zeeboost Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I stripped out most of the widebody today; here's a glimpse of the wiring with the dummy switches that I was talking about: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Actually, that's some fine wiring there, and nice terminal board work. I would consider it a pain to restore, but not an abomination. Methinks they did something at some time in the past---nobody goes through that much work to just get switches to light up! It's got real wires, mounted items, connectors...man that's HEAVEN! I hope you never have to encounter zip-cord hell, or speaker-cord hell! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Actually, that's some fine wiring there, and nice terminal board work. I would consider it a pain to restore, but not an abomination. Methinks they did something at some time in the past---nobody goes through that much work to just get switches to light up! It's got real wires, mounted items, connectors...man that's HEAVEN! I hope you never have to encounter zip-cord hell, or speaker-cord hell! LOL I was thinking the same thing. What I hate is electrical tape. Friction tape is ok, but the sticky electrical tape sucks big time. Only takes a few summers and when you go to unravel it, it is a big sticky mess. Hate the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennysgreen280zt Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I picked up a 240sx this summer that had 'rod knock' that made the clutch feel funny.... or so that was the story I was told. The flywheel bolts had not been torqued down. The car has an SR in it, the knockoff aftermarket oil pan was leaking from the entire mounting flange due to a whole tube of silicone and the wrong length bolts being used. Battery relocated to the trunk with household wire (like they robbed a construction site) battery of course was not tied down. The blow off valve stopped working, it was situated in front of the left wheel, pointing upwards so it filled with water. About half the bolts on everything the kid touched were missing. some of the intercooler tubing was installed over other tubing to 'fill in' the gaps in the tubing ECU, Fuse block and other misc electrical components were not bolted down Rear glass was never glued in, suprise I found this out while cleaning the glass I was curious why the headlights looked like they went opposite high-low when switched from high to low.... the passenger side light was installed upside down. It had no fan, fan clutch, or shroud. The front cover had been installed after the headgasket causing it to fold the headgasket and making for a massive leak. P/S pump had been un-installed because the aftermarket line leaked really bad/had the wrong fitting.... the fitting was just installed backwards lol Im sure there is more, luckly I got a great deal on the car and its proving to be a great car once all the jankies have been sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeeboost Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Actually, that's some fine wiring there, and nice terminal board work. I would consider it a pain to restore, but not an abomination. Methinks they did something at some time in the past---nobody goes through that much work to just get switches to light up! It's got real wires, mounted items, connectors...man that's HEAVEN! I hope you never have to encounter zip-cord hell, or speaker-cord hell! LOL You're correct, the wiring did look more professional than most of the other Zs I'd picked up, but it still bothers me that he used house wiring under the hood. If it was better?...I don't know, but it didn't seem right. BTW, the wires pictured ran to two switches that controlled some bulky aftermarked power mirrors on the car. I've already ripped out the illuminated switches. I think the biggest wiring mess in there was a super-fox radar detector, with the main control unit replacing the map light. I bet there were over 20 wires that ran to the back of that thing, scattered from all about inside the car. When I removed the carpet, I noticed several holes drilled throughout misc. places in the trans tunnel to feed other wires through there - no rubber grommets or anything to protect the metal from stripping the wires. The rat's nest I was referring to, with all the taped electrical connections, was the 280zx: This was after I had done a bit of "cleaning" from the dash area. I think the worst was under the the hood, though. There were at least a couple of wires resting on the headers, with the insulation already melted. Thankfully they weren't powered, and ran to sending units for a couple of the gauges. This one also had some speaker wires being used to power a few things, like a full-time fuel pump - nothing important though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Personally, I think you forgot to mention the Black Shifter T-Handle in the mix.... That's up there with Chevrolet Valve Cover T-Spinners on an SOHC Nissan valve cover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeeboost Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Lol, I actually like that shifter - it's comfy. Guess I'll leave it on for the next owner to complain about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtentacle Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Aside from the spaghetti ball wiring and mickey mouse fuel rail: -Not one but two FPRs. I kept falling out of boost and couldn't figure it out until I fixed this one. -No carpet. -Missing shifter bushing. -Fuel pump put as much gas on the ground as it did in the engine. -For some reason there is a wire running through my interior, through a hole in the spare tire well and down to the fuel pump. Still don't know what I want to do with that. Basically this thing is a fire waiting to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Ok, it's not a Z, but I think if I ever sell my '85 Hilux, I'll become one of these evil PO's that get vilified on internet forums The starter motor relay wiring broke and stuck the starter solenoid into "on" while driving, leading to a galled shaft and stuffed starter motor, I ended up re-wiring a complete standalone relay using known-good parts to run the replacement starter, involving running wires right from the ignition to the starter motor. This involved cutting up a PO's rats nest under the relay/fuse block, somehow in all this I lost the headlights, so dug a fuse and a relay out of a corrola wagon and wired them in with a new rats nest of my own design. Thats in addition to some surgery on the starter motor itself, the cheap used starter had a working morot but worn solenoid, so the solenoid from the old fried motor starter got swapped over. Really quite a frusttrating time playing with a continuity meter working out which wire does what, nothing really fitting the wiring diagrams. I pity the next owner if I ever sell this rust trap and the wiring starts failing... It would be easier and cheaper just to buy a new relay/fuse block and install that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc052685 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 PO got the car stuck on a speed bump....