ksechler

Well, a project like this is never "done" but I'm going to call the restoration complete. The car is registered and I drove it several times this weekend. A couple initial impressions: The car is LOUD. Despite using $1K worth of sound deadening there is still quite a bit of noise. I'm chalking it up to old cars and it's good noise anyway. I need to work on the carb jetting. It's little rich in the low range and feels a little sluggish coming up. Mid to upper range it goes like hell and is almost scary - Thanks Eiji! This car is TIGHT. Good tight! No body roll when corning and it sticks like glue. The steering wheel is heavy, though and I'm not sure if I think it's right. However, I haven't had the car aligned yet. I'm kinda scared to let anyone else touch her. The brakes are so-so. Good stopping power but heavier in the pedal than a modern car. It makes heel-toe down shifting very difficult. Other than that, the car works surprisingly well considering it is newly off a 4-year rotisserie restoration. Photos will follow probably tomorrow.

Looks good to me. Hit it with a flap wheel and call it done.

I think you are going to have a very difficult time getting a decent finish just laying the fiberglass up like that. Have you considered getting a vacuum pump? Back in my RC model days we would use big plastic bags and a vacuum pump to suck the wing skins down to the core while the epoxy cured. You might be able to do something similar here.

I installed the windshield this weekend and put in most of the interior. I haven't done the doors yet and a couple of miscellaneous things, but the bulk of it is done. On a somewhat sour note, I bought the MSA carpet kit with bound edges. The only carpet from the kit I ended up using was the hatch area. With the sole exception of the hatch carpet, the fit and quality was wizz-poor and I elected to re-install the original underseat and floor carpeting instead. The original stuff was a much better quality and all of the edges were bound not just some like the MSA kit. The original carpet was faded but intact. It isn't my intention to put MSA down. They've provided a lot of parts for this project and I'm glad they are around, but I definitely didn't like the carpets.

Yep, go ahead and cut those fenders right off. Looks fine to me. Guy dies and you're fixing to sue the shop. Real nice!

The car is a 280 which had the grill mounted turn signals, but I retrofit the 240 bumper and 240 valence. I kept the 280 signals because I didn't want to mess with trying to find and fit a new grill. The lamps mounted in the valence are non-functional. They are just there to fill the space. I'm not really bothered by the way it looks (at least not right now). I always reserve the option to change it later with the proper 240 grill and removal of the 280 turn lamps. By mid-atlantic I mean MD. Not too far from Philly. ...and yes, it would probably have made sense to assemble the torsion rode stuff off of the car. I didn't. I used my considerable arm strength (;-)) to get them into place.

Had quite an adventure last night installing the torsion rods for the hood. I was scared to death the thing would spring out of my hand whack something. It was a lot less stressful working on the car before I painted it.

I fixed the arcing - loose wire. The hood is painted and on the car. Just wanting for the interior vinyl and carpet to arrive so I can install and put the windshield in.

No, someone else was cranking the car.

Mike: Where'd you get those screens?

Ditto!

Thanks for the advice. I made extensive use of dynamat and dynaliner. I'll take a last look around and make sure I've got it covered. I've used almost $1K worth of sound deadening and insulation! I believe I have the holes all plugged and the gas tank stuff sealed. I saved all of the original rubber pieces and they are back in the car. I don't know if the coil makes a "noticeable" difference. I won't be able to give a before/after comparison. The motor is very far from stock at this point. I had Eiji at Datsun Spirit build it to his STR III spec. So it's pretty strong. I haven't officially driven the car since it isn't registered and doesn't have a windshield, but I did take a very short trip down the road near my house. It isn't lacking for power! I have another question for you and the group in general: I noticed the other day that when cranking my motor there is a lot of arcing between the two terminals on the starter. Is that normal? It doesn’t seem right. For full disclosure, I’ll admit that initially I connected the starter wrong. Stupid as it may sound I connected the ground to the empty terminal and created a dead short in the starter. Is it possible that I damaged something and wrecked the starter?

Did you do anything for heat insulation? I used dynamat and dynaliner. I can't report on the results yet, I'm not quite done.

Wow, no love... :-( On another note. I put in the door weatherstrips and had to readjust the doors to get them to close. This messed up my panel alignment a little. The weatherstrips are new, will they crush down a little bit once they've been in a while?

