EScanlon

Find out how much, you might be very pleasantly surprised at both UPS and Fed-Ex rates, not to mention good old Greyhound.

The Underline identifies Murphy at work. The Bold identifies Fail-Safe methods of maintenance. E

The wire going TO the switch from the attic is probably all you'll find up there. That's because the switch in the wall is controlling the wall plug, and as such the wiring for the plug would have to come directly from the switch. That means that the wires in your attic are continuous, and are the power feed to the switch...as such, no junction box is required or necessary. (remember the name of the JUNCTION box says it all. No junction, no box.) That being said, you will need to splice into the wire going to the switch and install a junction box so that your splice is covered/insulated. Match the size /style of the Romex wire (i.e. 3 wire/12 gauge or 2 wire/14 gauge) and then route your new wire to the fan mount junction box. (You DID brace it to the ceiling joists didn't you?). Now this will give you a pure power wiring to the fan's mount. Now, if you wanted to add a switch to the existing switch box to control the fan: Route a Romex to the box, and wire one half of a dual switch for a single gang box, (the other switch on that dual will replace your present single switch for single gang box) with both of the power wires (black AND white), one on each pole of the switch. Go ahead and ground the switch with both ground wires. At the junction box in the attic, break the power connection TO the fan by disconnecting the WHITE (this is the "Hot" wire, the Black is the Neutral and the Bare is Ground) wire from the power source connections you made earlier. Now you'll have two switches in the wall. One operates the fan, the other operates the wall outlet. One note, if you're planning on getting one of those remote controls for the fan, check the instructions for it FIRST. You might find that it will require 3 wire Romex and if you've run 2 wire... FWIW E

oOPS I had it bass-ackwards but still generally correct. Thanks Gary, now you see why I take mine to a mechanic. E

Unless you are required to have that air pump as part of your emission system by the DEQ laws in your state, most people remove them ... other than those who are maintaining a "show" quality engine bay. Even that can be debated (there are ways of faking the air pump). As long as the belt that propelled the air pump did NOT also propel another component (alternator, A/C compressor pump, fan, water pump...etc.), the only change ~might~ be a slight change in the air/fuel mix. That's only because the air pump pulls air out of the exhaust and pumps it back into the intake to burn whatever gas didn't burn the first time. That's a very simplified version / explanation. There are other guys here that know the specific details as to what to expect, adjust, ignore, and I'm sure they'll post also. But this will at least allay your main concern. E

Good idea on the extra backing for the vinyl. Whether it's Jute, Tar-Mat, or..., it helps keep heat and noise out. As far as your Qtr. Window Dog leg trims, are you re-using the old ones from long ago? If so, is the chrome starting to peel? If so, I ~may~ have a fix for you. Give me a PM. E

You're right. Send it to me, and I'll get it fixed and painted properly. E

300 MILLION people worldwide, per the news tonight, watched his memorial. That's a serious cause for thought. I can only hope that even only a small percentage of those people carry on his message of caring for the animals and the world around us. Whether we are living in the only planet with life on it, or are one of a myriad of other planets, his message was that we should preserve it, for our children and their children. May his message carry on through the ages. E

Whew41: I'm posting our exchange via PM's so that you can see that it isn't just my viewpoint, but that others share it as well:

Even better, find out how many folks need an OEM original filter and sell it to them with a small profit. There are some Concours owners who would jump to have one of these. 2¢ E

The SUGAR SCOOP / HOOD 3/4 View!!!

Excellent point Jim (a7dz). JimmyZ, another couple of items make me wonder if you followed the instructions. You mention, Since the instructions clearly state that the metal should be completely dry after degreasing and etching both, and to NOT let either substance dry on the metal (they both get rinsed off), even taking Florida sun into account...that's a mighty short window.You previously said Based on that, I would surmise that you thinned the POR with ...??... Even POR's instructions state to not thin it more than 5% per volume, and then using their special thinner which, from personal experience, is really still too thick to spray out of a standard bottom feed gun. Now supposing you used a gravity feed gun, your suggestion of 4-5 coats and comparing that with a "whopping 100 mils" tells me that at best each coat of yours topped out at ... 15 mils or so (and that's presuming you painted THICK). So at 30 mills (.030" or less than 1/32") of thinned and sprayed POR you then allowed water to pool...in Florida, with a presumed higher salinity to the rain than in Kansas or even 100 miles inland...and Even you mention I'll disagree with you regarding "being properly POR'ed", per your own commentary. It seems that if anything, you proved how well it works EVEN when you don't follow the directions AND you stack the deck against it. As far as Stainless Steel floor pans, you don't mention which grade of Stainless to use, nor where or how the average garage mechanic is going to procure the specific welding wire and flux gas for welding Stainless to Carbon Steel. Nor deal with the other problems and technical experience needed to do the job properly. Then you mention Does that mean you don't advocate a complete continuous weld because of the difficulty of fitting the repair piece? How do you propose to restore the strength back to the floor pan?Sorry, but that's just too many short cuts taken for me to give much weight to the rest of your advice. You've apparently had some experience, but you're apparently self taught. Nothing wrong with that, but it's easy to confuse an apparent lack of failure as being successful. Please don't misconstrue this as being a flame war, it is not. There are several of us here on this board that have worked on numerous vehicles over a range of years. You've done a lot of good work summarizing information, but please note that what you've posted on your site is only YOUR view, whereas here we've all contributed AND discussed. I strongly urge you to take advantage of the search engine here and do some reading of all the posts that precede your joining us. I think that you will benefit and hopefully will stick around and benefit US with your viewpoint. 2¢ Enrique

