I have been reading a lot about this and I don't see a down side.
It gets rid of the external regulator.
Opinions?

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Nov/70 late series one HLS3014777 Sunshine Yellow 919

I've had one in my 1970 car for a couple years. The only "downside" comes from the danger of stopping the installation half-way (which is completely possible to do).

The 1970/71 cars were so cheaply built, they had a few soft spots. One of the softest was the electrical system. For reasons known only to a few, most of the electrical power for lamps and accessories flowed directly thru the MultiSwitch (headlamp stalk) and the 4-way flasher switch. The cars were apparently thought to be good for 10yrs or so, after which Bad Things began happening to the body, the electrical units, and the hydraulics systems. One of those Bad Things involved the electrical contact points corroding up to the point that they caused an actual fire hazard from high resistance.

The original Series-1 cars had a 40A alternator. The addition of a 60A (or 90A) alternator pushes more current thru these corroded 40yr-old connectors, causing even more of a fire hazard. To prevent that, MSA has created a 3-peice plug-and-play wiring harness replacement, a two-box electrical relay unit and a bayonet-type fusebox. Using an upgraded alternator (the 280ZX units are popular) without upgrading the wiring is asking for trouble. I am fully qualified to adviZe you on that, because when I upgraded my alternator, Vinny, John Taddonio and Bryan cautioned me to buy the MSA harness upgrade and the fusebox. I said I would, but didn't. One night my car nearly caught fire and, if I hadn't recently put a quick-disconnect switch on my battery, it might have burned to the waterline and sunk. My original glass-tube-fuse fusebox melted and filled the cabin with thick, acrid smoke, killing all my lights, my engine, and nearly stopping my heart cold. The MSA bayonet/blade type replacement fusebox is far safer and makes it easier to change fuses when necessary.

I learned to listen to the experts whenever I think I know something about these cars.

The greatest advantage of an upgraded alternator is the incredible increase possible in headlamp brightness. Vinny installed a pair of "aircraft landing lights" on mine and I can see many times better now than with the stock lamps. Further, if you're running a lot of accessories at an idle, they don't dim like the stock system does. I have also contemplated a pair of the old 1960s rallye/driving lamps for the bumper, but they really aren't necessary now. The twin-relay package re-routes all the current for the headlamps away from the MultiSwitch, and thru two 20a fused relays. All the MultiSwitch does now is trigger the relays, which carry all the heavy electrical load.

A disadvantage of the internally-regulated alternator is that you need an in-line 1N5402 diode to prevent the battery from discharging back thru the alternator to ground when you shut the car off. This is an easy method, complicated only by Radio Shack having gone out of business since one was installed on my car. Without the diode, the battery will discharge flat overnight. Also, you will not be able to turn the engine off using the ignition key ( ), so life could become pretty interesting if you decided to only do this swap half-way. Don't start it unless you make your mind up to replace the fuze box and the harness as well.

Bryan's DATSUN Z GARAGE has a good write-up on this procedure. I've learned the hard way that I should listen to him.

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1970 240Z

Frank, as always a wealth of knowledge. I have also read nothing but good things about doing this, that is until now. I am planning to do this to my 73' but want to do it right. I am familiar with the MSA fuse box upgrade but what are the other components that you mentioned? Not familiar with the 3 piece wiring harness or the two box electrical relay unit you mentioned.

Also any advice you or others have on doing this on a 73' with a stock electric fuel pump would be greatly appreciated. I think there are some different wiring mods that need to be made comapared to the 70-72 versions to make sure the fuel pump shuts off in the event if an accident.

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1973 240Z
North Kingstown, RI

Scott, I have no input for the '73 fuel pump concerns, but I'm confident others on here will.

The 3-piece wiring harness has 3 looms which hook together under the hood. They are all heavy-duty and very much better insulated than the original (worn) wiring harness in our cars.

The first piece of the harness hooks up at the firewall and to the (new) fusebox under the dash; the second piece plugs into the end of the first and runs down the passenger side frame rail and inside fender well, and contains two electrical relay boxes (with fuses inside). That one also hooks up to the alternator. The third piece plugs into the 2nd piece and runs forward across the front of the radiator support, supplying power to the headlamps, side lamps, and horns.

The relay boxes handle all the current to the lamps, instead of routing that current thru the Multi-Switch like before. Now all the MultiSwitch has to do is send a little current to the relays to activate them. The possibility of a fire at the MultiSwitch is greatly reduced to almost zero. The relays are both fused, so in the (very unlikely) event you overload a system, the fuse will blow instead of anything melting. The blade (bayonet) type fusebox is heavier-duty than the original, but fits perfectly in place of it.

The whole mess is sold as a kit by MSA, or you can buy them separately like I did. It took me awhile to save up enough $ to afford all the pieces I needed. I asked Vinny Bedini to install it for me to ensure it was done correctly, and it took him less than an hour to swap out the old loom and put in the new.

