SurferD

My brakes are really weak and I know my booster has a vacuum leak so I need to address that. Do the proportion valves in the engine bay and near the fuel tank ever fail and do they need rebuilding?

I have a spare switch I PM'd you.

One more thing after driving it for a while, I now have a accessory belt squeal and I can smell the rubber burning from friction. It doesn't happen all the time. The belt is new and I have it adjusted to the correct tension. Could the alternator be resisting spinning?

Ahh I glossed over that remark

HAHA Mavericks rock! My first car was a 1971 with a 200cid i6. Umm, what's that got to do with Kang's Z?

The budge one looks fine for your needs. I keep my Z outside so I went with a Covercraft Noah. It's pricey but the PepBoys cover I had ripped and leaked. http://www.covercraft.net/carcovers/car_cover_fabrics.html

Great video but I have a few gripes.First off he says it's made to be a track car yet he chose to use a stock fuel tank which is not allowed in any racing format except autocross and low level SCCA stuff.Next, Jay asked if he ever drove it as a stock 240 and he didn't. Jay was surprised and disappointed. Jay also wanted to say more about that but out of respect didn'tThese guys are way too eager to rip out the engines for something else. They said the new engine had to be modified to run without turbos and made about 230-240 whp but a good tuned L24/28 can get almost that for far less money. I guess he doesn't care about money though. Jay asked about the 4 lug wheels taking the power but Kang didn't understand and just said the wheels were made for them. It reminded me of Spinal Tap when Reiner asked why didn't they just make 10 louder. Guest's response was, "this one goes to 11".It's trendy to use skyline engines and use all those RB designations. JDM bro!Next That godawful Rocket Bunny body kit. Fast and Furious all the way! I guess since he was in it it's OK.On the postiive side I applaud him for making this car his own with what he likes and getting a new audience to appreciate the Z. Normally I don't like color changes but I do like the white over stock brown.That said I'd love to see and drive this car.

Thanks! I modified the plug with a 1N5402 diode which is a lot bigger. I ran a 8awg wire from the alt output B to the starter stud. I now have 14.5v at the battery when running. I don't have an extra ammeter so I'll just leave it bypassed. I'm still baffled at something else. If the white from ammeter goes to the fuse panel then why don't I have a starter circuit fuse? I have the MSA replacement panel that uses modern blade fuses but as I said I took them all out and the car kept running.

Thanks Dave that's the info that I was searching for. Where were you about 20 posts ago!? I bought a 1N5402 diode and was going to repair it but hey I'l take a new one. and save myself the trouble? What's the number of the one you use? I will do all your suggestions over the weekend.

I bought it from MSA but I don't know who their supplier is. I just talked to them and since I took it apart they won't send me another. So I'll just get another diode and fix it myself. I know I have more work to do but at least it's progress. Thanks again to everyone!

Well I looked it over again and since the only thing introduced to the system other than the alternator is the MSA plug with diode I pulled it and did a continuity check. The white/yellow connection was good but the wb/bw connection which is the switched 12v was open. I dug out the potting and the diode had a broken lead. I took the spades out and put them in the harness connector with a jumper and made another jumper for the W/Y. After starting the car I had 12.5v across the battery. B terminal to ground was 14-15v. Voltage to ground at the large white wire/FLink at the starter is still only 2.5 when I think it should be 14. So I think that was the culprit

I found a helpful site with a diagram of where the wires should go and what they do. http://woodworkerb.com/home/datsun-240z-rebuild/datsun-240z-alternator-upgrade/

Update, I was looking over the old regulator connector and found that someone had repaired the female spade connector on the white harness wire, which according to the shematic is tied to the large white charging wire. I took it out and crimped on a new one and installed it in the housing. I started the car and checked voltage across terminal B and the white charging wire and it now reads 5-6v as opposed to 0 before. I now have 18v from B to ground. I still have an open between W/FLink and WR terminal B when not running. I think maybe the small white wire has something to do with the no charge problem. Apparently it wasn't the ammeter. I checked the T connector WB/Y for 12v with the key on. Yellow has 12v White /black stripe does not. The WB is the wire that goes to the diode in the MSA adapter plug. I also ruled out a fuse failure. I have the upgraded MSA circuit board style and while engine was running I pulled each fuse sequentially and the car remained running.

