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Aaron's 75 280Z


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Started sanding on the hood again. I was almost done when it started to rain, and since I was doing it outside I had to call it quits I will try and get some good shots this hood is in really bad shape. The front is MUCH less than straight. This hood was pretty much covered in bondo, haven't even got close to getting it all off of the front. One picture of the sanding process. I am trying to get my daughter into cars!

 

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ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Aww kids are tough next your are going to be telling me she should wear a helmet when she rides a bike. She handled the sander for about 1 minute (Which is all the longer my compressor can keep up) and we were in a well ventilated area. To be honest I didn't even think about a dust mask.

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I hate this body work, I am thinking about just chucking this crappy hood and cutting a whole in my good hood I have on the car now. They make carbon and fiberglass re-productions and I wouldn't have to try and get the body work straight on this crappy hood. I guess I have found what I don't enjoy with cars and it is body work.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not alot has been going on with the Z just been driving her, the tires are pretty close to giving up the ghost that means I need to buy some tires first time in a long time that I will buy new tires for this thing, since it had been sitting for quite a few years I didn't want to waste the money on nice tires that would just dry rot. I think I can use them this time. I have heard from several local Z guys there is a Dunlop every one really likes.

 

Ohh and I owned a 1983 Maxima for 2 days then my buddy got it and we will hopefully be fixing the small problems it has. I had it at my house I was going to keep it if his wife didn't like it.

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  • 2 months later...

So my fuel pump is driving me crazy it is so loud. So I went searching and found it might be caused by the fact I had it mounted vertically so I hacked up the existing mounts to allow for a horizontal mounting. I am also going to try and run 5/8's line until right before and then step down to 3/8s like the intake is.

 

I am also finally going to take her on the track on July 7th for the first time. I am excited to see what she can do, I also have new tires coming in this week before the track day. All in all it should be a great 4th of July week. Some pictures

 

The mount originally was solid all down the side, so I cut a big hole in it to mount the pump horizontal. I don't love the 90 degree elbow, but it used to be a 90 degree elbow straight up at least this is all mostly parallel.

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Now the fuel line will run beside the pump then loop back to it, I am planning on putting a different fuel filter there hopefully with a bigger inlet and outlet.

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I took off my inspection lid in prep for the track. The turbo engine makes a lot of heat and I have no vents. I figure while this isn't the best vent, it is much better than nothing.

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Fuel pumps 75-83 are the same I believe.

 

Make sure to install new vibration/insulation straps.

 

It is also a very good idea to take out the internal fuel pump filter screen and clean it (might be suprised what is in there and can cause it to sound like a starving fuel pump) .

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Well all of the insulation straps weren't very used and I did add a little bit of insulation between the mounting surface and the rest of the car. I drove her today and could barely hear the Fuel Pump at idle. The re positioning of the fuel pump was a HUGE success.

 

I finally broke down and bought performance tires for the Z, I got them mounted today. I am taking the Z to the track on Saturday, I will take some pictures of all the cars out there.

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So the clutch slave cylinder bit the dust today, better today then on the track, so I went and got a new one, I then decided I wanted to change the front brakes tonight rather than tomorrow, so I changed those. HOLY COW they were worn, I apologize car and all others on the road that I drove by in the past while. Pictures below.

 

Ride Height Before the new tires, I was on 205/60 r15s moved to 205/50 r15s.

Front

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Rear

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Old Tires compared to front wheel wells

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New Ride Height after I got the new tires.

Front

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Rears

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MMMM meaty!!

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Rear end just because I cleaned her up a little for the first time in several months.

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Clutch slave cylinder out with the old, in with the new.

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Front brakes out with the old in with the new.

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Well I went to the track it was AWESOME. Except my radiator cap was not up to par. So I spewed quite a bit of coolant today I am supposed to run a 13psi and mine was only holding a 7psi. I bought a new cap on my way home, and will be setting up an overflow system for next time. Here are the only real 2 photos I got today, sorry I meant to take more, but I just enjoyed the conversations and drove a lot. The car handled amazing, I am using tockico blues and eibach springs, the tires had loads and loads of grip I cannot get over how great the overall car felt. I will be pulling the tires to check the brakes, but they didn't fade to badly, and did a great job for just some OK brakes. I cannot tell you all how happy I am to have driven her out there flogged her and driven her home.

