and female, I'd love to split them with you. I believe you (we) are looking for the 4mm variety: Male bullet connectors and sleeves: SB1 (18-16 AWG) Female bullet connectors and sleeves: SS1 (18-16 AWG)

I don't know if they are a suitable fit, but Dorman has some wiper motor bushings in their HELP line. P/N 49450. Surely not as good of a fit as what 240Z Rubber has, but if you get stuck, you might be able to figure out a way to make these work?: https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-32473-49450.aspx

Joe, No problem. Thanks for considering it anyway. There would be a little bit of stuff I could use from Vintage as well if you still want a piggyback. And one other place that hasn't hit this thread yet is Cycle Terminals (http://www.cycleterminal.com/) Interesting your comment about Eastern Beaver though. I found that one to be the least cycle specific of the three sources. I also found them to be the ones with the best collection of Yazaki parts (which is what Datsun used almost exclusively throughout). Some of the Yazaki stuff can be sourced from other sources and it's almost identical. But then there is some Yazaki specific stuff that doesn't cross well.

Oh, and I believe the tang is always supposed to be positively engaged in the slot. It's not like it only snags the slot when running in reverse. It's always engaged.

I believe the tang is bent 90 degrees. But do note that I've only ever seen pictures. The ones I've seen in person were all broken. Namerow, good luck with the spring rewind. Maybe your new spring is parking, but you just can't tell. It's not a huge difference from the broken spring (aka "normal") operation. FSM says the normal operation is ninety-six degrees of sweep, and the "rise up angle" is five and a half degrees. Maybe you just can't tell the difference?

No, no, no!! Haven't you heard any of the advice about retirement? You need to start saving BEFORE retirement. If you wait until then to start saving old bearing races and pieces of tubing, then by the time you get to retirement, it'll be too late. You need to start working on that junk drawer of assorted shite NOW. If you start now, it will grow. And by the time you get to retirement, it'll be full and you'll have every size you need!

How do you know?

Namerow, Don't know how your music wire project is turning out, but I was at a parts store today and spied the spring that I think could be modified to replace the original clutch. Dorman's HELP line P/N 59207 is a blister pack of assorted throttle return springs. To my eye, one of them looks pretty close to the dimensions of the wiper clutch spring. Don't know if you have HELP stuff in the Great White North, but it looks like this. The second one from the left:

Told ya so! And it's about time!! I have the A-Frame design, but I don't think they even sell that one anymore. You have the H-Frame, right? I hope the fit and stability is better than the A-frame I got. I spent a bunch of time making modifications and improvements to mine before I considered it stable. And as for overloading the hydraulics, there is an overpressure relief built into the jack. I would assume that the rest of the frame was designed and built to some safety factor over what the jack can produce. Assume. Get yourself a face shield. There are times when it just gives me some emotional comfort when the pressure really gets up there. Now you need to start saving all those old bearings and bushings and anything else that might possibly be useful in the future to use as a drift or an anvil. Short stubs of PVC tubing, bolts of assorted length and diameter. Then you need a lathe to make the other sizes that you can't repurpose from anything else. Then you need a milling machine or two to make the things that you can't do on the lathe. It's a slippery slope...

I don't know about the owner's manuals, but the factory service manuals started specifically describing the park feature in 74. Prior to that in the earlier years, they talked about the "rise up angle" being a small angle in addition to the "actual operating angle", but didn't specifically mention "park". I don't have FSM's earlier than that so I don't have any input into the first two years.

Glad to help. I was just the messenger. My buddy @GGRIII figured most of this out. All I did was confirm his analysis when he explained it to me. He was the real brains behind this one! I really do wonder how many Z's there are out there that actually have a functioning original park system. Like I said... Tie breaker at the concourse shows!

