Zedyone_kenobi

UPDATE: finished today all the work on the stereo. I am happy with the sound and the look. It is worlds better than what was in there before. I wish I had more ABS so I could make another faceplate, this time using my template, vs the Retrosound one. For what it is worth, here are the pictures. You can see the USB plug I have left out. I am going to try to convert my itunes music to MP3's and store them on a flash drive so I can have 1000+ songs at my disposal. Also, these are not the knobs from the retrosound kit. I used some knobs I had from an old JVC that I thought looked less Chevy Bel Aire, and more Land of the Rising Sun. Here is the angle I told you about. This is the angle for a Datsun 280Z I think. But it is not quite a good fit for a 240. I think I am going to have to redo this...it bugs me. Here is the pioneer 6x9's I got to replace my dry rotted Realistic. The carpet is high because its a newer carpet kit laid over my existing factory carpet, which still looks brand new. I have no idea how long it has been covered up. Overall I would say this is a relatively easy install. I just added so much with antenna refit, rewiring everything, and the heater controls, that it took me forever. But on a happy and totally unrelated note, I installed my K&N filter, changed out my SU oil and checked my timing (since I had not done that since I installed the new carbs), and with my timing set, I can now FINALLY rev my car all the way to 6500 rpm with out so much as a hiccup! Zoom Zoom. Project Over...... Next is the new fancy rear diff support I just got on the group buy!

I was running 205/60/15's on my 15x7 panasports, and when I did the front end conversion to OEM body work, I had a slight rub when backing up turning to the left. Weird, I know. However, I needed tired and went with a set of 195/60/15's, and have had no issues what so ever. They look great and really match the look of the car. Not too wide, not too narrow. They look like they belong there. Also another advantage of going with a 195 is great feel for the road and reduced steering effort. Just a thought. I will roll on up with my Z this saturday.

Actually I do remember a certain MY Caddy that had a record player in the dash. That was back in the Harley Earl time frame though. UPDATE: Radio is IN, and I almost have all my climate controls in place! Only have to hook up the DEF cable, which is what started this whole thing to begin with. Which just goes to show you, that no matter how small the project, the 'while-I-am-at-it's' can strike often and strike hard. What started off as a DEF cable fix ended up being Refurb ALL the heater controls behind the dash Lube the cable levers Install new Retrosound stereo Rip out all old audio wiring Install new 6x9's flex look all audio wiring rerun all AC wiring, and make it look neat repair old power antenna so it works again rerun antenna switch and clean up terminals Still need to finish up some under dash stuff and program the radio, but for the most part its done. Pics to come tomorrow.

UPDATE: Yesterday was a busy day. I managed to piece together a functional power antenna from the one I currently have and a spare a buddy of mine gave me. After careful cleaning and assembly, I got the new antenna in the car, hooked it up and using the factory up/down switch, it worked like charm. I am going to mount the up/down switch in the glove box. Word of warming, my factory antenna died because of a stopped up drainage tube. ON the bottom of the antenna there is a rubber tube that extends through the rear fender for drainage. MIne was completely clogged with mud and dirt. When that happens, the water has nowhere to go, it sits inside the antenna and presto, corrosion. Be aware. If you have a functional antenna, look behind the driver rear wheel near where the muffler is. You will see a rubber grommet with a black hose sticking through. I would shove a small thin piece of metal up there to ensure there is no blockage. MOving on. I was going to install my rear speaker panel back on the car, but noticed the rubber surrounding the paper speaker cone would disintegrate when I touched it. So had to run out and buy a new pair of 6x9's. I settled on some Pioneer 3 ways that had some shallow mounting capability. I spent the rest of the day cleaning interior plastics and assembling trim with new black pop rivits I had been storing. I also managed to remove all the old crap-tastic wiring the PO had installed. Using the factory wire holders, I ran all my new speaker wire through flex loom, under the passenger seat, and up through the console under the vinyl near my shifter. All looks well. THe only connection I have to make is to find a convenient 12V ignition source. After that I can plug my radio in and see if it works. This has been a very fun project. I have learned so much about my car doing all of this. I cannot wait to have a properly functioning heater panel as well as a new radio.

