FastWoman

Are you sure your starter is in good shape? You can have that tested too. If you can measure ANY appreciable resistance in the battery cables, they're no good. The better way to test them would be to measure the following voltages with the starter engaged: Battery + post to starter + Starter + to Starter - Starter - to battery - There should be very little voltage on the first and third measurements. Most of the voltage drop should be across the starter. If there's a large voltage across either of your cables, it's probably bad. Cables are pretty cheap anyway. I'd probably just replace them for good measure. Cables don't suddenly fail. Rather, they fade away over time.

Wayne! THANKS! ;-) That critical fold-out had been ripped out of my '78 FSM.

Tomo, Versing, I had the same issue (no rubber piece) and replaced mine with the same autozone unit Zs used. My repair wasn't as elegant or as good, but it worked OK. I just wrapped the pump with electrical tape to almost the ID of the clip area on the tank, and wrapped some rims on either side. Then I finished off with a couple of wraps around the whole thing. It's a bit wobbly when clipped into place, but it stays. Wish I had the rubber thingie.

My experiences with BD are about the same as those expressed above. They've been a good source for aftermarket parts. I have only two mildly negative experiences: I ordered a remote door lock set that was purported to fit ANY 240/260/280. When I went to install it in my '78, there was no place I could mount the servos without custom manufacturing some somewhat complicated linkages. I returned the kit, and they were happy to take the return. I told them there was no way to fit the thing in a '78, and they did not care to correct their claims that the kit would fit ANY 240/260/280. I ordered an EGR valve from them. It was a generic valve with an S30 style base to it. It came with a bag of a few dozen orifice washers and a cross-reference list between the original part numbers from numerous manufacturers and the type of orifice washer to use. I did not have the original part number and couldn't put my fingers on it easily. Therefore I called BD for this information. They flat-out couldn't provide it. I eventually found the PN, but not with their help. They were very friendly and sympathetic, but unable to help. If I had asked to return the EGR, I have no doubt they would have processed the return.

One by one, pull fuses until the noise stops. Identifying which fuse goes with the noise will go a long way towards locating the problem.

I'm guessing that might be the fuel pump wiring. If memory serves me, the grommet on my car has a rubber "nipple" on it that seals tightly around the wire. Then I THINK I remember wiring tree tape wrapped around the nipple, making it very water tight. There's always silicone calk. You can get 3M's marine-grade 5200 in black. Good stuff. Very tough. Peace, Sarah

Try stringing a wire directly from the battery to the fuel pump, at least long enough to get you home.

Meats, you can buy a FSM used on Amazon pretty cheaply. The going price is about $80, as I recall, but I got mine for $24 in fairly marked up condition. (As long as the info is in it, I don't care whether it's pretty.) You can also find FSMs on Ebay. If you're old-fashioned like me, you'll appreciate having the book to lay out where you're working. Of course it's not as compact or as cheap as a download version! As I recall, the fusible links do jump between white (which is from the battery) and white/red (which runs to the various systems). Of course having ordinary wire in place of a fusible link is not a good thing. I'm wondering whether your fuel pump is going bad and fails when it gets hot. You might try testing it by running it without the engine running and seeing whether it keeps running. Try jumpering from the battery directly to the + post of the fuel pump (which won't risk overcurrent damage to any of the wiring in the car), and see what it does.

Just to be clear, I have a dash cap (a half cap). I pulled my tach on two occasions from the front. It took me a few min to carefully work the tach past the cap, but it can easily be done with a bit of care.

That probably beats anything anyone else on this list will get for Xmas!

What Steve and Tomo said! I don't know how the 240's tach is removed, but I suspect it's the same way -- one screw at the top front of the bezel, and one on the lower side behind the tach. The dash cap is a bit of a pain, but with a bit of care, you can shoe-horn the tach past the cap with a thin, well-worn screwdriver that you slide around the outside of the tach.

Is there any sort of coolant flush that would dissolve out corrosion, possibly freeing up any blockages? Maybe something acidic? It might be something a radiator shop could help you with.

I believe my quarter window louvers have been claimed! :-) Merry Christmas, all! Peace, Sarah

Good lord! More to the point, what did the problem turn out to be, Gibbie?

I'd say you can plug it in and try it. Your alternator should put out about 14.5V, give or take. If it does, then the VR is doing its job. The electromechanical VR is the correct type, BTW, at least from a restorative point of view. The solid state VR is probably the better unit from a standpoint of functionality. Personally, I'd pretty-up the solid state one and use it, stashing away the electromechanical one for later use.

