EScanlon

The 72's and the late 71's saw the transition in the wiring harness and console area. Early 71's and 70's had a difference in the wiring harness depending on whether the car was an automatic or manual. The late 71's and 72's added the seat belt warning light as well as the choke on indicator light. I'm not sure about the differences in the harness due to the transmission, but you might check. The Automatic requires a pair of wires going to the kick down switch on the gas pedal. These wires in turn go to the solenoid at the transmission.

And you are now a Blood Brother with your car. That means you will have to take care of it and keep it running well and it will in turn give you hours of satisfaction. Crazy as it seems, it seems that if I do a job / procedure on the car and I don't nick myself, then I end up redoing it later. If I cut / scratch / gouge etc etc, then the job goes flawlessly and it ends up as good or better than what I wanted. Do you think the car is out to get it out of me regardless of whether it's blood or money?

Contact Andy Russel at Z Cars of Arizona. They have not only new but also used parts and their quality is unbeatable. His Phone is 480-816-8668.

Silicone will work, but do keep an eye on it over time to make sure it doesn't peel off. You could also use strip caulking, which is what Wick Humble refers to as "dum-dum". It generally never hardens and provides an excellent seal and adhesion. Just don't use any kind of adhesive / epoxy / glue that gets HARD, as it will literally be impossible to remove from the lens if you do have to remove it.

I just recently bought Sylvania #53 for the instrument, and although haven't had a chance to light them up, they fit well and they are 3.4 w. 2¢

I'm probably misreading your reply, you meant the plastic housing and NOT the lenses themselves, right? Don't paint the inside of the lenses with any kind of opaque paint as you will not only block the light, you will heat up the inside of the lens and housing and melt the sucker. If you do want that "tinted" effect, check into the transparent paint you can get for making "stained" glass. You can get it in different colors for a different look.

