EScanlon

A common problem with the Z distributor, whether point or electronic. The Vacuum Advance Plate which is plastic and houses a few ball bearings, is the plate on which the internal portion of the dizzy rides on. When the vacuum advance pot actuates and pulls on the rod, this is what allows the dizzy to advance timing. These things do go dry and brittle over time and eventually break, releasing ball bearings all over the inside of your dizzy. Depending on where the dizzy plate ends up when it busts, you could be right on, slightly advanced or .... And then it depends on whether or not you have enough vacuum to move the plate. When it went out on mine, my car went from peppy to DOG, and it would cough and sputter and backfire and geez....all sorts of crud. I was thinking I had blown the engine. Took it to a mechanic, figuring the worst. He did a complete tune-up, wires, timing, changed the advance plate, adjusted valves and presto zesto......zoooooooooom! 2¢

My 71 240 manufactured 9/71 (#920 Gold for anyone that has checked the Paint Code post) HAS a Metal Recovery Tank. Is it possible that the CD shows that up to a given month, they were plastic, then they were metal with a design change even later? I took one out of a 72 and it's identical to the one I have.

I used a paint from my R/C Boat Models. It is not only Water Proof, it is also Fuel Proof. It is Pactra Formula One Clear Polyurethane. Shinier than Semi-Gloss, yet not as shiny as Gloss.

Not sure of the formula. I believe it contains something similar to those high-gloss floor finish waxes, but not sure. Now that may cause some concern from everyone out there, but in the 8+ years of using it on my Acura have not had a single problem with it. I came across this product years ago when I was restoring a 77 Thunderbird with a vinyl top. The vinyl top was so sunburnt and abused that the owner had given me the ok to remove / replace or not or whatever I could do. Since I HATE replacing vinyl roofs almost as much as I do welding / brazing upside down (above me), I went about restoring it as best as I could. First I got the strongest vinyl cleaner I could, from a Marine Products house. Then after going to 6 different shops, and talking to 3 different boat maintenance places, I bought the Clear Guard. Yikes what a difference!! The cleaner removed the burnt and dried vinyl, but the Clear Guard was the kicker. It restored not only the GLOSS but ALSO the color. When I gave the owner his T-Bird back, he asked me how hard it had been to replace the vinyl. When I told him that I had not replaced it just restored it, he thought I was BS'ing him, and insisted I tell him the "truth".

Even the owner's manual recommended that the clock be periodically adjusted. They weren't supposed to be a chronometer as much as they were supposed to be a reference tool. There's a guy that sells both refurbished original clocks or the Quartz Clock from later years retrofitted into an early Z shell. Some one else correct me, if I recall his email was zclock4u@aol.com Give him a buzz and see, it might be worth it to put a new clock or refurbished.

I agree with 2manyZ's; using steel wool on chrome should only be done as a last resort, and then, depending on the damage, I would use a 000 or thereabouts grade. You might also check into a product by the POR15 people, called Artisan Metal Polish. In my opinion, one of the easiest, fastest and shiniest polish for the money, time and effort. You can also check some of the other brands/products but it all boils down to the current condition of your chrome. If you have just surface rust, and by that I mean NO pitting of the chrome, then most of the chrome cleaners out there will do what you want. It's when it goes through the chrome plating that you have problems. Another problem area is pitting due to acid rain or dried mineral (tap) water deposits.

When looking at someone's car, whether just looking or with intent to buy, you might consider that it is normally considered "gross" if you let your drool actually drip ONTO the car.

For the most part, in order to get the white faces or other color faces onto the instruments, what they've been doing is changing the face plate or putting in an overlay onto the face plate of the existing instruments. Check on E-Bay. There's a guy there who's been selling the overlays for some time. He even has some with a picture theme that starts on the left with your Speedo and continues to the right with Tach, and the three center gauges. I've seen, Yellow, Red and Silver. Apparently he has scanned in the instrument face plates and using a color printer prints them out on plastic laminate in the different colors. Although time consuming, it can be done. Personally I would recommend removing the dash so that it will be easier to remove and replace all the instruments, and while you're at it, effect a nice clean up of the back of the dash, defrost hoses and also the back of the firewall. If you get real industrious, take the time then to remove and refurbish your heater and insulation. Believe me you'll be much happier for the little bit of effort.

