twsutt

Thanks Arne. I plan on using 55/60W H4 bulbs in a Bosch E-code (ECE) Housing with a relay harness. I've got all the materials but was thinking that the H4 bulbs might need to be replaced more often - this thought process is based on my wife's Volvo S60 which I have to change out the bulbs at least once a year because of the "always on" style of daytime running lights. I usually drive with my headlights on because I have a silver Z and apparently silver Zs are invisible against concrete and pavement, but my Z gets considerably less drive time than my wife's daily driver.

For those of you that have done a headlight conversion; have any of you modified your headlight bucket (behind the headlamp, not the sugar scoop) to be able to easily swap out new H4 bulbs without having to remove the whole assembly? I've been looking at my bucket and contemplating cutting about a 3" diameter hole at the back, but I think that the bracket holding the tension spring might be too close to cut out the back of the bucket. Has anyone successfully attempted this or will I still have to pull the whole assembly to change a bulb? Thank you,

Victor, While these are all very good questions, most of the members on this forum keep their Z's stock or lightly modified. This forum is the best source of information for anything that deals with how these cars came from the factory and how to fix those problems that come up due to the ravages of time. While you will find some engine swap information on this forum, your best bet would be over on www.hybridz.org. You'll find that both classiczcars.com and hybridz.org should have just about every answer that you'd need as far as your Z is concerned.

I just bought bulbs from Payless-4-lighting.com - $0.18 each. I picked up 16 for just under $10 with tax + shipping. http://www.payless-4-lighting.com/eia12v4wg3.html

Hey Bryce, My first car was a '77 280Z 2+2. I loved that car. Yours looks fantastic. Let's see some more pics...how'd it look under the hood? Welcome to the board. My car is one year younger than my wife...She refers to my z as my younger mistress.

JohnnyO, Thanks for the response. I went ahead and ordered the weatherstripping kit from MSA. Yesterday I got this reply from MSA: "We are currently out of stock on the 27 piece weatherstrip kit. It should be about six months before we receive the 27 piece weatherstrip kit in our inventory."

I hate to reopen an old thread, but I've been curious about this...does anybody know what modifications are done to make the doors close properly? thanks,

Zealous, I just finished putting a 3-row in my car and I had the same clearance problems...right down to the lower part of the radiator being closer than the top of the radiator. And I have to disagree with esmit208's assertion that the fan gets more distance from the radiator as it speeds up. And my radiator has the bent fins that disagree too...the blades pitch cause the fan to flex toward the radiator slighty. Solution: Either have your old radiator re-cored or install an electric fan or two. I went with a pair of electric fans. They turn on at 180* and my engine temp doesn't rise above 195* under hard driving or heavy traffic. Hopefully, that won't change much once the mercury climbs into the upper 90's to lower 100's...Houston!

This thread make me want to set up a kill switch that kills unauthorized drivers.

It's in the first scene...just before the opening credits roll.

While not actually seen, it is mentioned on the television sitcom "Two and a Half Men" that Evelyn Harper, Charlie & Alan's mother, once owned a Datsun 280Z. Charlie: Hey. Alan: Hey, what are you doing home? Charlie: Linda's spending time with her son tonight. Apparently she's one of those single moms that puts her kid first. Alan: The bitch. Charlie: You're just saying that because our mom put us third. Alan: Fourth after she got the Datsun 280Z.

If your pressure is too low, how will that affect the car's mileage? Just curious. I haven't tested mine, but I suspect that it's low.

I have installed a new aluminum radiator (the original radiator was clogged with calcium deposits from PO's using tap water). In an effort to isolate it from the radiator support, and due to it being slightly thicker than the original, the outermost edge of the fan clutch now rests about 1/2 an inch from the radiator. I was somewhat concerned that engine movement/frame flex may cause the two to come in contact and I figured that I wouldn't have to worry about that if I had an electric fan mounted to the radiator. I guess that I'll stick to the "it's worked fine for 35 years why change it" original design and just rebuild the stock fan clutch. I don't have anything non-stock drawing on the current electrical system and I'm not really ready to upgrade the 50 Amp alternator to something larger and then have to start upgrading everything down the line from there.

