spotfitz

Thought I would throw a small update in here for everyone to see. My '74's body work is now complete and it should get it's new paint next week. This is the second base coat for body check. It's been 10 months in the making, but it's paying off. I've uploaded a pic of it, as of 04/16/04. This pic was taken by a close friend of mine, which has yet to become a member of this site! I'll keep working on that. I'll have more pics this afternoon when I pick up the disc and pics. Hope this link works. http://hybridz.org/nuke/modules.php?op=modload&name=coppermine&file=displayimage&album=lastup&cat=0&pos=0

I do agree with RPMS. Recently, I pulled the motor out of my '77 and replaced it with one that didn't need oil every few Hundred miles. I used rattle cans for the engine bay and regret it. It looks like crap! Unless your going to pull the motor, I wouldn't mess with it until you can do it right. This would involve a spray gun and real paint, not the stuff you buy at Auto Zone in a can. Something to think about. Ask your body shop to have extra paint for you, for the engine bay. Eventually the exterior will not match the engine bay, due to fade, so take all the time you want spraying it. Harbor Freight has a good deal on self contained spray guns at a good price. Worse comes to worse, it will work great for your next project for primer. Hope it helps.

Well, I never did get a call from you saying you were coming by or an email, I'm not coming home tonight. OK, just joking. I needed the money to spend the way you do...As you know, I'm finally getting my '74 out of paint jail this week, maybe(only 10 months). I've got alot more spending to go then you ! Wait, thats not a good thing! Come on now, this is one hell of a deal for this radiator! I'll be looking for the receipt while I wait on you to get here. I'll even wait until it works to help with your overheating problem to get paid if you want. BTW, I can tell you the easy way to get to my house if you'll give me a call. Don't listen to "go" or "mapquest" or any of those map sites. They always point you in the WRONG direction in Texas. I guess it's to big of a state to consider accurate. Trust me, I know! Atleast you have my number if you get lost... Looking forward to showing you what I have of my '74 in the garage right now and my recent purchase, my '77 rust bucket. Wait till you seen what I do to this one! BTW, for anyone reading this, hopefully I'll have pics of my '74 while/and after painting in the next couple days. I'll update the progress pics so far when I get it back. Hopefully this weekend, Body shop owner isn't answering his phone damn it!

Phantoms Z is wild! I can't wait to see him run again at Ennis. Seems like every time I see your location, you keep getting closer. Email me direct and we can hook up.

So, you have spoken to Bill(Phantom). Good to hear you have spoken with the right person. Now I know you have the bug, especially if he had his Z with him. Since I know his wife is driving his other Z then I know you probably got to see his "other" Z.(all respect intended). Very nice Z! Hopefully you got a ride. By that, I KNOW you have the bug! I keep looking at my "rust bucket" of a $200 '77 Z and I keep thinking big flares, rag top and an LS1 w/ 6 speed! Maybe after I sink all my extra money for the next 3 years into my '74 I might start considering what to do with the '77. I actually think I posted to one of your posts on here about our club. Thats perfectly ok. If anyone can, I understand how work can get in the way. Let me know when you want to meet up and I can probably tell you what has been done to it. I may have some parts you may want.

Well, second time trying to post this! I know this car! I was up at a Hooters one night for a friends birthday and as I was leaving I saw this Z sitting out front. I turned around and asked everyone in the place who's Z it was. Come to find out the guy was meeting someone up there to buy it. He was asking $4500 at the time. It looked like a nice Z from the outside lights of the place. I hope you enjoy it! As wisely mentioned in a previous post, get all the parts you need for a particular job and do that job. Or buy everything you need to do the whole project and once you have it all, then do the job. This will help you to enjoy owning AND driving your Z. If I can help in any way, feel free to email me. I hope I can atleast point you in the right direction or even help you do the work. Does this mean you are going to join our Ft.Worth Z club now, if you haven't already?(sorry,shameless plug) We're meeting in acouple weeks! cowtownZclub.org Enjoy your Z!

