EScanlon

Billy, :finger: we even let YOU stay!!! AHEM. ....Is this .. .... well, not kettle calling pot names, maybe "Do as I Say and not as I do." what you're trying to say???? HAHAHAHAHA Your whole reply, along with Billy Clinton's "I did NOT have sexual relations..." and Dicky Nixon's "I am not a crook." should be flushed...... Enough said... E

Arne, he's using the E12-80 (from post #4). Here's a link to the straw poll that Arne did in trying to drum up interest on the ZX Alternator plug. Note that the purpose of that plug was to eliminate the stock Voltage Regulator from the circuit. Since the INTERNAL regulator of the ZX Alternator made the original V/R not only redundant, but actually problematic, it was a great idea. Unfortunately, apparently obtaining the connectors proved impossible. Contact Arne for further info / help on that. Enrique

Arne: Hoping to save you some energy, time and frustration. MANY, and I mean MANY of the wires have multiple connections along the length of the harnesses. It may be a very frustrating experience trying to Fluke each and every wire at each and every connector. Believe me, you will find after a few wires that you will begin to suspect that EVERY wire is cross-connected. They aren't, but they have so many cross-connecting circuits as to make a bowl of spagheti seem simple. And this is WITHOUT the instruments / switches in place. If you were to connect the instruments / switches, then you'd MULTIPLY the complexity and not simplify your task. Rather than test for resistance and continuity, presuming that both of the harnesses appear intact and unmolested, I would concentrate on inspecting each connector, and it's individual wire connectors for damage, corrosion, loose gripping connectors, and frayed connections. Replace the plastic shells of any doubtful ones with donated shells from your original harness. Effect repairs on frayed connections, and tighten any loose ones. Lastly give them a good brushing with either a toothbrush soaked in a mild metal cleaner (or contact cleaner), or vinegar. Don't forget to neutralize the cleaner you use to ensure that it doesn't cause corrosion and hence problems later. Then make sure the connectors are clean and dry. I'm not a big fan of dabbing gobs of dielectric grease in wiring harness connectors, in fact I would recommend against it. Simply put, you're not immersing the car in water, and it just adds another goopy mess to deal with as you work within the car's tight behind the dash area. Lastly, it tends to REALLY complicate troubleshooting circuits later. Take a look at the instrument bulb sockets. Make sure those have a nice bright contact at the center post and on the ground clamp. If any of them have broken edges or clamps, then repair / replace as needed. But the bottom line is don't waste your time in effecting tests of items that you simply cannot change without a lot of effort and hazzle that would render the whole project useless. Checking for resistance in the wire (and it IS there) won't do anything more than to introduce doubt in your mind as to the integrity of the wiring. Continuity checks are great....if you know exactly where EACH connection is supposed to connect to AND it's sub-connections, and can effect conductivity to all of them. Otherwise, you'll be moving, bending, jostling and pulling on a 30 year old harness filled with old wires...definitely NOT your best form of maintenance. Get my drift? Enrique

Peter: The Hazard and Turn Signal lights ran on independent Flasher Relays. In fact, the only difference I've noted is that many times the Hazard one was a "Heavy Duty". This is one of those items that Datsun did not opt to "individualize" to the car. Just about ANY Flasher Relay (as long as it's 12v) will work. You may find that one that is labeled as being "LOUD" may be of help. Enrique

Various articles in the archives. Here's one that I contributed to that does a good job of summarizing everything. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17608 There's a bunch more, use the Advanced Search Function and plug words in until you find information. Hope it helps Enrique

You're forgetting that you're using a CANADIAN clock, and you have to use the exchange program....... J/K That's also why you guys in Canada can still get parts through the Dealers that in the U.S. we get told have been discontinued. If you guys ran on the same time standard, you'd also be out of luck..... E

Remove the clamshell surrounding your steering column and the Ignition/Steering Lock. If you CAN remove the lock assembly from the steering column, it makes it a dash easier to remove the Ignition Switch from the back of the Steering Lock. Once you can see it, just remove the connector going to it, and unscrew it from the lock. By the way, the ignition key does NOT go all the way through the lock, there IS a tab sticking out of the back of the ignition lock that engages the ignition switch. Enrique