Ian, don't forget that in your neck of the country, the sun shines for days on end, and moisture is generally NOT a problem, you CAN find metal parts that in other parts of the country are rusted and gone long ago. Then again, finding any kind of plastic or vinyl part that has survived 30+ years of the Southwest climate simply doesn't happen. Ever hear of "Dry Rot"? of sun-damage? Both very prevalent in the SW of the U.S.. So, here in the Pacific NW, we wouldn't consider sun visors on a parts car an unusual find, YOU would. Conversely, the splash pan for us for us IS unusual and for you it isn't. So, with that in mind, how about you suggest to your friend that we swap out a pair of sun-visors for his splash pan? E

Stephen: Good catch! I'll take my lump for that one! But I admit I need help in tracing down that Black/Green wire that Chuck is referencing, as well as that lone Black wire. I've checked all the wiring diagrams I have and none show a Green stripe on a Black wire anywhere. Then again, it might be my astigmatism. Does anyone know? E

The rear window might be repairable with one of those defog kit paints. I've not done one so I can't speak for how well /easy it works. Black / Green, and sorry to appear obtuse, BLACK wire with a GREEN stripe? And by the coil and distributor in the engine bay, or in the cabin by the combination switch? Also, i syour car an Automatic or Manual (AT / MT)? Electronic dizzy is short-hand for Electronic Distributor. Typically a 78-79 Z distributor with the E-12-80 module, as that works best on these non-EFI cars. E

Excellent, you've overcome the bulk of the problems. Now to answer your next set of questions: Did you re-solder the connections or just re-tape? I'll presume re-solder, if so make sure you cleaned up whatever rosin may have splattered around. As far as the R. Window Defrost, it isn't unusual to have lost one of the "wires" going across the window (or up & down). They're literally "painted" on and years of window cleaning have undoubtedly taken it's toll. Last item first, the Temp Sensor's wire is Yellow with a White stripe. The only full Yellow wire in the engine bay goes beween the Alternator and the V. Regulator. The B/W and the G/W connected to the Resistor are part of the power circuit TO the Coil THROUGH the Tach's sensing unit FROM the Ignition Switch when it is in RUN mode. Once you install an electronic dizzy, you can remove the resistor and join the two wires together. The resistor reduces the voltage in the circuit to 6v in order to NOT fry the points. Until you can remove the points after switching the dizzy, don't get rid of this, but be aware of what it does. The B/W wire going to the coil is the RETURN of the power circuit to the Coil THROUGH the Tach's Sensor. It is correct at the + end of the coil. Black wire from Coil - to Dist is correct. But that "extra" wire does have me questioning "Where?". In the dash area or in the engine bay? Same for that Black/Green wire. I've looked right and left in the engine bay diagram and in fact all over the car's diagram and I can't find a single instance of a Black wire with a Green Stripe. Now a Green wire with a Black Stripe is used in several places. Might you have reversed the sequence? Or is the wire dirty? Lastly, the temp sensor being bad would only cause the temp gauge to read wrong or not at all. HTH Enrique

I do have two diagrams for the 73, one AT the other MT, both showing the Acc. Relay as only having 3 Blue wires going to it. The ground for the coil is showing terminating at the outline of the relay...and I presume that implies it grounds to the case. Since the Acc. Relay HAS to close the circuit to ground in order to provide power is why it HAS to be grounded via it's mounting screw. All the other diagrams show 4 wires to the relay in the colors Stephen pointed out. I didn't pay much attention to the wire color differences AT the relay ( that is, wiring not part of the actual harness) as that's always been difficult to pin down. The schematic and harness will match, but individual components won't necessarily show the same colors as what they connect to on the harness. FWIW E

