Skully

Happy Holidays !

Decided to tidy up the top of the engine a bit. Pretty much got rid of everything up top, threw a fuel rail in, and hid all the wiring under it. Also thew in an aluminum rad I had for over 5 years collecting dust. , Just have to get some FI hose to finish off the plumbing, and throw coolant in.

Enjoy!!

Before mess:


After!










And the rad, would like to get my hands on some dual electric fans!

beg3yrs

Nice work Skully. I really like that radiator. Will have to consider that.

Having a tidy bay makes it so much simpler to spot problems and get them fixed.

You've reminded me it's time to straighten up my shop area as well. Amazing how quickly things can get disorganized.

Happy Holidays to you too!

Skully

thanks!

I got rid of fusible links, and put in maxifuses. As well as swapped the 280zx alternator in that I had from before. Pretty straight forward.

Out with the old..


so I dont forget what is what :/





I need to find the right amperage and put it in, these just came with the block.



I love the maxi fuses. I have a question for any of you electrical gurus. The fusible links, take the power from the starter post, which goes to the battery. Does it matter if I just hook up the fuse block straight off the battery post? In my mind it makes no difference, but I always wondered why the fusible links took power from the starter post...it goes to same spot in the end. Input?
Thanks.

zxguy1986

Nice work there, Skulls! GREAT Maple Leaf, still! Where can I get one?

OK, typically designers connect straight to battery ONLY those components that will not be a quick drain on the battery when the key is off. Thus, starter, accessories, etc., need key ON to work. All are DEAD when key is off. Lights - with no key ON? Dead battery in record time... Clock? Dead battery in a month or so... Parking it for a month? Disconnect a battery terminal for that month or clock drains your battery.

I connected an aux audio amplifier (600W) direct to battery because it drained a lot of power when it was working (music) and would dim the head lights if I ran it through the head unit circuits in the fuse box. Direct-to-battery was OK because the amp was ON all the time - but never drew power from the battery if the head unit was turned off (key OFF).

So, you need to know if that fuse block and anything it feeds would ever drain from the battery while the car is sitting, OFF... If never, hook it up. If ever, avoid the dead-battery surprise and don't hook it up that way. I bet you could answer that Q by hooking the fuse block direct to the battery, turning key OFF - and measuring the block components' power consumption with a multimeter. One link at a time.

Let us know what you decide and what happens. Thanks.

Skully

Well, this is how it is from factory on the left, and what i did on the right. It makes no difference, it is always live, since the post on the starter is not a switch or anything. I don't think it matters, just thought I would ask if anyone had insight on it.

beg3yrs

Skully, I'm pretty good with electrical stuff and I think ZXGuy didn't really answer your question.

I thought your question was a really good one as really, what's the difference between hooking up the source of pretty much all power to the car at the battery or the starter? Since the battery and starter are directly connected together by a BF cable anyway, schematically, there really is no difference.

It might have been an attempt to keep things simple at the battery connection. One wire coming off the battery and that's it.

As far as I can see it's only an aesthetic issue. IMHO, hook up maxi-fuses to either the starter connection or the battery, whatever makes more sense for your particular needs.

Skully

Yeah I think he thought maybe it was a switched source before. Thanks for clearing it up, I like it more off the battery so I shall keep it there then.
Cheers guys.

Skully

Ok Almost back to work time, and I have to leave everything for few weeks.

No coolant leaks, no fuel leaks, nothing electrical is burning, I think I did ok.

Cheers guys.

Pez

Nice! I just went through the same type of clean up. I used the 1978 zx fpr, it's not adjustable but has only one input and output. While I'm pleased with my fuel rail install, the mounting for this regulator is a bit janky and I think I want something adjustable.

Which FPR did you use?

Skully

Thanks! Yeah I like the look of less crap in there lol. Aeromotive A1000-6 unit, I am thinking of getting some dual 10" fans and a controller next, will see .

beg3yrs

Ya know, thinking about the connection location a little more, I think it would mechanically be better to connect at the battery. If you connect to the starter location you then introduce more vibration on the connector and its wire, and that would increase metal fatigue while the engine is running. Probably not a huge deal, but it is another factor.

