Mikes Z car

Your excitement reminds me of how I felt when I first turned the key after replacing bearings/rings in the 240z I used to have. Mine barely ran when first started due to retarded timing.

Ron, Are the colors on the 3 way inline W, W/B and R? Mike

Ron, Aha, I have a 4 wire connector like the one in your picture behind the non original radio that is not being used and it has only 1 wire in it, a blue one and I wondered what it was for. In looking at your picture of the connector lying on top of the radio it looks like the blue wire goes to the lower left connector? I am trying to figure out if that blue wire matches the blue wire in the female connector I have though I understand that the wires sometimes change color across a connector. Thanks Ron, Mike

Ron, Am I interpreting your pictures right, the pictures numbered 2 and 3 show a 3 conductor connector with the connectors for that one in line with each other like this? XXX and the colors are White with black stripe Red with blue stripe White? Does the blue fuse wire go into the 3 conductor connector I am asking about that has the three conductors in a row or is it a separate single conductor that has a bullet on the end? Thanks, Mike

My early 70 240 uses a large three connector plug for the antenna power connection as far the dash connector. I don't have an original radio. In the attached picture you can just see the radio three connector plug. The wires in the connector for the radio power antenna are arranged _X_ X_X like that and are not in line with each other. I am chasing this too. It would greatly help me if you find and post a closeup picture of all the connectors on the back of the radio if you find one. Mike

Hi all, My 240 has twin sunroofs installed by a PO that are side by side and though I haven't driven in the rain to determine this I can see signs such as applied RTV that indicates the sunroofs leak. I may delete them and put in a new roof panel where they are. Has anyone been able to put in a replacement sunroof to stop leaks? I wonder if it might be possible to have a piece of glass drilled for the existing hardware such that the new glass would be larger all around to extend out beyond the rubber to prevent leaks. I might not be able to open it then though. These leak because keeping rain out depends on a seal between the glass and the rubber but the seal is slightly indented by the glass so that rain goes down in this joint instead of flowing off of it if that makes sense. Any ideas appreciated. Mike

I wonder if the bottom of the inside of the drums got rusted from mositure collecting at the bottom from being in one spot and the shoes are grabbing more there than the rest of the drum as the wheel turns?

I can't help think the voltage regulator for the alternator isn't working. This might not be the easiest idea and better logic might prevail but I would try putting in the old alternator as a check of the regulator. Mike

Glove box latch fix and door warp prevention (see part 2 of 2 of this blog post for bending the latch tang on the upper half of the door latch on the body of the car to make the latch click solidly every time) I wanted to make the glove box latch work right and to stop the door warp by weakening the overly strong light switch spring. Note that ZULAYTR posted in a thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/interior-s30/19881-glove-box-door-light-switch.html as to how to straighten out your door if it is already warped by heating it up and bending it the other way. To stop the latch on the door from sliding if it is loose: 1. The door latch on my car was loose (a two piece assembly) and sliding even when tightened so I took it out and flattened with a hammer the back 3/8 inch part of one end of the U shaped piece closest to the hinge. 2. I drilled a tiny hole thru the U shaped piece and the lip on the flat piece it fits in and put a cotter pin through the hole to keep it from sliding back and forth. There is room for a tiny cotter pin. On my car this hole needed to position the parts so that the U shaped part is slid all the way into the flat part it mounts on to mate to the upper latch right: As information the upper half of the glove box latch on my early 240 is held in place by two 4 MM metric bolts with a .7 pitch. Preventing door warp by weakening the door light spring: 1. To avoid further warping of the glove box door I replaced the spring in the glove box switch with a weaker spring; what Ace Hardware here calls a no. 3 spring. Spring specification: 2. The switch assembly, called "nut spring" in the fiche can be pried out with a pocket knife. 3. Bend the legs of the chrome colored retainer out just enough to allow it to pop off of the rest of the assembly. The spring will pop out at this point. The "legs" of this item fatigue easily and will break if bent too much so limit bending as much as possible. 4. I cut off part of the no. 3 spring to make it even weaker however if you do this be sure the spring is still long enough to push the copper connection on the end of the plastic plunger rod into firm contact with the chrome colored retainer as that is where it gets its ground connection. I tried shortening the original spring but the spring still felt too strong. After replacing the chrome colored retainer on the rest of the assembly pull gently to test that the two parts are gripping each other. If not it is possible to gently squeeze the retainer with pliers just under the lip to force the legs to grip tighter. If the legs need to grip the sides of the hole better try putting a straightened out paper clip under a few of the legs in the middle and use pliers to squeeze the end of the leg to force it to bow out so it will grip the hole it fits in better.

I used to live in Sacramento with my orange 71 and the local Z club. Wish I could be there!

