EScanlon

There is a Black / White wire going to the POSITIVE side of the Coil from the Tachometer, BUT there is also a Green/White wire that comes from the Tach that hooks up to the Resistor. On the other side of the resistor there is ANOTHER Black/White Wire. If you inadvertently swap these two Black White wires around, you not only will not RUN after starting, your Tach also will not work. Been there, done that. 2¢

I like what the picture shows. What about the interior? Although $7500 may be excessive in SOME areas, in others it's average. You must consider that for what we have seen of the underside and now the exterior, it doesn't look bad at all. A bit of blue smoke, personally, BEFORE I would invest a dime in tearing down, rebuilding, etc etc etc ad nauseaum, I would do the very VERY BASIC items. That is: Change the oil and filter, preferably after having run some sort of "flush" solution through it. I forget the name for it, right off the bat, but it may just be that you have sticky varnish everywhere that needs to be cleaned. I just recently took my Acura in for a complete service, and one of the things they did was a hot reverse oil flush or something like that. A noisy lifter that I had, miraculously got quiet. Use a good quality engine oil. I don't know what everyone else will advise, but I've used Duralube additive and been impressed with the results so far. Check that indeed your reverse light switch is inoperative and not simply disconnected. Also check the fuse, not just visually, but take it out and do a continuity test on it.. Believe me, I've seen it happen time and time again, the fuse may look good, but fail the continuity test. Have you checked the bulbs? Check the other fuses and bulbs while you're there. Lastly, Bambikiller already said it, switches don't care which way the current is going in a 12V system. I agree with everyone else on the seat belt. Simple fix. Worst case, it's got a dose of the sticky grease, or there was a kink in it and it got retracted into the case and you just succeeded in pulling it out to where it got stuck. I'm sure there will be some that will say, those are real obvious things you're advising, but you'd be surprised how often it is the very minor and obvious stuff that trips people up. By the way, Andy Russell is an outstanding and honest guy, give him a holler for the manual, it will save you HOURS! The only other manual I would recommend OVER the Haynes and Chilton's is the Clymer's Manual. The early one for 70 to 74 vehicles with the BLUE cover. Oh, and feel free to post any and all quetions. I think that we all enjoy answering them, although 2ManyZ's and KMack and BambiKiller want everyone to tear down their engine so that they can overhaul it because they're the kind of people who enjoy that kind of thing. So don't be surprised if you post something like: My Rear License Plate Light went out, but only ONE bulb seems to light up after changing both. What's up? Those guys will answer: First, you need to remove the engine and do an overhaul..........:stupid: JUST KIDDING..........:

When I was in College and this kind of recipe would pop out and everyone exclaimed how "good" it was, we would remind the speaker that he just had a bad case of the "MUNCHIES", which was a common affliction to those that INHALED. If you know what I mean.....Vern.

If memory serves me correctly, the rectangular turn signals in the grille area weren't for a 71 but rather for a later year Z. Checking a V/B catalog, I think you are thinking of the lights ont he 75 and later 260 and 280's. If you have a 71, and it hasn't been modified drastically, it will have the park/turn signal light right below the headlights and below the bumper. 2¢

The BRE Spook series of spoilers (and I'm mentioning it only cause some people will call that an air dam as well) mount to the front valance and turn signal fender quarters. 2¢

And if it weren't for the fact that my owner would promptly have me neutered AND do a flush Bobbit Trim causing me to have to change the gender of my clothes I would buy at least half a dozen more Z's. You know, Save the Z, collect the entire set! So I empathize, and although it may have sounded harsh, it wasn't meant to be offensive. Good Luck Enrique

You won the lottery or got a super paying job that would allow you to BOTH restore the 280 and buy the 240 for driving pleasure. I understand the NEED to drive the car. But I also understand that your finances may be stretched to the limit. I'll be blunt, it sounds as though you've decided to buy the car on an impulse and are hoping some of us here talk some sense into you. The bottom line is this, if YOU feel that there is reason to doubt, then go with your instincts. Asking us to help isn't a solution as later you will blame us either because it turned out to be the ONLY Z Mr. K personally helped build and you didn't buy it, OR it becomes not only a money pit, but you swear it has a shop vac attached to it. 2¢

Not Technically. See, we're all waiting to see when 2ManyZ's actually comes out of the closet and admits that he really actually has a Z in EACH state. When that happens, then we'll know that it's ok to have the 50 Anniversary. Otherwise, we have to wait to see what Nissan does in the year 2020 or 2019 or.......Now that you mention it.........ALAN?????!

