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I agree, I would rather not see it in a movie at all than to see it portrayed as a 'beater.' Andrew

echocluster, I had the same problem not too long ago, there are some threads with plenty of info and links. My fuse box also melted around one of the retention clips for the circuit with the running lights and taillights. The fuse clips are not one solid piece of metal from front to back, there is a brass(?) piece on the back and the copper clip up front that are connected by rivet. Usually, these fuse boxes melt when the connectors become corroded, especially in between where the clips and rivets make contact. The 'rust' acts like a heating element and thats where it starts. It seems that as it gets worse, it starts to totally block the flow of current. When I would tap my fuse while the car was running (I do not recommend this, it was HOT) the lights would flicker on and off, presumably when some 'clean' areas made contact for brief moments. I eventually just found a new-ish fuse box and put it in, and things have been working fine since. Once the box has been melted to the point that the connectors are not held in place by anything, I think it can get even worse since there is a newfound slack between the rivet/clips. Although this may not be the problem you are having, it sounds like the exact same symptoms I was having. Unfortunately for me, this problem didn't manifest itself until I was getting it inspected at a dealership! My recommendation is to just try to find a new one. If your 1971 requires a fuse box with the long pigtail (which I think yours will since the MSA catalog has them listed as 70-71) you will probably have to find one used since they are out of stock, and would have set you back a fair amount anyway. You should probably at least go over the actual connections between various components outside the fuse box as well. Getting a new fuse box would be wise anyway though since yours is already melted and can cause a lot of other problems. You might want to try www.ZBarn.com . I emailed them and asked for a quote for a 72 fuse box and he told me they could get me a used one in decent shape for $45, but I got lucky and bought one from a board member for $5! Andy Russel might be able to help you out, however he does not have it listed on his sample price list. His email address is z@datsundude.com . He should also be able to get you a new factory service manual for a good price since you don't seem to have one. They are extremely useful! Hope this helps, Andrew

You can see the trailer at http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/bruce_almighty/ Looks to be a 280z or 260z. It also looks like he wrecks it at one point since the hood is folded up in one scene. I'm guessing (after reading the other thread a few months ago) that this will be the first major movie in recent years to feature a 1st gen Z as a main characters wheels.

Speaking of pertronix, has anyone found a place selling them at a really great price? VB has them listed for $100 IIRC, anyplace lower? I don't remember seeing it in the MSA catalog when I glanced through it the other day. Andrew

Wow, are there a lot of 240Zs in Modesto? I had heard they were all over in California. Modesto must be a bigger town than I thought! I bought my 918 Orange 1972 240Z from a guy in Modesto. Welcome to the board! Andrew

It sure is bonniec75209, thanks for the compliment!

They appear on ebay every so often. However, the sellers usually have a pretty high asking price.

I would be VERY surprised if this in fact turned out to be correct, a drag coefficient of 0.45 is pretty close to that of a perfect sphere if I am not mistaken. I sure don't notice THAT much resistive force at high speeds, seems to cut through the air pretty well. One could always determine it experimentally if they took the time, but I imagine the results would vary greatly from run to run when performing it in an imperfect environment like the real world, whereas I imagine most auto manufactuers publishing a specific drag coefficient do so with wind tunnels, etc. I have heard that too from a friend who went into the service. I didn't believe it at the time, and I searched briefly for info on it on the internet and found nothing about it and dismissed it as a myth. Andrew

Thanks for the reply, I am pretty sure I didn't, I made sure not to move anything that would affect that and cleaned the rotor while holding it still. I placed the cap back in the same position as before. The engine ran the same before and after I cleaned out the cap and rotor. This was the first time I have opened my distributor up since I got my Z a few months back. Andrew

Wow, that film on the back contacts was MUCH more resilient than I had thought! After some difficulty, I managed to remove one of the clips from the block and sanded the back off thoroughly to get a good bond with the solder, but it would not stick! The solder rolled off, or just beaded up on the surface and wouldn't make a good connection. I managed to get the joint to hold a large chunk of solder between the brass strip and the rivet, but I still wasn't very confident about the connection there (did not look quite as solid as when I was soldering onto circuit boards, more like it was just 'sitting on top' of the connection), since I (apparently) had not done a thorough enough job sanding. When trying to remove another clip for a second shot, it was very difficult to remove, and I felt I was doing a lot of damage to the plastic and nowhere close to actually getting it out, so I decided against going through and soldering all the connections, not to mention some issues with the irons themselves (Iron I had from before was pretty old and had a lot of play in the shaft, so I got a new one from radio shack which wouldn't even get hot enough to melt the solder!). I sanded the connections where suitable, and put it into my car without much trouble and it seems to be working fine. The engine, however, will not run properly now : see my thread in the "Help Me!" forum for info on that. Thanks for the input on this issue guys, maybe I will mess with it again this summer when I pull the interior out for some POR-15 application. Andrew

