AK260

Thank you sir. I will do what you suggested the next time I have her out of the car.

Thank you sir! I may well have to take you up on that. Depending on how good the other one turns out to be I may well have to make a good one out of two. I tried taking off the snap ring / clip thing but it broke. I suspect I need to compress the shaft before it lets go. For now I have my hands very full with mushy fuel line replacement, suspension bits, front bearings, removing surface rust / curing / painting and a plethora of other small but necessary jobs.

Well I decided to take off the entire steering and suspension at the front and discovered some chocolate bolts ... ... and movement in the splines on the steering column itself. A virtually unused one ordered off fleebay but won’t see it until July despite $79 postage - USPS is sloooow! The UJ felt utterly solid - so I think what I was seeing with a head torch on was a bit of an optical illusion. Having said that I bought a spare shaft to play with in the work bench so that I can replace it at my leisure at a later stage. My hands will be very full in the next few weeks. While taking the whole thing apart, I discovered totally ruined and seized ball joints - one of which I cannot move with my bare hands or without tools. My shocks turned out to be shockingly bad - rather like this pun. Here’s a video diary I’m starting about it all, so feel free to make fun of me ;) I don’t take myself too seriously and can quite happily laugh at myself. I’m just shy of £1000 lighter tonight after a call to MSA and a browse of RockAuto. But money very well spent and much needed, let’s see how that lot improve the car’s handling and steering.

Thanks chaps appreciate all of the food for thought and advice. And thanks Mr Patcon for the link. This looks like a more involved job than I had anticipated but one well worth doing. [emoji106]

Thanks for that. I did see the flat but hadn’t thought it through - it’s a clever fail safe. [emoji106] As for the UJ I understand that the moose ones are used by some ... https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F373055234955 But are there any other recommendations?

Thanks chap. So the issue I found was that the bolt was tightened very tight but from the wrong side!!! Meaning that the bolt was tightened against the threaded part and doing nothing at all in closing the clamp. I sprayed the shaft in situ when I transplanted the new engine a couple of years ago, so the rusty 1cm or so has moved since then - I am assuming I can get it back to where is should be with what you mentioned. The moral of the story was really that the clamp joint having zero tension had expanded enough (or splines / rust worn away enough) over time for it to become massively noticeable at the driver end. Just think what that would have done if it had let go on a hard 40-50MPH corner! Or worse still at silly speeds on a track with other cars around. My confidence in driving the car has been totally shaken, so the front of the car is slowly coming apart until I am totally happy with all bolts and the metal work being solid. Then I’m staring on the rear. Thankfully we have a week of sun forecasted so she can stay on the tilting lift on the driveway. I haven’t fixed it yet as I am having difficulty removing the clamp by the UJ at the bottom - which I want to test on a bench and replace. The majority of the problem with removing the stubborn bottom clamp bolt is having to entertain the kids all day, keep the peace, keep the wife happy, attempt the cooking thing, vacuum the house, clean the bathrooms, etc (God I miss our cleaners)!!

Not wishing to double post, I urge you to read my post under the link below and check your car over!! This could have had SO MANY bad endings!!! https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/check-your-steering-is-safe-please.27074/ (I hope linking to another forum doesn’t violate any rules, please let me know if it does and I will double post). Edit: apologies to the moderators, I realised I put it in the wrong place after I hit the post button but can’t move it.

That is such a nice treat for you after such a simple effort! Well done chap. Funny how these little things can make us go to bed feeling all is well with the world now! ;)

CO, if you weren’t so far away and socially distanced I may have given you a hug! A man hug I may add. Very un-British I know but none-the-less a hug! So you got me to doubt myself and I measured it this eve, you are absolutely right, the ignition switch has nothing to do with it! I eat my own words - my light wiring is hot all the time!! Thanks again for taking the time to draw that out! I never do well with car wiring diagrams. [emoji106][emoji106] Edit: why is frightening about that diagram is the lack of a fuse before the headlight stalk. So I’m effect, you can quite easily have a car-b-q if the wire is somehow damaged and grounded before the stalk! [emoji848][emoji33]

Yes please, always up for learning. I did think the HB side was wrong when I went to bed eventually! I do realise the ignition switch does turn off the power but I was also simplifying the diagram to demonstrate the new relay position. But I appreciate that does cause confusion. Would love to see that sketch on the HB side though please. So if you guys don’t have that button, how to you flash your lights? Or do you just go without? Strangely a quick flash in the UK means “come on, after you and thank you”. Or if behind Someone it means “get off MY road”!!!!! I confused the heck out of the French when driving on the continent, as for them it means “don’t even think about it, I’m coming through or you utter moron”. For us, that is holding the flash button down for more than half a second. In Mumbai in India, I realised that a flash means “I’m here, see me, I don’t care that there are cars in front of you or you have nowhere to go, get off the planet, I’m here now”! The horn serves much the same function during the day as many cars had their wing mirrors folded in to - get this - avoid having them knocked off while driving! [emoji1787]

All this time I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but I could tell something was amiss!!