Alfa; first of all, see if you can access the SIDES of the tangs that are biting into the plastic pin. It may take a small bent nail, or if you have an old dental pick, or some other SMALL prying tool, but the intent is to move those tangs UP and AWAY from the pin. I'm awful on ASCII art, but here goes. In a bit I'll try a .BMP image from Paint. ........./ ||| \........ The dots and the diagonals are what the sheet metal blind nut are, the vertical lines are the plastic pin. The diagonals represent the angled up portion of the sheet nut (also called a speed nut) pressing onto and biting into the pin. The plastic pin extends up and below the speed nut, but this is where ascii art can be deceptive due to the spacing between lines. What you want to do is insert a "hook" or some method of pulling the diagonals up and away from the plastic pin. The reason the speed nut isn't moving is because it is being pushed down by the angled pieces of metal, and because of that pressure will literally squeeze the pin until it breaks if you try to pull the speed nut straight up. Secrets: Regarding old diapers. Never had access to diapers personally, and all my friends who are parents have opted for the disposable kind. However, you CAN find them at garage sales, or Goodwill, or second hand stores both Baby and General. I was given this tip by an old friend of mine and "mentor" who did a lot of airbrush painting. The specific reason old cotton cloth diapers are "best" is that they are typically made with few extraneous threads (i.e. non-cotton), and also have very few "knots". They can literally be bleached, and washed in very hot water and come back time after time ready for use. They are typically the most absorbent, and scratch proof cloths you can buy. I use mine for polishing, cleaning, and other jobs where both absorbency and scratch free clean up is important. (Try doing a wax job with one of these!) Lights: Once you have disassembled your lenses, and before you put them back together again here's another tip: Paint the area around the lightbulbs with as bright and shiny a WHITE paint as you can find. I use a fuel proof paint from my R/C hobby. It is Pactra Formula U Polyurethane. It will take a day or two to dry, so be careful in handling them to avoid finger smudges. Don't paint the reflector, just the gray / white plastic above and below the reflectors and bulbs. With clean and polished lenses, the result is dramatic. The red area looks brighter and the clear looks clearer! This is without the lights being on. I've also done this to the somewhat white of the front turn signals, as well as the inside of my instrument panel gauges and also the License Plate and Interior Light. All of these show a remarkable increase in their illumination and non light appearance. In fact, the "dome" light is now bright enough that you can actually SEE inside the car at night. Courtesy Lights: There is wiring in the 240 wire harness that will allow you to mount a pair of courtesy lights to either the door panel or the kick panel. Datsun originally intended for the light to be mounted on the door and illuminate the entry area to the doors, but few if any cars (to my knowledge) ever arrived in the US with that option. I found some "marker" lights at the local auto parts store. These have a chrome top with a white lens and the light bulb housing. I mounted mine on the kick panels just between the fresh air vents and the pull mechanism, way up and nearly invisible as you are seated. They are turned on when the door opens or the dome light is activated. The inside of my car is very brightly lit now. The wiring for these is usually wrapped up and taped to the wiring harness at the point where the wires for the door open switches come out of the harness. Rustproofing Side Markers: The 73 and later Z's had a rubber boot that housed the whole back portion of the metal reflector for the side markers. Earlier cars did NOT have this feature, and as a result are usually rusted from behind, and within a short measure of time, will allow water to seep into the light and rust the reflector inside. A lot of people have replaced their 72 and earlier markers with the 73's and now it is almost impossible to find a 73 side marker light with the rubber boot. To rust proof the new 71 side marker lights I bought, I first removed the metal portion from the new boot. Then I used some heatshrink tubing around the external portion of the socket all the way from the base to the wiring protector. Then I brushed on a product called Plasti-Dip. This is a rubber coating that when dry resembles rubber. It is the same kind of stuff in use to dip your tool handles in to get a slip proof grip. You can usually get this at Home Depot or other hardware stores. Let it sit for a couple days to dry and shrink to the metal then reassemble carefully and you will have a rubber boot on the back side of the metal. One other note, a small bead of Plasti-Dip in the groove of the original side marker rubber boot where the metal is inserted into the boot will do wonders for sealing the lens assembly. You could also use weatherstrip adhesive or silicone. While I'm on the subject of side marker lenses, if you recently bought new, or if yours are in good clean condition, take a close look at the lens. You will note that the front of the lens is glued to the back of the lens. That's because the lens uses both a prismatic refractor and a circular pattern refractor to light the whole unit up. The problem here is that the manufacturer used the LEAST amount of glue necessary to hold the two halves together. The ensuing problem is that there is a space for both water and DIRT to creep into that channel. The end result is that over time, you will note a dark band develop on the outside edge of your new lens. Go to your favorite Hobby Store, and buy a small bottle of Gap Filling Cyanoacrylate glue. Also known as Super Glue. There are several types there, from slow setting to fast setting. You want the SLOW and GAP filling type. Instead of trimming the nozzle of the bottle to open the nozzle to allow product to come out, use as fine a pin as you can find to open a hole. This will allow you better control over the glue. Next, the short height side will usually have the seam hidden beneath the stainless trim, this is where you want to slowly and patiently apply the super glue and let it fill the gap. If you are careful and using a pin, you could even walk around the whole perimeter of the gap and fill this seam. The intent is to fill that seam such that dirt can't creep into it, and show up later. Be careful getting this on any other part of the lens as it will mar the finish and look unsightly. I think you could probably also use clear nail polish or paint but I haven't tried it. I opted for the super glue because I had it on hand and I know it won't crack or yellow with age. That's all for now, I have other secrets up my sleeve which I'll share later.