DON'T USE ARMOR ALL! There, I've said it again, it is POISON to vinyl, plastic, rubber, and ANYTHING on your car. I equate it to HEROIN. Just use it once or twice and you are as HOOKED AND DEPENDENT as any junkie. No doubt someone will cry out that their experience belies that. I'll just counter with this: How OFTEN do you have to use it? (Give your car a "fix"?) I'll bet that it is every few weeks at first, and more like EVERY week after a few uses and warm hot sunny weather. Armor All has an additive (Silicone) which adheres to the elastomeric compounds in the plastic, these elastomeric compounds are more commonly known as the plasticizers, i.e. the "stuff" that makes vinyl soft and supple. The silicone OIL shines because ANY oil will shine when spread on a plastic surface. The main problem with Armor All is that as the silicone oil evaporates, it also draws out the plasticizers from the vinyl, and causes the PVC chain to begin deteriorating. Over time, UNLESS you use it religiously every time you note that the dash is no longer shiny, the vinyl gets hard and stiff. Then all it takes is one or two touches that would have normally just caused the vinyl to "give" for it to crack! Additionally, since it has silicone oil in it, go ahead and try to paint your car without discovering that you will have a rash of fish eye to rival the worst case of measles you've ever seen. Armor All, in my opinion should only be used on a car you don't care about, or for tires, since you KNOW they'll need replacing in 30 or 40 thousand miles. If you like the smooth shiny feel of new vinyl, use a product by Turtle Wax called Clear Guard. This is a product formulated for Vinyl. It leaves a soft smooth protective coating that will last WEEKS, if not MONTHS. I use it on the interior of my Acura and have had people wonder if I garage my car (I don't). What's more, I only have to use it like twice a year. During Spring Clean Up and Fall Prep. Other than that, just a quick wipe with a dust cloth and it stays shiny, and smooth. Since no doubt there will be people that say "Not Neither!" , I propose the following: Use the Armor All and WAIT till Fall to do it again. THEN tell me how long before you said that your dash looked as if it needed another fix. MY BET? 3 weeks TOPS, and more like 2 WEEKS! This opinion isn't just mine. On www.zcar.com a guy posted how he had gotten a complete dash from a parts car that was in perfect condition. He started using Armor All on it, and within 2 months it had started to crack. Another guy posted about the hazy white milky powder residue on his vinyl dash after a couple months of NOT using armor all (this was the decomposing vinyl). Use the poison if you want, but for MY baby? Clear Guard. Just my 2¢

When I bought my car, one of the things I had to do was get the seats back from the shop the PO had taken them in to be recovered. The PO had not obtained a recover kit, and therefore the upholstery shop had to redo the foam, straps, and the vinyl seats had to be custom fabricated. Total cost (from what the upholstery shop said) around $400. If the PO had brought in a recover set of vinyl, it would have been less than $200. The BIG advantage of using people that do the whole process rather than buying the individual parts is the savings. Yes you can buy the foam from Banzai, and the recover vinyl from MSA or Crown Victoria, or whomever, but then you either have to do it yourself, or pay someone else to assemble it. And then there's the problem of the nylon straps beneath the foam, and the hog ring staples and plier to work with them. You might save a few bucks on each piece INDIVIDUALLY, but as a whole, might have spent more than if you had had the WHOLE job done by a professional shop. My 2¢

Occam's Razor is the maxim that assumptions introduced to explain a thing must not be multiplied beyond necessity. (Named after William of Occam 14th Century English Philosopher) Webster's Unabridged Encyclopedic Dictionary Simply put: The simplest solution that encompasses all the facts. OR K.I.S.S.= Keep It Simple Stupid Taught to engineers so that they don't get crazy coming up with possibilities with regards to a process or repair. Remember Rube Goldberg?