If you were restoring the car for an investment.....well, I have a line on some waterfront property in Arizona..... What you are asking is, would you get more out of the 240 or the 280. Sadly, unless you find a very willing and RICH buyer, neither. Unless you are willing to wait another 5-15 years for your investment to "mature" and the market to improve. Here's the bottom line: Yes, you have a lot going into the 280. But you also opted to have all that work done at a body shop...excellent idea, but EXPENSIVE. Let me rephrase that......EEEEEEEEEKKKKK! spensive. But then again, you should get good quality work out of it. Then you have to get other parts, fixes, etc etc. Sad to say, but the best you could hope for....is to enjoy it for a long time. The other car: You don't mention the condition nor requirements of the other car. Rust? Paint? Interior? All those will mean that you will basically be starting OVER, but this time $5k in the hole. ($2k for the 240, plus the $3k you've already sunk into the 280.) You're hoping that the return on the 240 will be better than the 280. It probably will, but it will also require as deep of an investment. So which one to go with? Sorry, I'll leave that to others. But I hope I helped clear the air a bit. 2¢

Contact the tow company and specify that you need a flat bed tow. They have special trucks with flat beds on them, then they winch you up (you DO still have the tow hook on the front of the car don't you?) and as long as you can keep the front wheel straight you can get on to the bed of the truck. Then once at the shop, worst case they can sling a jack under the bad wheel and fix it. 2¢

I leave the power tuning to the mechanics, but here's what I've heard about Porting and Polishing the intake and exhaust portion of the head. By smoothing out the ports, you avoid the subtle but annoying air turbulence within the "pipe". This turbulence can slow down the intake / exhaust such that the engine is actually losing efficiency. That is, it isn't going to run faster / better / smoother so much as that it will be able to fully utilize what it has. The other point about it is that with the rough walls, it is possible for the incoming air / fuel mixture to "wet" the surface. This wetness is fuel. When it builds up enough it sloughs off and enters the chamber as a drop and not atomized. This sudden "squirt" of fuel causes that detonation cycle to be uneven in relation to the others. Just like if it "burps". This in turn is undesireable. This is what I was told years back by someone who purportedly knew what he was doing. (Another Air Force member who was porting and polishing the heads on a Firebird engine.) If it is in error, please let me know so I can correct the memory bank. 2¢

Victor: Don't fight it. Get some of the special masking tape used for very precise masking and mask off on both sides of the grid. Then you can apply the conductive paint and later just peel off the masking. That's how you paint stripes on a car when you don't have or can't do the fine hand painted stripes. 2¢

Looks real cute. The wheel thing can easily be explained in that it's an optical illusion. Many times when you come up to a car the wheels do appear to be going backward. Same with propellers. As a suggestion, the driver of the car should grab a handful of bun just as he drives past, then as the car speeds off, the wind should blow her skirt way up high, giving us a treat!!! Just a suggestion. And before anyone complains about it being non PC......get over it. Men are naturally plumbed that way, if you want to hang around a bunch of people who aren't interested in what a woman is wearing under her clothes.....go hang out with women.

Well, it looks as though my post of May last year is still valid.

