SteveJ

Actually, this thread has been focusing on getting the wipers to work with a "Painless" wiring kit. It really doesn't apply much to the Honda motor conversion.

Jon, I still think a used harness will be the most cost effective solution, even if you get Dave's help. He can also work with you to figure out the best course of action.

Are you planning on using the stock amplifier for the windshield wipers? If not, you can't. If you know how to read wiring diagrams, it's all laid out in the FSM how to make it work. If you haven't already, download the manual from XenonS30 (URL below). In the 1977 FSM, it starts on page BE-60, and that is page 556 of the PDF file. I think there is also a color version of the 1977 wiring diagram at Blue's site, and there may be a color wiring diagram floating around on this site somewhere. I'm not saying it's easy to read the windshield wiper circuits, though. The thing is that the "Painless" kit is probably designed to work for American cars from the 60s. Since intermittent wipers were not in production cars at that time, the painless kit isn't really designed to work with something so "exotic". You might be able to brute force the Honda wiper motor because it doesn't have an intermittent function. If you're not good with reading wiring diagrams, you could contact Dave Irwin, aka Zs-ondabrain, about doing the wiring, trailer your car to Marysville (if he agrees) and be prepared to spend a few hundred for him to make it work like the factory. Of course, there is a good chance he has more practice at automotive wiring than you, so he could probably make it look very nice and hold up for a long time. Probably the best solution is to consider the money spent on the painless harness as money flushed down the toilet and contact Oliver at Z Specialties about getting a used wiring harness. I think Z Car Source might have them, too.

The hot values you listed are correct.

Originally from Carl Beck: What To Watch For When Buying A First Generation Z Car.

Details. Where did you buy it from? How much? Etc., etc.

Thank you for taking my questions the way they were intended. It can be a challenge to help people out online. I asked #1 because the ZX ignition module (and coil) shouldn't be grounded at the distributor, but the distributor mount is grounded to the chassis. For #2 & #3, I should have clarified that I was also referring to the ignition module, but if you got it to fire with the distributor, there's a good chance it's working, too. You can pick up spare modules from Rockauto if you want a safety margin. For #4, good, I just want to make sure that if I refer you to a section of the FSM, you can find it. For #5, I pulled up the 75 wiring diagram from Phil's site. Grab it. You can zoom in on it, and it's one continuous page, so it's a lot better than trying to use the one with the FSM download. I read through the full write-up for the ZX distributor swap. It's a little confusing, and the person who did the write-up uses techniques that I would discourage. Anyway, as I described before, the black/blue wire from the ignition switch and the black/white wire from the ignition switch should both go to the positive terminal of the coil. From there, you should run a wire to the B terminal of the ignition module. The blue wire should go to the negative terminal on the coil and on to the C terminal of the ignition module. You have the TIU unplugged and taped up, so that is good. You may want to try swapping ignition modules between your two distributors in case the one currently installed is damaged. If you think you see ANY wires I haven't accounted for, please list them. This can be a fairly easy swap. Some detail was missed. We just have to figure out which one.

Too many questions and not enough answers... 1. Did you not understand that the negative from the coil splits and one branch goes to through a resistor and the tach before going to ground and the other branch goes to the ECU? (Actually there is a thrid leg that goes to the TIU, but that should be unplugged.) 2. Where did you get the ZX distributor? 3. Do you know if you have a good distributor? 4. Have you downloaded a copy of the FSM? 5. Can you read a wiring diagram? (Not intending any offense, just gauging the audience.) 6. Did you install a high impedence coil to deal with the fact that you bypassed the resistor? 7. Can any wire from the connector to the TIU come into contact with ground? If so, break out the electrical tape.

You left off the blue wire or the black/blue wire? The blue wire is critical for the negative side of the circuit. The black/blue wire is critical on the positive side of the circuit during starting.

Good idea. I used a rebuilt distributor when I did the conversion in the 73, so I never would have thought of that.

As long as the black/blue wire isn't running to the condenser, it's the correct wire. By the way, it's nice to have a set of leads for your meter, such as clip leads, so you can clip them to the wire and position the meter so you can see it while you're in the car. Of course, if you see the condenser in the engine bay, you could always just do a continuity check between it and the black/blue wire near the ballast resistor, provided there is a wire on the ballast resistor.

Well, after I couldn't get the line to the rear brakes to seal properly with last week's effort, I replaced the master cylinder again and did the bleeding today. I found a leak on the line to the front brakes, but a quick couple of turns of the wrench fixed that problem.

So with the "Like", does that mean you got the car running?

Actually, I think he was getting voltage from the TIU when he was cranking before, or he was getting some detonation of the starting fluid. If you look at the attached pictures, you can see the black/blue wire that is only energized in the Start position. It goes to the midway point of the ballast resistor. He didn't connect that wire. It's the wire that provides the voltage to the coil during starting.

I see your problem now. The black/white wire only has 12VDC when the car is running. One black/blue wire provides 12VDC when cranking. The other goes to the condenser. The black/blue with 12VDC would have to go to the coil as well.

That white 300ZX looks like the same one as in my pictures. Could it be? I should add that the video loop at the 98 show included the modified version of "Dogs Love Trucks" commercial and a lot of the Z car episode of Automobiles that was on The History Channel.

If you connected the ZX distributor properly, you wouldn't need the TIU. It sounds like somehow you removed the voltage from the starter to the ballast resistor.

The Z Club of Texas has been doing the display at the Dallas Autorama since at least 1997.

Did you disconnect the Transistor Ignition Unit?

It looks pretty normal to me. Why do you think you're missing something?

That's why you carry a fire extinguisher...Don't ask. Since you come across as having some electrical aptitude, you could try contacting Oliver at Z Specialities. He might have a wiring harness that you can buy.

Absolutely. The red pipes are for a bottle jack. Maybe someone was using them to be a cheater bar for the lug wrench.

Did you bleed at the Master Cylinder? I put in a new MC since I couldn't get the other to seal. This one seems to be holding fluid. My lovely brake bleeding assistant said the brakes felt strong after we bled them. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

It would help to have a picture. Your description is vague.

Well, I dug around on my old backup disks, and I found the HTML code from when I first posted these pictures 15 years ago. I'm going to add some of the text to my blog post. The program 240Z is a 72 according to the original page, Carl. They even added AC to it. Jim, as a matter of fact, Bill moved up to Missouri not too long after the Autorama. We had dinner together that night. By the way, don't go out to eat in Dallas on Valentine's Day if you don't have to.