monkeyman

Hi All, I sent the 3D printed ABS clips out yesterday morning to those who contacted me. I guess they should get to their destinations Monday or Tuesday. I printed a few spares for everyone. Remember when pressing them on to have the small tabs to the back of the car, so that they slot in between the moving latch and the rear plate (it keeps them from sliding around). I made them a thickness that suits my car, but I have no idea how much this needs to vary for other cars. Good luck (let me know how you go). Eric.

I just got an alert there was some activity on this thread. I had a look at the ABS clips I printed a year and a half ago (see post #6) and they were still there on both doors. I drive the car pretty frequently. They were a little worse for wear, but still holding on. The driver's side door clip was still in ok condition and had a bit of life left in it. The passenger side door was holding together but not looking so good. That door wasn't very well aligned initially and I think that is why. I think these clips will help with the latch operation, but they won't fix a poorly aligned door, so if the doors aren't shutting due to alignment, that will have to be fixed first. So I am willing to print off a bunch of them and send them out for others to try. I will use ABS which is hardier than PLA. I would love to see a photo of the polycarb clips when you get them Peter. I just checked my 'slicer' and it tells me each clip uses about three cents worth of plastic. So I will print a bunch out this week, and as an 'introductory offer', those that are interested can PM me with your address and I will send you some. You can keep your coins in your pocket, and that way I won't feel guilty if they don't work for you.

Sorry OdinZ, but someone got in for the diff a little bit before you did.

I put this into my 260Z 2+2 years ago when the original gearbox gave trouble (it was a straight fit, but needs some care in choosing the right clutch). It served me well, it even took me across the nullarbor. But on the way back it started feeling and sounding funny (fortunately it happened in Esperence). A mechanic there said the thread on the main shaft had worn so that when he tightened the main shaft nut, it would pop a thread, so he put a spacer in front of the main shaft nut and it was able to tighten onto some fresh thread. It got me back across the nullarbor, but I pulled it out when I got back and I don't trust it. I kept it to show the little fella when he got older how gearboxes work, but I need the space. You can have it for free if you are willing to come and pick it up from Heidelberg West, Victoria. UPDATE: Sorry to anyone who is interested, but the gearbox has found a new home.

Crusty old R200. From memory, the 5-speed 2+2 diffs were 3.7:1. I pulled this out of my car years ago due to backlash. It's possible the problem might just have been the diff mount... not sure. Best to assume it has back-lash. You can have it for free if you are willing to come and get it (from West Heidelberg, Vic). UPDATE: Sorry to all, but the diff has found a new owner.

Thanks to everyone for helping out. Every post gave me something to think about, or taught me something, or gave me some direction in my quest to fix my baby. Who’s ever hear of a ‘jiggle valve?!?!?! So I found the problem and was gob-smacked! I pulled out the thermostat. It had a jiggle valve (never noticed it before). Into the pot on the stove and it opened between about 82 and 87 degrees. All good. There was a pipe coming out the bottom of the thermostat housing: the bypass. It split in two directions, one hose to the carbies and one back around to the engine block (so this was the bypass hose). The hose to the carbies was blocked. I tried to clear it out with a screwdriver but there was a spring inside making it difficult (presumably to maintain the shape) so I just left it. I capped off the pipes to the carbies. The pipes through the carbies seem blocked anyway. I had the bypass hose off at the thermostat end and tried to blow into it. Blocked. Not a bubble!. So I pulled the hose off (it’s a long one) and tried again. The hose was blocked! I put a garden hose to it and a second later something came shooting out. I found it, and it was a lump of deformed plastic. I bit like a squashed plastic version of the rubber caps i used to seal off the pipe to the carbies. How did it get there!?! I was gob-smacked. I was smacked in the gob!. I will take it along to my mechanic next time I see him. See if he recognises it. So I put everything back together. I left the jiggle valve untouched (I had planned to remove it as per some suggestions here). I took the car for a drive and the temperature went past its usual midpoint to about three-quarters. Too high, but I had air bubbles in the water that could be causing problems. I took it out again later tonight and she was great!! I will keep an eye on it and if it gives trouble, out comes the jiggle valve. But I suppose that having it out could disguise other problems (like my blocked bypass hose), so I will keep it if I can. Thanks to everyone who posted, I was lost until I got help here.

