Greetings,

I tried to clean up the turn signal switch in my 1972 240Z and while successfully cleaning the contacts, managed to break the circuit board when installing it back into the metal case.

Le Bummer.

Went to the local junkyard and struck out with the Z's. However, on my way out I happened upon a 1976 Datsun pickup (model unknown). I took a look and, damn, the turn signal switch sure looked like the one I was looking for.

As it turned out nearly identical. Physically it is exactly the same. One difference is that it uses all six pins in the connector instead of five. The sixth is used by the horn ring which is separate on the Z. I did have to swap a couple of pins in the connector to get left left and right right and, frankly, that may have been due to a P.O's earlier efforts. On the pickup it mounts under the steering column and because of this the wires come off in the opposite direction as they do on the Z switch. Didn't seem to cause any clearance problems when mounted.

Chris

That's Great information Chris! It's always good to know there's a back up source for hard to find and no longer available orignal parts when they break. I'm gonna store that factoid away next time I go junkyarding. Thanks

Chris -

You may want to go back to your salvage yard one more time - if you don't have an extra hazard switch I would strongly recommend for any of us to have an extra. Remember - most of your lights go through the hazard switch (as well as the turn signal switch - ie brake lights). It just take a few minutes to pull and is worth while to get you hands on one when you need it. I've been battling brake lights for 2 weeks and finally tonight got them finalized with replacing the hazard..................just a thought.

Chris -

You may want to go back to your salvage yard one more time - if you don't have an extra hazard switch I would strongly recommend for any of us to have an extra. Remember - most of your lights go through the hazard switch (as well as the turn signal switch - ie brake lights). It just take a few minutes to pull and is worth while to get you hands on one when you need it. I've been battling brake lights for 2 weeks and finally tonight got them finalized with replacing the hazard..................just a thought.

The P.U. had a completely different hazard light than my Z. As a general rule, we think alike on this and as I've grown more familiar with easy vs. difficult or impossible to obtain parts, I'm constantly on the lookout for an odd or an end that while not needed at the moment and with luck may not ever be needed, would be a PIA to obtain on short notice.

Chris

My collection continues to grow as well. I'm sure most of us has a few baskets of electrical - mechanical - odds and ends.