It is a very strong probability, and using Occam's Razor, it's probably the problem.

All good fixes mentioned so far. One more: Check the cable that goes to the fresh air vent which is behind the blower motor housing. If your vent is stuck open and not being closed by the cable, then you will be trying to heat fresh COLD air all the time. Yes eventually the heater will warm the air, but not HEAT it. Another quick way of telling if your heater core is plugged or restricted is to look inside the radiator cap. If the radiator shows a lot of buildup of calcium, minerals or other gunk, then it is a real good possibility that the core is plugged. To clean this it is much easier to find a replacement or take to a radiator shop if you can't get a replacement. The Heater Water Control Valve can go bad over time. it is basically a plunger valve. When you actuate the lever it pulls a piston which in turn allows the water to flow. Usually the problem is that it won't shut off rather than it won't open though. DO check the cable on it. It is a good possibility that someone mis-adjusted it at some point and it is just barely coming open, however, that also indicates that it is being over tightened when you're shutting the water off. By the way, as a check, you can ONLY get heat out of the defrost vents OR the floor, not both and definitely NONE out of the center or side vents. If you are getting ANY through the side / center vents then it definitely says you have internal flap problems. If you have the time, and space you might consider removing the whole system and refurbishing the weatherstripping seals INSIDE the unit. Not too long ago someone posted that the flap seal which is on the flap to divert between defrost / room had fallen off and was actually blocking HALF of the heater core, resulting in heat out of the passenger side but NOT the driver side. Could this be your problem? Hard to say UNTIL you open the whole unit up. Good Luck

Many have posted about the little pins for the plastic panel rivets used to hold these things in place. Replacing the rivets is ONE solution, finding the pin is another. Unfortunately with a ton of good intentions we look into it and find the task to be easier said than done. Since I was being extremely cheap (i.e. tightwad) I was unwilling to let the pins be swallowed up by the car. So I came up with the following procedure which in turn prompted me to post this here, it is a solution to the problem of the pins but it also results in taking a step towards preventing RUST. So now that I have your attention, read on. My initial intent was to recover the pins from the nether regions of the panels. I looked at my shop vac and figured it COULD work, IF I could somehow sort through all the stuff already in the collection container. Hmmm, not a pleasant concept since my shop vac gets used to pick up anything deemed "yucky" by my owner (ahem, wife) AND talk about making more work than it's worth. I figured that if I could put some sort of screen inside the hose, then I could stop the pins from going all the way into the container. Well, after trying several items I came upon a very easy and cheap solution. A nylon Knee-High Stocking. I inserted the hard plastic hose end of my shop vac into the knee high, and duct taped (great stuff isn't it?) the top of the nylon to the plastic. Turned on the shop vac and sure enough, I had a nice little "net" that caught just about everything, just like a filter. To remove the stuff, all I had to do was shut off the vac, wait a second and pull on the nylon and everything came out. VOILA!! Out came 3 or 4 of my pins. Excellent, I had successfully saved myself a couple bucks with a bit of ingenuity. However, I discovered that the nylon didn't take much abuse before unravelling AND the end of the hose was just too darn big to get into all the crevices I needed to get it into in order to rescue ALL the rivet pins. The biggest problem was the metal panel just below the quarter windows. You simply cannot insert the shop vac hose into that area. So, back to the R&D Board. Replacing the nylon was easy, they come in pairs. Duct tape easy too (can you have too many rolls of duct tape?). But now had to find a way of shrinking the vacuum hose end. The attachments for the shop vac would just make it longer and that would just make it more problematic. What I needed was flexibility and reduced diameter. I happened to have a 4' section of 5/8" ID rubber hose, and I checked and sure enough, I could insert it into every opening on the metal panel in question. Hmmmm, (Light Bulb Lights Up!). I inserted the rubber hose just an inch or so INTO the now sucked in knee high, which was inside the shop vac and once again Duct Taped the connection. Turned on the shop vac and proceeded to MICRO Vacuum every nook and cranny of the car BEHIND panels that ordinarily would have prevented this. I pulled my contraption apart, pulled out the knee high, expecting to find the last of my pins, which I did, but much to my surprise AND dismay, I also found something else. GUNK! Not only GUNK, but WET gunk. The car had been in the garage for over 2 WEEKS and this stuff was still WET!! YIKES!! Where was all this stuff? Way down deep INSIDE the rocker panel! Well, after sifting and making sure I had retrieved ALL my pins (after all that's why I STARTED this whole thing), I emptied the vacuum canister, removed the nylon, and once again with the 5/8" hose REALLY went to town with the hose. I must have vacuumed for at least an hour if not two. The end result? When I opened up the canister, thinking that all I would find would be maybe another cupful or two of this GUNK, I discovered that I had enough dirt, fluff, sand, and other assorted and unidentified bits of stuff to fill 2/3 of a coffee can, a BIG one. AND all of this gunk was WET!!! Need I say more? This is not a good thing to have on a 71 240, with the thin sheet metal, let alone ANY car. So, my ounce of prevention tip for you is to get a length of hose AND get to vacuuming. The gunk you pull out today may in fact be the rust you DON'T have to fix tomorrow. Hope this helps!

