SteveJ

I'm trying to get things organized for the Georgia Z Club, and I got this message just a few minutes ago: So, who has ordered or is ordering tickets soon and would like to join the Georgia Z Club? Steve

I didn't sign up for the BRE Reunion, but HSR said they wouldn't be mailing out Mitty tickets until March. Steve

As usual, I'm counting my blessings for having moved out of Northern Virginia. I drove the 260Z to a shop yesterday to get the u-joints replaced. It rained and drizzled some, but it wasn't too bad. I'm not missing the snow AT ALL.

Well, Scott had the battery charged when I returned today. That helped a lot because I could do my debugging on a operating system. Scott also bought the MSA fusebox. It looks great but he said the old cover was too small to fit over it. Has that been the experience of others? He installed the fusebox, and I went back to re-establish my earlier findings. With the new fusebox, I only found the dome light circuit drawing power. That made sense since the doors were open and the glovebox was open. I suspected that maybe I was confused about which circuit I was looking at the previous week. (That's why I hate testing systems that I can't power up.) I confirmed current draws with a clamp on ammeter. The ammeter confirmed that there were no unusual current draws in the system. For those of you who don't work with electricity much, a clamp on ammeter allows you to measure current without breaking the circuit to add the meter. The one I was using had 40 amp and 400 amp ranges. While it is not as precise as a meter installed in the circuit, it is not sensitive to polarity, as it will just display a negative number. The brand meter that tends to be the least expensive is Extech. You can search for their meters on Amazon. Next we tackled the lack of turn signals. I found one wire pushing out of the harness, but otherwise, there were no signs of shorting or damage. Scott had replaced the turn signal switch with a reconditioned one. (The old one had been repaired once already.) We had the car on and tried the circuits with no flashing. I checked for voltage, and the circuit seemed to have 12 volts everywhere. We spent about an hour or so looking for why the blinkers would flash. (The hazard lights worked fine, separate circuit, etc.) Finally, I suggested that we just replace the flasher unit. We went to the parts store and bought a replacement. We plugged in the replacement, and all was well. What I failed to do earlier was to look at whether or not the turn signals came on steady. (The flasher unit showed 12 volts to ground on both terminals.) Apparently, the flasher unit fused shut, so it couldn't blink. So now it appears as though Scott has a healthy electrical system in his car. Thanks for the previous suggestions. I think it was more a matter of me not trying to out-think myself. By the way, Scott got a tremendous deal on a great car, and I'm looking forward to seeing the car on the road. Steve

Do you have any play in the distributor shaft that could keep the rotor from touch the contacts on the distributor cap? Have you thought of converting to a pertronix or electronic ignition to replace the points?

That's exactly why I was curious about the "dents" and why I asked about milling the head. I was thinking the pistons could have been fine before, but a milled head could cause interference (and timing issues later on). Steve

Did you happen to take any pictures of the pistons? How much was the head milled? Did you compensate with the head gasket thickness?

The contacts in the switch are probably dirty/worn. My recommendations: 1. Consider installing a relay for the headlight circuit. The wiring passes all of the current for the headlights through the two switches on the steering column. This is hard on the switches. The relays greatly reduce the current passing through the switches and will result in a higher voltage getting to your headlights. Higher voltage means brighter lights! 2. Get your switch cleaned. By mere coincidence Zs-ondabrain, a user on this site, has an excellent reputation for handling BOTH of my recommendations. (Dave, when do I start getting a commission?) What's even better is that he lives in your state! But wait! There's more...Okay, there isn't more. Steve

You actually wrote it yourself. You didn't check the switch for your high/low beams. A bad contact there will keep your headlights from functioning.

I'm going to order my tickets soon, but I don't think I'll try the BRE dinner. I need to save the money for parts. The Georgia Z Club usually sets up around the Suzuki Bridge. I'll probably have the 260Z there. The 240Z is my lab to work out all of the things I can screw up before I learn how to do it right. I hope to meet up with you guys when you come out. Steve

I think they've been doing that in SoCal for a while now. Tony D brought it up a couple of years ago over at Zcar.com. Yes, your Z could be tested despite being "exempt". http://www.zcar.com/forums/read/4/1912007/1912635#msg-1912635

Just bumping the message. It's less than 3 months away.

