EScanlon

Your first sentence is a perfect example of how an urban legend gets started. The "My friend has a set" line won't work here. There are several of us on this site that own and have installed the OEM Datsun 240Z Headlight Covers with the Stainless Steel Trim Rings. Mine came in a box marked with the part numbers stamped on the box that matches the microfiche available from the club here, the E-Parts Catalog, the FSM and just about every other reference that gives out the part number. I admit openly that I was so happy to get them that other than checking the part number on the very top of the box before ripping the box open, I didn't note whether a manufacturer's name was on the side. If I recall, I stored some parts in the box so I'll check. But all that aside, they are plastic. As far as making them out of glass...I think that would be begging for problems. The headlights on both my Acura and my wife's Subaru are glass but at both of the dealer's part / service departments they heartily endorsed putting formed plastic headlight covers as protection from rock chips. But, due to the rarity of the OEM covers, why not post the site where you found the GLASS ones. Heck, I'd buy a couple of them just for the stainless steel trim ring and form my own plexiglass. (So let's see, what would that make the parts? They would purportedly be OEM, but having been modified from their original condition by replacing the glass with plexiglass to conform with the known authentic standard.... Would that then make them Non-Authentic Original OEM After-Market Reproduction Knock-Offs? Wonder what the judges would say.) But all that aside, I'll finish this post with link to a picture: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=8950&sort=1&cat=500&page=2 Enrique

If all 3 lights are blinking in unison, then it is a common wire and not the bulbs. I may be wrong on the 280, but on the 240 the dash lights were fed with a common Blue/Red wire (Blue wire, Red Stripe). You might also check that there is a good ground connect to the dash frame. 2¢ Enrique

Late reply. Don't know about the indicator light, although it wouldn't be difficult to cross connect a low voltage LED (to duplicate the circuitry in a light switch). I recently got a look at an early "Series II" console. The plaque that is behind the ash tray in later consoles only had a Z on it. Earlier ones had indentations on that plaque that appeared could be opened up to accept switches. Since all I got was a look and not a disassembly I can't answer that. As far as the opening in the tail-light housing, every 240 light I've worked with has had that plug in there. Typically they are a grayish putty color with a raised letter P in the center of the plug. Hope this helps. Enrique

Not ALL flasher units make the clicking sound, that's the reason for the unit on the left of MikeW's picture. In the case of Mike's picture it's the LEFT item that makes the loud click in case the flasher unit (on the right) doesn't have a loud enough click to be heard or in addition to the one from the unit. Enrique

My apologies, I've been referring to the 240 in all these posts, NOT the 280. Sorry for the confusion. Enrique

I can't argue that. Although I'm <50, on some things I feel >100. Anyone who has been married more than 15 years will empathize with my post. It reminds me of this joke: At a National Convention of Men, the speaker asks everyone to stand up. After the crowd has done so, he says "Everyone who gets sex at least once a week, please sit down." A LOT of men sit down. The speaker continues, "Everyone who gets sex once a month, sit down." Another large group of men sit down. Then it's: once every three months, and finally after asking everyone who gets it at least once every six months to sit down, there is only one guy left standing. This guy is jumping up and down, waving his arms, and pumping his fist up and down. The speaker addresses him by saying "Sir are we to understand that you only get sex ONCE a year?" "That's ABSOLUTELY right!" the fellow gleefully exclaims. "Then would you mind explaining to the whole group, why you are so excited and pumped about a situation that most of us would find deploreable?" "Absolutely. TONIGHTS THE NIGHT!!!"