Cleaning the tail light lenses in plenty of warm water and a dishwashing soap will do an excellent job of removing the bulk of the dirt. Use as warm a water as you can comfortably put your hands in without getting into HOT water, use dishwashing soap liberally and let the stream of water remove and loosen as much of the dirt as possible. I like to let them sit in the soapy solution for a good hour or longer. Once you've done that, if the water needs warming up, add hot water, but don't put the lenses directly under the hot water. Don't know that it would hurt them, but why take chances? Next, with a soft sponge and liberal amounts of dishwashing liquid, go over the whole lens and housing. I have a very soft old toothbrush that I use to get into the nooks and crannies. I also have a mixing brush with soft stiff bristles to get into deep recesses. Using these, I will then wash the whole unit again to remove the last of the dirt that I can get to. Dry them off, enough that you won't be dripping on yourself as you start to disassemble them. From the back of the mounting frame, the part of the housing that is actually inside the car, and where the light bulbs go through, you will note that there is one sheet metal blind nut in the center. This needs to be removed before you can go on and remove the lens from the housing. Be careful as this holds the lens AND the chrome strip in place, AND it is notoriously very VERY fragile. In fact, since the sheet metal blind nut is easily obtained, I would recommend that you bend the tabs on the sheet metal nut out and away from the plastic pin. If the tabs break off even better. Once the blind nut is out of the way, then you can address removing the lens from the bracket. Alan has it right in that there is a small rectangular opening on the bottom of the lens. There is supposed to be a felt rectangle in there which at one time was supposed to allow condensation to escape the lens. With a screwdriver, start prying the lens from the mounting bracket, but be very very careful as you don't want to stress the lens and crack it. Once you can get it to lift a bit, insert something in the tab, and move down the edge that has lifted and work your way around the lens. The yellow / white taffy like adhesive will give up it's hold, but you must be patient. Once you've removed the lens from the housing, you can remove the final two sheet metal clips that hold the chrome strip to the lens. Again, even though the clips look like they're difficult to find, it is much easier to replace them than the chrome strip. Trust me on this, if you try to "unscrew" the clips, or rock them off the plastic tips in any way, manner, or fashion, you will either break, bend, or otherwise mar the chrome strip plastic tips, which will give you tons more trouble than just finding sheet metal nuts to hold the strip to the lens. (Voice of Experience) Reach under the metal tangs that bite into the plastic tip and pull / bend / cut them away from the tip. The intent is to leave the plastic tip as undamaged as possible. After removing the chrome strip, I like to clean off the adhesive off the lens before proceeding, as it likes to retain clumps of dirt / dust. You can use lacquer thinner for this, but you must work QUICKLY and not let the rag or thinner sit on the lens for an excessive period of time. The key note here is to moisten the rag, use it to clean the edge, but keep moving it and don't put it on to "soak" or "soften" any primer, glue, paint etc.. You might have to redo this fifteen times, instead of soaking it for 5 minutes, but in those 5 minutes the lacquer thinner will melt and distort the lens, so be very careful and watch what is happening. Meguiar's 3 step Clear Plastic Polishing / Cleaning Products are absolutely excellent. Yes Brasso is good, for those of you outside the US that might have a hard time finding the Meguiar's line, but be aware that it is, in my opinion, a slightly harsher and stronger abrasive than most lenses require. The trick with Brasso is to be careful and not overwork an area. Meguiar's products are: (In order of use) Clear Plastic Cleaner No. 17 Clear Plastic Polish No. 10 Clear Plastic Maintenance No. 18 They are all labeled Mirror Glaze, don't ask me why the numbers don't go in sequence. Use these in the sequence above, with clean soft terry cloths or if possible, old sweat socks or diapers. For really scratched lenses you can even apply them with a buffing pad like you would do a wax job. If you have access to a D/A, they even sell small pads (about 3" Diameter) which work very nicely. The trick to the Cleaner and the Polish is to work a large area and concentrate on small areas only for a short while. Change the piece of cloth you are using often, and don't hesitate to use more of the cleaner or polish as needed. The Maintenance spray is an excellent detailer for just before you go to a show. I've been able to restore lenses that some considered junk, but haven't yet found a way to fill those little stress cracks that occur on the clear portion of the lens. So if anyone has any suggestions there..... Hope this helps.

Ah, Alan, you need to understand the American mind set. Having lived outside the US it is very easy to discern once you know what to look for. IMO, most of the hub-bub regarding whether a vehicle is Series I or II, a 70 or 71, a "concours" or "modified", original or restored is due to the age-old "mine is better than yours is" mindset. Or put in different words, "My Dad can beat up your Dad!". The US culture is something to admire, wonder at, and also shake your head at. Where else would you have a Classic Car Show and have awards for having restored, maintained or whatever you want to call it, your car to ULTRA-AUTHENTIC standards. The attention that each and every hose clamp, screw, decal, spark plug and battery receives would make beauty contestants schizophrenic and anti-social. In fact (sadly) some of these cars are actually over-restored, and therefore in error, but that's another discussion. At those contests there will be discussion as to whether or not a given part was available at the time the car was produced. Want to drive a concours Series I owner into an epileptic frothing fit? Tell him that the defrost tubes on his car were from late 71 and not early 71 or 70 (and YES, there is a way to tell). A concours owner will spend weeks and big $ finding the original wire clamps used for hoses. The rest of us will head down to your local auto parts store and buy the standard sheet metal worm screw variety. Is it wrong? Not in any meaning of the word. Obsessive?? Well, that depends on your viewpoint. If you are a concours contestant, not in the slightest. If you have a car that cannot compete in concours competition because you've (shudder) replaced the battery with a Sears Gold Die-Hard and have used non-braided hoses for your radiator, then it's not only obsessive, it's down and outright SICK! And this constant recurring theme, which VIN# is the absolute FIRST Series II or the for sure, no one can deny LAST Series I, is more of the same. But here there is probably a healthy dose of bragging rights involved. After all, it's important to be able to claim "Well that may be, but mine is the FIRST (or LAST)!" America, where else can you get two guys with pristine and perfect automobiles comparing notes, discover that their cars are consecutive VIN #'s, practically TWINS, both maintained with standards that the Smithsonian Institute would document for further reference, and after discovering that they're both perfectly matched, point for point, have one guy declare himself the winner because the air in his tires is the original air from the factory!