 

Right before I went out on the first run.

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On the back straight I hit a speed over 100 I just don't exactly know what. Thanks to my friend Blake for snapping the picture he called it "White knuckled" I agree. The car felt really stable though.

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Well the radiator started leaking really bad out of the bottom again so I decided to bite the bullet and order a new radiator I am going to chance it and use a Champion 3 row from Ebay. I am going to get a shroud of some sort and revise my cooling system. I am also getting tired of the crappy wiring inside my engine bay I might re-wire my megasquirt in the next few months. I enjoy just jumping in and driving it though so I don't know if I plan on taking it out of commission for very long until the winter. I want to get out to the track one more time if I can before the year is over, it was the funnest experience I have ever had in that car.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have the new radiator it looks nice, I also got a new set of seat belts. These are the DOT approved 4 point Shroth harnesses. I was more then happy to get rid of the the old 5 point that was mounted incorrectly. I was going to switch back to 3 point retractables, but after my visit to the track I am more happy with the added holding power of a 4 point. So I went ahead and picked them up and will be mounting them to the stock position. The problem is the rear mounting strap is to long, and the harnesses are to short to mount to the ceiling so I am going to have to order in some metal seat belt extenders just to get an extra 6" and have them mount correctly.

 

I have yet to decide what I am going to do about the cooling system. I think my coolant temperature sender unit was bad, but I couldn't pull it out, and now I have buggered up the Thermostat housing so badly that I have to get a new one. I have a 2 bolt thermo housing that I am going to attempt to use it should hopefully clean up that area a little bit any way. I also picked up a thermostat, I know my old one worked but I figured for 10 bucks might as well pick up a new one. I have a termperature sender on the way.

 

My fuse box cover got stepped on while I was driving around which means my nice 35 year old cover is now gone anyone know where I can get another one?

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Sorry for yet again another picture-less update I got the radiator in, the fan mounted, the front plate relocated, The temperature gauge working again, the 4 Points installed using the original mounting points, and megasquirt to hook up to my phone via Bluetooth, my netbook is being stupid and not working with the bluetooth dongle I have so I still have to plug in to change settings in Tunerstudio.

 

I ended up using a different thermostat housing I pulled off a head I sold a while back, the problem is the housing had one of the top cover threads stripped about halfway out which meant I had to use a longer bolt and go down farther, the problem is there isn't very much thread there, I will be keeping my eye out for a replacement in the near future. I am hoping to go to the mountains tomorrow, don't know if I am, but if I do I will try and get some pictures.

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The new radiator and thermostat worked great the car didn't get over 190 the whole time. I didn't set any land speed records but I had a great time. I am now setting up a mount that allows me to have my phone on the dash so I can see the megasquirt gauges with my phone. It also has an opening so I can get video while driving. I didn't make any stops today so I just snapped a few pictures along the way. The worst part about making the drives up there is while you are driving you don't get to look at stuff. The weather was perfect this morning and the car ran great, it was a nice little hundred mile drive with some beautiful views, the car did well and I really want to get back up there, but next time with the wife and maybe a picnic basket.

 

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Heading back from the mountains

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Back to civilization

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Almost Home

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When I got home yesterday I washed her before putting her in the garage. I bought a phone mount to use as a gauge pod for my phone and Megasquirt. It also doubles as a video camera holder aka my phone. I will take some video next time I go up into the mountains. I did do something I have wanted to do for quite a while I weighed my car today.

Just gave her a bath, I moved the tag to try and allow for more air to enter the front opening. The new radiator and thermostat have been awesome with keeping up the past couple days.

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Yup 2560 lb's this thing weighed 2800lb from factory, and I swapped in a 280zx turbo engine and a 5 speed tranny, This was also with no driver, a 3/4ths tank of fuel, spare tire, jack, and everything in there including my netbook and charger, what I am saying I didn't prep the car for weighing just took her there. I am pretty happy with a 2500lb car.

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My '73 weighs 2500#, full tank of gas, normal z tool pack and spare and no driver. 2.8, 5 spd and r200.

 

 

We are having a drive to Greeley on Saturday, you should have the email from Gary and the post I put in the events section.

