peng155

Hey Folks, Now that I finally have the car running, in pretty fine shape I've been contemplating what to do next... The suspension is pretty much stock, as is the engine (original L24 with 120K miles).. The engine seems to be in pretty good shape.. still pulls real strong.. only thing is it might need is new valve seals. I've been thinking of either having the original engine rebuilt, or swap in a 280zx turbo engine, or swap in a Rebello built 3.0 engine.. I'm sort of leaning towards the Rebello option with either stock SU's or a pair of the modified SU's to start with, and then swap the SU's out for an after market FI system at a later date. I figure the motor will run me about 5-6K, and the FI another 2-3K... Oh I forgot this is like a 2-3yr project (engine swap, drive for a year or so, then FI swap) wasn't planning, and can't afford to dump all of the green backs at once.... What has complicated the decision making is that while I was visiting my body/painter guy the other day to discuss having a bit of work done on the car.... he mentions that he has another customer who might be looking to sell his Datsun 510, not sure what the year is... but I've been sort of looking for a 510 and depending on the condition of this one, and provided it's for sale.. I'm sort of at a cross road of what to do. My 'Z' is strictly a summer cruiser, take it to the Datsun-Nissan-Z get together, not planning on any tracking, or x-crossing the cars.. So I'm looking at spending say 10k on either a motor, or possibly a 510. What do you guy's think?? And no I really don't need another car in the garage

Hey Steve, I think you're right..... I've been fiddling around with it for a bit now, and I don't see anyway for it to come out.... thanks

Another question for everyone Does anyone know if, or how the top lamp assembly can be removed from the housing? The part I'm talking about is the 1-1/2 inch center disk. I'd like to send my inspection light housing in to have a new zinc coating applied to them so that they're nice and shiny again. thanks

Thanks Zed.... I follow your advice and see if maybe the dis-coloration, and melting is old damage caused prior to me installing the relays.... I also had Dave rebuild both my turn, and head light stock.... Something i just thought of..... with the relay upgrade in place... would I, and should I see the amp meter indicate high current (needle points to the + side of the meter) flow with the head light on?

Hi Carl, No the wire harness wasn't modified... If I recall correctly... the White, and White/Red wire that was connected to the original fuse box was wired directly to Voltage reg. and to the fuseible link.... I didn't see any connectors for these two wires.... Unless I didn't cut the tape around the wire harness back far enough to expose it When i did a search last night on my problem I saw a picture of the back side of the box with the two connectors that go to the wire harness, and then the White, and White/red wire... Found some pictures.... This first one is from a post by Mikes Z car, showing the connectors for the two high current wires.. Unfortunately I didn't have them in my wire harness this second picture from a post by Blue shows how my looked before i spliced in the new box The two White wires appeared to be direct runs, with no intermediate connector....

Hey Zed, I forgot to mention that I already have installed Dave's headlight, and parking light relay upgrade, sorry about that.... Pretty much any high current accessory... driving lights, airhorn, rear window defrost/defog has been has been modified with a relay. I will say that I didn't do the relay upgrade right away..... so the deformation Of the butt splice insulation, and wire insulation might have occured prior to the relay install. With that being said do you think I need to replace the wires? Thanks

Hi Folks.... New question... When I got the 'Z' the fuse box suffered the usual melted plastic around the fuse holder problem from the high current draw of the lights and accessories through the fuses. I changed out the fuse box with a new MSA replacement about 10 or so yrs ago. I had to cut the White, and White/Red wires to remove the old fuse box, and I butt spliced the new one in... when I stripped the wires to do the splice I had a look at both of the wires, and did notice that they were pretty well oxidized... I cleaned off the ends as best as I could with some emery cloth, and spliced in the new box. I also did the one-wire GM internal regulator conversion, I installed a GM/AC Delco SI 10 alternator (I think the 65amp version) Fast forward to today... while installing the new voltmeter I noticed that the butt splice insulators on the splices to the fuse box had melted, and deformed due to heat.. (I'm going to assume its from the high resistance of the wires due to age)...... I'm thinking of replacing a section of both the White, and White/Red wire from the engine compartment to the fuse box. Per the FSM... The White/Red wire at the fuse box should be a direct run to one side of the fusible link, thru the link, and to the Alternator output post. The White wire from the fuse box goes to one side of the Amp meter, and has a splice somewhere to the old external voltage reg. which has since long been removed when I did the conversion to the internal reg. alternator. Correct me if I am wrong.... I should be able to run a new White/Red wire directly from the fusible link to replace the current one going to the fuse box, And a new White wire from the amp meter to the fuse box to replace the other wire... is this correct?? Or are there other factory tap's, and splices I'm not taking into account?? thanks for the help....

