Oct 2007

The harness that powers the electric fuel pump and gas tank gauge proved to be cranky - the fuel pump side wasn't even connectable to the pump (due to one wire that snapped off) and one of the leads for the gas tank section is broken - end result is an inoperative gas gauge that proved to be my downfall when driving the car to work - yep, I ran out of gas not more than a block away from work. After putting five gallons into the car and having to prime the electric fuel pump with a 9V battery (in my work clothing, lying on the dirty pavement - not good) I immediately ordered the new harness the same night from MSA.. only to discover that the gas tank has to be dropped to get to the cable out of the car. I also learned that my brake lights were inoperative - I was hopeful that the new harness would fix that problem too.

After trying to clean up the Panasport rims I saw how badly damaged they were - someone had repainted them with silver paint and there were numerous chips on all four rims - I would have to strip them down to bare metal and have them powdercoated to make them look decent again. They were also identified as racing rims (13lb apiece); naturally the center caps were missing and the set I bought for $80 didn't fit. MSA had silver Konig Rewind rims for $100 a rim... an easy decision to make and I was able to sell the Panasports for $300 on eBay a week later, so that worked out well. The local Walmart swapped the rims out in short order... and the car looks amazing with the new rims installed!

The original gas cap had a broken connector chain - it also required CONSIDERABLE force to twist it off the car. I found a refurbished set on eBay and ended up ordering a refurbished air cleaner unit from the same vendor. I had read on a few Z-car forums that the factory air cleaner helped prevent vapor lock - and having experienced that problem firsthand with my 260Z I'm all for preventing that problem <g>. I personally like the appearance of the factory air cleaner... the bright orange makes for an interesting engine bay <g>.

The Cibie headlights are no match for my 2006 WRX STi lights, so I found an upgraded solution on eBay - then I read online that the upgrading to halogen headlights will sometimes result in a fried headlight wiring harness, so I'll have to buy a new harness (that powers the lights from the battery instead of the headlight switch) before upgrading the headlights. Knowing that one day I'll upgrade to an electronic ignition I knew I had to do something about the tachometer - apparently the 240Z tachometer goes nuts with an upgraded ignition so I found a "fixed" one on eBay that will handle the signal properly.

The upgraded chrome prop rod was "flair" for the engine bay...

Item Description - Price Paid

TOTAL: $1175.95