You're more than Welcome, I hope it helps you save a buck or two and keeps a nice car on the road. Now does anyone out there have a good source or know where we can get the Chrome Strip replacement or replated or....?

Ken: Save yourself some money. Contact Andy Russel the Datsun Dude; z@datsundude.com or call him at 480-217-7322 and either speak with him or leave a message. In my experience he either has the ORIGINAL replacement weatherstripping, or he has researched what parts were used in the Z Restoration Project and contacted many of the vendors and obtained permission to sell their parts. On several items he has BEAT MotorSports by a good margin, and he won't ship you a part that isn't original and hope that you don't notice, he'll tell you UP FRONT that you are looking at an aftermarket part. But here's the kicker, it usually is BETTER than the original part, AND you will be hard pressed to discern the difference. I've obtained many many parts from him, as well as the other sources. MotorSports has some excellent items, Victoria British has good items but if the price seems too good to be true, it's because it is a non-original part. The only other source that I would recommend highly is: Troy Thacker at Too Intense Restoration; email: amodem04@aol.com; Ph: 714-293-5552 Fx: 714-544-0361 Between these two you should be able to save a bundle. By the way, feel free to use my name but I don't think it will do anything for you OR for me. I'm passing on the information for one simple and plainly SELFISH reason: If they STAY in business, because others buy from them, then I can CONTINUE to buy from them. This is ALL I get from this plug.

The only time I ran into an "etch" in the metal, was on a Firebird, that had been neglected in the sun for months. The decal on the hood had protected the paint and primer beneath it, such that when we used stripper, you could still see where the decal was. Can't seem to recall the same with a painted stripe.

