Jump to content

SteveJ

Free Member
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by SteveJ

  1. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Electrical
    It worked for me like how Tanny told you. If my memory works, I'll look at how mine is wired when I get home.
  2. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Open Chit Chat
    SportZ is ending publication. Some of the staff members have scraped together some financing to start a new publication. They will honor the old SportZ subscriptions, though. The new publication has a larger scope than just Z cars, expanding to cover the Nissan line.
  3. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Open Chit Chat
    As for the example of a lease: apples and oranges. If you're going to compare things, make sure there is a valid comparison. It's more like this: You pay Spic And Span Carpet Cleaners in advance for their carpet cleaning service for a year. The rise in fuel prices drives Spic and Span out of business. Sure Clean buys Spic and Span's customer list and offers to cover the rest of the year, but Sure Clean doesn't use Spic and Span's patented cleaning method. Are you going to turn down Sure Clean's offer and get nothing? (Apparently not, since you're going to take the new magazine.) Most magazines fail. Some are able to sell their subscription list to reduce their losses. As for warning you, did you expect them to publish financial statements online?
  4. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Open Chit Chat
    The ethics would depend upon how the business is set up. They would not be based upon your wishes. If the magazine has been losing money as stated, there are more debts than assets. With the closure of the business, the magazine would need to liquidate assets and pay debts according to the laws that govern it. The magazine owes subscribers like it owes the businesses it used to publish the magazine. There are also people who worked for the magazine that may be owed wages. Should the employees and other businesses be deprived of the money they LEGALLY deserve just to refund your subscription? Let's consider it this way. Which would you prefer: pennies on the dollar (at most) for your subscription or another publication honoring your subscription?
  5. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Open Chit Chat
    While the issue of subscriptions has been addressed, I have to take issue with your post. SportZ was an enthusiast magazine. The guys working on the magazine are enthusiasts wanting to improve the community. Which scenario do you think is more accurate? 1. They were trying to defraud you of your subscription money. 2. They were doing everything they could to keep the publication afloat, but they finally realized they could not go on with the losses. The publication was bleeding money. Where were you thinking they were going to get the money for refunds anyway? The new magazine is GRACIOUSLY picking up all of the old subscriptions. (Granted, it can be a shrewd marketing move if they can survive the start-up costs.) In the age where people have digital cameras and internet access, there are enormous challenges in getting an enthusiast magazine to break even. Between this site and Zcar.com, I have found more tech tips than I can shake a stick at, usually with good pictures to boot.
  6. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Open Chit Chat
    Unfortunately I remember the previous effort at a Z car magazine. When it started to flounder, Marc Sayer tried to expand its coverage, but I think it was too little, too late. Marc disappeared from the Z car scene when he folded Z Car and Classic Datsun. The previous posts nailed it. You need deep pockets to start an enthusiast magazine, and you need plenty of sponsors and subscribers to keep it going.
  7. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Electrical
    Okay, let's be more specific. I assumed (possibly incorrectly) that you meant headlights. If you are having problems with the running lights/turn signals & hazard lights, you have different diagnostics. The tail lights and headlights do not share any circuits. They are controlled by different connections on the headlight switch. Did you clean your headlight switch when you had it apart? Have you cleaned the light sockets? Have you inspected & cleaned your hazard switch? If your dash lights work, but your running lights don't, the problem is not in your fusebox. The circuits ground at different points, so use a proper service manual to locate and check your grounding points. You can get a CD copy of the factory service manual from Courtesy Nissan, or you can advertise in classified sections of this website and Zcar.com for a paper copy, or you can look on eBay for a paper copy. According to a 72 wiring diagram I found online, the power for the running lights comes from a green wire with a white stripe. It goes into the combo switch and comes out as a green wire with a blue stripe. That wire splits out to the different lights. It comes back as a black wire that is grounded around the wiper motor. You can see the other connections here: http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/wiringdiagrams/72_240z_wiring.pdf Other wiring diagrams are here: http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/electrical.htm. Keep in mind that you might be looking to solve two unrelated problems.
  8. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Electrical
    How long have you had the car? Have you always had problems with the headlights? Has your headlights ever been modified for relays? Did you check the fuses visually or with a continuity meter? Tracing the circuit - The S30 headlight circuit basically goes like this: From the positive terminal (Please no arguments from the peanut gallery about the direction of current flow.) you have a wire that goes to the headlight switch. From the headlight switch, you have a wire that branches into two wires, one for each headlight. Each headlight wire goes to the fuse box, where you'll find fuses for the left and right sides. From the fuse box, the wires go to their respective headlights. There are two wires coming back from each headlight. One wire is for low beams and one wire is for high beams. The two low beam wires will join, and the two high beam wires will join. The low beam and high beam wires run to the high/low switch in the steering column. From the high/low switch, you have a wire going to ground. So in all likelihood, if BOTH headlights are out, your problem exists between the positive terminal of the battery and the split between the left and right headlights (to include the headlight switch) OR between the negative terminal and the high/low switch (to include the high/low switch). If your headlight circuit has been converted to relay operation, that could increase the number of suspects, depending upon how it was wired. Below is a simplified drawing of the headlight circuit. I did not include the fuses.