The wiring for the light in the picture is correct. The upper two bulbs are both BRAKE and PARKING, hence they get 3 filaments each bulb. Black is ground for all the light bulbs, then the Green/Yellow and Green/White. G/W should be the Tail Lamp, the G/Y is the Brake Light. BOTH these bulbs are wired the same in order to provide Tail and Brake. Typically, when wiring in a set of "European" lenses or simply put, Amber Turn Signal lenses, you will use the standard wires coming from the wire harness for the TURN signals, and wire a single new wire for the Brake lamps.. The White Red and White Black on your wiring harness are for BOTH turn signal and brake lamp. Once you disconnect the joint between brake and turn signal, you will have the independent wiring for each turn signal you need. This is the modification that you must do to your car. You must disconnect the join between the turn signal and the brake light circuit in order to have the turn signal operate independently of the brake. This MUST be done up by the steering column / hazard switch area as that is where the two circuits are joined. In fact, it's the turn signal switch that determines if both brake lamps or only one lights. After clipping the wire for the brake circuit, run a single wire for the brake light all the way to BOTH tail lamps. The wire you want, goes to the turn signal combination switch. It is the GREEN / YELLOW that provides power to the Brake Lamps. You can disconnect this at either just before it enters the switch, or at the shroud. Just be sure to put some insulation tape on the cut end going INTO the combination switchfor safety's sake, even though this part of the circuit will be dead. Connect a wire to the lead you disconnected from the combination switch, insulate it and then route that wire to the back end of the car. This is your new Brake Light connection and should be connected to the G/Y wire at the tail lights on BOTH tail lamps. The Reverse Light is the Red / Black. Hope this helps.

Victor: To answer your questions. When I redid the complete interior of my car, I disconnected and reconnected the harness various times. Often this is all that is required to revive the connections therein. The main problem between connectors is when they are allowed to stay connected and never moved or reconnected. It is then that corrosion can creep in under the contact point and increase resistance / or break the connection. That is, of course, if you are getting a good grip by all the spade connectors. Simply, disconnect, and reconnect them. This is usually enough to break the corrosion between the two, and by reconnecting you usually generate a new contact surface by friction. If you want to go a step further, or the connect / reconnect doesn't seem to work, you can use a sanding stick. These are commonly available at hobby shops, and look like a spring loaded band sander stick. One end will have a very thin point, and there will be a band of sanding paper going around it. Use this to reach into the connector and scuff up the surfaces of the male connectors therein. The Female connectors are a bit trickier as they are smaller and require a THIN object. I used an emery stick (fingernail file) that I bought at the local drug store. I then cut it with a pair of sheet metal snips or dykes for the width required. Insert it into the female connector once or twice and that will be enough to "sand" the contact surfaces clean. Unfortunately, the paper on the emery board isn't very strong, so you'll go through several of these pieces. You could use the file on a pair of nail clippers, or get a metal emery board. Just don't get too aggressive. All you want is to shave off the film of corrosion inside. As far as your second post, the "Low Output" that you are describing as coming from the Alternator, according to the FSM points to two possible problem areas. I am presuming that you have an alternator and not a generator. If I recall correctly, only the very early 240's had generators. The first is that the alternator brushes may be a) dirty, worn, c) worn/tired springs, d) loose fan belt. Remember, the alternator doesn't begin to output voltage until it gets to a given RPM. Up to then it is the battery that provides the electricity. The second is that your Voltage Regulator may be starting to go. The FSM does provide a testing and adjusting procedure, but it might be easiest to simply replace it. Lastly, it might be necessary to adjust the idle speed of the engine. But I'll leave that to other people who are more knowledgeable on that than I am. I know that everyone wants an engine that idles at the lowest possible RPM, but sometimes, it is NECESARY to keep it slightly higher. The FSM recommends 750 rpm at idle. Hope this helps.

The drain hose in the pictures, at that point in time, is very long. I wasn't sure how long I wanted to make it until I had the fenders put on. Once the fenders went back on the car, I cut the hose such that the hole faces mostly down, but also back, AWAY from the wheel. This was to avoid having it act as a scoop into the air stream below the car. I suppose I could have cut it even with the bottom edge of the fender, but I didn't want it to start "whistling". If you look inside the wheel wells now, you can just see it behind the inner splash panel, but it isn't visible from the side of the car. If you haven't had a chance to read Wick Humble's book; "How to Restore your Datsun Z", see if either you can get a copy or borrow one. (If I recall right, both Victoria British and Motorsport sell it.) Although there are some items that I would like to discuss with him, for the most part it is one of the BEST books to have, right there next to the Factory Shop Manual. Between those two books, HTRDZ and FSM, you have just about everything covered. (Ok, I would also add the very early Clymer's Manual.) Wick reference's using this closed cell foam tape everywhere you have contact between the fender and the inner splash guard as well as those "flat spots" you referenced. Granted all you need are small sections for those flat spots, but don't know that you can find someone to sell you just ONE FOOT of the stuff. I wouldn't use Dum Dum instead of that foam tape as the intent is to allow the fender to be removed and not have to be unglued. The Dum Dum which Wick refers to is simple Strip Caulk. 2¢

