EScanlon

CAUTION: If you took out a SECURED loan, i.e. the title of the Z in lien of the loan, then you MUST buy the Z or be in default of the loan. If on the other hand you took out a SIGNATURE loan, then it's on your honor to pay it back. 2¢ Enrique

The knobs he's referring to are the Fresh Air Vent Controls. Enrique

Before you loosen anything, look at the hinge mount area of the hood / fender from underneath the hood. Note which bolts you will not be able to get a socket on and which ones you can. Note that the bolts you will be loosening are the ones that actually bolt the hinge to the fender support and NOT the ones attaching the hinge to the hood. Now, open the hood and loosen the ones you cannot get to with the hood closed. Next, close the hood and loosen the final bolts that you could get to from before. You should have no problem accessing them from behind the grille. At this point the hood will shift downwards a bit, carefully press down just a few inches behind the leading edge, right above the hinge support area. As you push down, keep an eye on the front leading edge to the edge of the sugarscoops. Try to press on both sides of the hood, evenly and simultaneously so that both edges of the hood align well with the sides of the fenders. Once you've aligned it as best as possible, tighten down the bolts you loosened last, open the hood carefully and tighten the remainder. By doing it this way, you avoid a possible forward shift of the hinges that can cause you to have to adjust the hood forward / backward. 2¢ Enrique

Carl: That's the good one. Later editions of the book, one with the same cover and others with the red cover I mention and "color pictures" have been edited and some important chapters are left out. I forget which chapters specifically, but I seem to remember that the whole BODY section was gone, as well as the internal diagrams of some of the systems (Heater, Individual wiring connectors). Unfortunately, people haven't caught on to how good this book is. 2¢ Enrique

If you do a general comparison between the Haynes, the Chilton's the EARLY Clymers (the one with the blue background cover and NOT the red cover with the same picture inset) WITH the Factory Shop Manual for your early Z/s, you'll find that the Clymer's has a ton of diagrams / pictures that are exactly as in the FSM, whereas the other books do NOT. Now, that and a few other things are what made me like the book more than the other three which I also have. Where the FSM tends to be very specific to that year, the Haynes and the Chiltons are so general as to be vague for the most part. The Clymer's literally plagiarized the FSM, but they did expand on a few items. If I already owned the FSM, I wouldn't buy this. If on the other hand I had no other books, I would get this one first as it is usually MUCH cheaper than an FSM. 2¢ Enrique

For the 240Z this is the closest to the original Factory Shop Manual out there, other than the actual FSM. Lots of information only found in the FSM, not only diagrams of wiring CONNECTORS, but also where the tubing goes for the defrost, etc. In my opinion, this is a MUCH better book than the Chiltons and Haynes. Enrique Scanlon

Check this article out. I wrote it some time back, but it covers how to adjust your doors for ease of operation. Enrique Scanlon http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12484

As far as I know, this was one of the beginning "fixes" to compensate for the vapor lock problem the cars started to exhibit. By closing off the path above the radiator, more air was forced through the radiator itself. Other mods included the fan shroud and the "splash pan" which goes on the bottom of the car. 2¢ Enrique

Is this the original antenna? If so, and you are operating it up and down by the original switch, then it isn't the antenna that needs grounding. It may be the radio that needs an improved ground. As far as your touching it and getting better reception, that's not a problem with grounding, that's your body acting as a better radio wave receiver and then enhancing the antenna's current operation. In the older AM/FM radios there was an adjustment that had to be made to the RADIO to best utilize the antenna. In later model (75-78) radios there was a screw that was accessed from the faceplate of the cassette or 8 track player. The plain AM/FM radios were "tuned" by a screw accessed from the outside of the case. This procedure was similar to the SWR setting on CB radios. Find the access hole to the screw. Sometimes it was marked with an arrow, other times with a symbol that resembled a ground symbol but if memory serves, the symbol is "upside down" and the "arrow" shaped portion looks more like a triple crossed T. Turn on your radio and elevate the antenna. Find a radio station about the middle of the dial, and as distant as you would normally be to the stations you DO listen to. Then once you've tuned the DIAL to the best reception you can get, then start adjusting the antenna trim screw. You will note that as you turn the reception will get worse, then improve to the "best" then reduce again. The trim screw is actually a potentiometer that doesn't screw out and in as a regular assembly screw. This allows you to turn it either left or right. Be advised that if you tune in a very poor reception area, whether because of reflected signals (buildings, hills, or other obstructions) or because of distance, that it will be very tricky to actually improve the reception. Hope this helps. Enrique