Strictly from memory: Left one is definitely a front, and if memory serves, it's a LEFT side. Right one is a rear, and again, a Left one, but it's upside down. Look at the ROUND notch on the edge of the cutout, that goes on the underside of the bumper and towards the middle of the car. If you look closely, and are familiar with these, you'll also note another notched cutout on the back edge of the overrider, which faces directly to the right of the picture. That's for the horizontal bumper rubber to fit underneath of. The front overrider also shows the same notch. That's what allows you to readily discern these as LEFT side overriders. You should know that EARLY Rear Overriders (70-71; to use the OEM name) are different from the 72-73. The 72-73 are pretty much interchangeable, and look very close to the late 73 early 74 (260 w/ wrap-around bumper), EXCEPT that the L73-E74 were bigger. Unfortunately, rubber will not interchange. Mind you, this still doesn't include the 69 overriders which didn't use bolts to secure the rubber. FWIW Enrique

Arne will be your best info source on the ZX alternator, I've not worked with one and would be hesitant to even hazard a guess. But that being said, here's what I recall about the ZX alternator....they're internally regulated, as such you need to eliminate the external regulator on the side of the engine bay. Again, ask Arne, he was in the midst of making some form of plug to connect it into the older wiring harnesses, but had hazzles in getting the proper connectors. As far as the "starter malfunction", it isn't your starter. It's in the ignition switch. The solenoid you hear clicking IN the passenger cabin is the ACCESSORY relay that is being energized when your switch is in the "RUN" position, and off when the switch is in the "START" position. This is the relay that powers the fog lamps, rear window defrost, and other accessories (fan, radio, etc). The STARTER Relay is on the Starter itself, I'm not sure you could hear it very well from inside the cabin. (Hey, maybe you can!) But, and here's the kicker, I also have this problem, and it IS the Ignition Switch. Attached to the back of your Steering Wheel Lock is the Ignition Switch. These have a funny habit of getting loose, and not making good contact when actuated. It isn't that they're not MOUNTED onto the lock properly, it's that they are a rotating switch, and internally they get sloppy..INSIDE. But, thankfully, there are switches available, since Nissan used the same switch in various models. I'm having computer "fun" so I can't look up the part number, but if you have the club's microfiche you should be able to get the part number and call your local Nissan dealer. Taking it apart is EXTREMELY difficult and putting it back into operation afterward would probably border on the impossible. The switch components are crimped onto the switch body and it's that same "pot-metal" type body that resists any kind of bending. If you check your switch you'll probably find that like mine, the electronic contacts in the bake-lite, are not being held firmly in place by the surrounding metal collar crimp. As a result, the bake-lite can rotate slightly and it does, which makes for a poor contact when you rotate the switch via the key. I guess you could try gluing the bake-lite in place but I've not tried that yet. Hope this helps. Enrique

Given a choice, I'd grind off the paint and allow the grinder to leave jagged scratches through to the metal. The bond to the paint will only be as good as the paint bond to the primer below and it's subsequent bond to the metal. In either case, I was taught to GRIND the surface which is to receive the patch. That way it has both a MECHANICAL bond as well as the CHEMICAL bond of the resin. FWIW E

The "no effect" B/W is the one that goes to the coil in all cases, the one that killed the engine IS the one to connect to the G/W now that the resistor is gone. That's the initial power source for the resistor and then the tach. As you have it now, the tach should be exhibiting "spikes" while starting the car. Trust me on this, if you want a better understanding then continue reading. When the engine is RUNNING (+) power from the battery goes through the fuse box and then to the ignition switch (via a W/R wire). From there it gets sent to the Resistor (via B/W wire #1) which then returns it to the Tach (G/W wire), the Tach then sends it to the Coil (B/W wire #2) and the system is energized and you can have spark at the plugs. When the engine is being STARTED (i.e. the starter is engaged and running) the (+) power from the battery also goes through the fuse box, to the ignition switch (W/R). Here there is a "detour", the (+) is now sent DIRECTLY to the tach (G/W wire that receives the return power from the resistor), and from there to the coil (B/W wire #2 above). As you can see the fuse is totally bypassed. When the engine is running the G/W wire FROM the ignition switch, used in the starter sequence is inop. The power gets returned to the G/W wire from the resistor and then to the tach. When you are starting the engine, the B/W wire that killed the engine when you removed it, is inop as the power is being sent DIRECTLY to the tach via the G/W wire and then the B/W wire that had no effect. The power to the coil goes through one of two circuits BOTH of which go through the tach. Hope this makes some sense. Trying to explain electrical circuits is tricky and can be very confusing. As far as the "buzzing" that you're hearing, taking a WAG it might mean that your Voltage Regulator is having fits. But, with you having a couple of MAJOR wires (the B/W and G/W wires being mis-connected) let's first fix the problem with the tach, then let's tackle the VR...it might be that the buzzing goes away. E