Wow suddenly there's lots of replies, thanks guys. My car only has one FLink connected between the 10AWG white wire and the starter stud/+battery. I know it's good because I tested the resistance. My service manual schematic however says there's a FLink at the alternator RW wire which I don't see. The manual is from 1971 so it may be different from a late 1970 car. As for the alternator, I connecetd the RW wire to the B (stamped on the case) terminal. I checked the case/terminal resistance and it's open which it's supposed to be. I have no idea why there was a soldered connection buried but as I have learned Nissan did some funny things with wiring at the factory. Maybe someone cut a wire on the line and they fixed it quick, or over the last 45 years something else happened and it was repaired by a tech. Either way it's fixed properly now. I connected the black harness wire to a E stud on the alternator. Then I plugged in the WB/Y connector to the mating socket in the alternator. I disconnected the ext. regulator and added the MSA diode connector. I described this in my first post. I'll clear up the ammeter operation. When the car is not running and I apply a load such as lights, it drops slightly, while the engine is running it flutters a little and then drops a little when a load is applied. According to the schematic the RW alternator wire goes to the fuse panel then to the ammeter. The white wire goes from the ammeter to the starter/FLink and to the fuse panel. While driving last fall with the new alternator I started seeing a little smoke and smelled burning. It only lasted a few minutes and stopped. I couldn't get it to repeat. It seemed to come out right in front of the speedo cluster but with stuff like that you can never tell exactly where. I pulled the dash out and couldn't find any evidence of burning or residual smell. I think now it was my ammeter. From what I've read guys bypass it or put in a voltmeter. Yesterday I removed the console finisher (stupid heater control cables!), took out the ammeter/fuel gage and connected the RW and W wires that were attached to the ammeter and have yet to measure anything. It was getting late. If my thinking is correct I should have continuity between the +battery/starter stud/FLink and B alternator terminal if the ammeter was shot.

I'm doing that. I bypassed the ammeter by connecting white and white/red stripe wires so that's out of the loop now. Do you think that the soldered wire was factory?

Open between B red stripe white wire and battery + I upgraded the ignition to a Pertronix and didn't want an issue with the old regulator. After I put in the new alt I had a very faint electrical burning smell and smoke behing the instruments. I removed the dash and found nothing. It never came back so I thought I was good. then the charging issue started. According to the Nissan shop manual I have the alternator lead goes to the ammeter then to the battery. If something happened there that would explain it. My ammeter does move when I turn the lights on though.

I took apart the B lug harness and found that the white/red stripe wire had a bad solder repair that looked like it was in the factory wrapping. I cut it and resoldered a better connection. Unfortunately I have an open still. The plain white wire that goes to the starter fusable link is also open. Where do both the white and striped wire go inside the dash? I assume they connect somewhere to provide alternator power to the battery. Should I make a jumper from B to the fusable link and see what happens? I just had the dash out too to track down mystery smoke.

If you want genuine Nissan try tascaparts.com

I'd do the trubute as long as it's ok with BRE. Is gunmetal the same as 901 silver/grey?

Thanks I'll try that.

First off I searched and couldn't find this exact situation. I did the swap from the old 40A/ext. reg. and it was very easy but now I have no battery charge. Of course I never bothered checking the charge state with the old alt/reg installed. I used the diode plug for the old regulator wiring that MSA sells and followed the instructions for the install of the new alternator. The alternator is a rebuilt 1982 ZX unit from Advance Auto. I also replaced the frayed fusable link for the wire from the harness to the starter/battery so that's good. All tests were while the car is running. 11.8v across the battery. 11.8v at the fusbale link to harness connection to ground. 17.2v from B terminal on the alternator to ground. After running the car for more than 20 minutes and turning it off about 2 times, it won't start without a charge first. Do you think I have a bad wire somewhere between terminal B and the fusable link harness?

I got a 91761 ignitor2 and flame thrower2 coil and wow the car runs so much better. No need for the resistor or cap. If you can swing a little extra get the microporcessor controlled unit.

That's the dumbest design possible. I lost the nuts that are recessed into the housing. Anyway you can get replacement hardware at Belmetric.com.