boktx

When you replace the timing chain, I'll strongly recommend new bolts for the front timing cover / water pump. I had that cover on and off 3 or 4 times when I rebuilt my engine last year because I broke a water pump bolt, then after removing it, cleaning it all up, and removing the broken bolt, I reassembled and broke one of the timing cover bolts. Just buy a new bolt kit and save yourself the headache and cursing! I also ended up putting heliacoil inserts in each of the 4 holes on the bottom of the timing cover since 2 of them stripped out when I installed my oil pan (2 more times removing the front cover). I promise I was gentile throughout and hand threaded things in before trying to torque them to spec! I think Dad and I messed up those threads 20+ years ago when we last replaced the timing chain.

One of the list members makes (or did a couple of years ago) a plug-in replacement harness for the headlights. The kit was reasonably priced and fit perfectly. It provided the relay and the proper molex(?) plugs to plug directly into the existing wiring harness. It allows for the 12V wire to be fed directly from the battery and only a low current wire to power the relay passes through the fusebox, etc. I've been extremely happy with my kit. I bought 2, one for my Z and one for my father's. It fits perfectly, installed in less than 20 minutes, and is completely reversable. Getting clean power to my existing lights made them much brighter and the Z is much more pleasant to drive at night.

When my Master Vac went out, I had similar issues. Every time I'd hit the brakes, my car would stutter and want to die. The faulty Master Vac caused such a disruption in the vacuum that the engine had trouble running. Given that your brakes are having trouble too and that you have to press harder to actually stop the car, could it be that your Master Vac is failing? I'm not sure how you'd go about checking it. Mine failed over 10 years ago and I don't really remember what I did to troubleshoot.

Count me as a dork then. First thing I did when I unlocked the Z in the game was to make a replica of my Z. Second thing I did was to make a replica of my Dad's. Does that make me doubly dorky? I'd be up for some racing. My gamertag is Speewack.

Man, I wish I'd seen this post awhile back. I made a 72 FSM CD a few years ago for use by me and my Dad. I'd have been happy to send the whole thing your way for use on the DVD. If you are still interested, I can send a copy your way. It contains a PDF of both the Engines and Chassis & Body manuals. The CD also has all the individual scans of each page. I sent this to Mike awhile back, so you may have gotten a copy of it from him already. If you are interested, let me know and I'll pass a copy along, though I'm sure that you are wrapping things up by now.

Not much to offer by way of a fix, but this reminds me of my sister's Z when she let "some cute guy" install a radio for her. From that time forth, the car would continue running as long as the headlights were on. You could start the car, turn on the lights, then turn off the ignition, remove the key, and lock the steering wheel with the car still running. I thought it was great fun as a teenager and never bothered to trace the wiring to find out where the problem was.

I received my harness from Dave quickly. The product is excellent. I installed it without much difficulty. Note that Dave is serious when he tells you that you have to clean up the area where you attach the ground wires. I skipped that step and had dim lights and no brights... Once I made a good clean ground contact, it worked perfectly. This was my mistake, not his. All in all, a great product that I'd highly recommend. I can drive my Z at night again!

Has anyone thought of building an adapter that will let you use a 72 model fuse box in a 70 / 71 model Z? I haven't looked at a 72 fusebox for awhile, but I seem to remember that it is just a matter of lengthening the wires by about a foot. Since the 1970 fusebox is NLA, it might be worth looking into.

I am dealing with the same problem on my 1970 model 240Z. My advice to anyone having this problem on a 1972 or later model Z is to get a new fusebox as soon as possible. Unfortunately, you just can't get a new one for a 1970 model Z. I did the recommended fix several years ago on that car by soldering the rivets. Maybe I didn't do a good enough job, but the fix lasted about 5 years, then the fusebox melted beyond my ability to repair. It has taken me a year and a half to actually locate a suitable replacement fusebox. (This one has very minimal melt damage. and looks salvagable). While looking for a replacement, I ended up having to build a replacement fusebox using parts from Radio Shack. Not the best solution, but hey, it worked in the interim. Had I just bought a new fusebox in the first place (They were available at the time, but I was a poor college student) I'd be a whole lot better off today.