I worked in a body shop about 20 years ago, so some of the procedures I will tell you are before we got some of the newer HVLP guns, the isocyanate paints and the requirements for full body breathers. BEFORE YOU START. Get an idea of what you want to do as far as a stripe. If your car is relatively clean, play with a roll of masking tape so you get the feel for the tape and also so you can decide if you like the "look" of something. Once you're sure of what you want, either take a picture or take note of key points, where it sits with relation to the bump on the hood, the wipers, etc. then remove the tape. Now you're ready to begin: First, wash the car thoroughly with a good strong car detergent and LOTS AND LOTS of water. This is to make sure that all foreign debris is removed and rinsed off. Ideally it will also wash away any dust that may be trapped in between body panels weatherstripping etc. Next get a can of Wax and Grease remover and using two rags, both of which are clean and soft, moisten one. Then using the wet one with your left hand and the dry one with your right, use the Karate Kid's Wax On Wax Off technique. Wipe the area with your left, then move over and while you are wiping a new area with your left hand, wipe the previous area with your right. Go over the whole car at least twice, and when the rags start looking dirty change them both. Don't use up all the W&G cause you'll need it again. At this point the car should be free of prior waxes, greases and finger oils. Lay out your stripe / pattern you will be painting. This is to lay out the tape AS IF it were the paint. This is to provide you with a line to mask TO. Once you are satisfied with the tape you've layed out to be the outermost edge of the painted area, then you are ready to mask off the car. At this point you are INVERTING what you want to paint. That is, you mask UP TO where the paint will start. So, very carefully, using 3/4" masking tape or 1/2" lay down the masking tape on the OUTSIDE of the paint area, butting the tape right up to the edge of the previous tape. Make sure you rub the tape down to form a tight seal. Do this for the whole stripe. If you want at this time you can remove the tape inside the paint area. You should now be able to see what part of the car you will be painting. Now, using a wider tape, like 2" lay a second layer on top of the first tape. Lay the edge of this second layer as close as you can to the inside (paint side) edge of the previous tape. Do this from front to back. Once done, lay a third layer right on top of the first. (I'm not just showing you how to waste tape, there's a reason behind this madness.) At this point, you should have a 1/2" or 3/4" edge of tape that's been covered with two layers of 2" tape. Get a Maroon or Green Scotch Brite Scuff Pad from the paint store. Then using this as you would sand paper, scuff the SHINE off of the paint in the area to be painted. Don't do this in circles, use long strokes and make sure your pattern is smooth and even. If your prior paint is somewhat "orange-peeled", then start with the maroon and follow it up with the green or gray. Work right up to the edge of the masking tape, taking care not to peel back the tape, but get right up to the edge. That's why you put two extra layers of tape down, so they absorb the scratches from the paint you don't want scratched. Once you've scuffed off ALL of the area to be painted, with a damp rag, wipe off as much of the dust as you can. Let it dry, and do it again. Now, very carefully remove any portion of the masking tape that has been scuffed / damaged. If the edge has been disturbed, replace that section of tape. Now, mask off the vehicle. This means put a layer or two of painters paper or at least a double layer of newspaper (be careful of the grip holes on the edges of the newspaper, they WILL allow paint through) all the way from front to back covering EVERYTHING you don't want painted. Now using the wax and grease remover, once again, wax on / wax off. You need to get rid of your own finger grease. Final item, get a tack rag (this is a rag with sticky stuff on it) and very LIGHTLY wipe down the area to be painted AND the paper mask. This is to make sure there are no dust bunnies or hair hanging around hoping to be immortalized in your paint. Now paint your stripe. I trust you understood everyone's points above as far as paint compatibility. You shouldn't need to primer since in order to cut through the paint, the primer all the way to metal would have taken some serious elbow grease. Once you're finished with your last coat of paint, wait about 15 to 30 minutes. Test the paint on the masking paper. You want it to be tacky sticky but definitely NOT wet. If you can see that the paint surface "rebounds" a little bit from your light touch, that's perfect! You should be able to feel a skin. Once it's at this point, begin to unmask the edge of the stripe. Now this is critical. Peel off the last layer of masking tape, the one that is actually protecting good paint from the edge of the painted area. Now bending the tape back at an angle to the paint line, such that the tape is actually bent back over itself and AWAY from the paint, slowly but steadily remove the tape. Maintain a steady pull and remove all of the edging. Do NOT rush, but move quickly. You should be seeing a nice crisp line, with no pulled paint strings. If you do see "strings" of paint, it's still too early or you put a really thick coat of paint. By removing the tape in this manner, with the paint skinned over, but still somewhat pliable, the raised edge normally associated with a tape edge will be minimized or nearly eliminated. Once the tape is all removed, WALK AWAY. In my years of painting since then (I do it as a hobby now) in my experience it's that "Can I check if it's dry?" touch that leaves more marks than anything else. Come back at least a couple hours later. At this time, go ahead and carefully remove the last of the mask. Hope this helps you or whomever else may read this.