To answer your question in a more direct and brief manner: Since the hinges are already off the car, just clean them up to remove whatever dust / grease is still on them. (Make especially sure that no grit is left in the hinge pin area as that would really mess them up.) Once you've cleaned them, apply some form of metal prep etching solution. Whether you use self-etching primer or you apply a Phosphoric Acid Wash, the intent is to give the surface metal some protection from rust. Prime all surfaces of the hinges. It might be easier to hang them from the ceiling with coat hanger wire or something similar. Once the primer has set, scuff the top skin coat of primer enough that it will accept the paint. This procedure is the same whether you BC/CC or just Color Coat. Whether you BC/CC or not is really a personal decision / preference. It just depends on how much viewing your door openings will receive and whether you will be BC/CC'ing the inner door frame and door opening. If you are going to BC/CC the opening and door then definitely CC the hinges. Given the "best" options, I would probably recommend that you color coat everything off the car (since it's already disassembled) then assemble carefully (to prevent chips / dings), and effect as much adjustment as necessary. Once you're done with the adjustments, effect whatever scratch/chip repairs are required to the Color Coat. Then Wet Sand the complete exterior to perfect smooth and scuff the internal areas that you will be clear coating. (Wet-sanding here is great if it's a show car / trailer queen, otherwise you're wasting your time and effort) THEN clear coat the car. Even here I would do it in two stages. First the interior areas, masking off the exterior. Then the exterior, allowing the CC to blend to the edge of the CC coming from the interior. Use the EDGES of the painted areas to hide the transition seam. The problem with this procedure is that depending on the paint you use, you either have a "window" of time in which to do the assembly/ adjustment, and still have the clear coat adhere properly, or you don't. If you DON'T, then you have no choice but to assemble and then block-sand before clear coating, or clear coating and then assembly. In the second procedure, it's REALLY difficult to effect touchups and repairs to chips / dings / scratches. It all depends on how much time / effort / experience you have. Personally, having painted BC/CC with both methods, I'd rather wet sand between the BC and the CC, with assembly in between. Why? Simply because the problem of repairing scratches and chips once you've clear coated are really REALLY M A J O R PITA. FWIW Enrique

Ok, now you owe me for a new keyboard! ROFLMAO I pulled it up, took a drink off my soda and WHAMMO!!!! spewed all over the place. Cat's pissed off, probably left a mess on the way out, knocked over some papers which I'm sure will prove to be important in the next day or so. My wife's convinced I'm having a heart attack and is yelling "Are you OK?" (By the way if I wasn't how could I tell her so? She STILL hasn't come down to check.) So, you owe me for a new keyboard....... E

What he said!...... hmmmmm I mean... What DID he say?... Wait a second, was that in that new Text Messaging mode of writing?.... :dead: Heck, that's what happens as you start to get older, the language changes so darn much that it becomes foreign. :surprised I speak a couple other languages, and it STILL didn't make sense. Can someone help me out here? :surprised E