Hi all, first, the detail: 1975 260Z 2+2 L28 (rebuilt a few years ago) Radiator rebuilt (with new core) about 4 months ago. I have this problem where the car overheats. I have tried a few things and am yet to get to the bottom of it. What seems to happen is that the water in the car will slowly heat up as per normal (by viewing the gauge in the dash), but often it will go past the mid position where it usually likes to sit. If I don’t notice this it will keep going until the radiator caps lets it all out and I get steam and water everywhere. If I do notice it, I pull over, scratch my head, look around, and then when I get going again it drops back down to the mid position and sits there happily. If the car hasn’t been used for a few days, it will always happen. If I have been driving it that day, it probably won’t happen (though it might). So the engine has been relatively recently rebuilt. I have had the radiator re-cored. Tried new radiator caps. But it all seems as though it is the thermostat getting stuck, or being very slow to open. I have replaced it a number of times, got a mechanic to do it once, even used an OEM themostat. One time I put the one I pulled out into a pot of water on the stove and it open when it should (from memory I think it was about 85 degrees). It seems so much like it is the thermostat, I can’t think of anything else it could be, but after having replaced it a number of times (and my mechanic too), I am a bit lost Has anyone else had any similar experiences?

That's great. It means the stl file converts back without any problems. Did you print PLA or ABS? Let us know how it goes. By the way, I didn't give you enough credit for the original post. It was only because of what you had done that my doors close now!

I just happened to find this thread by luck as my doors started giving trouble! I went to Bunnings and bought the exact same vinyl joiner and tried it myself. I had a hard time getting it to work. In fact, I couldn't get it to work!. If I had been willing to get the door latch out of the car I might have done better, but trying to do it lying on my back in the carport was unsuccessful. Then I thought "I have a 3D printer, maybe I could use that". So, with a little bit of trial and error, I ended up with a clip that would clip into place and stay there, and it improved my door function heaps. With a bit more time and care, I could probably have made it a better fit, but what I ended up with was a pretty good fit anyway. I decided not to post here in case it fell apart after a couple of days, but now it has been many months and it isn't showing any real sign of stress. I don't drive the car daily, but it does get some use. So, if you have a 3D printer, or you have a mate with a 3D printer, or know a library with a 3D printer (the library at the Dock in Melbourne has three... they'll print it for you for nothing), it's small and prints quickly, so print a couple. I'll attach the stl file here for anyone use (stl is the standard format accepted by just about all 3D printers and their software) A couple of things: I printed in ABS, but I bet PLA would be fine too. Also, the clip has two little tabs at one end. When you clip it into place, orient it so that the tabs are toward the rear of the car. They will keep it from sliding around. ...later. Ok. I couldn't upload the stl file, it wouldn't accept it. I changed the extension to .txt, so you will have to change it back to .stl. So save '260Z door latch rubber.txt' Then change its name to '260Z door latch rubber.stl' and it should work. 260Z door latch rubber.txt

Does anyone have one? I want the plug, not the headlight. I don't know if they vary from model to model, but I have a 1975 260Z 2+2.... and I live in Melbourne. Thanks,

You could do it yourself. This is something i would like to try myself one day (possibly for the 2+2 vent covers): http://www.instructables.com/id/3d-Scan-Anything-Using-Just-a-Camera/ Eric

That's a nice looking car. I love it! (Come to think of it, it looks a lot like mine.) I bought mine about 16 years ago (wow, that's going back a bit now.. I got it for $1400, it was just sitting out the front on someone's place in Richmond and not moving, street-sweeper marks going around it, so I knocked on the guy's door!). My excuse to buy it was that i had just got married and we needed a second car 'just in case'. My wife occasionally reminds me that I.. kind of... bought it for her.. But that's history now. If the unthinkable ever was to happen, she can keep the house. Anyway, this is about your car. It looks in pretty good shape. Someone has already spent some time on it. Do you have any plans for it? Eric

Hmmm... I thought the same. but then I checked my Z ('75 2+2) and the strip at the top of the back seat is a little different. The top corners are rounded, and there are only six screw holes. Still, it's pretty similar. Maybe they changed from year to year? As one wise man once said (as wise as they come on Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure): "Everything is different, but the same... things are more moderner than before... bigger, and yet smaller... it's computers..."

Well that's good news. Well done. (Change a few caps and 'presto'... not so hard after all!). Don't trust the transistor too much, keep it running on the bench a bit longer first. I try to stay away from ceramic capacitors, especially for timing circuits. Their temperature coefficients are huge! A ceramic capacitor can vary by as much as +30% to -80% of its nominal value over its temperature range. I use polyester capacitors instead. They might cost a few cents more, but we are not buying them by the thousands. If you find the time drifts a little, adjustment is with the lead screw. From memory, you get at it with a screw driver after popping out a plastic plug at the back of the housing (or since you have it out of its housing, the lead screw adjustment should be pretty easy to identify).