Yup. That verbiage is in all the FSMs I think. But nobody in the past thirty years ever saw it or cared. I think all of those clutching springs broke thirty years ago, but since the wipers continue to pretty much work just fine without it, nobody ever looked into it. Unlike most things, it's a convenient failure. Back when I had my first Z, I hated the double wipe thing. Now, after all those years, I at least understand the "why"!! As for replacement, I suspect the ID isn't incredibly size critical as long as it drags enough to start to engage the clutch. Once it starts to engage, it snowballs. But you have to have enough friction to get it started. I'd be more concerned with the wire diameter. A smaller diameter might only last five years.

Glad to help. Since it runs fine once you get it started, it's got to be something relatively simple. Just need to find it. On the 78, all the fuel pump control relays are on the bracket in the engine compartment forward of the battery. The same bracket that the fusible links attach to. Let us know what happens when you pull the black/yellow pulled off the starter.

The trick is that the spring and the eccentric cam that the spring winds around... Ready for this...effectively changes the length of the wiper linkage so that the park position IS lower than their lowest point of travel during regular operation. The spring only positively locks into one end. The end that is bent to fit into the Millenium Falcon is the only positive engagement. The other end of the spring does not lock into anything. It's a one-way clutch. Like a Chinese finger torture grabber toy. You can slide your fingers easily into the toy, but can't pull them out because the toy contracts on your fingers and prevents removal. Easy in, friction out because of the clutch. The spring does the same thing, but in rotation. In the direction of "normal operation" the spring unwinds a little getting larger and slipping. Other direction, it contracts a little and when it gets smaller, the center hole grips the eccentric cam. That friction rotates the cam a little and makes the linkage a small amount longer which in turn makes the park position lower than normal operation. I'm hoping I got that right... I'm at a little disadvantage here since I don't have the parts lying loose anymore. I've got access to my buddies linkage which is not yet back in his car, so if there are still questions, I can take his apart again. As for fixing it, my buddy GGR (you met him in Toronto) was able to make a new bend in the end of his spring. Unlike yours, thankfully his did not snap off again. But prior to that success, I had identified what looked like a suitable replacement spring on the HELP rack at the parts stores. I didn't have a caliper with me, but there was a blister pack with a couple springs in it and one of them looked very close. I was thinking it could be used to replace the original. If you're interested, I'll take another look next time I'm at the store.

Crash, But before you start testing complicated things... Try this. Pull the small Black/Yellow wire off the starter and then turn the key to START. The starter should not spin (because of the wire you disconnected), but the fuel pump should run. Can you hear the fuel pump running in START?

It's not the blue wire off pin1. Once it starts, it runs fine. The ECU is getting the spark signal once the engine is running. It's something else. One of the fuel pump interlock relays or something inhibiting the ignition only while cranking.

Well if it does the same thing when you just shut if off for a couple seconds, then there's something that is inhibiting either spark or fuel pump operation when the key is in the START position. Everything works fine when the key is in the ON position, but it doesn't work right in START. So if you can get it started, it's fine in ON, but getting it started is the issue. With that in mind, I bet you could roll start it just fine. Without ether. So I don't know the 78's like I know the 77's but it's either the fuel pump isn't running in START, or you aren't getting a spark in START. Just as a quick way to narrow the field, when you are cranking and cranking it and it won't start... Do you get a good spark while you are cranking it?

Joe, If you decide you're going to place an order with Eastern Beaver, would you send me a PM first? I'd be happy to piggyback onto an order and share the shipping costs.

Crash, Does it do the same thing even when the engine is warm and has only been off for a few seconds? In other words, give it a shot of ether and get it running. Take it for a ten minute drive. Shut if off for ten seconds, and what happens? Does it start then, or does it need another shot of ether? If it needs another shot, it's not the thermotime or cold start system and more along the lines of the oil pressure stuff that siteunseen mentioned. Some kind of interlock problem or ignition switch issue.

That's funny stuff right there!!!! HAHAHA!!!

So nobody else has ever heard the wild tale that the auto bell housing can be used for a manual box conversion of some kind? Ringing any bells anywhere?