The Z's tach and wiring are just one of the wonderful anomalies you'll discover. Arne's diagram is correct. However, what the diagram does NOT show, is that you MUST have the Green/White and Black/White wire that originally went to the resistor connected to each other. If that is NOT the case, then you'll end up with "extra" wires and a non-op tach. With a non-op Tach and a SINGLE loose wire near the coil, that USUALLY means that you have TWO wires connected to the (+) terminal of the coil. This is true whether you have the electric dizzy or points. If so, and one is a B/W and the other is a G/W, AND the loose wire is B/W then simply disconnect the G/W wire from the Positive terminal of the Coil and connect it to the B/W wire that's loose. That will complete the circuit on "RUN" through the Tach as it should be. The tach should now operate. If it does not, try swapping out the two B/W wires. There should two wires to the (+) terminal of the coil and that should be a B/W wire (the return from the Tach) and the wire from the B terminal of the dizzy module. If the LOOSE wire is Green with a White Stripe? And the two wires connected to the (+) terminal of the coil are BOTH Black/White, then you have to figure out which B/W is which for the circuit to the tach. This hook-up is entirely possible, the car will run but you've completely eliminated the tach from the circuitry...in the RUN mode, it will be operational ONLY during START. This is more troublesome as it can cause problems if you hook up the wrong B/W to the Green/White wire. Hook it up ONE way and you'll have spark to the plugs ONLY when you crank, and the other way only when the key is in RUN. I just checked MY wiring, but unfortunately it's all taped up because the P.O. had done such a "mahvelous" job of cross connecting wiring. (MY tach was non-op when I bought the car, which is why I'm personally familiar with this problem.) I did do continuity checks through the wiring from the module to the coil and tach with the ignition in RUN, not in START as I did not want to disconnect more wiring to keep the engine from starting. (Hard to do continuity checks with other electrical pulses going through the system. But check it out and let us know what you find. E¢

Arne: The diagram you posted will only work IF he has a later style Tachometer and not the earlier style. I'll have a longer reply for the Early Tach (Loop Circuitry) vs the single wire Tach, Later Style (Inductive Circuitry) in a bit, just wrapping it up. Enrique

Mat: From your signature, I figure we're talking about your 71, and Arne is right on with the tach/ignition connection. If your tach isn't IN the circuit, the engine won't run.....EXCEPT..... you CAN hook it up backwards. In that case the engine will run, but the tach won't work. Have you done ANYTHING to the distributor / resistor / coil connections at the front of the car? What about upgrading the car to the electronic distributor from the ZX? You don't mention IF the car runs at all. You just say you resurrected it. Does the tach do ANYTHING? What about small spikes when you're starting, or while the engine is running (if it's running)? Anyone of those would help diagnose and suggest. In the meantime, I'll stick with the old standby: "Check all the connections you did or may have disconnected." Enrique

I always ask this because it's a common occurrence that has bit more than one guy before: The Timing Advance Roller Plate. That little Lazy Susan type pressure plate that allows the Vacuum in the engine to advance it's timing, and RETURN to it's zero vacuum advance position. Once your dizzy's plate is shot, and the little ball bearings fall out of their holders, then your vaccuum CAN and oftentimes DOES rotate and advance the timing. It's that it doesn't always allow it to RETURN, until the springs can jostle it into place via the vibration of the engine, that causes the problem. Then when you go flooring it, it REALLY forces it to move until it reaches a point where the spring isn't strong enough to overcome the friction generated by the plate having been rotated without the ball bearings. In either of these cases, you'll have all sorts of weird fluctuations of performance that just do not make sense. That's because the springs in the dizzy will EVENTUALLY force the plate back into position, but all it takes is the first offset to throw everything off. E¢

I agree. That's where the "difficulty" comes in. I've always been told to only put ONE Spade connection in between every PAIR of washers when working with electrical connections. Putting two connectors directly one on top of the other is a prescription for problems, ESPECIALLY if one doesn't separate them via washers...OR...use Washer Connectors. (If my terminology isn't precise, please correct me.) This is because the nut / bolt cannot compress evenly around it's circumference and the result is that one or both connectors are compressed OUT of the connection. When dealing with electricity....this is another term for "FUSE". There is yet another solution, use a replacement NEGATIVE Battery Post Cable connector instead of the POSITIVE Battery Post Cable Connector. The difference? The REPLACEMENT part (available at your local parts house) will a LOT of times already have a smaller (8-12ga) wire crimped (or molded) into the battery clamp. You can then use standard wiring connectors to crimp several lighter gage wires in to the larger gage cable connection. Remember with a strong predominance of Negatively GROUNDED vehicles operating, a replacement part from the parts house will usually have the wire for that connection. The Positive cable connector usually won't as most connections are the "plug into your fuse box" variety. This type of connection that you are making with this or the other relay is to provide an ADDITIONAL circuit NOT dependent on the original fuse box. That original fuse box is half the reason for needing this harness, the other half? The combination switch. This is the total beauty of Dave's system, it incorporates, in a seamless and restoreable fashion, the ADDITION of a circuit to the older system that actually IMPROVES the function of the older circuit. E¢

