SteveJ

You look to see if the voltage regulator is missing. If you haven't already, download the 72 & 73 factory service manuals from the link in my signature. The EE section will have info on the voltage regulator. The 72 will have good information on the carburetors. You could also contact @Bruce Palmer from Ztherapy about the Just SUs video they sell.

Yes, the mechanical fuel pump is on the right side of the engine toward the front. I guess a PO fabricated that blue box as an AC compressor bracket. Rotten fuel line will let air into the system. It's good just to replace as much as you can. Verify that the electric fuel pump is running/pumping, otherwise it's just drag.The voltage regulator would normally be right where the AC compressor is. Did someone swap to an internally regulated alternator?

I was looking up the procedure for replacing the rear wheel bearings this morning. I looked at the PDF of the 74 manual, and then I looked at the 73 manual PDF. It was like night and day. As @CanTechZ said, the 73 manual PDF is a much higher resolution.

Just a couple of notes from experience: 1. Buy a non-contact infrared thermometer. Take the temperature at the thermostat housing when you think the gauge is reading high. The stock thermostat should open at 160 degrees. 2. Make sure you don't have any loose bolts on your exhaust manifold. I had a couple work loose under the rear carburetor. One of the symptoms was crappy running when the car had been sitting in traffic because the exhaust leak was right under the rear carburetor and would heat up the intake on cylinders 5 & 6.

See if you can watch the video attached @Palmettobug Upload Photo.mp4

Play hooky and go to the track day. To me Road Atlanta is more fun. Going to watch track day is free. You could try calling Z1 at 770-838-7777 and ask the price of just attending the car show without a car.

Mechanical pump mounted above the first carburetor? Could you post a photo of that? Normally the mechanical fuel pump is mounted on the right side of the engine toward the front so it is actuated by the cam. There could be an electric fuel pump mounted by the tank. As part of the effort to relieve the vapor lock issues with the 73, Nissan had a factory authorized modification to add an electric fuel pump. If that pump failed, a PO could have replaced it with another electric fuel pump. If it is there, it will be on the front of the fuel tank on the right side.

Is anybody planning on coming to Atlanta for ZNationals? Track day will be Oct 14 at Road Atlanta. The car show will be Oct 15 at Coolray Field in Gwinnett. Registration is at http://www.znationals.com Photos from 2014: https://stevescartography.wordpress.com/znationals-2014-track-day-49-pictures/ https://stevescartography.wordpress.com/znationals-show-2014-199-pictures/

My philosophy is along similar lines. I remove the rotor from the distributor. With the coil wire, someone could possibly use one of the spark plug wires and drive off on 5 cylinders. If they have a spare rotor with them, they are determined to drive off in my car. Of course, anymore a manual transmission is somewhat a theft deterrent.

Ebay can help find 4x114.3 bolt pattern wheels with zero offset. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&Bolt%20Pattern=4x114%2E3&_nkw=wheels&_dcat=43953&Offset=0&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

What's all this FUSS I keep hearing... about endangered feces? Now, that's outrageous!! Why -- why are FECES endangered?! How can you POSSIBLY run out of such a thing?! Why -- why, just look around you, you can see it ALL OVER the place!! Besides, who wants to SAVE THAT, anyway?! My goodness, where would we KEEP it?! It's DANGEROUS, especially in the Summer!! Then -- then, it could REALLY hit the fan!!

Taillights, bumpers, center console, center stack, hatch struts, ballast resistor, fuse box, etc., are different. The carburetors for 73 & 74 were not SUs, either.

Thank you. That helps. Yes, the parking light circuit was/is overloaded. The connector overheated. It may not be making good contact at that pin anymore. Mine was worse. Check your side marker sockets and right side turn signal light sockets. One or more could have corrosion between the housing and the center pin where the positive is. That gives another path for current to flow. Take some photos of the side markers (with the bulb pulled) and the right side turn signals. You may have corrosion in the right front turn signal. That would account for the turn signal indicator lighting up in your previous experiment, that is if you didn't already discover an 1156 bulb in that socket.

Okay, let's fix some terminology here. (As Zed described above) A short circuit is when a circuit is completed without a load (or with minuscule load). There is enough current flowing through the circuit to damage the wiring catastrophically or activate the circuit protection (fuse or circuit breaker). You said your fuses were fine. You talk about having 5.7 Ohms resistance. Neither indicates a short. As a matter of fact, at 5.7 Ohms, that would only be 2.1 Amps of current. That isn't a short circuit for that circuit. You might be seeing the resistance of the dash light bulbs. You don't say what color wire you are checking or where. If the lights don't come on, and your fuse is good, then you have an OPEN circuit. An open circuit could be caused by a bad switch, an inadequate mechanical connection at a wiring connector, a compromised path to ground, etc. Even if a fuse is blowing or a wire is showing signs of overheating, it doesn't necessarily mean you have a short circuit. You could have a cross connection (too many parallel paths for current flow). Those can be a pain to diagnose. At this point, you have a choice to make. Zed and I both have plenty of experience doing electrical diagnostics. @beermanpete is excellent, too. We could guide you through diagnosing the wiring, or you can continue to proceed in a haphazard manner. In order to do the former, you will need to help us. When we make a request, it is not done to waste your time. It is to help us to know what is the condition of the wiring. I asked you early on to post photos of a specific connector. It is because I have have see issues in that area on more than one car. If nothing else, it would help eliminate that as a cause for the issue on your car.

What isn't "quite right"? Where did you purchase the alternator from, and what is the part number. I was researching the GM alternators in order to help a friend do a conversion. We installed the GM alternator, but he hasn't finished the car, yet.

By the way, you can get a replacement connector from http://www.vintageconnections.com. I've purchased plenty of connectors from that site.

Check your bulbs. You may have an 1156 bulb in the front or back right turn signal. The proper bulb is an 1157. An 1156 will cross paths between the parking lights and turn signals. Otherwise, the other circuits that you mention have the combo switch and 9 pin connector in common.

On your FB post, you don't give the year of your car. However, armed with the fact that I now know you have a 74, I think I may be able to help you. You said you looked at the combo switch. Did you examine the 9-pin connector closely? On my 260Z, it was full of melty goodness so that it wouldn't make contact even when it was plugged together. Replacing the shell did the trick for me. That restored my parking lights. The wipers are on the same connector. Take some clear photos of that 9-pin connector, both the switch side and the dash harness side. Be sure to get all four sides and where the connectors plug together. Post the photos here so we can see if that is your problem.

I say that you found your color right there. I think it would look right.

It's similar to the green that was available, but the 73 green probably wasn't nearly that bright. @Pat Carr, you should get yours repainted in that shade.

I looked at the Internet Wayback Machine version of Blue's tips. It did a pretty good job of cataloging things in the electrical section down to the wiring diagrams. I was able to pull up PDF files with no problems.

There's usually a solution. For this problem, here is one: https://web.archive.org/web/20160324012712/http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/

You want to check the fuse at the red box. If you don't take care of the problem, the fuse box cover could end up looking like the one in the second photo.

It starts with corrosion in the sockets. It ends with a meltdown of the fusebox. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt. I have seen the fuse fail with such a tiny break that I to magnify the image of the fuse to find it. When I replaced the fuse, the new one stayed intact long enough to heat up the fuse box to the point of melting down. First always put the year of your car in your posts. The electrical systems did change over the years. I can give better diagnostics with that info.