TomoHawk

On my '78- Now that I have the splash guards (or inner fenders) repaired, I need to know how to route the wiring for the headlamps through or around them from the hole in the inner fender. There aren't any obvious bulges or rubber fittings like the inner fender has, so I may have to install something. The PO had them going through a crack that had developed. Are there any good photos? thxZ

Last summer I found out that my bag of golf clubs fits perfectly on the deck behind the seats. How's that for a good design? It looks like the car was well-designed for the kind of people they had targeted. Not only that, but when I first started cleaning out the interior, I found about a dozen golf balls in the spaces in the back, under the deck, in the tool bins, under the seats, all over...

Are you sure you don't need the 8mm screw? Could you grab a drill bit or pencil or something to see which one is the same size as the hole?

FWIW- My 280Z antenna stopped working partly because the brushes in the motor were worn out and fell out. I made new ones from alternator brushes, which I got from the NAPA store. I had to solder the brush leads to the brush holder, which IMO is a better electrical connection than the original design.

I have used some canvas bags to protect things like the alternator. Plastic and aluminum foil seem to tear easily. Just be careful when you spray water, so you don't spray directly into things like the alternator and distributor, AFM, etc. Keep in mind that you may have to wash the engine and engine area many more than just once. The first pass might get some of the dirt and oil, but it'll still look pretty much the same as the "before" or still "dirty." I washed mine about 6 times before it was really about ready to just treat and close the hood. Every time I concentrated on a different area, because unless you have 8 arms, the whole jobs is just too much for one pass. While you have the battery out is a good time to clean that area, and maybe treat anything you don't like to look at. It seems that mo matter how many times you wash or clean the area, it's never really "clean" or so the car show judges would say. It's up to you. I'm using tire foam products to detail the engine area. It cleans things, and leaves a protective residue, and you can just hose most everything down, although I rub it on & off.

I must have a shallow cap; the cap goes into the center gauge openings almost enough to meet the gauge faces. Otherwise, with the exception of trimming the holes for the dimmer knobs, mine fits fine, but the edge under the windscreen just won't lay flat (it's a little wavy) so I can't get the defroster grille on. Can you still mold it after painting (with Duplicolor vinyl paint?) I suppose I could drag mine out and straighten the upper edge with the heat gun. then I can bond it to the dash after collecting enough sticks for the job.

You put the knobs on after you glue the cap on.

I had a similar problem with my dash cap. The opening for the shafts for the dimmer and odo reset were not in the right place, so I used the moto tool to change things. If there was a way to fit the dash cap to the dash so you can remove the speedometer and tachometer, I would actually glue it on and maybe even have it covered in vinyl so it doesn't look or sound so "plasticy."

I measured a number of vehicles in some junkyards to see if they had wiper pivots with the same spacing, thinking the motor and linkage could be adapted to work in the Z, but there wasn't anything the was close so far.

Mine are slow in general, and the linkage is very loose or sloppy which makes things worse (see other topic on rebuilding linkage.)

You may be right. I was thinking that the upgrade relay system could be adapted to a 280Z, but there is a lot of research to do, beginning with the 240Z stuff.

You can trace the lines on the wiring diagram to the amplifier unit, but unless you are an electronics engineer, that's as far as you can go. There is even a symbol in the amplifier schematic that I've never seen. Even the name "amplifier" seems misleading, as that unit turns on the wiper motor when you turn the switch or activate the washer pump, and it has a timing section to make the motor run intermittently. It looks like it's acting as solid-state relay (with a timer function for the intermittant thing.) May one of our engineers here could look into it to design an equivalent or a better one. So unless you get out a scope and splice into the motor's harness, you won't otherwise be able to see what is happening when you turn the switch. Just from the looks of the amplifier design (of the 280Z wiper amplifier) and the amount of current it's probably controlling, I'm inclined to think the problem with slow wipers is partially in the connectors and partly in the old parts inside the amplifier.

The service manual only gives you the electrical schematic and doesn't tell you which wires have power in the different modes. Maybe Dave can share that information. Is it the same for all S30, like a 280Z?

Always use antiseize on metal fasteners.

Is there a way to fit in some of those newer plastic inserts? Those are great for the license plates because they don't rust and you can use any screw that fits well. they also make a small stand-off to keep the plates from touching or rubbing the paint. Granted, you night have to get out the Mototool to make the square holes for the plastic inserts, but is it at east feasible? I assume there is a "nut" attached to the backside of the license plate area. thxZ

the bearings on the ends of the linkage from the wiper motor to the arms are very loose so there is a lot of slop when the arms are at either end of travel, and they stop in a different place when you turn the wipers off. plus they are making some clatter at the ends of the travel, and it's getting distracting. Is there a way to rebuild those bearings? they look a like a kind of Heim joint, but maybe there's something better to tighten it up? Maybe a replacement linkage from another model car? thxZ

Sorry about that. Can you remind me where the circuit information is? Is there some logic stuff to tell you which wires/pins to the motor have power or make a circuit?

I was thinking you were going to say how the kid wanted to look up the performance "chip" for the engine computer, or something like that. BTDT

I have a wiper motor from an Escort ZX2. It was dirt cheap after I took it out myself,, the bolt pattern was similar, and it uses the (slotted) arm. I experimented with the wiring and found that it just uses 12V to power either low or high speed and it's self-parking. Relating (translating the wiring) this motor to the civic motor is the problem.

I use the Plasti-dip to recoat the metal wire wraps on the intake. If you practice it enough (and warm up the plasti-Dip) it comes out nice. OTOH, what do they call the plastic wire wraps with the barbs that you push into little holes on the fender?

Somebody told me there was an error in the beginning. Did anyone catch it?

Actually, I've seen a bunch of the My Classic Car shows. I watch Car Crazy too- when I get bored. They give more time to the American car events, like the Woodward Dream Cruise, but even though ZCON 2010 is significant to people like us, it doesn't seem that way to them. I wonder what the real reason was for them to go there. It just wasn't the right kind of TV program to give a good report on the convention. I had the same comment for the so-called "ZCON 2010 teaser video" that was submitted to YouTube. It looked more like a sales ad for 350Zs or 300ZXs than a preview of a Z Convention (just cars driving fast, blurry scenery, no smiling conventioneers, judged car show stuff or nightlife shots.) Lon- where were you? I'll go look. I noticed three cars from my club, one was in the opening/trailer, and on the Facebook slideshow.

Well, that was disappointing. The VCR says it had 15 minutes, 45 seconds of stuff recorded from a 29 minute show. The rest was the featured product(s) and annoyingly-long commercials. The interviews were OK, but that's all they did. There was a LOT more to ZCON 2010 than just some cars sitting in the grass. There's the souvenirs & displays, seminars & meetings, and the driving events, banquets, Mad Mike party, and nightlife during the entire week.

To add a little insult (no real offense intended ) to the injury, The "Best of" Car warriors was on May 4th, and they named the white 240Z thing :sick: as the "best" car on the show. Even the HybridZ guys hated the car! there's some added proof for you.We really should make a campaign to get them to do some more appropriate customizations if they continue the show. Maybe we can get the "CEO of Nissan" to threaten with a lawsuit if they don't retract the show or re-do it tastefully? It looks like they changed the show to a 36-hour contest, which would limit the stupid -ness...

There's a couple seconds of a car from my club on that trailer. Does anyone else recognize their car?