Arne

My car has SUs again, and surprisingly, it runs! Spent pretty much all day doing it, but it was a success, pretty much. Removed all the injection and replaced it with SUs. Had to make two trips to the parts store during the job to get unforeseen items, but all in all it went quite smoothly. The surprise was in how well it runs - I did nothing to my carbs, and I have not a clue how they are set up. Just bolted them on and trusted that they would be close enough, and they are for now. Later I will have to fine tune them. Still a few bugs to work out, but they are more with the ignition than the carbs. My tach now works, but reads obviously low. And the engine won't shut off when I turn off the key, I have to get out and pull the wire from the coil. I'm pretty sure those two problems are related, as when I turn off the key the tach starts reading much higher. Got a bug in the wiring somewhere. P.S. - Dave, I picked up a vented hatch yesterday too!

You need a wiring diagram so you can trace the circuits.

And another thought is that if the non-brake lights that come on do so dimly, you need a better ground.

Has anyone mounted an electric pump under the hood of the car rather than back near the tank? Any issues? I know that it is better to "push" with an electric pump than to "suck" but mounting and wiring my new pump (for SUs) would be ever so much simpler if I mount it on the inner fender above the voltage regulator. Any ideas how this might (or might not) work?

If the connection has been bad for a while, the wire could get hot. Without seeing the wire in person, I can't sat for sure. But if the wire itself looks good, and the solder connection is repaired, I'd say there is a very good chance that it will be OK.

My wiring diagram (for a '72) says that the green/blue wire is the power supply from the fusebox to the park/tail lights. So it probably is the problem, yes. I'd re-solder it.

And remember that the US market 240Z had different suspension tuning than Z's for other markets. It was SUPPOSED to handle more like an American car. And of course, it didn't, not really. But like Lance said, in contrast to the cars that John was used to driving...

Sway bar won't help your problem. Take it one at a time. If your struts are hosed, fix them first.

Rear sway bar was added as factory equipment in '74, with the 260Z. All 240Z's came with a smaller front bar (than the 260/280s) and none at all in the rear.The lighter 240Z didn't need the sway bar to handle nice, it was added to try to compensate for the later cars' extra weight.

No rear sway bars (from the factory) on 240s. Those didn't start until, 280s, I think.

Just the normal hot rod stuff. Here's a site with good info, but don't consider it to be the absolute last word. Should give you some ideas, though. http://www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/engine.html

That's the way I understood it as well. My '71 also has fiberglass.

I have Road & Track magazines going back to mid '77. The Datsun ads in those magazines all show the vents painted body color. In addition, take a look at the ad in this thread: http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19435

I would recommend that you use the same brand and grade of struts in the rear as you put in the front last month. Keep the valving matched and compatible. Don't put the cheap AutoZone struts (Gabriel or Monroe) in the rear unless that's what's in the front too. If the front got KYB or Tokico, use the same on the rear.

Interesting. I assume those only came on 280s?

Yeah, that part's pretty obvious. But my car has had some wiring "issues" before I bought it - I'd like to be able to look at an accurate diagram to track some things down. I'm just concerned with the fact that if the heater stuff is missing, what else might be wrong with that diagram?

Yup, that's the one I've got. Someone please finder the heater fan and switch on the '72 diagram. Please tell me I'm blind.

Rear struts are definitely a prime suspect. I recall it used to be recommended that if you were going to replace struts/shocks one end at a time, to always do the rear first. Don't know that I've heard that repeated in quite a while - decades maybe. But the reason was to maintain stability on bad road surfaces. Similarly, there was old recommendations that if you had mis-matched sets of tires, the higher performance should always be on the rear. Same type of issues.

Hmm, the diagram I have (which I sometimes wonder about - it doesn't show the heater blower circuit at all) shows that in the off position the hazard just passes the brake light signal to the turn signal switch to be split into left and right signals. When the hazard switch is activated it shuts off the brake light pass-through and activates the two sides itself. So if my diagram is accurate, I can't see how it could keep one side from working. It may be able to send a false signal to one side or the other, but not keep a single side from working.

I think you're right. Here is a site with good info on the different heads: http://www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/z.html

I've never really looked a any flat-tops, but I think from your symptoms a stuck or leaking float is a high probability.

Would probably affect both sides, not just one.

Don't know about the ping noise, it may or may not be related. But the sputter and backfire make me think it's running out of fuel, not flooded. And since it runs OK for a short time when it cools off, my best guess is a failing fuel pump. A common symptom for beginning fuel pump failure is loss of pressure when warm. So start it up, let it run until it dies. Then open a float bowl and see if there is any gas inside. If the float is empty or very low, you have a fuel supply problem.

True. But I don't think the brake light circuit splits into the two sides until it reaches the turn signal switch. So to be affecting one side only I still think the problem must be at the switch.

Couple hundred at the very most. Since it's been sitting in the weather and everything probably needs rebuilt, realistically more like $100.