EScanlon

A few items that I am interested in, but that I have noticed have become next to impossible to obtain or extremely expensive (translated to you: profitable) European Tail Light Lenses or Light Assemblies. (Specifically 240, but I'm sure the other ones are also popular) Also the Front Turn Signal. I personally would be interested in the bulb holder for the parking light in the center (in between) the two top most bulbs in the tail light housing. I need two, would be willing to pay for that item as I can't seem to find a part number or the item itself. Replacement Chrome Strips for the 240 Tail Light. Replacement Power Antenna's both the masts and the whole unit, again the 240. Bumper Ends, Bumper Centers; 240. Door Locks, exterior. If some of these are items that are normally available, then my oversight, but I'm sure you get the idea as to what I'm referring to. Thanks Enrique Scanlon

There is a Green Yellow wire that connects to the Combination Switch. That GY wire is the feed from the Brake Switch. If you disconnect that wire there, and splice a wire that then runs all the way to the back to the brake lights, you will have independent function on the brakes from the turn signals. Be sure to insulate the cut wire, although no power goes to it when you use the turn signals. Let me know. Enrique

I'm glad I saw your post, and I'm sorry I hadn't noticed it earlier. What you are asking, and the pictures you are providing are exactly what I was working on. So, I'll share what I know and let you pick and choose. The "extra" bulb between the two top bulbs is what in Japan is used in lieu of reflectors. Here in the US we rely on the reflectors in the lenses to reflect the oncoming cars headlights and therefore make the car noticeable. In Japan they decided to require the car to light itself up. The circuit allows only ONE side to be light up at a time, or if desired, both can be. If you have an early 71 or 70 you will note that your console, to the right of the Rear Defog Switch has a hole for what people think is a fog light switch. It isn't. That's where the dual switch for the Rear Parking Lights was mounted in Japan, which is one of the bulbs you are seeing. American cars do not have the wiring to support the switch, nor the lights. In fact, you won't find mention of it in the English Language FSM nor the wiring diagram. The dual switch in the console was removed and replaced with a black square plug, so was the wiring, and the hole in the tail light was plugged with a rubber plug with the letter P on it. That's how American cars were sold. AFAIK only the Japanese cars had that feature. So, you could wire it in sequence to your parking lights, or your brake light, but you wouldn't want to splice it into the turn signal as that is the reason for having the separate color lens for the turn signal in the Japanese (aka European) tail lights. Or you could just remove the bulb and put in a rubber plug to cap the hole. Now, if you choose to do the latter, plug the hole since you don't have the wiring, I'll offer to buy those sockets from you, as I AM wiring the switches into my car and I AM looking for just those bulb holders and plugs. Now, as far as the rest of your wiring. The BLACK wire is Earth or Ground for ALL the bulbs. The Z uses that as the return part of the circuit for all the different circuits. The Green /White wire is your TAIL LIGHT circuit. (US= G/W in the CAR'S wiring harness) The Green / Yellow is your STOP LIGHT circuit The Green alone is your TURN SIGNAL circuit In the US the Turn Signal AND the Brake Signal wiring is merged up by the Hazard Switch, Combination Switch and is the same wire all the way back to the tail lights. (US= GB for Right Hand Side and GR for Left Hand side again in the CAR'S wiring harness) In order to make these lights work, you need to run an additional wire for the brakes BUT I'm still working on which one. The Green / Blue is only for the aforementioned side marker circuit. In Japan they don't have the side marker lights if I recall properly. But in the US the side marker lights are hooked into the Tail Light circuit. (there is no corresponding wiring in the CAR'S harness) The Red / Black is your REVERSE circuit Hope this helps, and I'll come back to it to help you figure out where to splice in the wire for the brake circuit. Enrique Scanlon

Boy are you asking for a lot. First off, not too many people are going to swap out a Series I console for a Series II. Additionally, those that would, don't normally have the additional modification of a changed tranny. That may be why you're not seeing any responses either here or at zcar.com.

