TomoHawk

Krylon has a nice flat black too; it's a a formula for plastic which is basically what a vinyl dash covering is, or even a plastic dash cap.

Bedliner paints usually have a satin shine. My rear deck is painted with that.

Please explain more about gloss and flat oil?

Mine was almost like a charcoal color, but now it has a lot of fingerprints.

What do you guys think about using a black latex paint? Can you get it mixed with a flattening agent? It'll be flexible, and usually it hold up to fingerprints and household chemicals or waxes... Darn, I drove by TWO NAPA stores today.

I made a test panel using Rustoleum High Heat BBQ Black. It dried quickly and had a non-glare finish. It was called "BBQ Black" but it's not even close to black! It's not even close to charcoal. It was like a dark grey primer. I'm not sure I will use it on the entire dash, because I was getting fingerprints when handling the test panel, and fingerprints are bad, especially in a car you'll be using during the hot& sweaty summer, and some bozo may even try wiping the thing with ArmorAll, thinking he's helping you get more points for a show. If the Trim paint can hold up to fingerprints, like a vinyl paint, and some light scuffing, like from a GPS setup or a computer mount, then it'll be worth the $13 a can. Vinyl paint also do that, but you can't get it in flat black. And it seems that every black automotive paint is made with gloss...

Regarding the Topic, I will be using the Royal Purple ICE this summer. I did some reading about it and Water Wetter, and the Water Wetter lacked any anti-corrosion or water pump lubricants which ICE is supposed to have. The only bad thing about the Ice is that it requires about double the amount when mixing it with water-only, compared to Water Wetter.

Obviously, we really don't want to do that to a Zed, but on a MX5.... Following up on the suggestion of a Bluetooth-operated immobilizer, here is a writeup of one that is wireless, and practical. This item is an alternative wireless device. Both could easily be used as a way to disable an electric fuel pump. Sorry, but for you owners of the early models, you'll have to disable the ignition, unless you can get an electric fuel cut off valve.

You can get wireless relays via eBay...

A small latching or snap switch on the water temp sensor wire would make breaking that line an easy thing.

The problem with that is, any place where you can easily reach (find) a toggle switch is a place where a thief can also find it. You ought to put it in a more difficult place to find, and, if someone is watching, you may have to wait for him to leave to start the car.

That's fine, as long as you don't lose your matching Molex 'Key'

A 30A relay in the back, (some have the fuse incorporated into the relay) and any small switch, will be simple and fairly compact. In case the relay fails, the use of certain connector terminals would make it so you could bypass the relay, it it fails. Removing the fusible link will work, but those darned plastic covers break or become loose after you take them off so many times.

I wish I had known about the Trim black long ago, but the store I was shopping didn't have it or anything similar- just Duplicolor products. the doors on my city car had back windowframes, but now they're almost grey. But no worries. I'm getting a new car very soon. No it's not a Datsun. The SEM product information says it comes in satin, so I'll take that as non gloss satin, and probably less glossy than what's already on the thing.... I'll browse through the other local stores, such as NAPA and Oreilly's to see what they have, and maybe the Home Depot.

Charcoal is the color closest to black that is appropriate for vintage cars.

I tried searching, because I presumed this should have been discussed several times. I tried a test panel with some BBQ grill paint, but that soaks up oil from your fingers and would look really bad in a car. Is there such a thing for a vinyl dash in black? I want it to be absolutely flat, without any sheen at all. I suppose the Florida or Arizona owners would know this well. The local AP stores only have VHT in "wrinkle" which is still a satin finish, or they have no idea what a flat anti-glare paint is.

You could easily add a length of ordinary hose to the front, near the turn indicators, or use a different path for the throttle intake, which frees the round opening. The latter would sallow you to get a cooler supply of air, and at a greater pressure.

If you really wanted to, and you had the fender off, would be to hook up a show vac with a small hose, and blow air INTO the lower vent to see where it comes out. I tried it on mine recently, and it doesn't come out in the wiper linkage area, so you'd have to go further forward to find where the air is exiting. It may even come out of those round holes in radiator support, because you'll notice that the radiator support is two pieces (front & back) with some space between them.

I beliebve Mr. SBlake has the complete intake filter box with the duct, so maybe he will post a photo for reference.

Is this what you are referring to? It attaches to the end of the snorkel on the air filter box, and goes across to the other side of the radiator and into the other round hole. It's not a cold air intake, because it gets the warm air from behind the radiator.

So much for the "Just put a simple SPST switch on the fuel pump wire" system.

Would you please be more specific?

The 280Z (1978) doesn't use those. You may be misled when browsing eBay auctions to think that the 280Z does use them, because most sellers attract buyers by listing any and all Zed parts as "fits 240Z/260Z/280Z/280ZX" when it actually doesn't. The fresh air is obtained by a 'scoop' formed from the forward-bottom edge of the inner fender/splash guard, and the channel located along the upper edge of the inner fender channels the air to the floor vent inside. The 240Z uses those plastic tubes because it has no inner fenders.. But if you've removed the splash guards, is it still possible to add those back to the car? The location where it attaches to the inner fender doesn't seem to have much stress on it, compared to where the air channel attaches to the firewall. Could you cut a hole near the drain tube for a 4cm plastic pickup tube? BTW- this Cabin fresh air is different than the one under the slotted cowl panel at the foot of the windscreen; that is the fresh air for the heater and demister.

Does anyone know the actual current under load of the Fuel pump on a 80Z when it's in operation? If you wanted to install a kill switch of some kind it would be good to know, and I don't think it has a corresponding fuse.

Historical texts and documentaries are never "outdated."