Phantom, No new truck for me. After 2 weeks Don Davis finally gave me more on my Blazer, but by then I had decided power windows and locks were a creature comfort I couldn't live without. They didn't have anything in the price range with those options. I then went to Bankston and they wouldn't give me as much as Don Davis for my Blazer, so they couldn't get the payments right on the truck I wanted, which was only $1500 more then the first I looked at. It came down to the monthly being to high. I'm now driving my '77 daily since I switched the block out with the one that was in my '74, which came from a '78. It runs and starts perfect now. I'm finally enjoying my rust bucket. Glad to hear your not giving up on the 350Z. I would love one, but I need a truck for work. Maybe I can talk my girlfriend into buying one so I can drive it?

Does this mean your better half has decided to get an SUV over a 350Z? Say it isn't so!

It appears you have an early 260Z(As I do), so the electric pump works off of a relay(ignition relay actually) which is located on a bracket just above the passenger kick panel under the dash. More then likely replacing this relay will fix the problem, but I would suggest you find a known good one to try before forking over the dough, if possible. If it is a "have to get home to feed the kids" type of thing, you can run a "hot" wire from a fuse that is powered by the key being in the "on" position. I would not use this as a perminent fix since this eliminates the relay which shuts power off to the pump in the event of an accident. This ofcourse helps keep you from having a crispy Z and possibly a crispy body. Hope it helps.

I think I would have taken out the cone heads in the center. Like in racing, the cones are replacable.

I would bet money that you could get a top loader from say, a Frontier to make the shifter work.

I had this same thing happen to me one night when I stuck my '74 key into my '77. After about 15 minutes of playing with it I could get it to start and drive it, but I still couldn't get the key out. BTW, just unplugging the ignition switch eliminates the power drain while in the "on"position. Alot easier then disconnecting the battery. Acouple days later(not a daily driver) I took a pair of vise grips and as I was "locking" them down on the key I also turned the key. It only took one try. Apparently the snapping action of the vise grips made the tumblers jump enough for the key to turn. Luckily, it didn't do anything to the key, or the ignition. Not exactly the same situation, but hope it helps.

Unfortunately, the ignition/fuel pump relay also ties into the thermotime switch through another relay(which is located just above the ecm, under the dash.) So wiring in new relays maybe alittle harder then just replacing the relays with a factory one. My PO decided to bypass the ign./fuel relay altogether, which gave me virtually NO cold start ability, because all these relays also tie into the cold start injector and air temp sensor(same relay above ecm). Come to find out the PO couldn't find the problem, which is the reasoning for the bypass. After chasing the wiring harness and my tail for several days I was able to eliminate the ign./fuel relay as the problem(which is where his bypass was located). After several more days of the same thing I found the other relay was the problem. Checked it with a friends relay of known working order and then replaced it from one I picked up from All Z's and everything has been good since. I would recommend putting a relay inline for powering the fuel pump, but replacing the two relays(which actual perform about 6 functions) with seperate relays for each function may not be beneficial.

Not to ruffle feathers but, the search function has been working from the "home" page for atleast the last week and I just checked and the regular search is working aswell, although I couldn't find the post by Nismo280zEd. Even though I only have 600+ posts and I have been here for atleast 4 years( I don't care what the date says I registered) I do use the search function quite often, which is the only reason why I knew it was working now. I personally went with a GM one wire alternator. Ofcourse, with your removal of the factory external regulator(which I also did), three wire is your safest bet. After my installation I've read several sites that explain that a three wire is better for your charging system. Everything I've read points to one wire having the potential to fry your system upon total discharge and jumping off, as mentioned previously. I've been in paint jail for awhile now, but once she's back and I'm putting everything back together I plan to change to a three wire setup. Luckily, the alternator I purchased has this ability with relative ease.