From what you are posting and the function of the lights, it sounds as though ONLY the lenses were replaced and no wiring changes were made. The Turn Signal / Brake Light circuit share some of the same wiring, and if this wasn't modified, then that is why the turn and the brake lights are both coming on at the same time. I myself have NOT done this mod, since I don't have the Euro Tail Lenses. So I don't know where to tell you to cut / splice etc etc. But what I can tell you is that it involves running separate wiring for either the stop or the turn signals all the way from the steering column or thereabouts all the way to the lights. I will say that if you choose to NOT use the Euro Lenses, please let me know as I would be interested in buying them from you. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

I was trying to think of a cute way to answer using nothing but abbreviations, but phones are starting to ring off the hook. There are many of those and trying to keep up with them.....geeeez. Thanks

Glenn: Which back light bulbs are you referring to? I agree with Jeremiah, it all depends on which ones you are going for. Some are easy, and some admittedly, require not only double joints but also additional wrists elbows and heck, a tentacle to get in there, as long as it has an opposing thumb. By the way, what does IIRC mean?

1) There saved yourself a couple bucks! 2 & 3) The fact that you have ALL your spacers is something to look at. The owner's manual for the car identifies those spacers as seat spacers, and it says to apply the same number of spacers to each seat raiser (bolt). I have seen some people apply one or two to the front and one or two less to the back in order to get a lower rear edge than the front, and hence some "recline" to the seat. If you have the 71 or earlier seat, it should have a round knob on the inside pillar that adjusts the angle at which the seat back is to the seat bottom. It will allow you to tilt the back to the seat by a few degrees, but not a true recline as you may have in your late year vehicle. The 72 and up seats did in fact recline. They are distinguishable by the lever on the outside seat back support (by outside towards the door). The lever when lifted will both allow the seat to tilt forward for easier access to the tailgate area as well as allow you to tilt the seat back when you are seated in it. 4) A continuity checker is simply a battery, wires and a light or buzzer. What you are checking for is that there is a "connection" between two points. In the case of a wire, you use the wire to "complete the circuit" between a battery and a light bulb. If the light lights up, the wire is making a connection and therefore there is "continuity" in the circuit. This does not gage the quality of the connection, just that there IS one. Resistance allows you to check for the amount of current that can flow through that circuit. A perfect wire has Zero Resistance for unlimited current, but ALL wires have SOME resistance. The more resistance you have, the less current you have. So if you check a fuse for resistance, you will find that it has some, if you divide the voltage by that value you should get a figure for the current it will allow. Higher current will cause it to blow. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, this goes back over 20 years) In reference to my original post, the reason I stated that you should do a continuity check on the fuses is simple. You can SEE the filament of the fuse, therefore it should be good, right? WRONG! The problem with those little glass tube fuses is that the connection for the filament at the end cap may in fact be a cold solder joint, and although it appears to be a good fuse, it in fact is not. This has tripped up many a Z fan. I can't tell you the number of posts I and others have seen where the person reporting the problem insists that he has checked the fuses, and we keep insisting on a continuity check. Then he finally gives in and does it the way we TELL him to do it, and VOILA! he changes the offending fuse and the problem is fixed. I know it's a PITA to remove the fuse from the holder and then figure out a way to hold it while you get the leads from your tester on each end, but until you do, you are NOT checking that fuse properly. If you try to check the fuse while it is still IN the fuse box, you may in fact be checking some other part of the circuit and not that specific fuse. Remember, electricity like water WILL find a path, the path of least resistance, but it may not be the path YOU think it should have taken. 5) When you check the HL connections for corrosion, don't forget to check the contacts, connections and even the solder points on your headlight switch at the steering column. Yes this one is a MAJOR PITA but it is also a KNOWN problem site. Good Luck, and keep us posted. OH! One other note. If you choose to change your headlights to a newer style bulb, make sure you take the time to double check your wiring. Too many guys have literally melted their wiring by changing to a higher current bulb.

Datsun Dude is: Andy Russell Phone: 480-217-7322 e-Mail: z@datsundude.com As far as I know he does not have an active web-site going, but he does have some excellent offerings and pricing. He also can find some hard to get items AND he'll tell you if you can get it cheaper elsewhere as a repro instead of OEM. But almost ALL his stuff is OEM. And the few pieces that are not, are of extremely EXCELLENT quality. I've not been disappointed yet. I have a price list from him, but I haven't asked him if it's ok to just post it.

That is the main reason Beandip got that one. He's not planning on getting the Bumper Guards as we call them (Nissan calls the guards Overriders), and therefore he needed a different mounting method than the one that mounts to the guards. When I saw this one on e-bay I told him, and he got it. It does look sharp.