I would agree with your relay having gone out, or in this case starting to burn out. The relay is actually a special kind of switch. As the current begins to flow, it causes part of the wiring, through which the current is flowing to heat up. When it reaches a certain temperature, this bit of wiring expands on one side and causes the wire to bend in the opposite direction. This disconnects the wire from the unlit part of the circuit and onto the active or LIT part of the circuit. The wire quickly cools down and then snaps back onto the other wire. The clicking sound you hear is actually the wire flipping from one contact to the other. Yes, there is also the possibility that there is some drop in the current from the turn signal switch to the relay, and then to the lights, but since you haven't mentioned any problems such as dimness, not working etc, I would first replace the relay. Be sure you look at the right one though. Remember that the Hazard Light Relay is separate from the Turn Signal Relay. The Hazard on the 240's was on the passenger kick panel and the turn signal was behind the dash on the driver's side. In fact, there is a hole in the steering column support bracket that the relay fits in to very nicely.

Contact Andy Russell at z@datsundude.com or at: 480-217-7322 orj at Z Cars of Arizona, at 480-816-8668 All his parts are brand new OEM or the high quality replacement parts. I've not been disappointed yet. Even his USED parts are high quality. He's also told me that he can usually BEAT MSA pricing. I don't get anything from this other than helping to keep him in business. Trust me you won't be disappointed with his prices nor his quality.

Rick; Maybe only 3 stings, but I'll bet he ruined a pair of undershorts!

With you being in Arizona you may have better luck contacting one of the best sources I know of, who happens to be IN Arizona. The Datsun Dude, or Andy Russell (email: z@datsundude.com) just recently worked up a partnership with Z Cars of Arizona. Not sure of their new website but you can contact Z Cars of Arizona at 480-816-8668 or contact Andy on his cell at 480-217-7322. Andy is not only very knowledgeable, but he is honest to the core. Give him a jingle and you will probably save tons of time trying to locate the parts you need. Hope this helps.

Sorry to rant, but this is probably the BEST reason to get the Microfiche CD that Mike sells. (See the tagline up above). Granted it takes a bit of work to jot down the numbers for the model years you are interested in, but this is what you would be asking the guys at the dealership to do. Besides, the money from the sale helps keep the site going. So, I'll answer your post this way: Check the Engine Sections in the CD for both the L24 & L26, sections 14 and 39.

Bad Sensor? The Z's are notorious for having bad sensors both temp and oil. If the oil did in fact foam up, then I would suspect water or something in there, but just dropping oil pressure...I'm not sure what it could be. Then again, I admit I'm not a grease monkey. 2¢

I used it on a one to one with super hot water for something of mine, and I can atest to what you say. It will definitely leave things squeaky. Although they recommend latex gloves I bought a pair of those heavy duty chemical handling gloves at Home Depot. They worked fine until I caught a thumb on an edge of sheet metal. By the way, the Metal Prep can be saved and reused (to a degree) if you put a plastic pan underneath to catch it. Don't use that stuff without gloves either. And with the POR, get some of the VINYL gloves not the latex. They last longer and you can even clean them up a bit with Lacquer Thinner. Believe them when they say that if you don't clean up the POR from your body you will WEAR IT. It takes about 3-5 days to get it to come off. Keep a rag and some lacquer thinner for those inevitable "oops" spots.

As Laffeaux stated, DON'T DO THAT! Although the gas cap does do a major job in holding in the gas, it's most important function is to stop stuff from going IN. With a full tank of gas (about 18 US) weighing probably 7 lbs per gallon, a sharp left turn would probably put at least 30 to 50 pounds of pressure on it from inside. Now, if you want, we can probably engineer some sort of gymbal setup with gyroscopes so that you can go ahead and go around corners on two wheels, but that might be overkill..........

