FricFrac

My newest addition to the stable. My first car was an '81 280ZX so I'm pumped to start playing with this car. I'd feel bad changing anything on my 240Z since its been restored back to its original condition. I'm starting off with restoring the interior and the suspension is probably my first mod. Hopefully picking up a turbo setup for a swap.... and it begins....

Those are the Tokico rates. He also mentioned that the fronts are linear and the rears are slightly progressive.

Y could also be for the "Digital" option. My '83 had the leather seats and the Digital package and ends in Y.....

Oh I did get the info for the spring rates for those who were wondering Fronts - 200lbs Rears - 175lbs

Has anyone had the same experiences with the 280ZX and the tokico springs?

Just wondering if anyone has used the HPK255 set for the 280ZX on their car yet. There doesn't seem to be any info on the spring rates with the HPK255 kit but ANYTHING is better than the suspension on the stock '83 280ZX I just picked up. I had Tokico's in my '81 280ZX I originally bought 16 years ago and I really liked them but I did the budget lowering and just had the springs cut rather than replaced. I know the RX7 guys are saying the stock spring rate was around 100lbs and the Tokico strut/spring kit springs were just under 200lbs and quite jaring. I'm not too concerned about comfort as my 240Z is so stiff its the side walls that are flexing before you get much deflection in the suspension and I love how that little car handles. Anyone had any experience with this kit?

A fine example of one of the nicer 2+2 models ;P

Just added my '83 I picked up last weekend. Thanks Xenon for the outstanding reference page you've created. I use it for my '72 240Z, '09 370Z, an '81 L28 NA engnine and now my '83 280ZX! What an awesome resource you've given us - thanks again!

Our local end-of-the-roll type carpet places have car carpets. One place had one that doesn't require binding for $8 a linear foot at 6 feet wide in black or blue. Some people have used indoor/outdoor carpet with good sucsess as well....

Take a couple hours and do the HID upgrade - you'll reduce the draw on the system from 55W to 35W, add a single relay that controlls both lights and greatly increase your light output - win/win!

I went to take a look at an '81 280ZX (turns out the rails are rusted, no rocker panels, etc - shocking It had possibly the most hideous HID conversion I've ever seen. It looked like the car had a major thyroid disease. It looked like the lens were going to come out past the bumper. I wished I had taken a picture.... anyhow if you do finde some nice retro fits post the one's you used on here....

The reflector housing I'm using has rubber seals for the bulb and looks to be fairly water tight. Part of the reason I didn't feel any need to seal the back of the metal housing the bulb sits in.

The one on my lens in the car is part of the reflector that directs and forms the beam - definately leave it as is. The one on the bulb is what forms your high and low beam. The solenoid moves the arc/sheild and produces a high/low beam. This is how the HID is different than your other bulbs as the light intensity doesn't really change much but the beam pattern does (eg your low beams are just as bright as your high beams. That's why it's so critical to have a proper beam envelope to prevent blinding oncoming traffic).

Excellent - very good information. Thanks for being the guinea pig on this one Bartman and toughing it out with the trouble shooting instead of sending it back. This should save a lot of people grief with solid state relays for the HID kits and for other applications as well.

Yes it looks like its a solid state relay from first glance. Agreed as well MOST electro-mechanical relays will work both ways (unless they have a snubber diode across the coil). The main thing is when you hook the HID harness up to the stock lighting harness that the black wires match each other....

Could be that they switch the ground on or vice versa. I think its most common to switch the ground on (well with solid state stuff) so it could be that they are switching power on instead? Either way once everything is turned on it gives you the same results. I was thinking though it would be interesting to see what the resistance between the ground side of the input to the HID harness and your ground points for the HID ballast is....