I haven't run my Z in about 2 weeks since I have been working out some electrical issues involving the burned out fuse box and being busy with some other things. Today after I put in the 'new' fuse box and tried to fire it up, it(the engine) ran way worse than before. The electrial systems like lights, radio, etc worked just fine, however the car was very tough to get running, and when it finally started to turn under its own power, it had a very unstable idle (not really idle I suppose, since it required me giving it gas to keep it going at this bad rythym) that seemed very erratic... sort of like only 3-4 of the cylinders were combusting. The engine would turn in this unstable rythym for only 10-15 seconds at most before it slowly died (with my foot pressing the accelerator, it would not start otherwise. The engine would not start without giving it some gas before this recent foulup anyway). I checked the carbs, both pistons seemed to move freely: fall at the same rate and rise with the same force. I checked the fuel filter, and it looked good. Because the fuel flow and carbs 'seemed' ok to my novice eyes, I figured it must be an ignition problem (?) so I pulled off the distributor cap and noticed some carbon buildup on the rotor tip and the points (correct terminology? I don't have my manual on me ATM) inside the cap, so I carefully removed it with some fine sandpaper, replaced the cap and attempted to start her up once more. The engine idled with pretty much the same unnatural rythym before slowing down out until it stalled after about 10-15 seconds. I will probably go to the parts store and buy some new spark plugs tommorow or monday and replace the existing ones. I'm not too sure when the previous owner replaced them, and i'm guessing this could be a part of the problem as well? Could it be my ignition coil? Could the needles on my carbs be partially clogged? I was going to try to adjust my SU carbs, but upon reading the segment in the FSM, it called for the use of an air flowmeter which I do not have. Any hints? Just buy one and follow the instructions to the letter? I could tell by the smell of the exhaust before this 2 week break that it was running rich anyway. Before the 2 week hiatus, it was something of a PITA to start anyway, but once I got it idling, it would eventually smoothen out and idle fine with a little gas and choke, then none was needed for it to idle once it started to warm up. I am a car mechanical novice, as you may be able to tell, but this is all a great learning experience for me. The manuals are great for certain things, and I have read over most of the related material, but I can learn a lot more from hearing from you guys with a lot of experience. I would like to get my car running and legal again before summer and have already fixed a number of things, many of the repairs thanks to advice I got here or read about in the archives. Any help or advice you guys could give me would be MUCH appreciated! Thanks, Andrew

You might want to check out www.hybridz.org and search the archives of zcar.com. There are lots of guys in both places that have done a similar swap, although the guys on zcar.com seem to be quite hostile when a question comes up again that has been asked once before. I was thinking of doing this swap myself eventually, just keeping my eye out for a good donor for the right price. Andrew

Thanks for the input guys, I think this weekend I will disassemble the box and solder it that way since it seems easier to remove the clips than I had at first though. If i'm going to do the job, I may as well do it right the first time! When I first looked at the assembly, I thought it was a rivet holding it across an opening in the plastic that was too small for the clips to fit through. :stupid: Andrew

I thoroughly sanded out the inside surfaces of the mounting clips last night, and I am thinking that it will eventually tarnish/corrode to the point of melting again. Aren't there some chemicals that I could spray on to coat the points that will both protect it from corrosion as well as improve the connection? EScanlon: Do you think there is there any effective/simple way to clean the film off the back of the brass strips/rivets that you mentioned? Some of the soldering irons I have used in the past had adjustable temperatures via a rheostat, and maybe on the lowest setting I would have a lower risk of melting the plastic. I have done a lot of soldering before on those cheap generic circuit boards and I think as long as the solder will bond to it easily (as in nothing preventing a good hold, like that film) I should be able to do it safely. Andrew

Yes, the diagram on the site did not make much logical sense. I planned on (if I decided to do that) just bridging the existing connections. Andrew

MSA has them listed for ~$88 in their catalog. The fuses in the picture came with the fuse box and I already bought new ones since they are so cheap at the parts store.

I read what was on the z garage website, and I think I will do that as well as it can't hurt (so long as I am careful and don't melt the box with heat from the iron). I will also pull off the side markers and check those connections out, just to be on the safe side and since I am curious about what previous owners have done to the unseen wiring. Thanks for the recommendations! This site is the best! Andrew

The plastic around the left headlight fuse clip was melted slightly, but this was not the one giving me the problem, and didn't became hot while using the headlights so I think the previous owner had this problem fixed at some time. The fuse for the tail lights and side markers was the one which was the REAL problem. The block had melted so badly that the connector was hanging loose in a wide hole in the plastic. This became VERY hot apparently. I didn't notice when I first got the car since I did not do any night driving, but when it came time for inspection and I had the lights on for a few minutes, smoke began to rise out of the fuse box! Thank goodness I was paying attention... Andrew

I just got this fuse box to replace my melted fuse box in my 72 from Rick Hanson at hmsports.com (smooth transaction, good deal!). I figure from my observations, and from reading other posts on this site, that the reason my current fuse block started to melt was because the contacts became corroded which caused them to create resistance, which then generated heat. I was pretty lucky to be able to find one that was not melted and didnt seem to have a corrosion problem, I may not be so lucky 10 years down the road if this box has the same problem. so, other than the obvious of cleaning it up, are there any things that any of you could recommend to prevent this problem from occuring again? I uploaded 2 photos (front and back) of the fuse block to my gallery and should show up as soon as they get approved. Thanks! Andrew