Hey Guy's I thought I'd post up an update on my ride quality issues.... I'm afraid to admit this but part of my problem was low air pressure in the tires..... they were about 30psi.... I filled them up to 33psi.... and that helped the ride quality quite a bit.... I also spoke to a friend and he thinks If I replace the tires that'll help some more since he thinks the tires are probably alot less plyable due to age.... Since the car will be going back into storage soon with fall on the way..... new tires can wait till next spring.... Thanks for all of the suggestions, help, and info...

That sounds like a good suggestion Blue.... Thanks

Hey Guy's I'm thinking about installing a voltmeter into my 71 "Z" to monitor the health of the charging system in the car. The ampmeter only can tell me so much, but the ampmeter along with the voltmeter should give me a better picture of what the charging system is doing when the car in running... What I'm not sure of is where to tap the voltmeter into...... I'm thinking of connecting the voltmeter at the alternator output post.. my other option is to tap into the electrical system somewhere that is on when the ignition is on. Looking for opinions on what you guys think... thanks

Hey Brian, Thanks for the great input... I drove the car around a bit yesterday, on city streets the car handles pretty well, the ride is firm, which I expect for the 'Z'... but when I go over say expansion joint bumps in the road... it is IMO a bit harsh... When I got it out on the Freeway at 55+ the car does feel likes as you put it "Floaty"... minor steering wheel input to keep the car centered in the lane, translates to over correction... so it seems like I'm always correcting left/right to keep the car centered in the lane. When I get home tonight I'll try your suggestions and make adjustments to the shock settings... take the car out and see what differences it makes... Thanks again....

Hi Guy's.... Got the car back from the mechanic... And I got more info... I stand corrected.. The shocks do appear to be Illuminas based on the adjuster I see at the top... 5 zones around the circumference of the adjuster, and it appears that all four corners are set to #1 The tires are Bridgestone RE-750, size 205-55-15... I had the tires put on about 10 years ago, but the car has been garage, undercover for a majority of that time (its been an ongoing project) but it's very possible that the sidewall rubber has gotten less pliable with time. Something I've started to wonder is... if maybe since my cushy Honda CR-V has been my daily driver... I'm comparing an apples (Honda) to oranges (The Z) ride... and there isn't anything really wrong with the ride... I will admit being 55 yo... my definition of a comfortable ride has changed a lot from when i was a 20 to 30-somthin dip-wad. But still would it make sense to change out the stock springs for something newer?? I'm not sure how long the stock springs should last in the 'Z' thanks for all of th suggestions and input.. it is appreciated

Hey Zed, I may wrong.. and the shocks maybe illuminas.... as stupid as this may sound, I haven't messed with the adjustments on the shocks yet... it'll be the first thing I do 2nite when I get the car back. I don't have what I would call real low profile tires, but I do know they are a bit lower, and wider then stock.. again I'll check when I get the car back...

I'm leaning towards replacing the cut stock springs with a set of the progressive Eibach springs first.. if that softens up the ride, then I may consider other suspension replacement Thanks

Hey Jeff, I'm not positive, but I think the bushings are stock... I'll check 2nite and see...

Hi Guy's... I need some suggestions on changing the ride quality on the Z.... the basics are.... 71 'Z', Stock springs that the previous owner had cut to lower the car, Tokico adjustable shocks all the way around (Not sure which model, but I'm sure they aren't Illumina's). Again not positive but I believe the previous owner installed larger sway bars in the front, and rear, 15x7 wheels front, and rear... don't remember what size tires are mounted... the car is at the mechanics getting a new clutch installed. I've had the car for 20 yrs, or so... and haven't done any suspension mod's or upgrades.... What I'm looking for is to soften up the ride a bunch (I know ride quality is subjective) but when ever I go over a bump in the road... it feels like I'm riding on a brick. The car is a summer/sunday driver... no track, or x-crossing... just the leisurely sunny day Sunday drive... I've logged less them 10k miles on the car since I've owned it, and I'd like to keep the lower stance.... I don't know if the harsh ride is due to the PO cutting the springs, or if it's because the springs are worn and cut, or a combination of worn springs, and shocks. I'm thinking about having a set of Eibach springs installed, but wasn't sure if I would need to install new shocks also... I've read that the front Eibach springs would cause the front to sit higher, and would need to be cut for the front and rear to sit level... is that still the case? Also if i need to have new shocks installed what would be a nice set-up be that would give a nice ride, but still maintain handling. thanks for your input