What did he say?

Do you have any borseight camera pictures? Where did you get the boresight camera? I made one for my frame rails and other areas but haven't used it yet. Mike

On my early 240 (MFR date 1/70) the motor wires go straight up out of the motor about 3 inches and plug into two similar wires that continue straight up another two inches that then go into a hole in the very top of the fan box nearest the edge toward the passenger seat. I assume the resistors for slowing down the fan speed are in that hole. A wire bundle comes out of this same hole and goes maybe 3 inches before having a molex connector pair on it (male and female connected together). This wire bundle continues maybe 9 inches on to another molex connector pair (male and female pair connected together) that is 5 inches from the fan control switch on the dash and continues on to connect to that switch. This molex conductor has a red wire coming out of it and if I connect 12 volts to that red wire the blower runs. This red wire plugs into one end of a blue wire that goes to an inline fuseholder in the passenger footwell that currently has a 15A fuse in it. The other wire from the fuseholder is also blue and goes into the wire harness. My fan will run if I connect 12 volts to the fuse but I am not getting 12 volts to the fuse for some reason. Hope this helps, my car is a 1/70. I can take pictures if needed since I have my radio out and I can see a little bit. Also a hand mirror with a small bright light helps. I use a 10 watt halogen bulb in a wire cage connected to a 12 V power supply. Mike

I smelled fuel in my car until one day working on something else I had the hood up and turned the key so the fuel pump kicked on and noticed fuel squirting out of a fuel rail to carb 1/4" hose. FWIW.

Don't know if this is worth mentioning but the local Z doctor determined that one of the rear stock springs I ordered for my 240 was for a 280 because the diameter of the spring wire (not the diameter of the whole coil) was wrong. He determined that with a caliper and I believe the FSM but don't quote me.

Been following this thread, just remembered that in solar battery systems there is a periodical equalization charge done so that the battery is briefly overcharged as sometimes one cell in the series doesn't charge as fast as the other ones. The charger I left on my Z all winter is a ProXone model 610004 dual rate which doesn't boil out the battery like the cheapie one I had. I guess the proXone works like the battery tender.

Took a picture of the crossmember under the radiator to get an idea of the curve at the end for a sketchup 3D drawing I am attempting to make of the early 240Z frame. Not sure how far I will get with this as it is more time consuming to get any accuracy than I thought and I am no cad expert. I will upload what little I have so far to my blog for anyone to make use of and for any comments. Drove my 240 to the hardware store where it got looked over. Several people have commented on how nice it looks this last week or so as I have had it outside to finish the wiper motor install and the headlight harness upgrade.

Hmm I wonder if the points opening and closing could make it appear the voltage dropped because with the points in action there wouldn't be a continuous DC on the coil as there might be when measuring with the engine not running? Mike

Yahoo!!!! That makes my car by comparison worth $100,000 !!!

All of the Z car material has been sold the lister just told me.

all sold

I put a copy of the 240Z registry from 3 July 2009 on my blog if it helps anything. Will delete if that is a bad idea. Most likely I have a more recent copy at work but if it is already being corrected maybe it is okay as is. My entry is fixed. mike

Attached is a copy of the 240Z, 260Z, 280Z and 280ZX registry from 3 July 2009. If this is a copyright thing or another kind of violation I will delete it just let me know. Mike Z Car Registry.xls

I bought a 85 turbo Z new. Only new car I ever bought. The notchy transmission and non sports car feel made me want the 71 240Z back I had before I bought the turbo. In retrospect I would have been much happier if I had spent what I did on the turbo on the 240Z to get rid of rust damage. Back then I didn't know you could replace the floor pans. I do think women liked the 85 a lot better than my 240Z due to the comfort. The climate control worked better in the 85 than any other car I have had. I remember my first girlfriend saying when she got in the 71 240Z I had for the first time after I made a snappy exit from the parking lot "is that why you like these little cars?". I tried to explain that the throttle tended to stick; in retrospect I think because the butterflies were dragging on the side of the carbs. My current 70 240Z is smooth in that regard. I use lithium grease packed thick around the throttle shaft entry points to keep dirt out and to prevent additional wear. I plan on replacing the grease from time to time. I hope that is a good idea! Mike

I like the stock look but with limited funds my 240 will have to keep the things the PO installed. I think the original Z seats look great but I remember as a young guy driving a 240 across half the country in one sitting that the no lumbar support was a killer. The seats someone put in the 240 I have now don't look as good as the original IMO but i can drive with them all day as an old duffer with no problem. I also like the stock front valence look but I wonder if the air dam on my car might keep some water out? I lost my last Z to rust, very cautious about that. I don't drive in the rain so maybe that doesn't matter. Mike