Rick: Now that others have chimed in on how to REWIRE the car for higher wattage headlights, I'll chime in on how to use the EXISTING wiring. I wired both Fog Lamps and Replacement Headlamps using the existing wiring. The key to doing this is to NOT exceed the wire ratings of the original wire. That means that the bulbs you will be using will have the same wattage rating as the sealed beam bulbs you currently have. Now, if you plan on continuing to use the sealed beam bulbs you should be aware that these are usually dimmer than the newer hallogen, zenon, or other variety of bulbs out there. Regardless of which one you use, you will want to clean out the contacts at the bulb connection point, and at the point where the headlight connects to the harness, which is located right behind the horns, in front of the radiator. The other two points you will want to address, is to clean out the contact points for the Light Switch on the steering column and the Fuse Block Contacts. Please note, if you decide to step up the wattage of the bulbs to get a brighter light, you WILL need to upgrade the wiring. The Fog Lamps ALSO connect at the wiring harness in front of the radiator. Usually the Fog Lamp Connector will be taped to the harness. Remove the tape, connect your fog lamp and by grounding the other lead to your fog lamp you will have established a circuit via the existing wiring harness. All you will have to do is attach a switch to the connector with a Red and a Red / Green wire which should be comming out of the wiring harness by the Fuse Panel. You COULD attach an inline fuse if you want, but the circuitry is already covered by the parking lamp fuse. That's how I wired my car, and you can look at the pictures of it in my gallery. Hope this helps.

If you look at the cross section of the weather strip, it actually looks more like a "tadpole" or a comma. It has a bulbous edge that tapers off to a thin edge. One side is flat, the other has the curve like an 'S'. The curved side of the gasket faces the wheel well. The purpose of this gasket is to prevent the splash and overspray from the wheel from going up and over the front frame member into the engine bay. You could probably replace it with something generic, although by the time you went and tried different items etc, the $27 for the pair would be cheaper. (IMO) The "flat" spots you mention, are part of the fender support system. Rather than replace them with double stick foam tape, get some CLOSED CELL FOAM tape that is used to pad Pick-Up Tops to the beds. You can usually find this at either RV shops or Auto Shop places. Remember, it is CLOSED CELL. You may have to put two thicknesses together to provide the proper thickness so that it actually supports the fender. While you're at it, get the 5/8" wide Closed Cell Foam tape as well. You'll want to use this on the Inner Fender Splash guard. That's the one that goes up and down directly behind the wheel. If you go to my gallery you will also note that I added a piece of tubing for the Cowl Drain tube to take the drain all the way to the bottom of that area to avoid future dirt / leaves / needles from collecting back there and forming a moisture trap. As far as I know, the emblem holes for the 260, 280 were different than the Datsun emblem holes. 2¢

Time Out! The Mercury Capri had 3 incarnations, series or evolutions in the U.S.. The first series was the Capri, which was imported from France and Germany. It was a Coupe and had a V6 2800 with a 4 speed although an automatic was available later. This was imported from 71-72(?) to 74. In 1975 none were imported. 1976 saw the introduction of the Capri II, which got the slogan "The Sexy European". This again had the V6-2800cc engine with a 4 speed. This car was a Hatchback, and looked very similar to the earlier Coupe, except, of course, for the back. The Capri II was built on it's own chassis and had nothing to do with Fordd's Mustang II, other than the II designation. Where the Mustang II had an actual frame, the Capri was Unibody. Then in 1979, Mercury decided to remake the car on the Mustang Chassis, AFTER the Mustang II was put to rest. This car was plastic and rubber moulding over a common body and frame. Both the Mustang and the Capri were so similar as to confuse people who OWNED them. Not sure how long this car was produced. This is the car that I think, Zvoiture is referring to, as in my opinion and others who owned one, it WAS a crappy car in either of it's incarnations. In the late 80's (I may be wrong) to early 90's (pretty sure on this) they once again began importing the Capri. This time it was a cute little 2 seater convertible. Not sure where it was imported from. This car sparked some interest, but sadly did not take off as they would have liked. Enough, TIME IN.

