timhypo

Ok, disregard this, I figured it out. The not charging issue was because of a broken wire INSIDE of the plastic shielding. Wouldn't have found that without the alternator. The not turning off issue was actually the fault of my ignition switch. Some of the local gangsters tried to go joyriding in it last year and screwed up the switch with a screwdriver, making 'OFF' real hard to find and, when I thought it was in the 'off' position, it was actually in the 'ACC' position. Awesome. Now to drive it until I get up the courage to try the distributor upgrade...

Ok, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter and I've had the car parked while I work on other projects, automotive and otherwise. Well, yesterday, I decided it was time to start working on this car again. I charged the battery up and got it to fire pretty easily, given it had been parked for almost 6 months. It's still, however, not charging the battery. I went through and double-checked that the wiring matches what's depicted on http://datsunzgarage.com/engine/index.htm under the 'alternator upgrade' section. All appears well there. Beyond that, what testing can I do? I know I can take the alternator to an auto parts store and put it on their testing machine, but I'm wondering what testing I can do at home before going through the trouble of pulling it and driving across town. I have a multimeter and know how to use it. I was thinking that I could jumper between the 'BAT' terminal and the battery's positive terminal, then check to see if it's charging. Should the alternator 'BAT' terminal have a specific voltage on it? One other clue that may prove useful is that the car won't shutoff on its own when I pull the key despite the fact that I have the diode mentioned on the link above installed per their directions. As their directions aren't terribly clear, I tried reversing the diode but the car still has the same behavior. Any ideas? This is maddening, the car is running great and I'd love to start driving it as my daily, but without charging the batter, that's a no-go.

I'm not going to drive it until it's, at least, charging the battery. As has been noted in the past, the existing ammeter isn't compatible with the ZX alternator, so a new gauge is in the future plans, when I replace the rest of the gauges. For now, I'll bypass is and drive the car...

So, prior to reading the latest post, I did my experiment connecting the white wire to the yellow/red wire using a piece of 22g and a pair of alligator clips and the car fired right up. It's not charging the battery, but I can look at that next...

So, somehow I need to bypass the ammeter. I'm thinking from looking at this wiring diagram that Blue posted (link below my post) that I need to connect the white wire going into the ammeter to the Yellow/Red wire coming from the ammeter. This assumes that there is voltage on the white wire when I check it - it's the line from the starter, so it should be hot. The yellow-red appears to eventually supply voltage to the ignition switch. http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techti...40z_wiring.pdf

So, last week I finally got my '72 240Z running after a few years (previous owner says he parked it in 1989) and put a few hundred miles on it over the last week. It ran great with no issues, So, as I've been working on things, I've been collecting parts and the first mod was to be the ZX alternator. I pulled the old reg and alternator, installed the new one, and hooked it up. Except, I hooked it up wrong, undoubtedly partallt due to the previous owner's shenanigans with the cable colors. Anyway, I had the wire that's supposed to go to the BAT terminal on an E terlinal I believe this means Earth - a GROUND! To make things worse, I didn't notice before trying to fire it. WEll, there was a pop and then nothing worked, except the horn and brake lights. So, any suggestions of how to further isolate this? It would appear that the PO removed the fusible link that's supposed to be between the starter and the rest of the mess of electronics, so I know that didn't pop. I thought the ammeter looked smokey, but it was dark. I've read that the ammeter is in the path of the positive of pretty much everything in the car's positive lead and that an ammeter that's out can cause this, how do I wire around it to check? Any other suggestions? I've spent the last two days picking through it with the volt-ohm meter and have learned little, I've poured through the results of tons of searches here, on zcar, and in Google, I'm at a dead-end, I fear. I need help!!!

Ok, I should have the distributor base tonight. I wanted to take this opportunity to let you all know that The Z Barn is EXCELLENT. Roger was quick, easy to deal with, and incredibly reasonably-priced on a part he could have gouged me on. I got the base for $15 shipped. Add a $20 coil and my total will $88 for a conversion to electronic ignition. We're due for a weekend of sun and low-80s, so I'm gonna take the opportunity to finish my fuel-pump install, add electronic ignition, and put the 240z back on the road. It's gonna rule...

The E31 head is really a significant improvement over the E88? Or was your E88 in need of a work anyway? I thought the only real difference between an E31 and an E88 (from our era) was that the E31 had a smaller-chamber and, therefore, higher compression and more power. My '72 was built in 11/71 (I think my car and yours would have had the same variation of E88) and I've been doing some consideration of what performance mods I'd like to make, just like the original poster. Based on my other vehicles being V8 torque monsters, I think I'd like to build some variation of an L6 and am thinking of keeping my L24 instead of using an L28 to build an engine that favors being revved over adding torque. Is an E31 worth tracking down or would getting some valve work and shaving my E88 to raise compression be my best bet with the idea being that I wanna build a motor that loves to rev? I think a light flywheel is also in my future, based on wanting a motor that revs.

Actually, Datsuns are oddly missing from my local junkyards. I also build older cars, currently have a '58 Olds, a '51 Ford F1, and a Model A hotrod, so I have a pretty good number of junkyards and haven't seen a ZX in one. I think most of them have been crushed with the high steel prices a few years back. I should be able to make one, right? It's just a sleeve with two ears, once slotted for timing adjustments, right?

Dammit. Where am I gonna find one of those? Maybe I can make one...

So, I won this thing off eBay for $53 shipped and was hoping to use it to upgrade my '72 240Z to electronic ignition and a MUCH hotter spark. It's supposedly off an '81, so I expected an E12-92 module, but to my delight, it came with an E12-80. It also turns smoothly and the vacuum advance seems to work. Besides the E12-80, the other thing that the page I've been using as reference on datsunzgarage.com (http://datsunzgarage.com/engine/index.htm) says that I need is an L28 Distributor Base. It says that MSA used to sell them, but of course, I don't see em anywhere. Here's what I have and I'm hoping the piece on the bottom of the Dizzy is what I need to mount it. Is there anything else? I know I need a coil. Can I run an aftermarket 'hot rod' coil or should I order a ZX coil?

For the poster who said that the car idles better with the vacuum advance hooked up than not - you need to plug the vacuum line when its unhooked or you'll have a huge vacuum leak. The vacuum advance has zero effect on the idle.

BTW - a straightedge on the face of the rotor didn't reveal any obvious warpage. Is it possible to have it or the caliper on crooked? I've heard that a rotor being warped even a few thousadths can cause these kind of issues and I certainly wouldn't have detected that with a straightedge and my naked eyeball...

BINGO! Today I pulled the driver-side front wheel to retorque the wheel bearing nut and discovered that the rotor will turn about 90% of the way then grinds to a halt, being almost impossible to turn further, and makes the same sound my truck does when it's time to change the pads. I didn't get a chance to remove the caliper today - it was getting dark quickly - but I will tomorrow just to rule out the possibility of it being the wheel-bearing. Thanks, Bruce!

I don't know what part of AZ you live in, but if it's not the dry part, you might wanna reconsider your plan of using primer to stop the rust. Primer is very porous and, outside of a desert climate, will absorb moisture from the air and rust underneath. If you like the flat look, you can always use a flattened clear over the primer to seal it. I like primer cars, in a way, they can look 'all business', if you know what I mean...