You might not find an 850 ohm resistor too easily, but I would be very surprised if 820 ohm wouldn’t do fine. 1/2W each will be fine. Finding caps should be easy. The values used are pretty standard, and it doesn’t matter if you use 16V, 50V or 100V rated ones (though 100V+ electrolytics could get physically large). Use what you can get. Jaycar should have something. I am amazed you found a C828 transistor! I don’t think I could find one when I went looking (but it was a while ago now). The different code might reference different voltage or current ratings. At the voltages and currents we are operating at, I wouldn’t worry at all. The behaviour you are seeing isn’t too different to what I was seeing. The circuit could get the ‘balance wheel’ moving a little, but not enough to get the clockwork going. Once I fixed up my components, the balance wheel would oscillate a lot more and would keep going. I never tried testing at 9V. I used a bench top power supply to get my 12V. I’m not sure how effective the circuit would be at 9V. Even with the circuit working, at some lower voltage, the clock will stop working. I don’t know what that voltage is. Since I first posted the repair write-up in 2008, I have never heard if anyone has been able to use it to fix their clock, though i see it has been downloaded many times from here and from classiczcars.com. So if you get it working, let me know. I just downloaded the write-up and see that the oscilloscope waveforms have disappeared. I will see if I can find them and fix it. And for the record, the clock I fixed in 2008 is still in my car and working well. Good luck

I put the pertronix on my L28 about... 13 or 14 years ago. Beefed up the coil a bit. I have never looked back.

I did some Googling and see that Penrith library has a printer. I don't know about any others. 3d Studio max is made by the same people as the free 123D Design (Autodesk). I don't think you would have much trouble with whatever software you choose, so long as it can export 'stl' format (seems to be the industry standard). To print on the Mill Park Makerbot, you first have to run the Makerware software (on the library computer or free download) to take the 'stl' file and convert to a format the printer will accept. This conversion also adds support structures for overhanging bits that are broken or cutaway later. I'm not sure of the process on the Penrith library printer (it doesn't look like a Makerbot) but it might be similar. Penrith is fair hike from city. There might be something closer. Universities will probably have some too, the RMIT printer can do Titanium I have heard. Good luck. If you print something, let us know. Maybe we could start a library of Z component designs. Eric

My worry is that I will put them on, get them crooked, strip the paint off trying to get them off, and screw it all up! I might never have the courage to try putting them on.

A while back I printed a brass lock barrel for the hatch. I recently printed a light lens for the interior light. I thought this might be interesting for some of you. I went to turn on the light a little while back, and when I pressed on the lens cover, my fingers went straight through the plastic. The plastic had perished from age and presumeably from the heat of the bulb. As disappointing as it was, it was nice to get more light in the car! Spares are hard to get so I thought I could try printing a replacement. I decided to try to get it printed in clear plastic to get that extra brightness (I also installed an LED lamp instead of the old-school bulb, which seemed to increase the amount of light in the car). So I did up a design. I added a texture on the inside to diffuse the light but it turns out it wasn't necessary. For those of you that live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Mill Park library has a 3D printer. Little known fact. As it happens, I am the only person to have brought it my own design and printed it so far! The only other people to have used it are some people that have done some 3D printing tutorials the library offers. And it costs nothing! So get designing, there are a number of free 3D design softwares on the internet (I use 123D design), and the library has many colours. So I printed a test run of my interior light lens design in white. I then made some adjustments (1/2 mm longer, and a recess for the button so that it would reset properly). And I went back and printed it in clear. It's not perfectly clear, but it's pretty good. The internal structure is enough to diffuse the light (it's not solid, but has internal bracket-like structures). I printed at 0.2mm resolution and it took 1 hour to print. I printed again at 0.1mm resolution and it took 2 hours to print but I couldn't see any real improvement. One thing I didn't include in the design is that the 'legs' point in a bit on the original. I see now that it is necessary or they rub against plastic seams in the outer casing. I just fixed it with a file rather than printing again. Anyway, it's a pretty good result. I think 3D printing is going to solve a lot of our problems with these cars. If you want to use the Mill Park 3D printer, let me know and I will fill you in with required file formats, etc. Eric

Thanks for posting the photos Lurch. She does look good, I love driving her. Someone scratched it within two weeks of getting it back, would you believe it! I was suffering there for a few days, but I think I am over it. It should clean up ok. I think I am the only one that has noticed it. I have been trying to decide on whether to put the side stripes back like it had before the repairs. If I ask what everybody here thinks, I know what they would say. There wouldn't be too many saying 'GREAT IDEA!!' but I always liked them. Bumper bars came out well. They cost me a little over $1k to repair, strip, copper, nickel, chrome plate. Then a few hundred bucks for the rubber. It was worth it though. Eric