Z Train, I'm not leading up to anything. I'm trying to decide about buying an electric fan or rebuilding my fan clutch again. And mounting options if I do buy an electric fan. My fan clutch was drying up, so I rebuilt it. It was suggested on this forum to use Kyosho #5000 silicone oil from an RC hobby shop to refill the fan clutch. I was unable to find Kyosho #5000 and the man behind the counter suggested another brand: OFNA 5000 WT silicone oil. I used the 5000 WT oil. It turns out that Kyosho #5000 is a 5000 cSt (Centi-Stroke) oil. The 5000 WT oil is roughly 10 times thicker. I'd guess that my fan clutch has less than 1% slippage now.:stupid: So, I'm guessing that I should just loose the shroud and get the most fan coverage I can if I go electric.

I'm not sure what the "real question" is that you want me to ask, but I'll give it a shot...Let me know if I've got the right question Z Train. What is the diameter of the stock fan? What is the size of the opening in the stock shroud? Is there any benefit to retaining the stock shroud when using an electric fan? Is it overkill to keep the stock shroud when using an electric fan? The first 2 questions I can answer myself when I get home. The second two are questions that I'd have to have the experience of someone that has already been down this road or just knows more about these things than I do. If there's a question that I've missed, Z Train, perhaps you can illuminate me.

Has anyone installed an electric fan in conjunction with the stock fan shroud? If so, what size fan did you use and how well has it worked?

If you can't figure out how to purchase them from the www.paradisefoundshirts.com you can always try to get them from Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FW3TQ0/ref=asc_df_B000FW3TQ01262341?tag=the004-20&creative=395261&creativeASIN=B000FW3TQ0&linkCode=asn I've had the blue one for about 4 years now and it's a pretty well made shirt. (I've also got the Reyn Spooner made version that Clarkson wore on Top Gear.)

As always, Stephen, I thank you for your candor!

A little more information... I'm sorry that I didn't mention this before...prior to the replacement of the radiator all of the gauges were operating correctly. I did change out the thermostat housing with a used housing complete with all sensors (one of the thermostat cover bolts snapped off and the old housing cracked when the machinist tried to drill it out.) I'll attempt to swap out the new (used) sender with the original sender. So, an air bubble isn't the cause of my dead reading? I figured that even of it weren't in contact with water it should still be reading more than the 120 degree F. start point on the gauge.

I recently replaced the radiator and added an overflow bottle in my '75 280z. After refilling the system with coolant, I took her for a test run to check for any leaks. The temp gauge was reading good - about 5/8ths...then the gauge dropped to the bottom of its range. I checked the connection on the temp sender and topped off the coolant and took her for another spin. Again the gauge was reading good then stopped working again. I let the system cool again and took off the radiator cap to add more coolant, but the coolant was at the top of the radiator. Would an air bubble in the thermostat housing cause the temp gauge to not register?

Actually, I haven't gotten to that point yet. I was intending to start her up this evening - after checking for continuity on the thermotime and water temp sensor harness, rebuilding the fan clutch, remounting the fan/fan clutch and radiator fan shroud, and filling/burping the new aluminum radiator. Now I won't have to check the continuity - one less thing to do tonight. Thank you.

What keeps that thing on the ground? I used to have a much heavier '77 280z 2+2 that got so squirrelly at 125 (on the z's speedo) that I immediately backed off - afraid that a crosswind would blow me off the road. This was only attempted once.

Sarah, Thanks for the advise. I tried following the wires, but it's a pretty tight mess and I didn't want to have to cut into a good harness. Testing the wires for continuity just didn't occur to me...I guess that I couldn't see the forrest for the trees. Thanks again,

Okay all you forum Nazis, I know that I'm bring up a thread from the dead but it pertains to my question. (And yes, I've searched.) I've recently had to replace my thermostat housing on my '75 280z. I didn't mark which connector goes to the thermotime switch and which goes to the water temp sensor. I've tried the '75 & '76 wiring diagrams, but it's no help because the wires for both years are white/white to the thermotime and white/white to the water temp. One of the sets of wires has a 1 inch wide strip of red tape wrapped around it near the bullet connectors. Can anyone tell me which sensor the marked set of wires should connect to? Thank you,

hogie- thanks for all of your help. I'll try to post my results after I complete the install this weekend.