The Early 240 gas tanks are hard to find. Why not contact a radiator shop and see if they can fix the pick-up tube for you. They can also paint it. There are also places that specialize in fuel tank repair. If you don't mind doing it yourself, the POR-15 people have a fuel tank saver kit that will help you restore the inside of the tank. The outside can also be protected with an application of POR-15.

Just be aware that in California you still have to comply with whatever smog laws were in effect for the year car you have. A 73 definitely had the smog pump and other doodad's. Although you can do the carb swap, and only a Z enthusiast would know the difference, you still have to pass the emissions test. When you mention severe income limitations, I would probably suggest you get the car tuned up and working well with what equipment you currently have. Wait till your budget is not so tight before getting into buying and getting equipment that may be a visual or a performance enhancement to the car. Get the mechanicals done first. The brakes, the engine, the shocks, bushings, etc. are all items that will add TONS to your enjoyment of the car, and you won't yet be into the hundreds of dollars to make something work. In a nutshell, if the car is performing poorly and other problems then by all means, go for the carbs. But like most older cars there are quite a few items that you can address just to keep them on the road. If the car on the other hand is running, then invest money in a good thorough tune-up. Get the valves adjusted. Flush out the radiator and refill it with clean new anti-freeze. (I know you're in California, but anti-freeze also makes the coolant work better as well as having lubricants that are good for the pump as well as avoiding corrosion inside the block). Get the oil system purged and cleaned, and replace with a good synthetic oil or your favorite oil. Address the brakes, get the pads checked, turn the rotors / drums if needed. All in all make sure that the periodic maintenance the car SHOULD have had, is brought current and correct. THEN look into modifying and changing the equipment on the car. In the long run, you will have spent LESS doing it this way. There are many people who start modifying something WITHOUT knowing whether the car is working well. Then when they can't get the mod to work, have to back track in order to get the car working, OR they end up paying a mechanic big bucks in order to make it work. Remember, this is part of the learning curve.

On the three things you broke, I'll be willing to bet at least a buck each that they broke cause you a) used too much force rushed it c) pushed when it was a pull or vice versa d) forgot a screw / bolt / glued surface. I could go on and on, but THESE are the kernels of wisdom you need to remember. This is what's called the School of Hard Knocks, and if you want to consider yourself a freshman in it, that's fine. Just remember these basic points: (I'm sure others will add / modify / deny some of these, but that's all part of the schooling) If a screw / nut / bolt / fastener won't move, turn, budge, a BIGGER wrench is NOT necessarily the answer. This goes for a hammer also. If it was put together by humans in a factory, there ARE ways of disassembling it. Just remember that a few of those ways CAN be considered destructive. BEFORE you "improve" upon the design / function / scope of an item / mechanism / process, make absolutely SURE you know how it works, and think THROUGH what you are going to do. Failure to do so can render something inoperable for it's original purpose. Look around you and your work area. Put yourself in the mindset of an anal obsessive OSHA inspector. If you find anything that's "marginally" unsafe, just remember its your butt / body / knuckles / head / or other tender spot on YOUR body that's going to suffer the consequences. If you have little people running around (kids, pets, real little people) get down at THEIR eye / hand level and now get really REALLY crazy and imagine what they might pick up / touch / grab or get UNDER and get it out of harms way. You know the expression "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" ? Well trust me on this one, YOU AND your wife (if applicable) will make your life a living hell if you don't abide by this one. Lastly, if there is such a thing as instructions or a manual for it, it was written to HELP you, not just to make a few bucks. A few minutes reading the Hayne's, Chilton's, Clymer's, or the Factory Shop Manual may in fact give you a SIMPLE solution and save you both time and money. Oh, and I almost forgot this one: If you post a question on 240z.org, it helps those who can help you if you identify the model of the car, the year, and SPECIFICS to the problem you are dealing with. Trust me, a question such as: "I put the key in the ignition and the car won't start, what do you think it could be?" will NOT get you the answer(s) you are looking for.