  9. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Open Discussions
    Sometimes there is a difference when a previous owner has changed the ignition lock without having it re-keyed.
  10. I have put more thought into this subject than it probably deserves, but here is one possible line of thinking for the pricing that we (and lots of other people) perceive as outrageous. Some rare cars are valuable. For instance, Ferraris are produced in low volume. Due to the effort put into theses cars in the way of design and engineering, they are considered valuable with most models appreciating in value in the long-term. In differentiating between examples of rare cars, mileage frequently comes into play. I've read time and time again that some low mileage example of a collectable car will lose significant value if it is driven. The advertiser does not really understand the market for the cars he is advertising, so he has speculated wildly on the value. The big problem is that because he doesn't understand the market, he also is absolutely clueless on his advertising. He selected this site and Zcar.com just because both focus on Z cars. However, both sites tend to be geared more toward the enthusiast who drives his car instead of the collector who has the temperature controlled garage, assembling a vast array of collectables. He is a speculator, pure and simple, hoping to find the whale that wants to pay his price. I have to wonder if he truly has any appreciation for the cars on his website.
  11. Not from that guy. He has a 94 Viper for only $200K.
  12. The gentleman (and I use that term loosely) started a thread over at Zcar.com. Either he does not know what he is doing, or he is just looking for people who have more dollars than sense. He has many other cars at his website GROSSLY overpriced. While a car is worth whatever someone will pay for it, there is some reason involved. He equates rare with valuable. He doesn't realize (or doesn't want to admit) that a pristine Yugo is rare, but one would be hard-pressed to call it valuable. A 10th Anniversary 280ZX is just a badge and paint treatment. Low mileage means it's a low mileage 280ZX.
  13. My 2¢: I have to agree with Arne's last post. I have a sneaking suspicion that the pushrod length is wrong.
  14. Could you see if he's got a good center console for a 73?
  15. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Interior
    Define way too expensive. I think they are about 70 cents each through Courtesy and other places.
  16. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Help Me !!
    The conversion is easy, especially if you get the adapter (splice piece) that someone on here is selling for it. If you don't order the adapter, you're going to have to jumper wires yourself.
  17. Are you sure it sold for $5600? On the page it said, "The seller ended this listing early because the item is no longer available for sale." Maybe he got a better offer in person.
  18. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Open Discussions
    Naviathan, considering that people can check the threads that have been active in the last 24 hours, starting a new thread to draw attention to the old one could be considered SPAM. Face it: not everybody shares your enthusiasm for the car being built for Pinks.
  19. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Electrical
    I used standard headlights after the relay conversion with excellent lighting. It helps to have full voltage at the lights.
  20. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Electrical
    This may be overly detailed, but I don't want to leave things out. Above is a schematic of the headlight circuit. I omitted the fuses for clarity. As you can see, the headlights themselves are between the headlight switch and the high/low beam switch. So, if you're tapping into the old right headlight socket for power for your relays, you would have the terminal from the red wire connected to the 86 pin on the relays. On the low beam relay, the red w/ white stripe would go to the 85 pin, and on the high beam relay, the red w/ black stripe would go to the 85 pin. That should have your relay signals straight. Now you'll need to wire your new headlight sockets. You can do this more than one way. I'll just throw out one suggestion. Run two wires off the positive lead of your alternator. Install 10 AMP inline fuses on the wires and connect the end of one fuse to the 87 pin on the low beam relay and connect the end of the other fuse to the 87 pin of the high beam relay. Run two wires off the 30 pin on the low beam relay to the wire on the left side of the replacement sockets. Run two wires off the 30 pin on the high beam relay to the right side of the replacement sockets. Run the black wires to ground. If this doesn't work for you, I suggest that you either follow the wiring as described in the other link or search this site for the person selling the relay harness adapters.
  21. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Electrical
    I modified the Daniel Stern Lighting design to work with the Zcar. You'll find it at http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/HeadlightRelays/JudkinsRelay.htm.
  22. Did you actually find the name of the place in Woodbridge? I've driven up and down US 1 without seeing anything that I thought might indicate a place selling Z car parts.
  23. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Help Me !!
    Go to the search page and type in the following words: fuse box melt Read through the responses. The problem with the running lights & dash lights is common.
  24. That was ARCO Graphite. I tried to search for it on Google, but all I could find were anecdotal stories. Frankly, now that I'm older and perhaps even wiser, I wouldn't put any additives such as teflon (Slick 50) or graphite, etc. If it worked that well, the manufacturers would do it from the factory. After all, there are still the US corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) requirements that they must meet.
  25. SteveJ posted a post in a topic in Electrical
    Look for loose/exposed wires behind the radio & heater panel. This along the lines of what EScanlon said...soon after I installed my radio... Been there. Done that.

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Guidelines. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.