Hardway's 1971 240z #8011 - Build and Repair Thread

[240260280z]

The metal pockets (also on the front of the lower rad support) on the passenger side (right of the right (passenger) bracket) look interesting as well.

[Hardway]

Good eye Blue! I have never noticed those until you pointed them out. I posted this topic up on the Datsun 240z Lovers FB site and a member thought the brackets could possibly be for mounting a G-Nose. We know they are factory brackets based on the spot welds and the fact other cars have them too. So far the possibility of them being for installing a G-Nose seems the most plausible so far. In regards to the small pocket on the passenger side, its hard to tell if other cars have these or nor and if they are related to the mysterious brackets.

[Rob1972]

Thanks Blue, I know about Series 1 and their identifiers, but you said 'non-series' ?

[Rob1972]

I'll check my fairly original 72 this weekend for mystery brackets.

[240260280z]

Thanks Blue, I know about Series 1 and their identifiers, but you said 'non-series' ?

I guess I should have used a numeral or hyphenated further. The "non-series one" above is a bit awkward

Hi Jeff,

Yes I thought G-Nose too as they seem to be on later VIN Z's.

I was looking for 432 and ZG pics but I can't seem to spot these brackets.

[CanTechZ]

And CanTechZ, I just love your brackets too. Some real engineering there with those interlinked springs. Vibration dampers??

Thanks, I can't take credit for the design as a PO "engineered" them. I will soon be removing and repurposing them........

Mike

[CanTechZ]

Mystery bracket update. I was doing a search for NOS frame rails and this Ebay auction popped up, the rails are a set with the lower front cross member and it has the mystery brackets and the pockets as well:

1970 1973 Datsun 240Z Frame Rails | eBay

There's only a few hours left so here's a couple of pics from the add

You never no what will show up on Ebay.

Mike

[Freez74]

Interesting, I would not have thought those were replaceable. Sold for 745 dollars.

[Patcon]

Yes, absolutely replaceable but for the most part I believe NOS rails are unavailable as far as I know. Lots of work and you would really want to do it on a frame rack to make it easier and straight. Lots of spot welds to cut out and reweld. Several hundred I would think and you would have to take a lot of the interior out of floor boards to deal with the heat from rewelding. It would have to be a very special car for me to be willing to do all the work. I have done welding projects half this ambitious and have learned I hate cutting spot welds!

Charles

[Hardway]

I am finally back with an update. It has taken me awhile to get back due to some professional changes and challenges in my life. It is good to see the conversation around the brackets has continued. Who would have thought some NOS frame rails would show up on Ebay! Neat to see that the NOS pieces have the brackets on them. What brackets are really for, we may never know.

A lot of this work was done over the course of several weekends, usually just spending a few hours each day working on it. After a conversation in a thread over in the Electrical section on what route to go with the fuse box I ordered a new upgraded fuse box from MSA. At the same time I ordered one of Dave’s parking light harnesses, corner light flasher conversion, and I already had the headlight harness from when I owned my previous 240z.

The new fuse box from MSA is a high quality piece. Even at $200 it is still a good deal as it is pretty much a plug and play affair

Back when I removed the old fuse box I was immediately drawn to the black around the sheaths for the two primary power wires going to the box. It is obvious they have seen some heat during their life and this will need to be addressed.

The terminals in the sheaths are where the large flat spade connectors go to.

The new fuse box is 95% plug and play and the new box offers 10ga crimp connectors to cut and transplant your old fuse box power connectors to the new one.

[Hardway]

Knowing I did not want to reuse my old connectors I did some research and found new female connectors are available but new sheaths in the proper size was not. Another reason I did not want to reuse anything from the old box was the age of the wire itself. Over time copper wire corrodes by nature. After 40+ years the wiring for the Z’s fuse box was no different. The copper itself has become green and oily to the touch. The insulation was also a little brittle but one could clearly see the green residue from the corrosion. All of this creates resistance thus creating heat.

NOTE: Keep in mind that all the wiring in the car probably looks like the pictures above. This is why it is so important to take as much load off the original wiring harness as possible. This can be accomplished by installing the various relay harnesses shown above and is exactly why I am doing it now.

I located some new crimp on 12-10ga female spade connectors at Auto Zone. I installed a few inches of yellow 10ga wire and crimped it in to the connectors on the new fuse box. At the other end I crimped the new female connectors. With the new box installed I connected everything. It takes a little work as the new fuse box harness curves in the wrong direction. Since I did not have sheaths for the power wires I double heat shrink wrapped them for protection. This way if I ever need to service or disconnect the fuse box I only have to sacrifice a few cents worth of shrink wrap.

[Hardway]

With the new fuse box installed and tested I finished the installation of the headlight relay harness as well as the parking light harness. There is not anything to show but I will say that just like the MSA fuse box they are high quality components. All Z owners should look in to installed them as each one only takes about 20 minutes to install. For the headlight harness I mounted is relays using a hole that originally held the voltage regulator for the alternator.

With all of the pre-radio electrical work done I turned my attention back to the blower motor and heating system. With my “while I am at it-itis” in full effect I decided now was the time to upgrade to a Honda blower motor. The blower motor in the car worked but was very heavy, had a metal cage fan, and probably drew more power than a new unit. I was lucky to find a complete blower housing out of a Honda Civic on Ebay for $50 shipped.

I tested the blower motor and it was good so I removed it and masked off for painting. Definitely not one of my finest masking job but it accomplished the goal none the less.

With that done I went back to the Z’s blower motor housing. Once it was disassembled I started cleaning it off only to discover 2 holes had been drilled in the bottom of it. I am not sure what they could have been for as the ARA A/C box did not utilize them.

So with a body shaping hammer and anvil I went about working the area back down while being careful not to hammer too deep and losing the curve of the housing.

After that a couple of zaps with my MIG welder filled the holes and I flattened them with an air powered abrasive disc.