I'm getting very close to finished with my car. This weekend was very productive. I got the front fenders, valence, and cowl painted and installed. I replaced the temperature sending unit, too. So with the exception of the tach I have fully functioning instruments. Probably the first time in twenty years that the gas level worked! I still need to paint the hood and install it. Otherwise, I'm done with painting. The car can be moved under it's own power now. The engine, brakes and clutch are all functioning.

Are you talking about using a relay on the pump in lieu of a vacuum receiver? IMHO that's a terrible idea. The ideal situation would be a vacuum pump with a pressure switch that will cycle on and off based on the vacuum in the receiver. The receiver is then available to provide a nearly constant source of vacuum to the brake booster.

I noticed... Anyway, I may have found my problem. The + cable between the battery and starter was loose. I tightened is and so far so good. I'll still have to sort out the pesky brake light.

Sorry, I would've added more detail but I wasn't trying to get on too much of a tangent with the alternator. I have read all the old threads here and elsewhere and haven't found quite what I'm looking for. So here goes, but remember, you asked for it.... There seem to be two schemes for bypassing the regulator for an IC alternator. Both schemes have you jumper the 1 and 5 wires, One scheme has you jumper 2 and 3. The other 2 and 6. Using the 2/3 combo doesn't work at all. I get 12 volts at the battery and a red charge light. Using the 2/6 option works if the motor's rev'd and gives 14 volts at the battery, but a non-functional charge light. Most of what I have read indicates that the 2/3 option is the right one and the 2/6 option will interfere with the operation of the charge light and the brake warning lamp. I really think something might be weird in the wiring. When I measure voltage to the alternator from the sensing line I only get 11.92 volts while the battery is around 12.5. Also, when the key is out I can hear a relay pull in when I use the 2/3 scheme which doesn't seem right. I wouldn't expect the relay to be energized in an at rest state.

Short version of "quite right" is that it doesn't really charge the battery. It's IC and there seem to be two versions of how to modify the wiring to remove the regulator. One doesn't work at all for me and the other works, but only if I rev the car up quite a bit. Which brings me to another issue. I have a lot more electrical load than stock. I have an electric fuel pump, two electric cooling fans, and an electric vacuum pump. I'm not sure 60a cuts it but it probably does. The final issue, though, is that I'm getting a little sick of screwing around with it, and a single wire alternator simplifies matters. I'm ready to be done with this car. It's been sitting in my garage too long. It belongs on the road.

I painted the front fenders. Sorry about the crappy cell phone picture. Those of you with a discerning eye may notice the drivers side door looks a little funny. I missed a dent and had to rework. The dent's fixed and I sprayed two coats on the repaired area. I need to feather and respray the door. I'm still fighting with my alternator. Can't get it to act quite right. Anyone done a 100a single wire conversion. I'd be interested to hear your opinions.

Yep, I used to do that. Superglue and baking powder, too. Man that stuff would cook off quick! And that little puff of smoke would burn the hell out of your eyes. Seriously, though, why reinforce the roof? That seems like a solution to a non-existent problem.

No photos to go with this one, but I made another milestone this weekend. I filled and bled the brakes and clutch. Then I fired up the car and backed it out of the garage. Just for kicks I drove it to the top of the driveway, turned around and came back. My neighbors probably though I was nuts since the car has no windows, no front fenders and no hood. It was very exciting. The first time the car has moved under its own power in over 3 years. It actually felt pretty good. I've got a stubborn leak at the brake fluid switch that I need to sort out. I hate to have to drain the system down and bleed it again but I tightened the hell out of the nut and it still leaks. So far I've only found two leaks. I think I fixed one but the other persists. Keep my fingers crossed the no more pop up.

So how do we work lobstrocities into this thread?

Guys: First let me thank you for the replies. I wasn't trying to start a war. I got the alternator working last night. My experience was that the Z Car Creations wiring does work, but the Atlantic Z Car Club does not work. They both connect the #1 and #5 wires, but the Z Car Creations swap connects #3 to #6 while the Atlantic Z Car Club connects #2 to #3. I don't know if there is variation year-to-year. For what it's worth my car is a 1976.

I meant to do this last night and I forgot. I'll also try to get some pics.