SteveJ

I think the car has been on eBay a few times. I know it has been the topic of discussion at ZCar.com. That's the risk of customizing a car. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and you may never find another eye like yours.

Did you check the distributor and cap, too? Do you have a spark going to the cylinder?

Thanks, Stephen. I might set my Zs up like that. I want to put in battery interrupts, and a side post design is more conducive to that desire. I don't want to put the interrupt across the battery hold-down frame.

Stephen, do you have a picture of the side post installation? I'd like to see that.

Try this.

Check your fusible links.

Headlights: 1. There are no factory installed relays in the 240Z. 2. Get a wiring diagram. Look at the link below for Blue's website. Heck, even a Haynes manual would give you some idea of how the circuit is wired. Use the diagram and a multimeter to determine where the circuit functions. 3. Search this site and Zcar.com for all sorts threads on the same subject. 4. Clean the switches. Just be careful not to lose any parts.

Well, if the wiring diagram in the Clymer manual is correct, the horn relay has a green wire with black stripe, a green wire, and a green wire with a white stripe. However, it doesn't help narrow down the location.

Here is my 2¢. First, either take apart both your switches (On/Off and Hi/Low Beam) and clean them or send them off to Dave (Zs-ondabrain) for his cleaning service. The contacts will get dirty/corroded over the years. Next, look at the electrical system for corrosion. The Datsun Z Garage has good information on that under the section "Z problems". After that, consider upgrading the headlight circuit to relay operation. You can buy the wiring from Dave as well. You can search on this site to see that Dave has lots of satisfied customers.

Given the choice of checking out the car with someone from this site and using an appraisal service, I would choose the former. With the appraisal service, you may or may not find someone who knows Datsuns, especially given their age. Even if they know old cars, are they familiar with old Japanese imports? Every car has its weak points. Would Joe Blow Appraiser know about the rear end clunk? U-joint play? Specific rust points?

FYI The original poster's car is a ZX. I attempted to reply to his original post yesterday (placed about an hour before the start of this thread), but the electrons vanished into the ether when I tried to post my reply. The good news is that I can now add to check battery cable resistance to my list of diagnostics.

Well, it's three hours each way for me. Unfortunately I'll have to take a pass. I need to keep on top of the Road Atlanta schedule. That is a lot closer to me.

E, I have to go on my typical rant. Rarity does not equal desirablity. I don't think you could pay me to own a mint condition unmolested all-original Pinto or Vega (Okay, maybe a Cosworth Vega...). How about a pristine Yugo? Fuggetaboutit. On the other hand, look at the first generation Mustangs. They are considered desirable. They were produced in numbers that overwhelm the production of Z cars. After all from 64 1/2 to 68, there were somewhere near 2,000,000 Mustangs that rolled off the assembly line. There are still a lot of survivors, and they are still on the market. Compare the number and prices of first generation Mustangs for sale compared to S30 Datsuns. Having said that, I do think the 2+2 prices will start to creep north as the supply of coupes dwindles, but the 2+2 prices will typically lag behind the coupe prices. I wouldn't be surprised if on average they continue to lag far behind coupe prices.

Lee, is that why you want to come over to look at my 260Z? I can assure you that it's not the same one. On a serious note, you may not want to know what happened to the car. I suggest to try to start fresh. Who knows what may have been done to the car after you sold it? Have you ever seen the shows where they let people see houses they sold after the new owners redecorate? It's not pretty.

I found it on Sunday at my local Wal-Mart. It wasn't with the rest of the Hot Wheels. They have an area for the "Collectors". That is for people (like me) willing to pay $4 for a $1 toy.

Did you call MotorSport Auto? They have the switch in their online catalog. Other options: 1. Try to rebuild the switch. 2. Get a used switch. 3. Get an illuminated rocker switch from Radio Shack or similar source.

Did you test the switch for continuity?

You use a longer bolt with a nut to lock it into position when you have it the length you need.

It sounds like a bad slave cylinder. It's good to replace the master & slave in pairs. The clutch uses brake fluid. It should not be brown. When the engine is off, you should be able to shift without using the clutch as long as you're on a flat surface. Heck, you can shift without the clutch while driving if you know how to time your shifts. Downshifts are the most challenging.

I'll look at my FSM this evening and try to find the location of the fuse.

I'll have to say that if it is an error about the three blue wires going to the accessory relay, Nissan was consistent in it's documentation. It is also marked as being three blue wires in the drawing that shows the different wiring harness sections. This is definitely intriguing. I'll see what I can track down.

I was thinking that the fourth wire was the ground. Now I'm going to have to put that on my list of things to do this weekend to examine the accessory relay so I can document it properly.

E, are you sure about mine having errors? It is right out of the 1973 FSM.

Before you start just throwing money at the problem, why don't you try to diagnose it? 1. Has the car been sitting long? 2. How were you driving when the car felt sluggish? Were you accelerating briskly, slowly? 3. Does the car rev when it isn't under load? (Sit in place and hit the gas.) 4. What do the plugs look like? What plugs are you running? What is the gap? 5. How do your distributor cap and rotor look? Are there signs of wear? 6. Are your plug wires pliable? 7. When was the last time you changed your fuel filter?

It does have the Rear Defroster circuit on it. Send me a PM with your email address to get a higher resolution image.