Chuck: The Accessory Relay DOES have 4 wires. Your fourth wire is the one that "grounds" to the case, and without the relay being mounted with a sheet metal screw to the metal on the kick panel, you're not going to get it to work...period. That you've got 3 BLACK wires, whereas the schematic for a 73 show 3 BLUE wires may be a case of a replacement part. Check the colors of the wires on the connector that it connects to and see if they are the colors Stephen mentioned. But aside from that, the accessory relay for your car ONLY powers the Heater Fan. The Rear Window Defroster has it's own relay, which also receives power from the same wire that powers the Accessory Relay, but they're independent of each other, otherwise. Since you've nominally traced the problem to your Comb. Switch by wiggling and causing the fault, check for the following: a loose wire at the solder joints on the switches themselves; disconnect and clean off the bullet plugs on the bullet connectors and ensure they're a tight fit; do the same for the multiple wire connectors. While you're doing that check for loose wires and obvious signs of melted / scorched wires. FWIW E

The ammeter works via the current flowing through it. The other instruments receive power through a Yellow/Red wire coming off the Flasher fuse. They ground through a common Black wire to ALL /MOST of the car's electrical components. Check those connections first. E

I'd heard he was a newlywed...

Derek: What are the chances of your doing the same for a 3/4 view from the back? This would be an excellent way to exchange ideas on two-tone paint jobs, pin striping, annotate known trouble / rust etc. Thanks for this pic, and hoping to see the rear view one also. E

Tony: You apparently already know what you want and know everything there is to know about painting cars and have tons of experience in painting with various types of paints, guns and techniques. So why the lame arguments with those of us who, unlike you, have only painted a few dozen cars? So go ahead, "save" your money, and find yourself re-doing your car; whether it may be because the paint didn't adhere, reacted with the base, has fish-eye, has dry line or orange peel, or..... After all, you started this job by "stripping the car to the metal" because "everybody knows" thIs is the only way to get a good paint job. Right? Do what you will. After all, the only reason we're trying to advise you is to help you save money. Sorry about that. FWIW E

SEE? I told you Bill would ....

OH SURE! Tease us with a blurred image that might be a Datsun Rampant Lion or a PEUGEOT and expect this group (well, me!) to just... Tell you what Stephen, since you've banished that lapel pin to the garage, what if you send it up here to Vancouver, where I can pin it on my hat! By the way, it's a LION in both of those logos. The GRIFFIN has a BEAK and WINGS! See the following pics... E

What you are looking for is called "Flexible Bumper & Plastic Patch"; kind of an obvious name, and the last can I saw had in fact been made by the "Bondo" manufacturing brand group, under the Mar-Hyde brand. So since you don't like that stuff...you're out of luck. Marson is another brand, that also produces a flexible filler, but most body shops also call it "bondo". Maybe because it IS manufactured by Bondo. So again, you're SOOL. "Bondo" as a product has been around for so long that it has become part of the body-man's lexicon as a "genericized trademark". In fact, IIRC, Bondo brand was one of the FIRST body filler replacements for the Lead Solder technique which is difficult to master and more noxious to people than Bondo is. That's why it's name is synonymous with body filler...regardless of who manufactures it. Additionally, the Bondo company has bought up many smaller companies...that still produce body filler under their original name...simply to get away from the perceived "bondo crap" stigma of people who don't know how to use it properly. Look at the problem's you've had, and imagine that you had sold the car immediately after "fixing" it. When your "repair" started showing it's weakness due to bondo being used improperly, the new owner would be calling YOU an IPO and bitching about the "bondo crap" you stuck him with. So since you don't like Bondo, go get a bunch of bubble gum, start chewing and as the flavor wears out, stick it on the car and while it's still soft blend it smooth. Anyone who has ever looked under the seats at a public school will attest to how hard gum gets with time...until you try to remove it. Then it gets flexible as heck. With time you'll have filled in the cracks with a flexible substance that you can be sure will remain flexible...all the while flapping your jaw about the "Bondo crap" you avoided. Don't take offense, I don't mean this as a personal attack. It is just incredibly difficult to try to help people who have this misconception of the product, and object when you mention you would use it on their car. Bondo used properly, is no more problematic than using paint stripper...again, when used properly and knowledgeably. But like paint stripper, if used improperly...it can be a real nightmare. FWIW E