Captain Obvious

I put a pair of 6x9's in the pressboard right behind the seats so I've got 4 inchers in the side panels like you do and an attempt at more low end with the 6x9s. I'm not happy with the sound of the whole system though and I haven't had the chance to spend any more time on it yet. I know the 4 inchers I currently have in the side panels are crap and they're just in there as placeholders until I get something better, but I also know that my problems run deeper than just those side speakers. Once I get the larger speakers sounding good, I'll spring for better 4 inchers and the ones you put in would be a huge upgrade from what I have in there now.

Cool. Those look nice. Are they the only speakers you're running, or do you have a pair of something larger further back?

I did the same thing about a year ago. Then some time later after I was done, I found that article. Haha! I gotta learn to look first before I reinvent the wheel. I'm not complaining though... My clock works great and I know why. Thanks for the link to that article. I have a copy, but have no idea where I found it.

Excellent! From what you changed, I'm not sure I can pinpoint a smoking gun, but if it stays fixed, the point is moot. Loose or dirty connection somewhere on the low voltage side of the coil? I doubt it was the dirt on the rotor or the posts inside the distributor cap. I don't like the sound of a 40 year old condenser, but I can't come up with a failure mode that wouldn't have had an impact on high RPM's as well. All they can do is leak, go open, or short. Short wouldn't run at all. Open wouldn't have any affect until your points burned up, and leaky would weaken spark at all RPM's not just low. Maybe the rich mixture at low RPMs combine with a weak spark from a leaky condenser? Just looking for a solution that fits the findings...

Awesome. Glad it was a simple fix. I love it when a plan comes together.

Flak? For what? I think your contribution was nothing but valuable. Maybe the forest was missed for the trees... The differences seen between power supplies on the bench and in-car use may not have been voltage at all. It may have been temperature. Warm bench in the shop vs. cold dash in the garage? I will refine the zener regulator voltage though. I've been inside three 77 clocks and they all used 5.1 volt zeners. You should be able to operate the clock down to just barely above that point. I don't know about other years, but I would suspect they used the same value on all of them.

:laugh: Haha! You made me snort! BTW - I'm not denying that this phenomenon exists, I'm just saying that Datsun (tried to) took steps to prevent it. I don't have an explanation as to what is going on, at least not a credible one... My money is currently on Blue's relativity suggestion.

Haha! Combine unusual coincidence with the depth of knowledge and experience here and look what happens! Nice pics by the fire truck. Hope they have a good trip home. They've got quite a drive ahead of them, and I hope they don't have to drive the Z through the snow.

Good. Hopefully they'll see the pics then. I've got more if there's interest. We made contact over at zcar.com, but that forum is pretty hurting at this point. Not to forum bash, but I log in very rarely and might not even know if I've got a private message for six months. If the website even does send out a message, it usually gets hung up in my spam filter. My part of the world isn't nearly as pretty, so I spend more time online. But I spend more time here than Z other forums. I agree... Good people. I was out there on a non-Z related event and was extended a gracious invitation to spend the day at that SCCA event. Mixing Z car stuff with the other non-Z events was a bonus that I really enjoyed. A nice respite from the norm. If they stop over, let them know I was asking for them.

I tried to get pics back to the owner, but they didn't seem to spend a lot of time online and contact was spotty. After being there, I understand though... If I were them, I'd be spending all of my available seconds outdoors as well and not in front of a screen. Do you know if they are members of the forum?

I've got some neat shots of the blue 73 that I took at an SCCA event this past summer. It was a great Z day for me as well! I'm 99.5 percent sure it's the same car/owner. I'll confirm the other 0.5% once you post a pic.

Shouldn't be... The non-quartz control board is shunt zener regulated. Unless you're trying to run it off a pair of D cells, it should be just fine. Even a 9V battery should power it just fine for quite a long time. Of course the quartz movement could (should?) be more accurate, but not because of the input voltage variation.

Would be interesting to use the timing light while the problem is occurring, but since it only occurs under load, that's a little tricky. Would add value to see if the timing light was skipping beats at 2K when under load, but might not be feasible. If the wires are long enough, maybe run the timing light wires out of the engine compartment and into the pass side window and take it for a drive while a passenger mans the gun? :laugh: You wouldn't be as concerned with the absolute value, just that it was consistent, steady and not skipping beats.

There's some 78 fuel pump info in this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/fuel-injection-s30/50487-runs-nice-few-min-then-rough-then-kills.html Starts about halfway down or so?

Very broad brush, but often... Low RPM miss is ignition. High RPM miss is fuel. Your experience with the choke lever and nozzle level seems to support that broad brush. I'd be looking for something electrical.

I'm not from that part of the world so it's speculative, but I've been told you never slow down, you never grow old.

I saw that first sign on Craigslist in one of my occasional trolls. It's close to me so if you want it, I can be local eyes to check it out for ya. [ATTACH=CONFIG]67565[/ATTACH] And there's no price In the ad... If someone contacts this guy and gets a price, let us know, OK?

Duh. Pennsylvania of course. The rest of you guys have recto-cranial inversion. :laugh:

Well if you ever decide that you would like something a little more vintage, I've got a 77 that I'd probably be willing to trade. Just let me know... I'll be holding my breath.

That's awesome! I've got three times that mileage on my Z and I consider it "low" compared to it's siblings. You wouldn't happen to be original owner, would you?

Awesome! The knowledge in this place is amazing!!

I heard that the design was done for North America and the RHD stuff was an afterthought. :laugh:

Here's some of my lock experience. Some of the pics might help? http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/misc-s30/44869-lock-rebuilding-internal-parts-ignition-doors-hatch.html

30K or 130K?

Sitting on a leather something... Briefcase? Chair? Wallet?