A Z will get through those times when you're you aren't getting sex better than if you had sex and no Z. :tapemouth E

Like you, I'm willing to be very patient. It's more a "want" than a "need" item. If you do decide to sell them, then please be sure to post, as I'd be interested in one for sure, possibly two depending on whether I'm allowed to keep Z #2. Enrique

Perfect! Personally, since I work on that part of the car with a creeper (On a flat platform with wheels that I lay down on), I find it easier to have the bolt going UP (like you had it in the first picture). But Alan's book does say that it should be going down, with that in mind, and knowing what you are striving for, it's perfect. Enrique

Yes....but one thing is to BE the person who...steps over the line, and another to push or pull someone over the line. Enrique

Any chance that you would consider drawing a template from it? I'm not talking taking it apart, but rather measuring and detailing so that maybe I can get one made at an upholstery shop? Thanks in advance Enrique

Take this as a strong lesson on how to set yourself up to possibly loose a bunch of good money by trying to save poorly. Don't take this as a slam, it is a learning lesson though. In the future, check with your insurance carrier and check the price for STORAGE insurance. You may find that being covered in that manner can really make a HUGE difference in situations like these. However, one very important note needs to be asked. What were you doing driving an uninsured vehicle? If you need to have on-the-spot and occasional insurance just in case you have to drive the car in winter, then the storage option above just requires a phone call to be changed. Being un-insured, unless you can just call your agent and get added to an existing policy, is going to take a day or so. So, it may become painful, and hopefully it doesn't, but a word to the wise.... Enrique

One important note, if you have insurance on your vehicle, which you mention you do, then check with your company about what coverage you have. If all you have is liability, then you are at the mercy of the other insurance company. If on the other hand you have complete coverage (comprehensive, collision, uninsured/underinsured driver coverage, etc.) then you may have a situation where you can receive payment from the other insurance company and then complete the claim with YOUR insurance company to restore it to the condition before the accident. Enrique

This is important, WHERE were the jumper cables attached? If you connected "by the book", then that means that you connected positive to positive terminals BATTERY TO BATTERY, and the NEGATIVE terminal on the donor car battery was connected to the BODY or ENGINE of the recipient. If that's the case, then check the fusible link from the negative side of your battery going down to the starter solenoid. If this fusible link gets disconnected or blows, it completely disconnects the COMPLETE electrical system of the car. 2¢ Enrique

Carl, and MikeW; you're both right on the money. That white area is indeed the turn signal body. In fact, that specific area is where in the JDM cars the additional bulb for the PARK lamps (the ones you light up on one side towards traffic) goes. That it has no hole for a bulb is indicative of it NOT being a JDM turn signal. Alan, although the parts book may show the bolt going in from the top down, in every Z that I've disassembled those bolts go from the bottom up, trying to get it in from the top down is a major pain due to the headlight acorn, which in the picture I'm enclosing (which I've lightened to show more detail) is just beginning to be visible in the upper left. But I agree with you in that expecting that much detail from the FSM or other book, would be beyond reasonable expectations. Kats; you asked if those "Nut- joint retainer" were installed correctly. They are in the proper location, but they are NOT installed correctly. Those nut-clips should be clipped ONLY to the upper flange, i.e. the flange of metal on the FENDER. The picture you posted shows that the clip is clipping BOTH metal flanges, the fender and the lower valance. The purpose of this clip is to hold the nut in location while still allowing a small amount of adjustment when attaching the lower side valance with the bolt. If you look closely, you'll see that the flat part of the clip, which should be BETWEEN the upper and lower flange, is on the bottom side of the lower flange. 2¢ Enrique

Are you having target practice with your automatic starter's gun? Check the wiring diagram and you'll see that it IS a separate circuit, it IS worked into the existing runs, AND it DOES belong there. If you take precautions to NOT overload the circuit, you aren't hurting it. Enrique

This is not necessary when using the wiring in the 240's circuitry. The 240's existing circuit is already powered and fused. All you are doing is connecting the fog lamps to the circuit and a switch to close the loop. Adding another wire would have power going in or out in unpredictable places. Enrique

If you aren't planning on getting high watt fog lamps then yes it should work, as that is how mine are hooked up. If you are planning on getting a high watt light, then like the headlights I would recommend a relay based circuit. Enrique