The side and center vents never expel heated air. They are strictly for ventilation or recirculating the cabin air. The top lever actuates 2 controls; the fresh air vent flap, located behind the blower motor, and the internal flap that directs the fresh air to the heater core and then out to either the defrost tubes or the flaps at the bottom of the heater for heating the cabin. The middle lever actuates the hot water control valve on the right hand side of the heater box. The bottom lever opens / closes the side flaps on the heater box to either force the air up the defrost tubes or into the cabin. The top lever has two cables. One goes to the right and it's fairly long, the other is short and is on the left. The one to the right, goes down, underneath and behind the blower to the fresh air vent (the floor of the windshield wiper tub). The one on the left, connects to the left side of the heater box and it actuates the flap that directs the air coming in from the blower to either the 3 vents on the dash, or down into the heater plenum inside the box. The middle lever has the next longest cable, and it goes out the right hand side to the right hand side of the heater box. There it moves the water control valve lever. The bottom lever has one cable, medium length, and it goes on the left to the bottom and rear section of the heater box. There it controls a lever that opens / closes the side flaps on both sides of the heater box. By opening, it allows the air that has been pushed through the heater core to exit the heater plenum and into the cabin (room in Datsun parlance), down there by your toes. When closed, the air is forced into the defrost tubes that exit at the top of the dash just below the windshield. In summary: The center and side vents can either provide fresh air from the outside or recirculated air from the cabin, which is collected down by the passenger foot well. (This is important if your passenger has taken off their shoes and they have smelly feet.) You can get heated air EITHER through the defrost tubes, or down by your toes, not both. (Again important to note that heated smelly toes can make the smell worse.) The amount of heat you get is regulated by the valve AND the condition of the heater core. If the valve is inoperative you get no heat. If the core is plugged, almost plugged internally, there will be no movement of the water within the system. Also, if over time debris has collected on the top of the core (dirt, leaves, etc) there won't be any way for the air to go through the heater core. Don't forget that the water valve pulls heated water from the engine AFTER the thermostat. If the thermostat takes a long time to open, it will be a longer time to get heat in the car. So, to get heat, Top lever to the right, Middle lever towards the right to get the water moving, and the bottom lever depending on whether you want to heat your toes, or the windshield. Hope this helps.

If you've maintained the Engine compartment wiring harness pretty much intact, there should be a fusible link connector going to the starter motor from the battery. Disconnect this and you disconnect the REST of the car from the battery. Even though you still have the engine connected, you have the complete ignition circuit disconnected. Check your wiring diagram and you'll see what I mean. It works.

The tape is only about 1/16" or less thick. If you trim it close to the emblem, it would be very difficult to discern. Many manufacturers are using it to hold various emblems in place in lieu of a gasket.

Sandblasting isn't done ONLY with sand. You also have Glass Bead, Walnut Shells, Aluminum Oxide to mention jsst a few of the various media available. Don't forget you also have the air pressure to work with. You don't have to use the most agressive media and 100 pounds of pressure, you could also go with 20 pounds and glass bead or walnut shells. Check the Eastwood Catalog for a better description of the different blasting medias.

Contact Andy Russell at Z Cars of Arizona. They are a boneyard with some excellent quality parts and prices to rival any boneyard. Z Cars of Arizona Phone: 480-816-8668 Andy Russell, The Datsun Dude: Phone 480-980-6512. Andy also sells NEW and NOS parts.

Where did you get smoke coming out from? The rheostat adds resistance to the circuit only when it is turned down from full brightness, as that IS the method it uses to dim the lights. When you turn it from OFF to Dimmest position, you are adding the maximum resistance it can. When you turn it to the full brightness it is essentially bypassing the resistance coil.

The rheostat (dimmer) is screwed on to the bottom part of the dash on the metal pan. There are two phillips head screws holding it in place. If you can get your hand up there and then find the screws and THEN get them off, well you're either a contortionist, or you have very small and agile hands. Since the rheostat basically has an exposed coil, these tend to accumulate crud and oxidation on the contact surface of the wire coil. When the wiper contact slides over it, it has a lot of resistance due to this crud and you have very little juice that can make it past that. To check if in fact it is the rheostat, reach up there and disconnect the two wires going to it. Then connect them to each other, i.e. short out the rheostat. If your lights then light up brighter than what you had, then it is the rheo that needs cleaning / replacing. It is relatively easy to fix / clean and get it working. The PITA is to get it out of the dash so you can do it. If the lights however, DON'T brighten up, then you have a problem elsewhere. But I don't think that's the case here.

When all else fails, you can get vinyl paint to repaint a panel / plastic piece to the color you need. You can usually find stuff in a spray can that will do the job, although you could also have it mixed by the paint shop. If you prep the panel right it should last years.