w3wilkes

Finished and in the car. I think they turned out very nice. The spring bottoms in the '77 seat bottoms vs the old 47 year old straps in the '71 seat bottoms raises you about 1.5 in. which is noticeable. I can now comfortably put my elbow out the open window.

Here's the finished product. These go in tonight.

I'm running the Rota RB's 15x7 +4 offset with 205 60 R15's. This is about 2 revolutions per mile different than stock and no rub anywhere.

What does this mean? Out here in the western states we have hundreds of miles of interstate with 80 MPH speed limits.

Here's more pics and I did use new foam from MSA. The leather fit fine as shipped. MSA told me I'd have to trim the foam for a 77 seat back, but that wasn't the case it seemed to fit perfect. There was an issue with the seat bottom foam. The mold halves appeared to be offset front to back so that there was an overhang on the top front of the seat bottom foam. We cut the foam back with an electric knife so the contour of the top half of the cushion matched the bottom half. It looked like the mold top half of the shell had slipped about an inch or so forward on the top. Sorry, no picture of the foam issue. We just drilled out the track nuts in the seat frame so they were large enough to mount the 71 floor rails to the bottom or the seat, they dropped right in and lined up just fine with the floor mounts in the cabin. You can see that we haven't pulled down the seat back leather to hook on the spikes yet. A steamer helped with fitting the leather. No seat heaters, leather is much warmer than Naugahyde in the winter. For the last 2 weeks we've been between 95 and 102, need to get my A/C hooked back up!

Just finishing up my leather seats from Interior Innovations. I acquired some 1977 280Z seats so I could have the full forward tilt control, the springs in the 77 seat bottoms is also a nice upgrade from the straps in the 71 seat bottoms. I think it raises you in the car by an inch or so with the new foam and 77 seats. A comment on the seat cover bottoms. They come with a cotton cord as a draw string. I was concerned that the cotton would stretch and would probably break under the constant pulling over time. My friend helped me pull wire through the channel where the cord was. This is much more like the way Datsun did the seat covers and I believe will hold up better over time.

I had lost the part that prompted the smoke replacement kit was the initial "Treatise on the Importance of Smoke by Joseph Lucas" Positive ground depends on proper circuit functioning, which is the transmission of negative ions by retention of the visible spectral manifestation known as "smoke". Smoke is the thing that makes electrical circuits work. We know this to be true because every time one lets the smoke out of an electrical circuit, it stops working. This can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing. For example, if one places a copper bar across the terminals of a battery, prodigious quantities of smoke are liberated and the battery shortly ceases to function. In addition, if one observes smoke escaping from an electrical component such as a Lucas voltage regulator, it will also be observed that the component no longer functions. The logic is elementary and inescapable! The function of the wiring harness is to conduct the smoke from one device to another. When the wiring springs a leak and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works afterward. Starter motors were considered unsuitable for British motorcycles for some time largely because they consumed large quantities of smoke, requiring very unsightly wires. It has been reported that Lucas electrical components are possibly more prone to electrical leakage than their Bosch, Japanese or American counterparts. Experts point out that this is because Lucas is British, and all things British leak. British engines leak oil, British shock absorbers, hydraulic forks and disk brake systems leak fluid, British tires leak air and British Intelligence leaks national defense secrets. Therefore, it follows that British electrical systems must leak smoke. Once again, the logic is clear and inescapable. In conclusion, the basic concept of transmission of electrical energy in the form of smoke provides a logical explanation of the mysteries of electrical components - especially British units manufactured by Joseph Lucas, Ltd. "A gentleman does not motor about after dark." Joseph Lucas (1842 - 1903) Okay, sorry again, just couldn't help myself!

Not sure that this will work on Datsun wiring since this was developed for Lucas electrics... Sorry, couldn't help myself. http://www3.telus.net/bc_triumph_registry/smoke.htm

I've also gone LED on all my external lighting. I used 2 of these, 1 for emergency flashers and 1 for blinkers, works great. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XS8VX2W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Jeff, I've really enjoyed watching your Datsun build. As you said there's some controversy around the mirrors. They do look COOL. I considered them way back when, but ended up just going with the stock mirror on the drivers door. A few reasons I ended up on the door... They will be in the way when working under the bonnet (hood) Adjusting the mirrors seems like a pain getting in and out of the car to make adjustments or else it will be a 2 person job. Hopefully you and Mrs Jeff use the same mirror position. (picture your complaint about the side of the car the bonnet kick stand is on) If the glass in the mirrors is flat it seems that with the mirrors that far away from the driver the field of view will make them not very effective. They do look cool, but I don't think you'll see the mirrors on the fenders (guards) on the race cars.