Most welcome. Now then, this is potentially a small fly in the ointment! Since I started all this, I have changed my design to use the car’s existing loom (don’t boo quite yet) and keeps everything pretty simple. I am doing this job tomorrow, so I will report back! This is a simplified diagram of how my car is wired as far as I can tell ... Now, by a stroke of luck, there are Japanese bullet connectors that go from the stalk to the car’s wiring. One is white with red stripe and the other is fully red. I can’t recall which but one is hot, the other is 0v. So here’s the fun bit, by adding a single relay, you are effectively relaying the headlights through the car’s wiring by adding the diagram below into the blue circle by the headlight switch. Now then no. 1 - I appreciate this contradicts my disdain for a single point of failure on both sides but frankly all you have done is replace the existing SPOF - being the stalk switch - by a more reliable relay. Heck you can carry one in your glove compartment as a spare and it costs pennies! Now then no. 2 - the “rest of the car” side of the switch can be done the same way and entails just one more relay - but on my car I will have to cut the original loom or extract the terminals from the multi-plug and connect to them with a spade connector. Either way, it is a shed load better than a burnt out switch and keeps the wiring loom untouched. Now then number 3 - I also hear you groan at using 40 year old wiring and connectors. Well, since I have LED headlamp bulbs the voltage drop across old wiring is frankly no longer an issue. The connectors from the wiring loom under the bonnet to the wiring through the wings to the lights need replacing or cleaning up anyway in my case. Now then number 4 - let’s groan about the fuse box. One of my first jobs was to clean all connectors and fuse clips on the box and it has been flawless. With less current going through, it will be even less stressed. Oh and I’ve replaced the original headlight fuses with 5A ones now. Guess what, less current, less drop across the old wiring; win-win! Finally, my tail, brake and reverse lamps are also LED replaced so that takes it from: 4x BA 15s @ 21w each to 3.6w each 2x BAY 15D @ 5W (constant part) each to 600mA each This makes the old wiring and fuse box more than capable of handling the loads and no relay required for your brake lights. Another relay saved. As for the indicators, you have two relays already - One is used for your hazards the other for your indicators. They are bi-metal strip based - just like your kettle (or mechanical voltage regulator) as the strip heats up, it bends away and breaks contact until it cools and reconnects. My recommendation would be to change your indicator bulbs to LED and then change to motorbike flasher units which can take 10A and are rate adjustable to customise to your preference. That way for some pennies, you have now saved another relay slot. BTW some motorbike ones have a built in buzzer - depending on how loud your exhaust is that is either good or bad - make sure you get a silent one if bothered by a buzzer. Something like this.... 12V Speed Adjustable 2-Pin LED Flasher Relay Motorbike Turn Signal Indicator https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JRC5GZA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1rWWEbNSP831K So lots of food for thought. Ps. The diode in my circuit diagram above is optional, but if you consider that an inductor (I.e. the coil in your relay) will always try to keep the current flowing in the same direction, once disconnected, it switches it’s voltage at the terminals instantly and violently which can reach 100s to 1000s of volts depending on the coil size. This is low current, but the spike can cause issues with sensitive circuitry if you have other things in the car like an AFR gauge etc. It’s basically belts and braces precautions.

Exactly right, except I was “that dad” who fell and had grazes!! I was merely, as a good parent, sacrificing by demonstrating what not to do and the merits of wearing their knee and elbow pads! ;) I couldn’t take the sound proofing off, however I’m pretty sure I have the bump but not the hole / inspection lid below it. Having said that, my fuel sensor is on the back of the tank in the same place as a 240zeee further back from it so I’m not sure it would have served a purpose for me anyway. Finally, I’ve been investigating fuel smells and drained the tank with the full intent to drop it. But as it happens my courage and time ran out so upon further investigation I found some deteriorating breather hoses inside the car. Replaced and no more smells - for now. Why am I telling you this? Because: Here’s the gauge with ignition off .... And ignition on but totally drained ... And with 9 litres or just under two imperial gallons poured back in .... Unfortunately I didn’t measure the impedance as I was in a hurry to beat sunset (which is currently about 20:50 here) and de-grump my wife.

Try these measurements ... These is a 10-11cm wide space behind the blower motor but if you can go to the side of it there is plenty of clearance to the dash / glove compartment! Bear in mind my car is RHD.

Sorry about not coming back with the measurements - totally slipped my mind, will do that this eve. BTW, here’s a good video for you ...