I owned a 1976 Capri II. It was a hatchback with 2+2 seating that was remarkably comfortable in the rear seats. V6 2800 cc engine, with a 4 speed, I left a few V8's behind in my dust with that car. Wouldn't mind finding one for sale, I would love to have both the Z and the Capri II. Mr. C; would you post the Capri site you spoke about? And with that, I ask this: Capri or Capri II. In the U.S. (here we go again.), this car was imported from France and Germany. The Capri was the Coupe, while the Capri II was the hatchback. Anyone out there care to answer, or should I retreat quietly with my tail tucked betwixt my legs?

I paid 54.99 for the lights and 15.00 shipping U.S.. I don't know how much he would charge for international shipping. If the ones that are shown on the Hella USA cite are true to their ad, and the "Halo" or Angel Eye portion are in fact LED's, I think they would be better than what I got. The ones I received use a bayonet mount turn signal bulb. Which arrive blue in color, but you can change to what you want. Since in the state of Washington, U.S.A., blue lights in front of the windshield pillar are prohibited on passenger vehicles (information courtesy of my neighbor- a Patrol Supervisor for Clark County), I swapped mine to the Amber Colored bulbs. Which in the case of MY car color worked out great. However, if the Hella Angel Eye's are true LED's they'd be brighter and more distinctive. Granted I would still have to get a different color to stay legal. As far as modifications, other than adding the wire from the headlight cup to the parking light wire (I wired into the parking light and not the turn signal), and having to do a slight modification to the bulb housing themselves to ensure they fit down into the mounting ring properly, that was it. I've gotten tons of compliments on them, and they never fail to catch people's eyes. FWIW Enrique Scanlon

Victoria British does not show that part separately. Neither does Motorsports. You ~might~ be able to find it at a boneyard, but it might be easier to get the whole steering wheel and cannibalize it. Usually, when you get the steering wheel they include the horn switch with it. Hope this helps.

=====Interjected Comment I hope that everyone understands that I'm not trying to put down ANY model of the Z. I like them all, and wish I had the money, garage space and TIME to own one of each variant and year. Sadly, I must be satisfied with the one I own, and hopefully my owner someday will loosen the pursestrings and allow me to own a second one. As far as RHD and LHD, I think that they are BOTH important. I too would like to investigate and document all the subtle little differences amongst the different production models, whether for export or not. If by stirring up the "fire" I've caused sparks to fly, it isn't because I hope to burn down anyone else's opinion or emphasize mine. If anything, look at the scope of this post and see if we haven't made some very interesting reading. That Zhome has the wrong information, and I inadvertently propagated it, is my mistake in propagating. Unfortunately, with so much disinformation out there, it is next to impossible to discern what is factual, apocryphial or opinion. This lack of definitive information can only be blamed on Nissan. But then again, like any other major corporation, it can't. Trying to document which specific VIN number got the last or the first of a specific accessory, which one was for export, which one was for home market, which one was ..... Would make any Database Manager insane. It is this specific type of discussion that can help weed out those bits of disinformation that are out there. Sadly, there are few instances of this being discussed intelligently without it descending into a shouting match over perceived slights. So, my apologies for quoting inaccurate data. Sadly, I had no way of knowing that it was inaccurate. Unfortunately, in order to catalog, document, and correct all the incorrect information that IS out there would be a task for a lifetime. So, I join threads such as this one in hopes of bettering my understanding and knowledge. Enrique Scanlon =====Back to the thread