After talking to a friend of mine who had a lot of involvement with the Barret Jackson auction and yet another big name auction (whose name escapes me at the moment), I find that I must modify my prior post. It turns out that there ARE deductions in STOCK CONCOURS that would not apply in other classes. The bare fact was that if the part or part number if visible on the part, was not the one that would have come with that car, a deduction gets taken. That means that "Replaced By" or superseeded part numbers would in fact devalue a STOCK CONCOURS class vehicle, but not necessarily one of the lower classes. I apologize to all in that what I know of the Concours classes is so muddled with "barracks lawyering" that it led me astray. Personally, I'm more interested in driving my car and having it look as good as possible. Since I have custom wheels, dash, heater control panel, seat reclining mechanism, louvers, headlight covers and "angel eye" headlights, I won't be in any competition for originality or authenticity for a long time. Even though the items I have added, would have been considered a customiization and therefore "period authentic", I realize and know that it isn't a Concours contender. Enrique

"Does using "FACTORY" interchanged parts in a restoration hurt its authenticity? " I think that the form of the question begets a discussion as to the terms used. Factory designated "Replaced By" parts are what you would receive if you were still taking your car to the dealer for service. Does that mean that Dealer Repairs are devaluating your car when they effect maintenance "by the book". Does that then render some of these vehicles with "pristine service records" going back to the first oil change as less valuable or less authentic? Then the word authenticity implies that there is a STANDARD to which the vehicle in question can be compared to in order to gauge the level of "authentic" parts. Authentic implies being fully trustworthy as according with fact or actuality. In this case, that STANDARD once again applies, and as yet, I'm not aware of a Z specific standard that everyone would agree to. If by authenticity you are referring to no "make-do" parts, that is, substituting a set of Corvette Tail-Lights, swapping out the transmssion with one that was not available to that model, making a modification to the vehicle such that you would NOT have received the car with it, then I agree with your reference. However, the FACTORY word in front of a part would, in my opinion, render the question of authenticity moot. Then you can get into the realm of "accepted" non-factory designated brands or items. Is everyone using "Elephant" oil? (or whatever it's name was) Fan Belts, Air Breather elements, Fuses, and all the other disposable items that are used during regular maintenance. How about tires? I'll bet that 9/10 of the club fails on that alone. The tenth that wouldn't fail are those vehicles that have been in a time capsule with the original tires. That means that anyone with over 40,000 miles on the odometer BETTER have a new set of originally designated tires or their car is worth less. 2¢ Enrique

Yikes! This is one of the most overlooked problems when checking for leaks around the windshield area. Sadly, it takes a lot of careful use of an inspection mirror in order to get a good look inside the cowl plenum. As a result, most people miss this part. Another area to check is the flange for the fresh air opening. With the rain splash cover over it, it makes it very easy to NOT see the edges of the flange until they've rusted so far down that they allow rain in through the fresh air vent. Good thing you found it, those of you who haven't checked your wiper cowl bucket area might take note. Enrique

A HOBART 150 or a "just as good" 150? I'll think that when you check the recovery times and weld time involved you might find that 250 to be twice as expensive as a well bought 700 machine. TANSTAAFL. I've used less expensive welders and found myself having to wait longer and longer between shorter and shorter periods of welding. That makes for sloppy and weak welds. 2¢ Enrique

The 260's wiring diagram and further up, shows the connectors and the wiring pairs you are matching. Trace the wiring you worked on back on the wiring diagram and it will tell you position and color. 2¢ Enrique

Quote: Yeah i was about to say that I never seen 280z here in OZ.. most of them are 240 or 260 and 2+2 seems to be more common. I noticed this as I was preparing my post. That's a big point to make on this discussion. Most of the members here are U.S. based and as such saw a different sequences and durations of models. The 260 in the U.S. was only offered for a bit over a year, and was then replaced with the 280 which still shared the same body style as the 240 and 260. Then they started introducing changes until they came out with the ZX. Enrique

That you have a car for sale, and you've offered up a price for it, does not mean that it will sell for that price. For it to be MY definition of purchaseable, it would need to fulfill MY expectations on that purchase. A picture can speak volumes, and if you've been reading the posts here, then you know the pictures that will help determine whether it is a good candidate for restoration and not a boneyard refugee. Enrique