If you have the CD (available through 240z.org) look in the "Miscelaneous" section. It specifies which emblems go where, and which ones to look for. Be aware that there is a subtle difference in the "script" DATSUN for the rear hatch. There is one that has the squared off "T" crossbar and another that has a rounded off one (the horizontal bar). This is important if you are doing a concours style resto. You can get emblems from various sources: MSA; Victoria / British; Too Intense Restoration; Datsun Dude to name a few. E-Mail or post a message if you need info on how to get a hold of these guys. I personally used Datsun Dude and his pricing is very good, and his quality is OEM+.

Beandip just recently installed a "short" one as you described. It mounts "between" the bumper guards and to the bumper itself. I checked the CD and could not find mention of either one anywhere. Be careful when you mount the short one to the bumper in that you make sure that the hood will clear it as you open it, otherwise you'll have to relocate and drill new holes.

I'll admit to some technical deficit on my part. I've been running my Z on Unleaded Mid or Premium and I use a Lead Additive I was recommended. STP brand if I recall properly. I simply pull up to the pump, fill it with Unleaded Premium, dump in one 8 oz. bottle of the Lead Additive and I go on my merry way. Or at least I have been until this post. Am I using some sort of snake oil that is really nothing? I've not seen leaded gas at the pumps in at least 10 years if not longer. So, how is it other 240 drivers use their cars and keep them original without a head change? I can see the rework done on the valves for harder seats, but my mechanic has not suggested nor advised me on this. So bottom line, Unleaded with Lead Additive or park the car and not use it till I can get the valve reseat kit?

Point taken. In my car, my ameter was giving an intermittent short signal to the tester my mechanic hooked up. We replaced the instrument only to discover that my "FULL" tank of gas, now was reported as Half Full. Ran it this way for a couple weeks to check. It ran through to empty pretty much ok, but Full was half way up the gauge. Took my old gauge, and transplanted the old fuel gauge into the new ameter/fuel gauge instrument. Voila! Fuel gauge now reported a Full tank as "FULL" and not as half. So, what was different? Not the sending unit, but the gauge. Are the two items somehow mated? It appears so. What's your take on that one?

1) Go back in daylight, SOON and find your hubcap. Otherwise the litter patrol will get it and you're out. 2) Check the way your seat is mounted. There could be one or two spacers under each bolt to raise the front / rear of the seat to accomodate the ORIGINAL user of the car. You may be more comfortable with one or none, or if that's what you have with two spacers. The spacers are hexagonal shaped plastic nuts that screw on the bolts to raise the seat. 3) Also check the operation of your seat. The 73 seat not only allowed you to tilt it forward to allow access to the rear cargo area, they also reclined. The little handle that allows the tilt also allows you to tilt and lock in place so that you aren't sitting ram rod straight up. 4) Your fuse box. Go through and clean and tighten ALL the connections to all the fuses you have. Do a continuity check on them, don't just check them visually. This is the source of the vast majority of problems on the 240Z's. Use a bit of sand paper or an old INK eraser pencil to clean the inside of the fuse holder contact. Then press the holder halves closer together to ensure snug tight contact on the fuse. When you check the fuses, do a continuity check, not just look to see if the wire is visible. Can't tell you how many times this has bitten other Z drivers. The continuity check will tell you that the fuse element you see IS in fact good. 5) When you get the time, get to the connectors at your headlights and check to make sure they are clean and free of corrosion. Then if you have the long jumper cables on your meter, check to see what kind of resistance you read from the headlight back to the fuse box. If it reads a value higher than barely there, then you might look into frayed connections, frayed and therefore shorting insulation, broken wires, or just run a supplementary wire to reduce the resistance and hence the possibility of blowing fuses. just my 2¢