I just happen to be replacing the seats in my 71 with seats from a 77 and going leather from Interior Innovations. While taking the 77 seats apart I did notice that I could see through the center insert panels where the backing foam had disintegrated so I don't think it's just an embossed pattern on a solid surface.

Here's a short thread of mine that ends with the newer affordable style wheel cylinders installed replacing the older very spendy wheel cylinders.

Mark Maras posted this. It was printed by the factory http://xenonzcar.com/s30/files/1973 240z 1974 260z fuel system modifications.pdf Here's the thread

Can't speak to suppliers, I got mine from MSA I got the 3 row and it seems to be doing the job somewhat better than the stock radiator. I also changed to running Evans waterless coolant with the new radiator. My reasons for 3 row were that I went with electric fans and the waterless coolant.

Antenna should tip more to the rear of the car.

I did headers and deleted the EGR pump side of things. On my series 1 PCV and carb venting I went with the ITG filter and tapped both the valve cover with AN10 fittings and carburetor vents with regular fuel line to the back plate so they'd still flow as designed and kept the stock PCV setup which I think is a good thing. I used the MSA 50mm height velocity stacks which are fairly close to the stock air filter stack height. After the dealership drilled the big holes in my 1973 stock orange box to help with the vapor lock issue I figured this setup is very close to stock and also looks pretty darn good.

Interesting... Same picture as Interior Innovations http://www.interior-innovations.com/assets/uploads/66350-IMG_0434.jpg

The only lights that aren't LED on my car are the dash lights. I think you've not needed the anti-flicker because you'd already done the relay conversion.

I've gone with LED headlights which I talked about here. All was well until last night. Just went to drive around the block just after dark and flipped the switch and nothing, just running lights and no headlights. Pulled into the garage and for grins hit the brights and boom, headlights, hit low beams and they were on. Apparently one of the jobs of the anti flicker device corrects the current flow (most of the time) to the bulb. Because LED's are diodes they will only fire when current is applied in the allowed direction. Here's what a typical 6024 bulb expects so I'm pretty sure a LED bulb is built expecting this configuration. The 240Z is wired with power on 3 with 1 & 2 being ground. This is fine for a standard filament bulb, but not for diodes. Most of the time the anti-flicker piece takes care of this. It was a really tight fit to get the anti-flicker device in the stock buckets, but it can be done. I thought that having LED's on all lights but the dash I really didn't need the harness mod because I'd reduced the amp draw plenty so not to stress the fuse block or multi-function switch. Well after the issue last night I think I'll go with Dave's relay mod anyway because it not only takes the load off the multi-function switch, but also looks like it will allow me to get rid of the anti-flicker device, if this diagram is really of Dave's headlight relay mod. I think the other function of the anti-flicker device is to put info on the circuit so a smart car won't think the bulbs out to trigger some dash light or something to let the driver know they've got a burned out bulb. Our Zed's aren't that smart so I'll bet I won't need the anti-flicker. Here's what I see the before and after of Dave's harness on the headlights as I really don't think it makes a difference if you're north or south of the equator.

This one is much more reasonable and open for some fudge room "OBO". Some of the weather stripping looks like it could use replacing but overall pretty nice. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/datsun/240z/2111497.html

I have a compressor and my friend lent me this https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-MV6835-Vacuum-Brake-Bleeding/dp/B0015POUXM Makes bleeding brakes and clutch a one man job and it's a breeze. The pictured upside down tank keeps the reservoir full while the other end hooks up to the compressor and sucks the fluid through.

I'm partial to the ones that have brass contacts, I think they conduct better. https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/standard+motor+products,JH66,distributor+cap,7120 https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=46494&cc=1209169&jsn=366

Thanks! Mine is actually not the MSA Premium exhaust system, just the coated headers are from MSA. The pipe and resonator/muffler were custom fit and installed. The resonator tucked into the tunnel extremely well.

Thanks! I'm pretty sure you're right on the direction and it doesn't make any difference with these mufflers. Same same either way. I can't find anything that says inlet or outlet in the specs.

I went with the 6 to 1 ceramic coated headers from MSA and then just went to an exhaust shop and had Magnaflow with 2 1/2" pipe all the way back. Used this resonator and muffler. Very pleased with the way it turned out, both fit and sound! Not too loud and no drone while cruising. A question that I have is on the MSA catalog for their premium exhaust they talk about installing the muffler at an angle? Mine is in flat and I really like the way that it's tucked up out of site. I have zero exhaust smell in the cabin either with closed or open windows. Does anyone know why MSA says to angle the muffler?