(yeah, its a little low) Shitty paint over crappy paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric_503 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Bondo.....lots of bondo. Also random cut outs in the doors. The bottom of the driver side door has a HUGE rectangle cut out of it,the doors are solid and its not rust,also the fender flare was cut to. High performance door vents perhaps? Haha,also was drove for alittle while with the studs on each end of the exhaust snapped off,it had alittle bit of a leak by looking at whats left of the gasket. Also trying to match the orange paint originally on the car,but its a different shade....on 3/4 of the car only. Also the paint on it i can scrape off with my finger nail,thats always fun. Also coated the engine bay in something. Its kind of like a tar,but dry at the same time. Maybe like an ancient undercoating? But its ALL OVER the engine bay,and its not oil/grease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4xwellmurd3r Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I would say....the stupidest thing the P/o did to my car wasssss Put 225/70/14's on the stock alloys, which are a couple inches too skinny for those tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossman Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 I just got finished uncovering the PO's rust "repair" and "insulation." Apparently this guy was a complete idiot. He cut out some rust just over frame rail then filled it with polyurethane foam...you know...Great Stuff! He even went so far as to shape it like the floor pan. To stop the rust on the floor pans he covered everything with Rust Incapsulator. As the name suggests, it incapsulated the rust while still allowing it to eat away at the metal. I remember when I purchased the car he was so proud of himself for removing all the sound deadener and replacing it with insulation. Well, I found out today that he used radiant barrier insulation. The thick plastic stuff. Here are a couple of pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckolander Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I would say....the stupidest thing the P/o did to my car wasssssPut 225/70/14's on the stock alloys, which are a couple inches too skinny for those tires. We must've had the same PO, only I got 225/65r14's on 14" Sears/Pep Boys Specials. Loads of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikez31ss Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Stupidest thing? I dunno. Something I wish he/she/they hadn't done...this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I didn't know that it was possible to make the light output from an s30 worse. That is hideous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I bought a 1969 Beetle one time which had nothing but roof flashing, fiberglass, bondo, and roofing tar for heater channels. How the thing did not collapse under it's own weight is beyond me. The 'repair' extended to the running board, which was slathered in the stuff as well from the underside. From all appearances, it looked like that 80 year old guy just didn't want rust to be a problem (He told us as much, too!) Hey, he was 80, he must know his stuff, right? No, it just means he's had the entire developmental time of the automobile to perfect his sales lies and learn underhanded tricks most others have forgotten! Be advised in 40 years or so, if you see some guy with a bunch of Datsuns 'selling out of the hobby' BEWARE, I got som PAYBACK on a whippersnapper or two who knows it all... Just to keep the cycle perpetuated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_furious Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Ripped out the AC(man, do I wish I had AC!) and put in a Chrysler 'Orange Box' transistorized ignition. Left a bunch of loose wires dangling in the engine bay and under the dash that go absolutely nowhere. Disabled just about all of the idiot and courtesy lights. Made a mess of the heater ducting under the dash, disconnecting half of them without removing anything. Spray-dyed the white interior black. Why, why, why do people tear stuff out instead of doing a little homework to make it work right? And when they tear it out, why do they make it completely unreversible? When I put my tach in, I cut only two wires in order to replace two connectors with the needed size. Everything else remained in place. Now that I've finally got positive cash flow, once the credit card debt is gone, I'm putting the Z down and fixing all of the crap that keeps it from being reliable and enjoyable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 When I put my tach in, I cut only two wires in order to replace two connectors with the needed size. Everything else remained in place. YOU CUT WIRES? DEFILER!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliphian Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Well I have only driven it for an hour so far but I shifted into second only to find the shif knob in the passenger floor board. It has a subwoofer in the back so I can't wait to see what the wiring looks like. Lowbeams don't work at all and with the highbeams on, the driver side is VERY dim. Brake pedal feels like jello. Hopefully I just need to bleed it. TERRIBLE steering wheel cover is rotting away. Tough to park a car with no PS when the wheel is crumbling in your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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