The Fuel Tank Sensing Unit has two wires connected to it as Daniel pointed out. However, just by connecting the two together you will have grounded the signal coming from the fuel gauge and you should read above FULL. By disconnecting the lead, it should read below empty. If by connecting the Yellow and the Black Wires at the sending unit together your gauge does in fact read higher (More towards "Full") the gauge appears to be working properly and may just need calibrating. Now check with the Yellow wire disconnected. If it now reads BELOW what your "empty" indication is, then you do in fact have a gauge that either needs calibrated to the ohm range in the sending unit OR you have a sending unit that is unable to move it's full travel in one or both directions. The sending and the fuel gauge are mated together. When you replace one or the other, you usually have discrepancies. Sometimes tolerable and other times not. Whether it was the sending unit or the fuel gauge is a moot point at this time. I mentioned in the prior posting that it more than likely was your fuel GAUGE because the Ameter that is in the top half of the gauge is known to go "bad" and people replace it readily. The problem is that unless they replace the fuel gauge below (swap out their original with the replacement one) they will more than likely find themselves with a gauge that doesn't read right. Now, you can either calibrate the gauge to the fuel sending unit and assume that the sending unit is in fact going full travel. Worst case? You read empty with a larger than normal amount of fuel in the tank. OR You can remove the sending unit from the tank, to see IF it is in fact not moving the whole amount of travel allowed the arm. This is the low end possibility. More than likely you will discover that the sending unit is in fact moving the whole distance, and the problem lies in the gauge. The main reason I'm saying it is the gauge and not the sending unit is simple. The sending unit is incredibly simple, and very unlikely to fail mechanically. It is as simple as a toilet arm mechanism with a variable resistor on it. Remember slot cars and their controllers? The controller had a sliding contact that contacted this coil of wire. The farther up the contact the less resistance, the more current you got throught the coil. The lower down the contact, the more resistance and hence the less current you got through the coil. There are two different postings here. BOTH appear to deal with end point readings, which is a calibration issue; hence gauge.

Saw this done by someone who had access to a LOT and I mean a LOT of shrink tubing in the right width. He removed all of the trim from around the windshield, (in this case it was a 1976 Mercury Capri II), inserted the trim into the black shrink tubing. Shrank the tubing with very very mild heat, just enough to conform to shape. Re-inserted into the rubber. Looked pretty sharp. Reason he had to be careful with the use of heat is that the Capri's trim was plastic with chrome back plating. In his case the chrome had peeled and all that was left was the yellow plastic. He used the black trim and it restored the rubber seal to taught around the window and looked outstanding. Don't know how long it lasted as this was 1982 or so.

It sounds as though your gauge was replaced at some time. The fuel gauge is nothing more than a modified ohm meter. It measures the resistance in the coil which is what the sending unit is. Check the back of the gauge. (Been a while since I've been there) but if I recall, there is a small access hole by which you can adjust the travel of the needle based on the resistance presented by the sending unit. Use a plastic screwdriver to adjust this. If in doubt, remove the gauge, open it up, look inside and figure out what that access hole does and then do what it is obvious it does.

Before you go pulling sending units, and everything else, why not check the condition of your tank. Mine had a nasty dent that apparently got put into it from someone backing up over a concrete divider. It was bad enough that the bottom of the tank AND the drain plug actually allowed a couple of gallons to sit in there below where the pick up tube could get to them. I didn't find this out till I took the tank off and was able to look through the filler neck hole. It may be that this is NOT the case with yours, but it is a simple visual check and might save you some very tedious work. 2¢

Before you go off and start changing everything on the engine, address one very VERY common problem that plagues the Z cars with the mechanical distributor. Go to your distributor, remove the cap. Look down below the advance plate, see any ball bearings rolling around loose? There should NOT be any. Disconnect the vacuum advance hose, either hook it up to a vacuum pump or just suck on it. Does the plate rotate smoothly AND return to it's prior position without hanging up and stuttering, then you're ok, but if it does NOT, and I'm guessing it won't, then your vacuum advance plate is shot. This is a little plastic squirrel cage that holds several ball bearings that allow the distributor mechanism to move forward and return in response to the vacuum in the engine. When this isn't working properly, the vacuum advance is essentially gone. Now your timing is off by several degrees, and the worst thing is, that it isn't consistent, as a good throttle push will cause it to advance, but it won't be able to return, and then vibration WILL return it some, and then it will seem to get worse, then better, then not at all, then repeat over and over again. Check this BEFORE you address all the other suggestions, as it will cause backfiring through the carbs, the exhaust, as well as limit power and then seem to disappear, only to begin again. 2¢

