Bambikiller240

I've seen 280Z's with that color of Yellow, but I don't recall seeing 240Z's in that color from the factory. Does anyone know for sure if that is a 240Z color? mperdue? bueller? bueller? Anyone?

It sounds like you had the unit installed correctly. Were you able to measure battery voltage at the end of the ballast resistor that you connected the RED wire to? Have you tried to start the car with the unit installed? I never tried the static test that you have been doing, but I've been told that he pertronix should fire without regard to RPM so it would make sense for the fluctuation you mention to occur when rotating the magnets by hand. I'm just not sure about the diagram showing the black wire connected ONLY to the volt/ohm meter (in other words it NOT being connected to the NEG of the battery. I dunno. I'm no electrical whiz, I just followed the directions and it works great for me. Have you tried to start the car? or are you just relying on the test to confirm if it works or not?

I would think that Nissan did what they could, given the time frame they had to work with. It certainly was not in their best interest to make a car that did not perform to the level of previous iterations of the Z car. I do think that the anti pollution laws did put pressure on Nissan to complete development of the EFI, so in that regard the laws did spur some performance gains (arriving in 75), but 300 bhp was not seen on a stock Z for quite a while after the 73 era smog laws began to choke engine performance. Nixon himself had little to do with any of this, he was consumed with deceiving the Justice department in order to keep his job as long as possible. IF the government ever starts encouraging higher horsepower or performance, I'll SHOUT their praises from the nearest mountain top.

You are th one who equated anti smog laws with 300 bhp, not I. I equated the smog laws with the advent of the boat anchor carbs. Those laws and the boat anchor carbs took away performance of the Z cars.

When saying "fried", do you mean that actual smoke came from the unit, or it caught fire, or ? Not sure what you mean about "I have tested both units with the battery and ohm meter scheme of rotating the magnet in the unit but the both stayed closed..." Can you elaborate? I haven't done any "testing" other that doing the install and starting the car and driving the hell out of it. You have disconnected the original black wire from the coil? and also at the distributor? Removed the points and the condenser? Connected Pertronix RED to the 12V side of the ballast resistor? Connected Pertronix solid BLK to the coil where you removed the stock solid BLK wire (NEG terminal)? That is really all there is to it in terms of wiring. Without doing any testing, have you actually tried to start the car?

Like one has anything to do with the other. :stupid:

Correct 100%. You all were the lucky ones. Our government enacted anti-pollution laws that necessitated the changes we've been talking about and it sucked!

Keith was kind and called them a "Black sheep". Someone else called them a "Bastard Child" (and still stands by that description) PS I owned a 73 with Flat-top carbs and it drove OK for three years until the grand rebuild when it got Round Tops and ran much better in performance driving.

What year car are you installing in? Has the wiring been butchered before you got the car? Are you following the steps EXACTLY (Color codes of wires)? There really isn't much to the install (2 wires) so it's hard to imagine it being done wrong.

....and they will not even accept these "wonderful (:stupid: ) carbs" as scrap metal. There has been a guy on eBay trying to sell one of the "Tuna cans" or "Flattops" or Hitachi's or whatever pet name you may choose for over a year. He seldom gets any bids and never comes near his reserve price. When the 73/74 Zcars were new(er) and Nissan actually serviced these cars, 95% of Nissan techs hated them for their complexity and many owners of previous year Z's hated them for the poorer performance and drivabilty problems experienced with them. Dealers would retro-fit Roundtop carbs, swap in Webbers and in some cases even 4 barrel carbs to get away from them. If anyone has data proving that they are good carburetors, other than hearsay; I'd love to read it.

Greg: I'm real sorry to here that about your mother. Not much else I can say about it, but it sounds like you have your priorities straight. I'll say a little prayer for your Mom. Carl

Hi Burt! I was wondering what had happened to you. How is your car? Last I recall was that you were dealing with damaged paint from an acid spill. Happy Holidays to you and your family! Carl

In the USA, when Nissan had problems with the Flat Top SU's and heat soak causing problems, they insulated the fuel rail with a set of small blankets that were aluminized on one side and some sort of insulation like asbestos fibres on the inside. They surrounded the entire fuel rail with these. I would consider some sort of passive system like that before engineering a more complex system like a timer or temperature activated fan. Just my (Cheap Assed) $.02 Carl

Those are the Choke Cables.

I have been gathering information for a Technical Article regarding the repair of Window defrosters (the grid itself and the rest of the circuitry). My attention has been drawn away by personal matters, but I'll get back to it in the near future.

If the clock now runs on a battery, you should be able to disassemble it and replace the innerds (a technical term ) as there isn't much to a quartz clock movement that runs on batteries. If the clock was converted using the innerds from a 280Z clock inside the 240Z housing, your options would be to convert it to a battery quartz movement, or have someone try to fix it. There was a guy fixing 280Z clocks that advertized on the internet, but I can't find his web address. Sorry.

Please NO CAPS!!!!

I use a 3lb sledge hammer to strike the pipe wrench. The shock usually is enough to break loose the nut from the threaded tube.

I don't have any experience with Jet Hot, but many people swaer by the coatings they sell. "wrapping" should be unnecessary with a ceramic coating. On headers, the wrappings trap moisture and promote rust. That may not be an issue if you are refering to an intake manifold, but would be one if you are refering to an exhaust manifold.

That condenser is a capacitor used for supression of noise that can bleed over into your radio/stereo. Most cars have/had them there and they do not hurt anything. I would suggest using an ohm-meter to check the condition of the main coil wire and spark plug wires and checking visually to see if the rotor and distributor cap are in good condition. Even i they look OK, if they have been there for a long time, I would replace them anyway as they are not expensive. I'm assuming that you have new (or reasonably new) properly gapped spark plugs already installed. If the engine/carbs smell of gas with the choke on it could be that even with the adjustments done to the best they can be done , the carbs are not reacting properly to those adjustments. Are these real SU's or BOAT ANCHORS?

Yes, I saw them there yesterday, right next to the pointy things. :stupid:

The only real hope for this project to fly is for someone with knowledge and a passion for the job to do it. (ZHadMan) I doubt there is enough demand for any business to get involved, especially considering the many differences between the wiring for various years of Z. Look at how long it took MSA to come up with the fuse box and the EXTREME cost of it. Look at this thread, some people want exact OEM, others want this improvement, or THAT improvement. This year, or THAT year, etc. It isn't like one harness is going to satisfy all people, or even "many" people. IMHO this is a situation that is best handled by someone with the skills and passion for the job. Once it has been created, the person MAY have a chance to present the finished product(s) to a company that may consider purchasing the rights to manufacture for resale, but the volumn of sales that can be expected for any given year of Zcar is (I believe) so low that prices will be prohibitive if a "for profit" company gets involved. My $.02 Carl PS: I applaud ZHadMan for his willingness to tackle such a job!

First of all, I'm sorry that your deal didn't turn out well. Second of all, it goes to show all that having a "decent house, obviously knows a bit about racing and Z's, several post-graduate degrees" doesn't guarentee that said person has any morals......, to sell a car to one person that was promised to another, an leave the buyer without title or logbook borders on criminal . Sounds to me like he is your standard issue dirtbag no matter where he lives or what level of education he claims to have reached. Caveat Emptor!

"THE RUN" does sell for $10 (at least that is what the email from Nissan offered it to me for). It is the DVD of "C'ETAIT UN RENDEZVOUS" that sells for $44.95

Ignore the PM then!