SteveJ

I've been asking that for years.

I don't think the people at Capital Z of Texas want to be punished like that. The ZCCA likes to spread the torture around. It's no small feat to host the national convention. Besides, by moving it around, people from all over the country have a better opportunity of making one.

What is the rated output of the alternator? Is there a part number on the housing?

Are you sure you got an externally regulated alternator when you replaced it last year?

I thought she has a 76.

The white/black, white/red, green wires that go to the connector are the wires that go to the turn signal switch. The green wire connects to the white wire coming off of the flasher. That's your 12VDC+. The white/black wire connects to the green/red wire for the left turn signal, and the white/red wire connects to the green/black wire for the right turn signal.

Just like Shimmer! It's a floor polish AND a dessert topping!

Possibly.

I used two different types of sockets. The primary issue I had was finding generic BA9 LED bulbs with the correct polarity. I reversed the polarity on the parking light sockets on the tachometer, but then I had issues trying the same thing with the speedometer (for reasons that are too involved for me to type right now.). Plan B was to use wedge sockets. I used those sockets to replace the stock BA9 sockets. I could merely reverse the polarity of the bulb by pulling it out and swapping it around if need be. Replacing sockets or rewiring sockets isn't difficult on a 260Z or 280Z. That really isn't an option for the 240Z since those sockets are grounded to the gauge housings. I did not use resistors. No need. They would be dimmable IF I ever bothered to replace the stock rheostat with the PWM that @Captain Obvious supplied me. On the other hand, I don't find a need to dim the gauge lights.

The load is substantially reduced. I've done the measurements. With the ignition off, I saw about 1 Amp draw on the running lights and gauge lights. I think the total draw was 3 or 4 Amps with the headlights on, too.

Correct on both accounts. John will also be out at the Mitty, too. At least that's the current plan. And for ZCON, the team owner may just show up, too.

I did...and stop calling me Shirley!

It is not...a reproduction.

I drove the Z car to work so I could go straight over to the GZC meeting...well, I didn't go straight over to the meeting from work. I took a slight detour to see this car.

Here's a nice video that includes seeing the car go through the corkscrew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0HGnFtqimc

Go to the downloads section on this site and get the factory service manual for the 76. There's a link in my signature (provided you're a luddite like me using a computer instead of a smart phone). Once you have a copy of the FSM, go to page BE-11. It gives a breakout of the headlight circuit. Instead of measuring random wires, target the circuit. For instance, do you have 12 VDC to ground at each of the headlight fuses when the switch is on? Also, there is not a relay in the factory wiring for the headlights. Where is it located? What factory wires are connected to it? Is there only 1 relay? Normally there would be 2 for the headlights.

A while back, I happened to search the web for specs on bulbs, in part trying to answer someone's questions on an electrical issue. I have to confess that I have been lazy in calling out 1156 bulbs for side markers, license plate lights and rear markers. In the 74 FSM, Nissan called out the bulb specifications rather clearly. Type 67 bulbs should be used for rear/side markers, and type 89 bulbs should be used for license plate lights. I pulled up the 1156 specs today because I saw a comment on another thread talking about a fuse box heating up, so I made a spreadsheet to estimate the current draw. If all of the type 67 & 89 bulbs were replaced by 1156 bulbs, the current draw in the running light circuit would go up by approximately 12 Amps. That's more than double the draw of the factory specified bulbs. Check your bulbs to make sure you and previous owners used the appropriate replacement bulbs. If you want brighter bulbs, consider going with LED bulbs. The fuse box you save may just be your own. Running Light Calculation.xlsx

Please allow me to clarify. The power for the pump is coming off the ignition switch. The power for the coil on Relay #1 is coming off the regulator. It's just enough voltage to energize the coil and close the contacts for the fuel pump power. If the relays are bad, you can adapt standard automotive relays to work. For Relay #1, you would use the 30 and 87 pins. For Relay #2, you would use the 30 and 87a pins. This may help you understand how to adapt a newer relay to replace the factory relay: https://fiddlingwithzcars.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/relays-simplified/

I don't know where he found a fuse for the fuel pump. The stock wiring goes like this: The pump is powered off of the black/white wire coming off of the ignition switch. It goes to Fuel Pump Relay #1 (aka Electric Pump Cut Relay #1). That relay's coil is energized by the yellow wire that goes between the alternator and the voltage regulator. (From the alternator, one branch goes to the VR while the other goes to the relay). When the coil is energized, the fuel pump power goes to the green/white wire over to Fuel Pump Relay #2 (aka Electric Pump Cut Relay #2). That relay is off unless the engine is starting. The green/white wire goes through a normally closed contact to another black/white wire to the fuel pump.

Surely you can't be serious.

Yes, it's very odd. That's why I want to inspect the harness closely. I could see a lot of vampire splices in other wires, too. That's usually not a good sign, but I hope we can restore everything to functional.

But if you have disconnected the circuit before the load or switch, you should not see continuity to ground on the side that is upstream of the load/switch. In this case, the W/R wires were disconnected on either end, so for all intents and purposes, we're talking about loose wires in the dash harness. However, I was still seeing 0.1 ohms to ground on either end of either wire. That is why we're going to examine the dash harness.

Thank you for mentioning that. The ones that were shorted to ground were the 10 AWG white/red at either end of C-5. It is curious that two wires that are independent from each other, as far as I can tell, are both shorted. Of course, there could be some previous owner shenanigans at play.

If you come up here, you could take her to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame (https://www.facebook.com/georgiaracinghof/). No visit to this area is complete without it. Just ask @240260280 or @Captain Obvious. That place really outshines the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coke COMBINED!

That's probably over a 7 hour drive each way, but I suppose it could be done.