The tach can jump (at least sometimes on some cars) when the cylinders misfire. That can cause premature termination of the spark, such that all the pent-up energy rings at high voltages in the ignition coil. That results in double-triggering of the tach. If you straighten out your running problems, the tach will probably stop jumping. It sounds like fuel starvation to me too. It could also be a failing fuel pump.

Yeah, that's what the VR from my '75 looked like (on the right). Your original part must be a solid state unit. It sort of looks like the difference between the old electromechanical VR in my Mustang and the solid state unit that replaced it. Is the electrical connector the same? Same color codes in each connector position?

After a lot of soul searching, as well as consultation with my better half (who also drives the car occasionally), I'm thinking the car alarm approach is not the way to go. My biggest fear is that the car is driven off and taken on a destructive joy ride. I can recover from a broken window, mangled door, mangled ignition lock, snipped wires, stolen stereo, and/or mangled center console. My insurance would cover it, and I would get back to where I was. What I can't recover from is a totally trashed car. I've decided to go with a (not so) simple engine enable mechanism that will not have the obnoxious attributes of a car alarm. Just for fun, I'll also wire in a dummy "deafeat switch" somewhere that triggers the horn on a self-keeping relay that is only deactivated with the real enable mechanism. I've decided the sound of the Z's horn is unique enough, and I'd be well notified by the thief's error. At that point I'll be hitting speed-dial, and the race will be on. Will the thief get past my friends at the end of the block? Will the sheriff head him off at the pass? Lots of guns and law enforcement where I live. Living on a peninsula with one way in and one way out has its advantages.

Well, if it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, and quacks like a duck....

Yeah, I agree that it's a broken exhaust manifold stud or a blown out piece of exhaust gasket material. That happened to the 318 in our boat. It sounded like a valve problem, and my immediate thought was "Oh no, I'm going to have to rebuild a head." (It really sounded bad.) However, a bit of poking around quickly revealed the problem. The sound was apparently from the manifold tapping against the head with each exhaust stroke. Obviously it got louder as the engine was put under load. If you do have an exhaust leak, it can erode material from the head and manifold over time, and if you let the leak get bad enough, you'll have a possible carbon monoxide or fire risk.

Sounds like a restoration to me, but then again, I'm not a purist.

Nah, you don't want to be the ubiquitous kid in a Honda with a loud muffler. That would be sooooooo cliche! (No offense, BeeBee!) No, there's something very cool about a vintage sports car, whether American, Japanese, or any other nationality. Good choice!

I'm pretty sure the '76 has a mode door that diverts air flow either to the heater core or to the AC's evaporator coil. (At least that's how my '78 is configured.) On the 78, the door is controlled by vacuum lines. I'm pretty sure the vacuum lines on my '78 were original, and they were cracked/broken in a few places. None of my vacuum operated parts were functioning. I strung new lines and restored my system to full functionality. It wasn't a fun job, but it wasn't that hard either. If you don't have one, you should get a copy of the Nissan factory service manual for your car. You can order one used on Amazon (my recommendation), or you can download a free electronic copy online. I'm sure someone else will have a useful link for you, as well as information more specific to the '76. Good luck!

76flz, I think you're getting some good advice here. I got the same advice when I bought a 6 cyl '68 Mustang and a partially rebuilt 302 from a friend. My mechanic informed me the 302 was junk and not worth finishing. The body was OK but had a LONG way to go. The advice I got was to find a very nice Mustang that someone had already dumped a lot of money into and was selling below their cost. I sold the '68 for what I had in it, and I found a 289 '66 (more desireable year) with matching numbers that was being unloved. I picked up the '66 about $2000 below appraisal. I added AC and PB, but didn't have to do much else. I kept it, enjoyed it, and eventually sold it for about $3000 over my costs, which made it a better investment than any of my "responsible" investments of late (in stocks and real estate). That said, I did make one mistake. The car was too perfect and required so little work that I never really "bonded" with it. My '78 Z (successor to my Mustang) is not as perfect and needs *some* TLC. However, it's basically a very nice car. Its strength is its body, which is a great match for me, since my weakness is body work. Its weakness is its mechanical and electrical components, which is where my strength lies. Therefore I'll keep plugging away happily at the mechanicals and electricals, bonding with the machine. In the end, I'll probably put in more time and money than the car will be worth, but it will be a car I will enjoy far more than the mustang. So maybe the third time is the charm -- "just right," as it were.

I've used baby oil to remove adhesive on delicate surfaces. More aggressive would be diesel fuel. More aggressive still, gasoline or mineral spirits. Then lacquer thinner. None of these will damage a polymer finish (e.g. polyurethane). However, any of them will damage old-fashioned paint to a greater or lesser extent. If it's the old-fashioned stuff, I probably wouldn't use anything more aggressive than diesel oil.