Where should I Start

[Chewievette]

I have a 1972 240z that is totally striped of its wiring, there is NONE. I have a 1979 280zx that runs but is getting parted, that's a story on its own, so I want to swap the zx engine and trans into the 240 but I need to get it running and the first thought that came to mind was to swap over the entire harness but I have been told that's a bad idea so I need some help. Do I pay the big bucks for a Painless U(make it fit)niversal harness, do I swap over the entire 280zx harness, or should I buy bunches of wire and make my own? What I really want to do is put in a DIS system using LS1 coils (there's a picture of one setup like this in the gallery) but I dont know where I should start with this project. If I can get it running on the stock type ignition control that is fine until I can work out the DIS, I'm not in a rush to get it just the way I want it but I do want to be driving it soon.

[BillZ260]

Painless was nice for me because I am a beginner when it comes to wiring and circuits and all that, so it was worth the $$ for me. If you can build your own from components, that's probably the way to go. If the ZX wiring is anything like the old Z's, stay away, they suck. Just my opinion.

[Chewievette]

I acctually like doing wiring, its relaxing in an odd sort of way. I am studying to become an aircraft mechanic and that was one of my favorite classes so far. As long as I can formulate some kind of wiring schematic I'll have no problem wiring it up. Like everything else it just takes time (and liberal amounts of cash).

 

I have been thinking about it and like I said, as long as I can cobble together a schematic, I think doing the wiring myself is the way to go.

 

btw, I have been looking to run my engine on something other than the stock computer and since I'm starting from scratch now would be the time to modify, yes? Should I try to build a megasquirt into the system now? or would it be a good idea to run stock for a while?

[73ZCAR]

Chewie,

 

I'm VERY interested in your ideas/progress on this.

 

I have a 73 that is giving me all kinds of problems now;

 

Blown alternators (3 in the last 6 months).

 

Guages stopped working after a very expensive trip to a shop to find out why the car would not run when fully warned up.

(I later figured out it was a bad HEI module)

 

Wipers stopped working now that we finally got some rain after 143 straight days of none at all.

 

Blown fuse at IGN/FLASHERS, No flashers or turn signals.

 

And to top it all off tonite I stopped to get some ice cream and gas at the QT about a half mile from home and she wouldn't start back up, sooo the alternator is not charging the battery. Again!

 

As I was walking back to the QT from my place with jumper cables, I seriously thought about either doing a completely new harness OR parting the car out.

 

Consider yourself fortunate that you have NONE of the origional wiring.

The insulation was not top quality and the connectors are crap.

 

I was thinking of doing my own thing, as the painless harness is a bit pricey. I have yet to sit down with a pen and paper and scribble out a schem.,then figure out how much for all the extra stuff like relays, switches and such.

 

Please photograph your progress if you can.

 

Well gotta crash now

G'nite all. Mike

[Chewievette]

I havn't made any progress on the wiring itself because I've been trying to get the car rollable. As you can see in my sig pic, its getting closer.

 

I have formulated a plan of attack for the wiring though. I plan it wire it up one circuit at a time starting with the lighting. That should take long enough for me to get and build my megasquirt. As I go I'll route all of the wires in the same way so that I can bundle them together and pull it all out when I dismantle the car this winter for more extensive mods.

 

I have also been thinking about running dual wires for everything. For example, instead of running a single positive wire to the lights and grounding the neg to the body, run both positive and negative so I dont have to use the body as a ground. Only major downside is that it uses up twice as much wire.

[73ZCAR]

sounds good keep us posted

 

Mike.

[Chewievette]

I am trying to see if an offer that I recieved still stands, if so then I'm not going with the megasquirt. I just found out tonight that there is a complete wiring schematic of the 240z at the top of this page!! yeah I know, read the stickies first ...its the newbie in me shining through. I am going to start work on the new harness this week. It will basically be a stock harness with new wires. I am trying to work a couple of deals right now and if all turns out for the best I should have this car running in a couple of weeks!! I am trying to get it roadworthy by June as a small birthday present to myself, wish me luck! The next week will be a huge deciding factor in that.

[Chewievette]

Here is my modified wiring harness, Its basically the stock 240z harness but I cut out a few things that I dont want and there's a couple of things that I am going to add for security that I'd rather not post on the net. If you spot any issues with it let me know as soon as possible because I start laying wire tonight! I still have the deal so I wont be using megasquirt yet, maybe later. Luckily I still have a lot of the switches so I dont need that stuff, but I do need to source a fuse panel, I want to find one with blade style fuses but I'll gladly go to the junkyard and pull a 260z one if I have to. Anyone know a place with good prices on fuse panels? I guess that's all for now, I'll keep you posted.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/chewievette/Cars/My%20240z/240Z_Wiring_Diagrammodjpg.jpg

[73ZCAR]

Hey, Chewie,

 

I think MSA sells the blade type fuse panels for the Z, but they are a little pricey.

Also they are made on a P.C. board. I've always been worried about durability of P.C. boards especially when pushing in or pulling on things like fuses, or even memory on a motherboard.

 

If you can find a good one from another car it'll prolly be much cheaper. 8)

 

I wish I lived closer I'd help you with yours and build one for me at the same time.

 

You interested in makin' 2? 8)

 

Mike.

[Chewievette]

I could be, if there's a couple of bucks involved... I would need to build it in a car though, it can be done outside of the car but it will fit much better if it is done inside. I went and played with my car a bit today and I found that everything from the seats back is still intact! Now I have to decide if I want to replace it all now or wait till I tear the interior out to redo it. But after a day of fun, I gotta get some sleep.

[Chewievette]

I have recently hatched a devilish plan to save me some time and perhaps a little aggrevation. I am attempting to get my junk 280zx(bad body) hauled up here so that I can rip out the wiring harness and engine / trans. I think I can adapt the 280zx harness from the seats foreward into the stock 240z rear harness. Some sticky spots are the combo switch functions, the autometer gauges that I have coming, and wiper motor. I dont think it will be too much of an issue, I'll just have to modify instead of starting from scratch. Anyone ever installed autometers into a 280zx? As a side bonus I'll get fuel injection and a non points distributor. I'd much rather have megasquirt but this will get the car running until I can figure something else out.