(In reference to why the Dash Lights get Brighter...) Explain it like this: Ever seen that joke they act out on TV, where they go flush the toilet when someone's in the shower to see if they actually ARE in there, and you hear a yell? That's the same thing. E

Just be careful that you don't catch WIAT fever. Ask Beandip, he had the same problem.....2.5 years ago! E

It is a 68, and I was not aware of the second set of holes. I will be removing the rest of the interior soon so I'll definitely look for that. Thanks. As an interesting notes to any other Roadster-ophiles, the 68 I have does NOT have a VIN plate on the dash, nor does it have the cutout on the vinyl. It DOES have the vinyl pad, so it is the "padded" dash, but without the cutout even the dash caps available for it aren't "correct". How's that for a weird item. Enrique

I own a Roadster 2000 (currently being worked on) but can't say that I agree about the leg room. Then again that's part of what I'm working on, but to me it's just a dash cramped in the leg stretch area, I'm right at 6' tall. If you've driven a Subaru Legacy Wagon, you'll understand what I mean about the leg room, you can put the seat all the way back, but you STILL would like an extra couple inches so that you don't feel as if you're keeping your knees bent.

Not being a mechanic, but knowing enough to be dangerous, could your mechanic have suggested the heavier oil because your rings/cylinders are worn and you're loosing compression (hence power) that way? Then again, the heavier oil will require the engine warm up more before it flows better and meanwhile that causes drag, which can reduce your mileage. Keep in mind that you're getting opinions, all based on "what it SHOULD do" based on everyone's prior experience, and not what YOUR car should or IS doing. For that matter, you need to address some of the more important basics. Have you had a compression check done on all cylinders? Have you had the valves adjusted? The carbs tuned and matched? Is the clutch slipping? Is the rear-end differential properly lubricated? Are the brakes adjusted properly? Some of these may seem far-fetched and even outlandishly inconsequential, but you'd be surprised what even small adjustments can do. Give the real mechanics (not I) a little more info and I'm sure they can give you a better opinion / suggestion. Enrique

Rob: The feature I was pointing out was caught by Ed and Arne, they are "sided" wheels, meaning that they are designed to go on the Right and Left sides of the vehicle. If you were to get a real close up view of the wheels, you would see that the black void is actually the back part of what could be defined as a "turbine vane", i.e. a fan blade. The purported theory behind these wheels is that at higher speeds, in conjunction with an air dam on the front of the car, as well as the side and rear skirts, they will pull air out from underneath the car and help generate ground holding pressure (vacuum). As with all other gimmicks of this sort, no doubt the principle is based on good engineering that gets incredibly watered down in application. Could it work and in fact be an asset to higher speed driving? I ~guess~, but then again there is a turbine shaped air breather tube that is supposed to cause the air to swirl in the intake tube and therefore atomize the gas particles more as it flows into the engine. Both of those are accepted concepts, Indy race cars all work to evacuate the bottom of the car of as much air as possible in order to "hug" the ground better and not fly off the track. Ever seen one of those cars literally flip up like a feather when air gets underneath? There have also been studies have shown that a swirling air flow actually can atomize and suspend liquid better than a straight flow (think of a tornado). But, and this is the big BUT, does it actually work in this small a scale? Will having vanes for wheels actually help pull out enough air to affect the down force of the car? Will that turbine air thing actually impart enough spin to the intake air? Well, that's where the differences in racing come in. But to address your point, yes, painting the inside of the wheel rims the same color as the car or even a complementing or appropriate contrasting color was definitely the rage in the 70's. But as to the comments on white raised letter tires, granted that they look passé now, but Hip-hugger pants, bell-bottoms, and even stacked high heel shoes for men were all the rage in the 70's. How about Afro haircuts? All outlandish.....NOW, but definitely "cool and groovy man" in the 70's. A "Muscle-Car" just WASN'T without it's white raised letter tires, heck I even remember people buying white grease crayons just to "spiff" them up. Unfortunately, to my taste, the raised letter tires always DID look kind of dorky on the Z.....even back in the 70's. But get one of those RED pinstripe tires on a Z and you have another discussion. FWIW Enrique