Nice video BTW!

Skully

Yes! And, Less wiring from the fusilinks to the battery as well, since it only has to go through one cable! But hey, lets redesign Nissan engineering . Did you figure out your brake-line woe? I just noticed my master cyl is leaking a bit, so that came off, I think I will install a 15/16 one from a zx.

NismoPick

Ooh la la! Two thumbs up!

beg3yrs

Yep, there's progress on the brake line. I've got a union and a 20" new piece of line. The intent is to patch that in. The other option was to purchase a 25' roll and replace the whole line. I'll practice bending and double flaring on some of the old line from my parts car. When I'm good at that, gonna make the fix.

I'll post all that to my restoration thread when it's done.

Up there in the super cold snow country you don't get to drive the nice cars all year (at least if you want them to stay nice) but it does give you some down time to fix them up!

Skully

Thank you sir, those injectors are working real well

The patch sounds the way to go then! It will work just fine!

Yeah winters are long and harsh, but it gives us time for some upkeep I suppose !

theramz

I think the fusible links need to be hooked up to the switched side of the starter. Both configurations you have there would be always hot including the ignition. If your wipers work with the key off you'll know. Your lights are always hot but everything else is decided by the key switch.

lord of the z

I've always wanted to clean up my engine what do you do with all the wires above the throttle body what do you start with? Any help would be appreciated

Skully

But if you look at the wiring diagram, the battery cable goes to the post on the starter, and from that post another cable to the fusible links. They are always hot from factory by that diagram, no?

Pez

Puzzled what you mean by wires above the throttle body? The closest thing that comes to mind for me are the wires going to the thermo housing (temp switch, gauge, thermotime etc...)

For those I deleted one and loomed the rest together in a group of cables/hoses that run from the passenger side... So from the Fuel filter, I tied the fuel line and the vac hose (from the canister together), then those go through a clamp that I added after removing the stock fuel lines... from there you can see it join the thermo housing wiring... after that the fuel Line splits and goes to the rail, then the vac line splits and goes to the manifold, then the thermo housing wires go to the main stock wire bundle...

Skully

Well I had electric fans, new master brake cyl, and I got some new headlight balasts delivered, but since I was away from home, the delivery guy just left all the **** on my front steps. Now I have nothing on my front steps, so either neighbor grabbed it or someone has new electric fans, brake cyl, and some balasts in their possession. Will inquire around.


edit: False alarm, the neighbor across the street grabbed all my mail and packages, and just dropped it off for me! Yay for nice lady! I think I need to buy her something, maybe a giftcard or something

beg3yrs

Take her for a ride.



In the Z ... what were you thinking?!

Skully

hehe, maybe when snow melts!

I got the brake cylinder in last night, need to do some bleeding. I am happy it was the ballasts that were bad and not the actual HID bulbs! They both work now and one is not dimmer than the other! I got the electric fans wired in, just need to make some brackets for a sturdy mount, I don't want to use those stupid pull through zip tie things, I am sure they would destroy my radiator eventually.


Decided to make some posters for the garage . Always wanted to do this, finally decided to lol. The wiring diagram is about 4' x 8' , the body diagram is about 2' x 4'. Have to trim, glue and frame, and probably toss a layer of plexiglass over top of both .





Made this one, hopefully I didn't screw it up lol...

theramz

Cool! Like a true Zed!

Skully

Ok, finished with the fans. Not too bad, had to fab up some brackets, they aren't the prettiest but they look ok, and are very sturdy, I am happy with it. The controller had a wire for A/C clutch to turn the fans on, since I dont have A/C I'll just wire in a switch to it for override.

beg3yrs

Nice installation. Looks really packed in there. Something about 10 lbs of stuff in a 5 lb bag comes to mind. Great work!