The two relays on a 73 go on the upper part of the kick panel, just to the back of the fresh air vent handle ends on the back side. In fact, it's easiest to remove the fresh air vent controls in order to remove / install them. Enrique

The stuff I prefer is simply called "Aircraft Stripper" I forget who it is made by. There are various other strippers out there. From what I've read of the POR one, it sounds as though it would do the job real well. I've also used JASCO and it worked well. As far as whether or not to use one that contains MEK, it is a caustic solution, meaning if left on your skin too long it will cause a chemical burn. But then again you weren't planning on applying it in your bathing suit were you? In my experience, the different strippers all work at varying degrees of effectiveness. Which one to use is a matter of personal preference. The key thing to remember, regardless of which type you use, is to work small sections at a time. This way you won't have stripper drying on you while you work one area. Next, put all your scrappings into a disposable container. I use old cans of thinner and stripper with the tops cut off. Dump the soft stripped paint in there, let it stand for a couple days and the MEK and other solvents will have evaporated and the paint will once again be hard. That way you can just throw the can in the garbage. The last thing to find out and know, is how to neutralize the stripper. Whether it is water, or lacquer thinner or ..... it's important to know. You want to quickly wipe off and neutralize any stripper that falls on areas that you don't want stripped or would be ruined with contact with the stripper. Good examples of NO strip items: ANY rubber or plastic item, SEAMS!, caulking, and of course any vinyl items. Enrique

The clock hands will pull straight off the shaft. As a suggestion, turn the clock's hands to 12:00 before you remove them. I don't know that it makes a difference after you put the hands back on and don't have them aligned, but why take the chance? Enrique

Swapping clock innards is a simple task. There are a couple of screws holding the face plate and bezel to the canister, then you remove the clock handles to remove the back face plate. The next step involves removing the hold down nuts on the back of the canister, pushing the wiring grommet into the canister and feeding the wires through. Should take you no more than 15 minutes AFTER it's out of the car. Now getting it out of the car..... That's another story. Enrique

Unless someone has a pair that they'll let you have, the only way to get them is to buy a new handle from an OEM vendor such as Chloe at Midwest. Enrique

Quirky economic law in action. No demand equals no production for sale. While many of us are looking for and buyiing NOS parts, there are many vendors who have painfully obtained reproductions or very close to identical substitutes. The problem then becomes that the "fear" factor of buying non-OEM parts sets in, and people don't buy it, or expect to get it for a fraction of what it's worth. If someone were to begin manufacturing the Chrome HL Covers they would hope to gain back their investment in time, materials and hopefully make a profit. But what happens? The manufacturer is hoping to catch onto some of those $600 / set sales, but the buyers want them back at the OLD OEM price of $120 each or LESS. At that price it may take as many as 200 sales before the books are balanced. Many of those original OEM prices were based on a large markup of course, but also on the massive numbers that they were buying in order to outfit the original car. So although the price as a replacement part may be 2 times what it's worth it nevertheless is 5 times cheaper than when they are manufactured 10 at a time. Competitive pricing doesn't step in until there is more than ONE manufacturer making them. Nissan isn't going to be interested in maintaining an inventory of parts for older cars, their interest is in selling NEW cars. They'll maintain a parts inventory for those vehicles that are deemed "current" or no older than ... More popular models (based on their measure of popularity = TOTAL NUMBER SOLD) will have their inventories retained longer, but as their number dwindle due to age and rust, there is less and less reason to maintain an inventory. It is the aftermarket provider that we must turn to. Remember how popular the Model T was? Well you can still find parts, but not OEM parts. Same with many other vehicles. Yes, there are some items that are used in various models, and those will be the ones that will be produced first, as well as retained longer by the car manufacturer. But when it comes to the specialized, hard to find, very limited number parts, then you either pay the price now, or hope that others do so and you can buy it later, hopefully for not too much more. 2¢ Enrique

You can also buy those replacement rubber caps for your battery leads. They act as an insulating shroud to prevent that sudden shock from a bounce. However, the BEST safeguard is to make sure that your battery tie down is solidly mounted and that the battery will NOT move in any direction. 2¢ Enrique

You need to check your fusible links, which are a kind of fuse placed in line on the electrical circuit. Sounds as though you are getting a completed circuit to the ignition switch, just that it is causing a high amount of resistance, that indicates that the circuit is not being completed directly and therefore part of the original path is broken. I hope you took the time to NEUTRALIZE the battery acid that spilled and not just hose it off the inner fender. This is important because you now have had an ACID spill in a prime rust area of the car. 2¢ Enrique