Thanks for posting the photos Lurch. I will post more when I finish putting it together (though that might be a little while yet... right now I get about an hour a night when the kids have finally nodded off... in the dark, with very hungry mozzies...) I have the bumpers back from the repairer/plater and they look great. I have assembled the front one and started putting it on (note to all: the left and right mounting brackets are not interchangeable). I will take some more photos when I have the bumpers on, the wheels polished, badges on, bonnet/doors/etc aligned, and a few other cosmetic tidy-ups. There is the interior to put back together too, but that won't stop me from taking a few shots. I am pretty happy with Lurch's work, and the painting. Pricewise, not bad considering how much work it needed (there's no impending divorce so everyone is happy). And I too must admit I like the metallic blue (obviously). A friend of mine has a silver colour (from the factory, I am sure) that also looks really great. I'll get back with some more photos soon, Eric

As I was looking at the printing websites, I found that some metals were printed directly (such as stainless steel), and some were made from a mold (as you mentioned). Brass is one of those made from a mold. The 3D printer prints in wax, then a mold is formed from the wax model. The wax is melted out and the brass is poured in. So the brass should be as strong as any cast item.... I hope.

So, The impressive thing is that 3D printers don't just print in plastic. I uploaded my design to the 123D Design website, and they directed me to a number of 3D printing houses. I used Shapeways. Another printer (i.materialise) had more materials that could be printed, but Shapeways had cheaper shipping to Australia. I looked at three options given that it would have to be strong and handle weather: Brass, Stainless Steel, and Titanium (yep, that's right!). To have this made in Brass was about AU$45, in Stainless steel around $130 and Titanium around $240 (if I remember correctly). I went for brass (and I got a plastic one printed for under $5 so I could show people). The shipping was a flat rate $20 to Australia. So for about $65 I got myself a new hatch lock casing. I had to sand inside a little as it was a bit too tight, and then I dropped it off at the chrome-platers (who are also doing my bumper bars). So if you can't get the part you want, think about printing it! (if you are interested, start by Googling the 123D Design and the printing companies above, and there was another printing company on the 123D design website called ‘sculpteo’) Eric

Hi All, Based on a post (and photobucket photos) by Mike (Zedback) I decided to replace the door locks, petrol cap lock, and hatch lock on my Z. There were some issues with this, but they are not the purpose of this post. The hatch lock looked tricky, but with some words of encouragement from Mike, I had a go at it. See here for his photos http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,3987.msg92189.html#msg92189 The hatch lock was fiddly, but it went to plan, except that I found the lock casing to be worn. Without a key inserted (or a wrong key), the pins (or wafers) protrude from the central cylinder (the lug). The lug won’t turn in its casing as the wafers extend into grooves in the lock casing that inhibit its rotation. With the correct key inserted, the wafers are pulled flush with the surface of the lug, and the lug can rotate. My problem was that the edges of the grooves were worn where the wafers slid over the edges. The edges were rounded. So the wafers didn’t have to be flush, and the wrong key could still open the lock (see attached picture.. I haven't worked out how to put the photos in the post yet) Could I get a new one? I didn't even bother trying. Second hand? Bought one off Gumtree, hoping that maybe it would be good. It was worse. They're all 40 years old. Forget second hand. Get one machined? I took it to a local machine shop. They didn't want to know about it. Too fiddly. And it would cost a bit because there was a lot of work in it (there is more detail than you can see in the photo). So, I got one printed! I downloaded some free 3D printing software off the internet called 123D Design. With my limited drawing experience I was able to work out how to use it, and create a 3D design for my lock enclosure in one evening. It isn't very sophisticated or powerful, but that might be why I was able to pick it up quickly. I found it crashed often on my laptop, so if you try it out, save regularly (and if you are using Windows XP, don't bother.. it won't work). I later made some small adjustments to my design to meet some requirements for the 3D printing, and the design ended up looking like the attached pics. I will post the results of the printing in the next post. Stay tuned. Eric

YES! Far more attractive. It is hidden away at the side, (though it doesn't look very hidden in my close-up photos). And it is not that easy to see with the hatch down. I am not sure how well rainx works, but I think the fogging problem would be different in Brisbane than it is here in Melbourne. I found the defogger strips I bought years ago almost impossible to apply straight and parallel. Thinking about it now, it might be possible if the hatch is removed first. Also, the adhesive side of the ones I had was bright orange, and this is what you see from the outside. They stood out like dogs' balls! And when they are not perfectly parallel, they looked pretty ordinary. I prefer the hairdryer over the strips any day. I might give rainx a try though, see how it goes.