Welcome and look forward to talking with you. Good luck on your new baby

UPDATE: I was able to get the template cut out for the center dash. How ever, that was not without issues. As you can see the template laid out for Datsun Z is clearly marked. And when you hold it up to the center console it looks pretty close. I would think it would be perfect for a 280Z. BUT for a 240Z it is not. I repeat, do not trust the indention labeled Datsun Z. Make a paper template from your center dash yourself and trace it onto the ABS plastic mounting face. That way you get it to fit exactly. Mine is close, but not perfect, which bugs me to no end. THe side angles are all WRONG for a 71. I should have done it right the first time. I get in a hurry at times, and it is almost always a bad thing. Retrosound, please make a note of this issue, as not all early Z's from 70-77 have the same dash opening. A different kit is needed for 240Z's. Still it is not the end of the world. On a more technical note, I did find a very convenient 12V constant, and now I need to find a good 12V ACC lead. Should be easy. I located and cleaned off the contacts of my antenna up/down switch. This is neat, as I have a curious issue. With the key on the center tab of the antenna switch gets 12.1 volts from the battery as its suppose to. When I rock the switch either to the up or down position, the corresponding tab gets voltage and there is an audible click from my antenna location, which his good! But what is bad, is when I put a voltmeter up to the up down tabs with the rocker pressed, I only get 5 volts out from the switch. So my question is this. Is my rocker bad, or do I have a bad ground not allowing voltage to flow to the antenna? More pics to come later.

Well, hope you can make it. We can pool our knowledge, get a call list together. If any of us have any issues, it would be so helpful to have a list of people you can call with the same car that can help you diagnose and do sanity checks. Looking forward to meeting everybody.

WElcome to the sight, it is good to have you. Always great to have another soul that wants to save a Z.

495 British pounds EACH.. OUCH.. that is spendy.

Let me clear up something. First let me apologize for not being more concise with my picture description. I do have 4 cables as you describe EScanlon. The one that runs to the passenger side somewhere way behind the AC evaporator I did not manage to track down, so I unhooked it right at the slider control and I will have to reinstall it before put everything back together. I think it goes to the outside air vent if I am not mistaken. I will keep my eyes open for a thin wall foam tape. I need a trip to the Home Depot pretty soon.

UPDATE: My retrosound model one came in today. Just before I left for work I decided to take a peak inside. So far, I am very impressed. I was leery about how nice the install would be with a cut to fit type of application, but Retrosound say they have kits for hundreds of cars, I think they meant it. This is a VERY good first sign that this is a well sorted piece of kit. Notice the Datsun Z in the left corner. IT made me giddy with delight. It was also well packaged and all the wires appear to be very well marked More to come on the install soon. I will take the kit apart and take pictures the best I can. Hopefully it will help others out as well. I mean thats what we are all here for. I will also try to snap some pics of my heater cable installation if people are interested in that, so the mystery behind the heater controls is gone.

Wow, that would be a long way to push a Z. But if you can make it, it would be great!

That is awesome info!! That is what I was looking for! Looks like I need to go to Lowes then. Radio needs to get here QUICK!

Folks, my origins are from a Subaru sight, and this HELLAFLUSH nonsense comes form the younger more immature import crowd. They value appearance over function. Style over performance. They care nothing of heritage, history, and prestige. All they want is to be the latest guy with a 19 year old girl straddling their hood. I have fought the good fight to end it on my old stomping grounds of the subaru forums, but I am called one of the 'old' members who does not understand the new generation of modders. When I read the posts here, I knew I found my home. There is no room for encouraging kids to ruin good cars with style over substance. This mantra of thinking is why all the new music sucks, the new movies suck, the TV shows suck. Its all about appearance over quality. Its better to look good than to be good. I am not a young man, but I am not an old one either. I am young enough to know what these kids these day are thinking. To the original poster. If you want to stand out, make your car pristine, make it run right, and operate perfectly. THAT would be different. 4 years down the road, when all your friends cars are mechanically broken to bits and worthless, you can laugh as your classic Z will be running better and better and have actually GAINED value. To all my Classic Z brethren. I am proud to be among you.

