This problem is starting to bug me

Well, I *thought* I had my intermittent starting issues resolved with the new ignition relay.  As my father and I were leaving from our breakfast stop on the way to the Wilson County Fair, my 280z wouldn't start!  I heard the ignition relay clicking, so I knew that wasn't the issue.  I wiggled the solenoid actuating wire and the car started again.  

To see if this wire is the culprit, I decided to replace the terminal with a newer, tighter spade.  I began by cutting the old connector from the actuating wire.

I then attached a new female end, both crimping and soldering the terminal to the wire (I will ALWAYS solder things like this to ensure a solid connection).

After coating the new connector as well as the connector on the solenoid with 3M Dielectric Silicone Grease for corrosion protection, I reinstalled the wire.  While I was in the area, I cleaned up the 12v lug from the battery along with the connecting post.  Applying more of the Dielectric grease and a new lock washer and nut, I returned all wires to their proper home.  Time will tell if this will be the solution to my intermittent starting woes.

The battle of the blinker

Once again, the right blinker stopped working in the 280z.  I have a plan to replace the original turn signal switch with a DPDT toggle switch, but I decided to give the current switch one more chance.  I pulled the unit off the column one more time and took a look.

As I moved the blinker lever back and forth while watching the switch, I realized that the lever was not moving the switch fully into right-turn position.  As I examined things closer, there were two factors preventing full movement:

1. There is a small coil spring that is used to apply pressure to the return tangs.  The tangs limit the movement of the switch.  I bent the ends of the springs to allow the lever to sweep fully through the range of travel.
   
   
   
2. The switch housing itself wasn't centered. After returning the switch to the assembly, I carefully bent the housing towards center.
   
   

If my theory is correct, the lack of a solid engagement of the right turn due to the above issues was causing arcing on the switch and causing the contacts to dirty quickly.  A few drives on a hot day should tell me if I was right.  If not, I will implement plan "B" as mentioned at the beginning of this post...

Fair Weather Day

The 280z made another appearance in the Wilson County Fair this year.  As an added bonus, my father brought one of the cars from his collection: a 1987 Porsche Carerra convertible.  Both cars received many comments from onlookers and admirers.