I'm going to do some research on this one and get back to you. Right off the top of my head, I would check to make sure you have no play in the latch mechanism, that it's adjusted properly and that the pin can actually be completely captured by the latch and not just barely.

Working on the 240 dash lights can be like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer. While it's happening you hate it, it hurts and you wish it were over and done with, but once you're finished you feel so good. The dash bulbs are 3w and are notorious for being dim, you CAN order 4w bulbs which will not melt your green lenses inside the gauges. However, there are a few other things that you can do that will make the lights work better and actually provide brighter illumination. Changing the dash bulbs while IN the dash can be like putting your hand inside a tight fitting cookie jar and trying to pull it out full of cookies, i.e. extremely tight and extremely frustrating. If you have a "large" hand, i.e. more than 8" around at the base of your fingers, trust me you WILL have a hard time. Not saying it is impossible just that it will be difficult. I found it easier to force my hand up there, remove the speedo and tach and then replace the bulbs from the front when I did it on a friend's car the fun came when you try to put the washers and wing nuts back on the instruments. You CAN do it, but you have to be very very patient. The center gauges are best accessed from the glove box compartment, or from the heater control panel area, but that's a bear to remove also. The dimmer is held to the back of the dash with two phillips screws which attach the rheostat to the sheet metal inside the dash. To remove this, you have to get your screwdriver up and point it down towards the floor and then remove the screws. It's kinda tricky, with a plain screw driver, get one of those bent at 90° and it should make it easier. If you remove this rheostat, you can then clean the top of the spring and the wiper contact so that it makes proper contact. This way you can restore it's function. If you aren't interested, then just connect the two wires connected to the rheostat together and you will have bypassed it altogether. Another thing that you can do, is a little more time and work intensive, but the results are EXCELLENT! Remove and OPEN the instrument gauge containers. Gently, and very methodically, remove the black shroud, lenses, pointer needles and face plates. THEN, paint the inside of the cases WHITE. Just be careful NOT to paint the green lens for the light, nor any of the actual instrument. Let it dry and reassemble. By the way, you can try to remove the heater control box from the face plate with it in the car. But you are really looking at a bear of a job as well as a potential problem if you break the face plate. Those face plates are going for over $50 each USED. Your best bet is to remove the cables that connect the heater controls to the appropriate points on the heater box, valve and vent flap, then pull the control panel cables and all. This is quite common and in fact is the way that the Factory Shop manual recommends it. I personally removed my dash, replaced the wiring harness, removed all the gauges, disassembled each one and updated paint, lubrication, etc in order to make them work better, so if you have any questions on this part, feel free to e-mail me. Hope this helps.

Find a boneyard and either get them to pull the wiring harness off a vehicle with a manufacturing date very close to yours or see if they'll allow you to do it. The first option is usually more expensive cause you need to pay them for their time, the second is BEST cause that way you can see the way it is mounted in the car, where it feeds in and out of and also how it connects to all the components. You might contact ZCARSOFARIZONA@AOL.COM I've been told he has a reputable yard.

The defog unit works by resistance. The wires in the glass actually resist the current and hence heat up. You want to make sure the contacts have been cleaned and free of corrosion, so that the current delivered to the wires is unimpeded. Don't muck with the "black" stuff this may be the adhesive for the delicate and thin metal film that's been applied to the glass to generate the "wires". If you have good wiring, switch and fuse then you should be feeding a full 12v to the defog, and then you should be generating the full amount of heat from the resistance in the wire. If you aren't getting a full 12v then that's where your problem may be.