I just LOVE IT! I'm So looking forward to this. You are an inspiration! Now, if I only had $6K to finish my project, I could only hope to be as kwick! Thanks for the inspiration! BTW, I almost replied to the wrong thread. Got to love the Wrench thumbs!

I think I remember needing to switch the lines coming from the master cylinder. The lines for the front was in a different location depending on the master cylinder. On my '74 I have the toy front calipers with solid rotor and rear 280 caliper('82, almost like the 240sx) and discs and didn't need an adjustable prop valve. This may be my memory failing, or the previous owner having them in the wrong place to begin with, but I do remember having to switch lines around. I just checked an old 15/16 master and it is labeled R on the front(which is the bigger bore section of the cylinder) and F at the rear(being closest to the fire wall). Now, checking in my not-so trusty Haynes it shows on page 129 the closest to the fire wall as going to the rear brakes in a 240, but as the front brakes in a 260, which is descibed as similar to the 280(on page 238, supplement). Hope it helps. I now really not looking forward to putting my 260 back together!

The previous owner of my '77 bypassed the ignition relay, which forced him to run a hot wire off the ignition for the fuel pump. This ofcourse I didn't like and I'm now trying to get it back to stock. The '77&'78 have a different relay then the '75&'76, but they do the same thing. On my '77 there is but one plug-in for the relay( just like the '78 ). 6 wires. The previous owner put jumpers on each pair of wires. The middle set of wires are for the fuel pump relay. From what I can tell so far the pair closest to the front of the car( with the relay mounted ) is for the ignition. I have found that doing this bypass is what has caused my cold start problems, because it also bypasses the thermotime switch, cold start injector and cold air sensor. All this doesn't help you, but I thought if someone did a search for "bypassing ignition relay" they would want to know what it would do, aswell as how to do it.

I love the purple color and I have always loved the widebody, but the copper color. It does make it stand out, which is something this Z needs to do. Very good job at photoshop. BTW, if at all possible, get the engine bay in what ever you decide on the exterior. It will add the touch of completion. I thought long and hard on this one. A black engine bay takes away from what has been done in that area. Just my Personal opinion, ofcourse.

I see these in Tims near future: http://www.skperformance.com/WHEELS/PIMGA.htm Edit: Well, that didn't work.

It looks ALOT better in person then what you can see in the pics. Worth every cent for the look. If I was keeping all the stainless on my Z I would go this route.

Congratulations. If she won't let you sell the Z then she is a keeper, but only if you can spend as much money on it as you want! I have never been married, engaged once and luckily saw the error in my ways with that one. If you find the right one, why wait?

Actually, according to their site: Alamo Motorsports 839 E New Haven Avenue Melbourne, FL 32901-5458 I was thinking it was Alamo Autosports in Irving, but knew that company didn't carry such an inventory. The phone number clued me in. The big question for me is, why $40 more then any other car.

Thanks for the update. I'm hoping that is my problem, though as stated before, mine would start in 40* weather but not high 20*. Luckily, we have very few high 20* days here in Texas.

It appears this has not solved my problem after all. I cranked my '77 until the battery was dead this morning trying to get it started. This was the first high 20* day we have had since this problem arose. I got home this afternoon and jumped it off without a problem, in low 40* weather. I'm almost at my wits end with this. Cold start valve and cold temp work properly. TPS and AFM is adjusted. I can only think of one other thing that could possible cause this. Cold temp sensor, but I have replaced it with 2 other known good ones. Anyone help us on this?

It appears this has not solved my problem after all. I cranked my '77 until the battery was dead this morning trying to get it started. This was the first high 20* day we have had since this problem arose. I got home this afternoon and jumped it off without a problem, in low 40* weather. I'm almost at my wits end with this. Cold start valve and cold temp work properly. TPS and AFM is adjusted. I can only think of one other thing that could possible cause this. Cold temp sensor, but I have replaced it with 2 other known good ones. Anyone help us on this?