Okay, you got me Frank....but after contorting myself to get a view under that dash, I certainly am not 18 anymore! haha

My project started today with a refurb of the cables in the heater unit. While I was waiting for the Retrosound to arrive. I started by removing the cables attach points from inside the dash. One to the water valve, one to the heater flapper on the floor, which is the DEF cable, and one to the large flapper right over the heater core, which is the AIR cable I believe. This allowed to me to easily remove the 4 screws holding the center dash plate on. You have to feed the push light back through the center dash plate to remove the plate. Also, you have to disconnect the white connector that goes to the fan speed rotary switch. Nothing was hard, but my old body did not want to bend to get all the cables loose. I went further than I thought I would because so much was dirty, I decided to clean it up. I removed the front off the plenum behind the center vent and cleaned it up. I am sure that the fixture on the right which feeds the center and side dash vents has some kind of seal on the back side, but mine was all but disintegrated. I will try to find some kind of rubber seal or weather stripping to use to seal that back up when I put it back on. Here is the center dash plate removed and dusted off. and here is the cable control mechanism a bit closer... you can see on that last image that there was some kind of foamseal between the plastic and the vent tube, but it was long gone. I will try to find something to hold that in place. A trip to the hardware store may be needed. I installed my new cables I ordered and generously lubed up the sliders with some bicycle teflon spray. It leaves a film of teflon on after the spray evaporates so it does not tend to attract as much dirt. Needsless to say with new cables and the levels well lubed the thing moves like butter on a warm day. I am still waiting on my radio, so that is all for now. I will put my ducting back together some time this week. I will have to fight the urge to not pull out my fuel gage and clean it up a bit. It is so EASY to get to. ONE QUESTION though: I noticed what appeared to be a hard uncoated bare metal wire about as thick and hard as an old metal coat hanger, just bouncing around in my dash. I followed it and it goes to the little add on rotary temperature control for my dealer installed AC. I have a suspicion that it is a thermocouple of some sorts, to regulate when the compressor turns on. Does this sound right. I have no idea where the end of it goes. One end comes out of my rotary switch for the AC the other end of the metal wire was just dangling back behind the blower near the evap or condenser. More to come as time gets closer. On a happy note, I found my old antenna up/down switch stashed away in some wires. I plan to make use of that!

I already have the MSA rear panel installed with two speakers form the PO, who did a hack job. I yanked everything but the speaker wires as they were already run for me. Thanks Micheal for the hints, I may be contacting you. Dave, I am an original stereo fit and finish kind of guy. I save my real stereo aspirations for my home stereo.

I was thinking about trying to replace my bearings in my rear end, but after reviewing the FSM, I do not think its a DIY type of job. Many special tools needed both off the shelf and Datsun factory special tools. Not sure as I am pretty sure I have a rear bearing on my passenger side of the diff that needs some removing and replacing. I think I may just try to replace the whole thing. I just have to find one that is in better shape than mine.

I just ordered a Retro Sound Model One from MSA and I will be installing it after I redo my DEF cable that is not functioning. Are there any pitfalls to installing a radio. Any advice. I know it is only a few wires, but is there something I could do to help myself out. Any advice on antenna's, how to prevent engine noise, etc. I do have a spare power antenna I want to install in the car, as mine does not seem to work. I have not done any troubleshooting yet. I know my up down switch has power going to it, I need to remove the panel covering the antenna and see what is getting power and what is not. Again, any advice in advance would be splendid.

All right, I will add you to the list! Look forward to meeting you!

Check out post number 19 Frank. No more tequila for you!

I will eat a skoan for you two!

http://user.streetfire.net/video/1971-240Z-with-vintage_205421.htm As mentioned, this is my ANSA setup.. hope this link works

Okay, judging by what I have so far, lets shoot for January 23rd at the uptown location starbucks, at around 11am. I have no issues drinking coffee around noon -

have you tried hybridz.org they are more into the uber wide tire / crazy offset thing.