The looms changed pretty significantly over the years because Z cars received almost constant electrical improvements, so make sure you specify the month and year of manufacture of your car (found on the driver's doorjamb build plate) when ordering your loom.

I don't honestly recall what they cost me back in 2009, but the difference btwn our cars and the years of purchase wouldn't be very similar, anyway.

Here they show they are up to $400 for the whole wiring loom, including the alternator but not the $200 fusebox:

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/12-4651

I saw the fusebox listed on this catalog but now I can't find it again; it was $200.

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1970 240Z

Hey Scott,
Some additional input from the "been there, done that" guy. The headlight relay upgrade that Frank mentions is dirt simple to install, even a Geico caveman can do it. Frank was probably helping Vinnie's retirement fund by farming out the job. It's all in the engine bay, plug and play!

The next one is the parking light upgrade, formerly called the turn signal upgrade is also easy-peasy. Again, most but not all, is in the engine bay. It does require a wire be passed thru the firewall (main harness opening is best) to the turn signal switch. It's straightforward. You want to be sure and order the correct part: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/ ... 0l/12-4652 OR http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/ ... 0l/12-4653

Here's the fuse box upgrade for your car, the short pigtail version. A bit pricey but a great piece of gear, especially if your old fuse box has any loose, burned, or corroded clips: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/ ... 0l/50-5010
Note there are no covers for the MSA fuse boxes.

The first two items take a HUGE amount of stress off the fuse block, combo switch, and turn signal switch. The kits are from Dave Irwin, top quality build, and easy to follow instructions.

For a little fun and a nice safety feature, toss in the side marker conversion plugs that add your front side marker lights to the turn signal circuit - only if you do the 2nd upgrade above: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/ ... 0l/50-5010

Last item even if you do none of the above: swap out the old turn signal and hazard light flasher cans for new electronic units from any auto store. No more slow signal cycles.

Hope this helps - its always easy for me to spend someone else's money!

BTW - I tried the ZX alternator upgrade with the MSA diode but was not pleased with the outcome. I've stayed traditional with an externally regulated 60A alternator (RockAuto) and new voltage regulator. All is well in electrical land.

Jim

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

Hmmmm.....I've got to look into that side lamp conversion kit. It claims to make your dash lights brighter, too. I'm almost tired of having to press my nose to the gauge to read the odometer at night or in the garage. Bulbs have been replaced and the rheostat is turned up all the way, but it's still too dark to read all the numbers I'm interested in.

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1970 240Z

If you want to drive the car a lot, and go far as well, these upgrades I consider a safe alternative than the stock, just put your stock items away. You want to do the headlight upgrade with the alternator, I wouldn't run the ZX alt. through the old wiring. Forget the $20 by pass plug....go to radio shack and get this diode, pack of 2 for $2......"1N5402" and if you need the diagram I can look for that and get that on here. So 1 diode, 4 speaker terminals, the blade part, and then black tape it up, (solder terminals) leaving the diode center expose to cool air. The MSA plug sucks, water gets in it, and it corrodes. Could this be why my NEW MSA alternator fried, taking the interstate battery with it.......ummmmm, good chance. Remember 2 meetings ago....pop starting my Z. All is good now. Thanks to my Z car research and development center. Other good upgrades is H4 lights, then get a ZX dizzy, and a ZX starter. If all is done right your car should go Click, Start. Not Rev, Rev, Rev, finally start. Taking all else is in prime shape.

Radio shack went out of business in our state about 8 months ago.
Got to get those diodes on-line now.

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1970 240Z

I decided to go ahead and do the upgrade.
I have the upgraded fuse box already.
I got the alt from AutoZone and the connector/diode from MSA.
It was great to get rid of that crusty old regulator.
I removed the old condenser that's in picture 2.
Now I just have to put the dash back in.

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Nov/70 late series one HLS3014777 Sunshine Yellow 919

I think that's a great idea! If you pump 90A of current thru the loom, maybe you can find whatever it was that was smoking before!

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1970 240Z

That's my plan but it's only 60A so it will be a slow burn.

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Nov/70 late series one HLS3014777 Sunshine Yellow 919

Since I'm decoding the mystery of the missing lights I kind of forgot about my new charging system.
Anyway I started it today for the first time.
Initial impressions:
It had to be choked less and not as long on cold startup than usual.
Engine is way smoother and idles better.
when I get the wheel back on I'll give my driving review.

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Nov/70 late series one HLS3014777 Sunshine Yellow 919

PLEASE invest in a cheap ($5-$8) battery quick-disconnect first?
Please?
Voice of experience pleading here.

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1970 240Z

I have the one on the negative lead of the battery.
Is that what you mean?

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Nov/70 late series one HLS3014777 Sunshine Yellow 919

Oh, were you the car with that red lever disconnect I saw recently? I thought that was Jason WInget's Fairlady Z I was remembering.

Yessir, as long as you can scramble to your battery and quickly disconnect the circuit before the whole loom goes up in smoke and flame, you're OK.

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1970 240Z