You may want to get a used wiring harness from someone like Z barn. Even if you have to rebuild it, it won't be as badly hacked as what you have. Just tell him that you need a body wiring harness (and maybe instrument wiring harness) for your month/year Z. (Look at the build plate inside the driver's door.) Steve

I've had plenty of experience dealing with electrical gremlins in a 73. Just make sure you have a good multimeter and know how to use it. Also, get a copy of the factory service manual. You'll need the wiring diagrams.

I looked at the selection on RockAuto. The listing for a 92 Civic wiper motor should be the correct type for the modification that Dave described. It is $89.89 including the core charge.

Ron, I opened the floor for brainstorming. It doesn't matter if you tell me something I already thought of. I'd rather have that happen than for an idea to be left out. Anyway, I inspected some of the wiring around the combo switch when I was looking at the car, and I did see some signs of overheating. I did not observe any insulation that had burned through or any solder joints that looked overheated. Steve

Dave, I was hoping you'd chime in. I already suggested to Scott that he contact you about the headlight relay upgrade. The parking light relay upgrade might not be a bad idea, either. (Scott is probably going to think I'm on your payroll;)) The fuse box that was in the car showed plenty of signs of corrosion. That's why I suggested the fuse box upgrade. We tested with all of the tail lights, turn signal lights, and side markers out, and the circuit was still shorted out. I'm not sure just testing with just one bulb out at a time will make any difference. I didn't test from the harness connection under the dash (Green wire with Blue stripe) to ground. That would have confirmed whether or not the short was between the fuse box and the combo switch. Another thing I didn't check was to see if the inspection lamp was on. I tested that theory with my own car. I did see a significant drop in resistance, but it wouldn't account for readings as low as what I saw on Scott's car. Anyway, it will be another week or two before I can help Scott again, so maybe I can develop a test plan to ferret out the offending circuit by then. Steve

I went to see if I could help Scott with his car. The car looks to be in pretty good shape. It spent a significant portion of its life in California, possibly in Northern California. The car does not look like it had been abused. The alternator had been swapped to an internally regulated alternator, and the car had the plug with the proper jumpers in the socket for the voltage regulator. He had disconnected the battery before I arrived, but it had been connected for a while. The battery voltage was 1.4 volts and dropped to zero when I connected the battery cables. I took the battery cables back off and checked the resistance from the positive cable to the negative cable. It was less than 1 ohm. We disconnected the alternator but discovered that the ring lug for the ground had broken when he replaced the alternator previously. (We put a new ring lung on later.) The resistance was still below 1 ohm. We unplugged the jumpers for the voltage regulator circuit with no change in resistance. I unplugged all of the fuses in the fuse box. The fuse box showed signs of corrosion. The lid showed melting that was not reflected by the fuse box, indicating that the fuse box had been changed out previously. With all of the fuses removed, the battery terminals finally showed an open circuit. We started replacing the fuses one-by-one. When we plugged in the fuse for the parking light/brake light circuit, resistance dropped dramatically. I disconnected the ground from the combo switch. No change. I put the ground back and pulled the connector going into the wiring harness. No change. I reconnected the wires to the combo switch. I inspected the brake switch for proper operation, and it worked. We pulled all of the side marker lights, tail lights and front turn signal lights. I found some corrosion in the lights, but I don't recall seeing any corrosion completing the circuit. Things I did not check: 1. I did not look for the installation of an aftermarket alarm. 2. I did not look to see how the stereo was wired in. 3. I did not inspect the back of the fuse box. Does anybody see anything that I missed (besides the back of the fuse box)? I believe Scott may be intending to order a modernized fuse box from MSA. Anyway, I'm open to suggestions. Steve

That is why I keep a fire extinguisher in my cars. I've had to use it before (from my own mistake), and it kept me from losing my Z.

Is there a reason for dredging up a thread that is over 3 years old? I'm just curious.

Jeff, get real. EVERYBODY knows that the US is the center of the known universe, and things don't actually happen until we see them in this country. That's why we KNOW people are lying about 76 260Zs, etc.

You MUST have bought those in Canadaland.

See, that's why we need Canadians participating in these forums to remind us Americans that the metric system exists.

Actually, that's a WHOLE LOT worse. Where are you getting this info from?

The valve clearances are in the FSM, and the numbers you posted aren't right. Kammy's Valve Adjustment Procedure is one of the more popular ways of checking your valves. (The FSM will also have all sorts of other specs such as spark plug gaps. Download a copy yesterday.) Also, have you checked your thermostat to make sure it is closed when the car is cold? A thermostat stuck open will cause poor running when the engine is cold.