Arne

Sorry, no pictures. But the power should go from the fusebox on a green/yellow wire. Its first stop is the hazard switch, then into the brake light switch (still green/yellow). From there it goes to the turn signal switch (still green/yellow). At the turn signal switch the circuit splits - the right side is white/red and the left is white/black. Those two wires go to the right side of the dash where they connect to a bundle going to the rear of the car.

One of many.

First answer, no, a new fusebox and headlight relay won't help at all. The headlights are not involved in this, and a new fusebox won't cure the root issue.Let's try to continue systematically to find it. Don't panic, we'll try to talk you through this. Next step - reconnect the connector under the glovebox. Now uplug the connector from the hazard flasher switch and test again. Report back what happens.

If you search this site for "headlight relay harness" you'll find this post (among many, many others):http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=219583&postcount=156 H4 headlights should work fine in a Z, but proper aiming is critical for them to work right. Sounds like yours are aimed way too high. FWIW, I have used many, many brands of H4 lights, I've put them in every vehicle I've owned since I first discovered them in 1976. I've always felt the very best all around were Hella, followed closely by Cibié and Bosch. Also, IPF generally get great reviews, although that's one of the very few brands that I've never owned so I can't speak from personal knowledge on that. None of those are trendy looking with halos, clear lenses or the like, but they all just flat WORK! Also, my personal experience has been that really high-watt bulbs are a waste. The light output isn't generally the problem, but aiming and directing it is. Monster output won't do any good unless the light is directed to the road where you need it. With true high quality lights as named above, you shouldn't need more that the standard 55/60 watt bulbs to get greatly improved lighting. I've never used higher than 75/90 watt in any of my cars. While I'm on this, let me also add that higher wattage bulbs should only be used in the largest of headlights, otherwise they build up too much heat leading to short bulb life. I've tried the above mentioned 75/90's in a normal 7" light and had relatively poor lifespan on them. The same 75/90's in my BMW motorcycle (light is 8" by 10") or my wife's '91 Jetta (with euro-Hellas, 12" by 8") give normal bulb life. A 130/110 in a 7" is simply asking for the bulb to overheat. Too small of air volume in the light housing. Last comment is regarding tinted bulbs. They are universally bad. The blue tints do not improve lighting, but always reduce it. Worst is that the tinting tends to scatter the light, so that even the best quality lens and reflector can't control it for best use. Doesn't matter what they claim, they are always worse than a normal clear bulb. For details on bulb selection, proper aiming and more, a really great place to visit is: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/ I've no connection with him, in fact have never even bought anything from him. But he does know what he's talking about.

I actually installed the cap, wires and headlights for the Canby gathering last June, just because I could. I don't really show my cars either, but it's kinda cool to have the parts available for others to see.

Go back to low tech. Manually set the engine to TDC, take off the cap and see where the rotor is pointing. Turn the dizzy so that it should fire about there, then put on the cap loosely and see which plug wire the rotor is pointing towards. Verify that the plug wires are correct on the cap this way. Here's a thought, you didn't mention this, but have you had the oil pump off?

Yup, it's a mess. My yellow car came to me with a very ham-fisted fuel injection conversion. While I can't imagine swapping an injected 280Z driver to carbs, I very quickly went back to SUs on the yellow car. Much better than all the garbage you'd need to work through to make it right. (Pictures on my website linked in my signature below.)If you must have injection on a non-injected car, I'd go totally aftermarket instead. You should be able to do that much more cleanly. But it'll be more expensive than even a set of ZTherapy SUs.

I agree with Will, an L24 long block is almost valueless. I couldn't give my spare '73 L24 away intact, I had to disassemble it, then I gave away the head, sold the 9mm rods, and hauled the block to the scrappers. Thing is that if you don't care whether you have matching numbers in your 240Z, you want a bigger motor (same as you yourself are doing). Why buy a non-original L24 when you can get a non-original L28 just as easily. I would have done the same for my yellow project if I hadn't bought a parts car that came with a good L24. Otherwise it would have received an L28.