Unfortunately you are discovering one of the "joys" of being a Z owner. Some of the pictures you posted show typical rust, and others show the problems with most typical budget paint jobs. Right now, about the only thing I would suggest, is that you slow down. From your posts, you are basically beginning to dismantle the car and hoping that just one more fix and the car will be perfect. All you will succeed in doing is finding ONE MORE THING TO FIX. Here's a post to help you with the door problems you posted on a different post: http://zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=1&i=222776&t=222738 Now regarding your paint around the sunroof and hatch, from the paint ON the gasket, it's apparent that the peeling you are experiencing is from water seepage beneath the paint. The only fix that I know of, is to sand down and apply a new small shot of paint in such a way as to avoid the lip. Unfortunately, it is tricky and it is usually better to remove these items in order to avoid such a lip in the first place. The rust on the hatch, give it a spot treatment and leave it for later. POR-15 makes a good product to help slow / stop that rust. Try to get some into that area from the inside of the panel. The bubbling of the tar paper is typical. All you can do is scrape it off, fix the rust / holes etc and reapply the tar paper. There are many things you've addressed, and ONE post isn't going to get you all the answers. As a suggestion, I would suggest you concentrate first on the MECHANICAL goodies. That is, are the brakes in good condition, how about steering, then suspension, and of course, what's the condition of the engine. As you work your way through these items address those items and the surrounding areas. THEN go to the cosmetics. Down the road you can do a good paint job, do a good rust removal and the like. Mind you, first evaluate the car, make sure you address those components that qualify as serious and dangerous rust right away, otherwise you won't have a foundation on which to make the other items rest on. Like I said, welcome to the club.

Put it out of it's misery. Years ago, I met two transexual women. One was drop dead GORGEOUS and it was very difficult to ascertain if she was lying or telling you the truth regarding her sex change; and the other was so obvious as to remind you of Mike Tyson in a miniskirt. Many times modifications to automobiles / paint jobs / soup up items, can come out like the analogy with the two TS women. Sometimes the modification was the next logical progression to a series of events / procedures and the outcome is a resounding success. Other times the only thing that comes to mind is "Why?".

"The work order number for the manufacture and production of the car was 240Z" This part is incorrect if I recall right, and someone please post the story / link. If I recall, the reason the car got renamed 240Z was due to the displacement of the engine and that the letter Z in Japanese denotes the symbol for the ultimate, or something like that. The engine displacement definitely was part of the name. (otherwise why 260, 280 and 300, and now 350?)

I think we should post some of these. I believe the MSA one is this weekend or next someplace in California. Unfortunately I've got work trips planned, and can't escape. I believe zdriver.com has a "regional" site where people are supposed to post things going on in their region, but last time I was there there wasn't much listed for the Pacific North West, but maybe someone can post. I've heard of a "camping" get together up by the Coast on the Washington side of the Columbia that I'll be investigating. This is supposed to be sometime in August.

I know what you mean about them maroons. And I had no doubt you are careful when you drive, what I meant is that when I drive my Acura or the Subaru, I AM careful, but not if you will, PARANOID. Whereas when I drive the Z, I AM PARANOID and assume that every other driver I see has me in his sights and is looking for the way to do get close and then reach out and touch my car. [Note Aside: Years ago, I did a complete restoration on a Series I 1970 240. The individual who had been driving it at that time had gotten accustomed to the glances he would get with the car PRIOR to restoration. The restoration took close to 9 months of long days and weekends. When we finally got it back on the road, he told me that he had to get used to being "oggled" at all over again. In the words of his wife " Driving the Z is like being a beautiful woman," (which she definitely was) "everywhere you go, there will be people who will just plain stare at you, others that will walk up to you and ask inane questions, and others that just want to touch you. You just learn to deal with it." Or put it the way Datsun did "Enjoy the Ride".] So, to summarize, when I'm driving the Z, I double my "careful" zone. I become that little old man who seems to go 20 miles below the speed limit, the one who lets EVERYONE go at the stop sign before he goes, while also being the young man who parks out in the middle of the boonies at an angle to the regular parking to get away from everyone else. And you know what? Even THEN I find people parked next to me. Why? I don't know, I guess if I were a chick and sported size DD I would understand and learn to live with it, but I'm not, and like you I just want to reach out and shoot them with a bazooka when they get too close. The problem with that is two fold: getting a regular supply of ammunition and putting up with the bad reputation. Personally, I think we should adopt Jeff Foxworthy's idea. All stupid drivers should be forced to put on bumper stickers on all 5 views of their car, identifying them as "STUPID". That way, even the helicopter cops will know why certain things are happening. 2¢