New Zealand Datsun Club

Big fail this weekend. I got myself a factory tacho and tried to wire it up myself. My friends dad had already wired up an aftermarket tacho for me a couple years ago so i just used the wiring from that and wired it up to the factory tacho after doing some research to figure out which wire goes where. After doing all that i tried to turn the car on to see if the tacho even worked but the car wouldnt start. It would turn over, jump into life but then instantly die. After trying to start it for a while the car still wouldnt start properly and then a huge cloud of smoke came out from the dash and now all the wiring that i did is melted and buggered. So after ripping the tacho back out and checking for flames i am now left with my dash in bits, melted wires and have no idea what to do next. has anyone successfully wired one of these up? and could it have been something to do with the electronic ignition or the upgraded coil that was causing it to short out? Any help will be much appreciated

The factory datto tacho's use an "inductive loop". Rather than the pulse signal from the coil. The factory tacho wiring (if it's there?) needs to be in a loop, or else there will be no feed to the coil.

Finally started some rust repairs on the drivers side front guard. after taking some paint off i found alot more rust and damage than i thought there was as they had bogged over most of it previously. This kind of stuff annoys me, not only because it creates more work, but being an apprentice panel beater and then seeing the dodgy repairs that qualified people used to do and get away with, grinds my gears a bit. Cut the rust out at work on Friday and started on the big piece at the bottom which involves replacing the inner and outer skins. Inner skin done and outer piece tacked on and nearly ready for a test fit

Nice tidy work!
Is the old girl on the road atm?
If it is, bring it on the run this weekend coming.

Na man shes not unfortunately. Reg is on hold. Got quite a bit of rust to do still and get it all in epoxy primer, sort the wiring that got singed the other week, get leafs reset an inch, replace the rear crank seal, stop the wheels from rubbing on the inner guards, and then get cert for everything hopefully. God knows how long it will take for me to get that all done

You have untill labour weekend!

Been way too long since my last update. Haven't been able to work on it much but now she's at work so the last couple months I've been tinkering away. Ground out the battery tray since the battery is now gona be in the boot, fixed up the front panel as it had old accident damage that wasn't done properly. Cut out a rather large rust hole from the right side inner guard where the front bumper bolts up. Have the inner guards a fresh coat of underseal and started on the rust in the right hand sill

Went into work for a couple hours today to test fit the replacement guards that I've finally found after trying ever since I bought this car. The right one is an original datsun guard but the left one is a Taiwanese rip off. Got the right one on and fitting up pretty good. Hammered the inner lip up and put a slight flare on it to get it to just fit over my wheel. Taiwanese guard is gona take a bit longer to make fit as none of the bolt holes lIke up and the gaps are massive

I'm glad you're still chipping away at this thing mate.

Yea it's a bit of a slow process but one day she'll be all done. Went into work today for a few hours and did the smaller rust holes on the left sill. The fun begins tomorrow when I attempt to tackle the bigger ones