It doesn't matter where the light comes out - its where it ends up As long as you aren't blinding oncoming traffic is the first thing. It looks like the beam pattern is very tight - I'd like to see it more spread out over the horizon. Regardless it looks like its safe and you'll have to determine if it works for you on the roads. It is strange that the shape of the beam is a little different between the two but again its not a show stopper. As for trouble shooting your problem we need to figure out why the relay isn't working or is "stuck on". Try disconnecting the input from the headlights to the relay harness and see what happens. Was there any wiring instructions, etc with the kit? We should be able to give the relay a signal from a ground and +12V and see if we can get the relay to turn off and on. What colours are the wires coming from the relay harness that plugs into the stock headlight harness? Rear of bulb +-------+ + Low + | G... H | | n.... i | | d....g | +.... h + So that's the pinout for the H4 bulb. You should be able to hook a ground up to the HID harness and +12V to the low and you should get low beams. Move the +12V to the high side and you should get high beams. Your harness plug should look the same as the back of your sealed beam or an H4 bulb with three male blade connectors. The pinout of the HID harness plug is the same as your sealed beams so holding onto the HID harness plug with the blades facing you should look like the pinout above. The ground on your left, low beam on top and high beam on your right. The wire coming out of the left side should be black (standard for common or ground).

So it sounds like the solenoids are being turned on all the time. What happens when you disconnect the relay plug from one of the lights when its on? It should go back to low beam. Its possible there is a problem with the relay itself from the factory. Verify your voltages though as things may not work if the voltages are off. Measure the input from the battery to the relay, voltage at the end of the solenoid plug and the voltage at your old wiring harness for the stock bulbs in both high and low beam on both sides.

It sounds like the solenoid is working because the low beam comes on when you switch them off. Check the output of your old light harness that plugs into the new harness and see if you are getting a signal for low/high and tell us what the voltage is on it.

The high/low beams are controlled with a solenoid. It sounds like your solenoid interface isn't working somehow. There is a large water proof plug for the H4 HID bulb and a smaller plug to control the light (solenoid). Both of these go to the HID bulb. It sounds like both of these are plugged in because the relay does operate when the lights are turned off. The relay harness also has a plug that plugs into either of your two headlights via an H4 plug (mating plug on the back of the old sealed beam bulb). You just plug the harness into the end of the original harness that passes through the headlight bucket. You can use either the left or right hand side but it only uses one. That's what the relay uses as its input signal for high or low beams. Try swapping the input for the other side and see if that works.

That's the exact same place I installed my ballast. The big advantage to this set up is that it also eliminates the need for a relay kit (since it has its own relay) and if this HID kit works its much less than a relay kit to upgrade the stock wiring.

I used a step bit to make the hole in the back larger which also keeps the edge from becoming jagged. After the hole is sized I put a grommet in the back large enough for the waterproof connector to go through. Since the lens assembly is waterproof and the connectors are waterproof there is no need to waterproof the bucket itself and as J Soileau mentioned water comes in the front of the bucket anyhow. The hi/lo is accomplished by moving the bulb itself with a solenoid in and out of the shielded area. It works well because there is no fillament that is susceptable to vibrational damage - its just an arc.

Looking good. I don't know about the bulbs but the ballast looks like the Phillips designed ones like I have and they are using the water proof connectors as well which is very good. It also looks like the relay is a solid state one which means less current draw and no mechanical contacts to wear out. This one is looking hopeful! I guess time will tell on the bulbs (although the whole kit is the price of a single HID replacement bulb....).

My '72 240Z came with a carpet kit but I don't like the fit and finish. The sound damping on the pad is poor as well. I did my own on my 280ZX 15 years ago and it looked great. Did the "molded" part in the foot well using contact cement and an extra piece of carpet turned backwards to make the joint. Lasted perfectly the eight years I had the car. The alternative is to sew it with fishing line so it never rots out. Looks great! Amazing what new carpet will do for a car.

A picture would help if you have one. I would probably say no to scraping it off with a razor because a) you are putting mechanical stress on whatever the solder is attached to eg. your switch and you have a good chance of cutting into the switch somewhere or cutting the end of your finger off. With a soldering iron it should just melt and you can slid it right off with the tip of the iron. Clean the iron again and repeat. A clean tip will attract more solder. Find something to practice on if you are nervous. There are lots of places on the Net that show you how to solder. Its all technique and if you follow a few simple guidelines its pretty easy to do. Clean is very important as is the temperature/thermal mass (eg the size of your tip). If you are soldering something that has a lot of metal or a big ground plane use as large a tip as you can.