SteveJ

Now that I remember, I believe I bought some last year from a Nissan dealer.

I didn't see them on his website, yet. Go look at it. There are plenty of drool-worthy items there.

I found this picture on a 260Z for sale in France

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say those are the flat tops that the markets outside of the US received. By the way, the US flat tops don't seem to be that problematic to me, and the ones outside the US were even better.

Hot to the touch? Maybe 4 runs of 6 would reduce the current through each line. Thanks for the detailed write-up.

Jamie, talk to Eddie and see who he might use. Also, you might see if someone at Garage Zero knows a glass shop that will work on older cars.

Gee, so someone hacked into the wiring?

The coil has no moving parts. It's a simple step-up transformer. If you look on page EE-40 of the FSM, it gives you the resistance ranges for the primary and secondary coils. If the resistance is out of tolerance, it could mean a short in the coil (low resistance) or a broken wire (high resistance). Note: The resistance ranges are for a stock type coil. If you or a previous owner changed to a 3 Ohm coil and removed the ballast resistor, the resistance range will be different at least for the primary side of the coil. You would have to find the range from the manufacturer of the coil in that case.

As long as you can still remove the panel with the vents & map light, you should be able to remove the gauges that way...unless you have AC.

Okay, you might try Google. I did a quick search and found lots of vendors for different brands. Since the 280Z fuel injection was based on a Bosch design, I would think someone probably sells a compatible one.

Aren't they shown here?

It sounds like you're doing good diagnostics so far. I suggest testing the fuel gauge out of the car. Hook up the Green, Yellow, and Black wires from the gauge to 2 lantern batteries and a 100 Ohm potentiometer as shown in the drawing. Vary the resistance on the potentiometer, and you should see the needle move.

If it is a stock ignition module, it is in the passenger footwell by the fusebox. If the car has been converted to a ZX ignition, the module is attached to the distributor. A bad ignition module could make the car difficult to start if it is not triggering the spark properly. However, sometimes the coil or module can start the car and get overheated and not function until cooled down. There are many threads on that issue.

That is the condenser. It's a capacitor that's used to reduce electronic noise. It should be fine with how it's wired. You don't need the other one. Go through and check the things I said earlier. If you know how to use a voltmeter, check the voltage with the car on. Take the engine up to about 2500 RPM. The voltage should be around 14.5 or so. If it's more, shut down the engine immediately and check your wiring. When you have two systems that are fused separately at the fuse box malfunction at about the same time, it's probably a bad fusible link or an overvoltage condition.

Did a previous owner hack into the wiring?

FIRST! Did you jumper out the voltage regulator? If not, STOP! Go to Blue's website and find the write up on the 280Z to 280ZX alternator conversion. You may have had an over voltage condition. After you make sure you have properly jumpered out the voltage regulator, download a copy of the wiring diagram. You can find one at Blue's website. The link is below. Also download the 77 FSM from XenonS30. (One side note: I used 7Zip to open the zip file for the FSM. The Windows 7 Unzipping utility does not recognize the format.) Page BE-33 in the body electrical section has the schematic of the voltmeter broken down. Check the fuse & fusible links. (Also check your hazard lights. They are on the same circuit.) The schematic for the wipers is on BE-68. Again, check the fuse first.

For these lugs, I prefer the crimpers like in the picture I attached. First, use long-nosed pliers to bend the tabs on the lugs in enough that they fit in the part of the crimpers where I drew the arrow. Then slowly squeeze the crimpers so the tabs curl into the wire. You can find crimpers like that at Fry's. They can also be found through vendors at Amazon.

The carburetors in the picture are round top carburetors. As for pictures of flat top carburetors, you could always download the FSM for the 73 and look at the drawings & pictures in there. Don't believe EVERYTHING you read on the internet, especially when it comes to flat top carburetors. I had no problems with vapor lock with the flat tops when I went Savannah for the national convention. If the car in question is the one from the picture, the headers are wrapped, but it might not be a bad idea to source a heat shield to install between the carburetors and the headers. You can do one of two things: 1. Take along someone who knows about working on old cars. 2. Take off the distributor cap & rotor and look for the points.

Follow the guide on page 43 of the EE section of the FSM to start.

Well, you could try to see if the sender is still available from Nissan. I can't remember whether or not it is. I haven't purchased one in a long time. Also, the FSM says to use a conductive sealer. The first option that comes to my mind is antiseize, but give others a chance to correct me before you try using that.

What brand(s) are you buying?

I'm glad it worked for you. I've placed a few orders with them, myself.

See, I knew I've been working too much. Bad Dog is for frame rails. Zedd Findings is for floor pans.

Didn't you answer your own question? When the thermostat didn't close, the coolant system lacks the restriction to flow that it needs to get the engine to the proper operating temperature. If you look at common trouble shooting guides for cooling systems, you should find a description that pretty much matches what you experienced. Here is an example.

Bad dog! Bad dog! Okay, so he doesn't have his products online right now... It's time to go with Mr. Peabody & his boy, Sherman, into the Internet Wayback Machine. There, now you can find what you need by clicking on the Products link. By the way, that last link may be slow to load... (Yes, my post is more obtuse than usual. I've been working way too much.) Bad dog is the name you'll hear most for frame rails & floor pans.