California 1978 Datsun 280z Restomod

[Racer X]

1 hour ago, Kevin McSweeney said:

2 reasons:

1. Because that's how the JDM cars came and

2. Because I prefer how it looks without the rears.

I see, wasn’t aware that the JDM cars came that way.

[Kevin McSweeney]

On 4/1/2021 at 2:24 PM, Racer X said:

I would get the connectors and wire terminals from that company that has the correct OEM parts, and make up a jumper pigtail for each side.

Could you elaborate a bit? As I said, I'm a wiring dummy.

[Racer X]

2 hours ago, Kevin McSweeney said:

Could you elaborate a bit? As I said, I'm a wiring dummy.

Sure.

Wire harnesses have plastic fittings at the ends to connect them to gauges, ignition switches, lights, etc. There are lots of different shapes and configurations on a given car. Of course when a new model year is released, sometimes the shape, size and configuration changes.

So when changing the lights out in your car, you can hack up the harness, use some crimp type butt splices, and wrap it all up with electrical tape.

Or, you can buy the mating connectors and wire ends for each of the year of each side, buy some appropriate wire and the proper crimping tool (you'll need a crimper that does a "W" crimp, SnapOn and MAC both sell very good quality crimpers, online, well worth the money), and make up a harness that adapts the plug on your car's harness to the connectors for the lights.

Like these:

There are many different types, do some digging and get some of what you need. They are available from a place (sorry, I can't remember, but someone here will chime in) that sells reproductions for all kinds of classic cars.

It is really easy. Get a wiring diagram for each car, find the wire in the car's harness for one light function, say, tail lights, identify what position in the connector body correlates to it, terminate the wire with the proper terminal, and slip it into the connector body (it should snap into place, and if you mess up and stick it in the wrong spot, there are tools available for reaching inside the connector and releasing the tang on the terminal). Do the same thing for that function on the tail lights. 

Repeat with each function until you have all the functions covered and you have run out of wires to match up.

It's easy.

Honest.

 

Oh, and you'll be able to convince your wife to allow you to spend money on tools. Every man needs tools.

Don't have a wife to ask if you can buy tools?

You're doing better than me then.

[Racer X]

9 minutes ago, Racer X said:

Sure.

Wire harnesses have plastic fittings at the ends to connect them to gauges, ignition switches, lights, etc. There are lots of different shapes and configurations on a given car. Of course when a new model year is released, sometimes the shape, size and configuration changes.

So when changing the lights out in your car, you can hack up the harness, use some crimp type butt splices, and wrap it all up with electrical tape.

Or, you can buy the mating connectors and wire ends for each of the year of each side, buy some appropriate wire and the proper crimping tool (you'll need a crimper that does a "W" crimp, SnapOn and MAC both sell very good quality crimpers, online, well worth the money), and make up a harness that adapts the plug on your car's harness to the connectors for the lights.

Like these:

There are many different types, do some digging and get some of what you need. They are available from a place (sorry, I can't remember, but someone here will chime in) that sells reproductions for all kinds of classic cars.

It is really easy. Get a wiring diagram for each car, find the wire in the car's harness for one light function, say, tail lights, identify what position in the connector body correlates to it, terminate the wire with the proper terminal, and slip it into the connector body (it should snap into place, and if you mess up and stick it in the wrong spot, there are tools available for reaching inside the connector and releasing the tang on the terminal). Do the same thing for that function on the tail lights. 

Repeat with each function until you have all the functions covered and you have run out of wires to match up.

It's easy.

Honest.

 

Oh, and you'll be able to convince your wife to allow you to spend money on tools. Every man needs tools.

Don't have a wife to ask if you can buy tools?

You're doing better than me then.

I just went back and had another look at your wiring. If you wanted, you could get the connector body and terminals that mate with the terminals that are on your 280, and swap them out for the ones on the JDM lights. No pigtail, so more simple, fewer parts and connections to terminate.

[Kevin McSweeney]

Lights are working, but I’m really starting to think my car doesn’t like me. Had some starting and overheating issues; replaced the starter and an fan clutch and all seemed to be going well. I noticed that a relay is clicking on and off when the ignition is off, draining the battery. Then today when I connected the battery and tried to start the engine I got a drop in voltage, a weird sound from the fuel pump, and no cranking.

Last time the car was running I did notice an intermittent drop in voltage and the fuel pump seemed to drop off for a second and then come back on. Fuel pump was replaced early on in the resto but hasn’t run much in the couple of years since.

Any thoughts?

 

 

[grannyknot]

9 hours ago, Kevin McSweeney said:

Any thoughts?

Not specific to the current problems but have you gone around and clean all of the harnesses body grounds?