Electrical systems are pretty basic in performance once you make the link between a flow of electrons and the flow of water. Many lessons in college take this into consideration. Like water, electricity requires a PATH or PIPE to get from point A to point B. Without that path, there will be no transfer. Let me explain a bit further and you will be able to then approach the electrical system of your car and repair it. The amount of water (electricity) that you can put through a pipe (wire) is dependent on it's diameter (wire gage) and the amount of pressure (voltage) that you apply to it. Once you have flow you then have a rate of transfer, whether in gallons or cubic feet or electrons. That rate of transfer is called CURRENT in electricity and Flow Rate in water. Got that so far? Now, the amount of current you have is what allows you to then have that current perform WORK. The amount of work it can do is directly proportional to the amount of current you have. This is the basic precept of electricity. Now, let's imagine a pair of garden hoses. One is brand new, in fact the coils are still very much evident. The other has been lying in the sun for the past 10 years, and it's sagging worse than.... well, let's just say it's almost flat. Now, we're going to attach a bucket to each end, one filled with water and the other barrel at the opposite end of the hose will be empty. When you open the valve (switch) you allow the water to flow through the pipe to the other barrell. Pretty basic huh? By allowing gravity to effect the transfer, we can establish the basic flow without further enhancements. This system is the basic principle to most water wheeled machinery. But we discover that we need more flow. Now we can either raise the barrels or invent pumps to move more flow. With the new pipe, with the inside shape being fairly even from end to end, there would be no flow force lost in forcing out the walls of the pipe. The only deterrent to the flow would be the up and down oscillations of the hose along it's length. With the old pipe, part of the force of the flow is used up in forcing out the pipe's inside diameter, whereas the loss due to gravity is nill. For the sake of discussion, let's presume they're both equal flow's. Now in adding more pressure, both pipes will have additional pressure put on their walls. The newer hose might straighten out a bit, but other than that won't show much change. The old pipe on the other hand will bulge out to it's original shape first. But let's face it, as you add more pressure to get more work out of the system you will be finding out if the old hose has any leaks. More than likely it will and those reductions in flow will affect the amount of work you can do with the flow that does make it through. Those leaks are analogous to resistance. The more leaks you have the less flow you end up with at the working end of the tube. Your electrical system is the same. The problems you are describing are due to leaks due to resistances in the many connections. Heck, just disassembling and reassembling will help reduce some of those problems. Hope this helps someone. Enrique

Nope, it's heat welded to the vinyl on the door panel. Unfortunately when the "chrome" finish starts peeling, it reveals a blue plastic. I've heard stories of people using aluminum tape, silver foil, etc to repair, but have not seen any of them to comment. Enrique

Not that I am aware of. Don't forget that the turn signal stalk also doubles as the High / Low beam switch. Enrique

First of all, are you absolutely SURE that the keys are gone? They may have ended up in the pocket of a coverall you wore last time you played with the engine, or in a jacket....get my drift? Once you are completely and positively sure that they are gone and a new set must be made, then approach a locksmith. As posted, many times the dealers will look at the Z and say, Gee, I remember my dad having one. There are some very good dealers out there though, so check with them. However if they insist that the Z is only a 350 then back away carefully. Now, to me first determine if all 5 locks were keyed the same. The two doors, the hatch, ignition and glove compartment are all supposed to be keyed the same on the 240. (Someone correct me for other models.) With that in mind, take out the lock in the glove compartment (2 phillipss screws) and have the locksmith cut new keys to that. The lock usually has the code stamped on the side. 2¢ Enrique

Did you mean CRACK or CRAZE? Crazing is where you get a series of small cracks that seem to be in "squares" or "rhomboids". That is, the jagged lines seem to intersect at angles to other jagged lines. Think of shattered safety glass but in jagged straight lines. Cracking is where there is a complete separation of the material through from side to side (in this case outside to inside). Crazing is caused by an unsuitable base material that has reacted with the bondo causing it to "wrinkle" and set with poor material in the fissures. The most typical example of this is stripper residue on the sheet metal, although fibreglass resin can cause the same if not properly sealed before applying the bondo or paint. Cracking is typically due to an impact or sometimes stress due to body flexing. Hope this helps. Enrique

Ahh, what a comma instead of a semi-colon will do. Enrique

For $180 you should be able to buy new covers from just about any of our vendors. So instead of buying WHITE to then have to paint it, why not contact Too Intense Restoration, Chloe may have recovers, or MSA / V / B . 2¢ Enrique

The FUEL lines can be obtained at NAPA. My local NAPA had all of them in rolls. From the large vent hose to the smallest one and all of them stamped with the wording (fuel line). 2¢ Enrique P.S. The article mentioned is very similar to what appeared in the first issue of Sport Z.