I have a very unhealthy AFR fetish! I put this together based on quite a lot of hours of reading / internetting / speaking with engine builders / tuners and trackside mechanics at classic races. Heads up: 14.7 as correctly stated above is the ideal mix to get a full burn and is good as your idle baseline afr. There are of course many situations that you want to be either side of it. With modern fuels, the consensus in research papers / controlled experiments is that optimum power is produced between 12.5 - 12.8. Aim for this across the range at WOT. On a side note, some modern engines prefer just north of 13 due to head designs etc. If you are planning on hooning it at max revs in 4th on the long straight of a race track, racers typically aim for closer to 11.5 as the richer mix has a cooling effect on the engine (but without going into details, it does put a stress on it too). My L28 AFR sits doggedly between 12.2-12.9 from 3.6K to the 6.5K rpm limit and pulls like a train. I have ran it at 11.5-12 and the engine is marginally but noticeably keener on the transition from part throttle to WOT; however the power difference is difficult to discern without a rolling road. I find anything 11 or below loses power / makes the engine bog down. On the cruise you ideally want to be north of 14.7 if you have a working vacuum advance. Ideally 15.5-16ish. This makes for a slightly hotter cruise but will give you way better fuel economy. Modern cars can tolerate HUGE timing (c. 60 degrees) and with super high pressure common rail injection / better atomisation run even leaner. Anything north of 17 on the overrun will give you fun pops and crackles on the tail pipe at around 3k-4K rpm. My L26 running a little lean once shot out a 2 foot flame out the back when coming off the power at 6k rpm. Scared the b’jeesus out of me but my friend following thought it was mighty impressive! ;) The other thing you will be surprised by is just how much a mere 0.5 difference on the AFR can affect your fuel economy and richness of the sweet aroma of your exhaust. Whatever you do, don’t run your engine lean on WOT as it does horrible things to your exhaust valves and piston crowns. Welcome to the rabbit hole of the AFR gauge - you just took the red pill ;)

Thanks CO - I totally misread your original post! Thanks for the correction. [emoji106][emoji106]

My 260z seats are also like this but the middle bit is cloth (came stock like that over here). I must say they are awfully comfortable and I dare say girl your bottom harder when cornering hard. Have you considered a cloth replacement? May be cheaper - unless of course you want to maintain the US original look etc. Others have replaced them with Alcantara which looks fantastic and has good longevity. Had them in many Audis and the material is durable but soft feeling!!!

I know, too funny!! So chap, as you know yourself, the ARBs won’t fix the bottoming out bit, that’s just a function of your compression on the shocks + spring rates. Mine on Tockico blues and stock European springs tends to travel quite a long way down on loaded high speed WOT compressions at say 50MPH. It gets to within 1cm of my exhaust S pipe (don’t ask how I know this precise measurement, long story). Hence I was considering stiffening the suspension also with the new Koni adjustable inserts that only seem to have positive reviews to date. The KYBs are tried and tested, it’s a good idea to stick them in just to see the difference it makes, worst case, you swap them out later. Your ride height though (without coil-overs) is a function of springs only. Are the spacers you speak of for the springs? If so, I have never heard of those - any chance you could share the link please?

I’ve been considering this for sometime now and called MSA last week to potentially place an order! ;) A wise man once told me it’s the best mod he ever did to any of his S30s. His philosophy was road soft suspension with hard ARBs is the way to get the best of all worlds on the road. I have also read that people who had them went back to stock as they found the car just too harsh. While it eliminated roll, it also makes one wheel more reluctant to lift over a bump without trying to lift the other side. I guess it also depends on what you want your car to be and the wheel size you are running + what the tyre wall does in conjunction. This is a great read ... https://www.zcar.com/threads/msa-sway-bar-kit-is-it-worth-it.291965/

To be frank I don’t know what spare wheel I’m supposed to have as my car had a few owners before me. It did have a diamond cross wheel with a full size tyre on it and VERY old rubber. So I would say it’s safe to assume it was designed for a full sized wheel. When I finish home schooling* later today, I will go to the garage and remove the sound proofing in that area as I am very intrigued! * I feel my work here is done!! [emoji41]

Hey Captain, is this the one? Only £8 on fleebay, shall I hit buy? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F163516321436 And then there is the SUPER grey, so which is best!? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F184243311437

Brilliant!!!! [emoji1787][emoji13][emoji106]

You made me think again and looking through my photos it appears I may have such a thing but buried under sound proofing!! [emoji15] Will have a proper look at the next play day!

What you didn’t realise is that the trap was set and he completely went for it ;) However. He does have a penchant for the geeky details and I salute his experiment! Nice work CO; I will take up your recommendation on sealants! [emoji106]