SteveJ

Okay, from that picture we can tell you have a "late" 260Z. The bumpers are a dead give-away. You'll find it has a lot of parts in common with the 75 280Z. You might find that there are components in the engine bay that are in different locations from the FSM, too. What is the build date on the door jamb plate? Edit: The clicking sounds at higher speeds could be u-joints or loose bolts in the driveline. It would be good to check that out sooner than later. Check the fuses for your headlights. See if the bad headlight lights up when you switch it to bright. Like I said before, you could write a novel on getting a 40 year old car of unknown pedigree up to being a reliable daily driver. I tried to do that with my 73 about 20 years ago. That did not go well. I tried to do it on the cheap, and I didn't have near enough knowledge to get it in good shape. I'd actually have a better chance of getting the car in shape now.

Thank you, Rob.

Check your u-joints for play, too, though Leon's answer covers the primary culprits.

Do you know Pete's user name at Hybridz?

When I ordered my cap about 16 years ago, Sal from MSA warned me there were two different dash caps for the 73. I had to return the first to get one that fit.

Mike is a great guy to work with, too.

Oh, and download a copy of the FSM from xenonS30.com. Take pictures, especially of the engine bay. It will help us help you to figure out modifications done to it. Also beware of the seatbelt interlock relay. Most likely it has been disabled, but you never know. This relay is a 260Z only issue (as well as any other 1974 model year car).

This could be a novel... Flush the cooling system and put in new coolant. Inspect the brakes and replace any worn components. Also replace the brake fluid. Flush the brake fluid in the clutch hydraulics (manual) or replace automatic transmission fluid (automatic). Inspect the tires to make sure they have adequate tread and are less than 6 years old. Inspect the u-joints and driveshaft bolts. Tighten, lube or replace as necessary. Inspect all suspension components and steering components. Be prepared to replace worn rubber bushings and boots. Replace the shocks if worn. Look into adding relays to power your headlights and possibly H4 lights. Replace running lights with LED bulbs. This reduces the chance of burning up wires. Clean and lubricate the wiper arm mechanism. Replace the old seatbelts or at least replace the webbing. Inspect/replace coolant hoses and water pump. Inspect the horn and replace the horn relay if the horn is weak or nonfunctional. Replace the fuel filter. Inspect/replace spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, & rotor. Finally get a beater for the winter or your Z will rust to pieces.

The website address to find the link is http://www.zzxdatsun.com/catWiring.php

Banzai Motorworks carries them.

I would suggest cleaning it first. Then you might be able to trace the source of the oil that is covering it.

Check the weep holes on the water pump. (I can't remember whether or not the S30 water pumps have them.) I would not be surprised if your water pump was giving up the ghost.

George, the ground for the headlights goes from the switch for the turn signal over to the combo switch for the headlights and back into the wiring harness from that connector.

Dave told me it was a rebuilt alternator. Overheating in the bearings could break down the insulation in the windings, leading to grounding of the windings. In power generation, monitoring bearing and winding temperatures is a critical function.

If you had a properly sized fusible link, you probably had little other damage. Check the wire connectors for the fusible link. Check the connectors for the voltage regulator and alternator. Check the connectors for the white/red wire at the alternator and fusebox. Also check the white and white/red at the ammeter. Those are the most likely areas for other damage. If you replace the fusible link and alternator and the car still won't start, that would indicate you blew the ammeter.

Did you connect the positive for your fog lights to the battery? If so, my first guess would be catastrophic failure of your alternator or regulator. Look for my PM.

You are right. The start and ignition circuits in the 240Z never power a common circuit at 12VDC. The fix I proposed to you is basically what I did to my 73 when I did the ZX distributor swap.

Jim, Call me, per my PM. I think I might have a solution. Edit: On second thought, try this: 1. Move the black/white wire at the resistor over to the same terminal as the green/white wire. (See attached picture. The B/W wire is marked by the arrow.) 2. Put the positive lead of the Ignitor (red wire) on the positive of the coil. (Make sure you have a 12VDC coil, or you may burn out the coil since you bypassed the resistor.)

But there is an article available. http://backissues.com/issue/Car-and-Driver-July-1978 Plus there is the book I linked in my first response... You just won't find it for free, that's all.

Cesar, the 280Z panels are different from the 240Z panels. It would be an effort to make them work.

Cool. It's great to hear that it got to your house safely after the last fiasco.

I actually saw a Turbo Tom setup a few months back on CL. The seller wanted $3000 for a car that wasn't currently running. Here's some more trivia. Back in 1984, one of the car mags did a comparison test between an 84 300ZX turbo and a 74 260Z with a turbo added to it. IIRC, they liked the 10 year old car a lot.

To my knowledge, there are no kits from any major vendor for Z car parts to add a turbocharger to a stock engine in an S30 car. The reason why you saw many references to hybridz.org is that there is plenty of information on turbocharging there. Just be sure to read through the site before asking questions. They don't take kindly to spoonfeeding there. With a carburetted car, you have to make a decision with regards to turbocharging: blow through, draw through, or ditch carburettors and go with fuel injection. There is a lot more you have to consider about the fuel system that I'm not going to type up, either. In other words, you have plenty of research to do before attempting this. Consider doing some old fashioned research. Buy some books on turbocharging.

I had no problems with the Black Dragon covers. I did replace the wire bracing that goes inside the covers instead of reusing the old wire bracing. Heavy duty metal coat hangers work great for that.