Agreed. My red car still had the original on it when I bought it. That cap is now safely packed up along with the Koito headlights and date-coded plug wires.

But the extra wire is undoubtedly related to this non-stock gadget. http://asta.bizhosting.com/images/240Z-Aug23-2007-1.JPG

I looked at the other pictures, the battery is installed normally, the same as mine. As shown in this one: http://asta.bizhosting.com/images/Rolfs-240Z-Jlyl200737.JPG

Probably exposed. But I'd start more systematically than just looking for the bad spot. You want to reduce the amount of wire you need to inspect closely. So I'd start by unplugging various parts of the harness one by one to try to localize the problem. Start with unplugging the connector from the rear body harness to the dash harness. This connector will be on the passenger side behind the glovebox. With that unplugged, try the brakes and see if the fuse and switch still gets hot. If no, the problem is farther back towards the rear. If yes, it's in the wiring under the dash. Report back with your answer and we'll try to advise further.

Did you install a new distributor cap and/or wires? You may have the wires one place off all the way around.

Especially with high-wattage bulbs. You need to get that current out of the 35 year-old wiring. It was only designed to carry about 50 watts worth of current when it was new. You need one of Dave's headlight relay harnesses in the worst way. Do it quick, before you melt the combo switch, fusebox, or both.

Yeah, I'm well aware of that. I'll probably do that eventually. Just still a ways down the priority list right now.

I'm not convinced that the fusebox itself is the root cause, considering how suddenly the problem cropped up. I suspect a short somewhere between the brake light switch and the brake lights. It can be a pain to track these down, as the brake light circuit is routed through both the hazard and turn signal switches on it's way to the rear.

My yellow car had an aftermarket electric fan on it when I bought it. Plenty of room. The plastic fans for later 240Z was a slightly smaller diameter than the 260/280Z fan, and used the same fan clutch. I have the 260/280Z fan on the yellow car now. Clearance is about the same as the original metal fan on the red car. This leads me to also believe that the car in question either has the fan on backwards, or has the ZX fan.

A '71 should have probably come with the metal fan blades. If yours aren't metal, they probably aren't original. I've got a pair of '71s, one with the original metal fan and one with a fan and clutch from a later 260Z. In both cases I have at least an inch and half clearance between the fan and radiator. If the clearance between the pulley and the radiator isn't enough for an electric fan, and the body shell hasn't been damaged, perhaps the car has had the radiator replaced with a much thicker one at some time in the past.

Actually, I've found that the best buy in factory-type may be from MSA or Black Dragon. Most kits include the disk, pressure plate and release bearing, and I was quoted prices for name-brand kits starting at around $250. MSA sells those three parts individually, for a total of around $150. Black Dragon sells a kit for $140, but I don't know who makes it.

Different float heights to match different needle jets, I suspect.

Seems to me that that was normal for some years of roundtops, '72 three-screw I believe. But don't hold me to that.

It's difficult to tell from that picture. Originally, the battery post nearest the center of the car was the negative post. (Many cars have had that reversed by now.) The negative post should have two wires - a very heavy wire that is bolted to one of the starter mounting bolts, and a smaller wire that bolts to the firewall. The positive post should have only one heavy wire from the factory, which connects to the starter solenoid. The wire bundle that goes through the firewall near the hood latch is the wiring for the wiper motor. The odd wire near the battery? Who knows. It's not factory. Maybe for an aftermarket stereo?? The owner's manual did not have a wiring diagram in it. I've attached a picture of my late '71 (7/71 build date) for comparison.

I have read that the front end lift problem was reduced with the change in rake that the 260Z got. But still there. I know that my stock '71 is quite bad at freeway speeds, especially in cross-winds. My spook was shipped two days ago...

Absolutely, to each their own. Trust me, over the 17 years I worked in tires and wheels, I sold a passel of those things. Obviously lots of people do like the look. And I've got no problem with that.

Marty is correct. I have one of each type.