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Ohh snap brought her home last night.

 

http://community.rat...iata-16l-beast/

 

I will mainly be giving it a good cleaning and pretty soon replacing the clutch, the eventual plan paint it black, and maybe get a different set of rims.

 

Question should I start a new thread for the miata in the non-datsun forum, or put it all in this thread?

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The wife already gave me the go ahead to go back out to the track September 8th, that is the next Z day. SO I figure I should get a few more things done to make her ready. I am changing the rear mustache bushings right now, blue tech tips suggest burning them out, but I live in a culde-sac on a military base and if I start burning stuff in front of my house I could get in trouble. SO I am trying a slower approach just letting Lacquer thinner loosen it and get them out I will report back whether it worked.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have the car up on jack stands I have a bit of an exhaust leak somewhere that smells bad, but still super fun to drive. I have the mustache bar back in and just need to re-install the heat shield under the car. I also took apart my rear wheel cylinders and cleaned them up and re-bled the brake system. I am looking at some Riken mesh wheels they are 15x7, if they are lighter than my swastikas I will try and convince the wife to let me get them, anyone know what type of lug nuts they require? Or have a legitimate weight on then, because I can't find actual weights on them. I have tech inspection on Saturday and another track day on the 8th of September I am pretty stoked!

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  • 3 months later...

Holy Cow it has been a while. I haven't been completely inactive on the Z. I unfortunately didn't get to take the Z to the track that day as my wife needed me to watch one of the kiddoes while she took the other two. So we went on a spirited drive through the mountains where I ruined one of my rims since I forgot to tighten one of my wheels lugnuts all the way and didn't realize what was happening until way to far in I ruined the lug holes in the rim. I am getting a knocking from one of the rear struts I don't know whether it is blown (they were bought slightly used) or I just need to take it apart and have a look. I also think next year might be time to invest in a better exhaust.

 

SO since then here is what I have done. I got another set of Swastika rims moved my tire to a new one. Replaced the front lug nuts (They were all sorts of beat up). Replaced the front wheel bearings. I also got a slight bit of while I am at it and replaced the front brakes with the 4 piston calipers from the 4x4 toyota. I haven't been driving it much, I have been working a LOT and really just haven't had time to enjoy her like I like too. Anywho here are a few pictures sorry I forgot to get pictures of the new calipers.

 

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I moved the datsun Sticker to above the plate I saw someone else had it there and really liked it.

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Out with the old grease and bearings.

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New Lugs new races

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Old rotors (they were in spec, and those those are my shoes!

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Cleaned up

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old frozen calipers

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Hardware all cleaned up, well most of it

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  • 7 months later...

Well I would love to say I have been out driving, and that is why I haven't updated, but that is not the case. I replaced the wheels and brakes, and all that stuff and she has pretty much been sitting except for a few run arounds the past couple months. I have also moved houses as well as got a promotion and switch positions in my work 2 times since last time I posted. Life is busy.

No pictures today, but I finally bought a vaccum pump so I can bleed brakes by myself. I bled the brakes and clutch today, so that was fun. I also completely started from scratch with my Spark and VE tables in Megasquirt. I did this after reading several hours of posts and theory over at Hybridz.org. My car is already starting better and reacting to throttle better. It has been raining and storming constantly and with my shift work I do I haven't been able to get out to drive her often. I am gonna try and take some trips in the car over the next few days. I wish I had more pictures to show off, but I can't seem to find the pictures of me finishing up the work above it has been sitting done for months. I hope to get some more updates soon.

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  • 1 month later...

I have been working on her again, no real cool pictures sorry, I took off the cowl today, I fixed the windshield wipers, I now have fully functioning windshield wipers which means I can drive her in the rain! I have checked all the fluid levels they are good. If nothing bad comes up I will take her to the track on Saturday, there should be some pictures after that event. 

I did some tuning in the past few days she is accelerating much quicker, and isn't hesitating as badly as she used to. If all goes well at the track, I will be adding a boost controller, and an intercooler this winter. This will allow me to use more than just the bottom half of my VE table in Megasquirt. 

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Accelerating is much better now, but she still hesitates a smidge the track was AMAZING today! My camera died with only like 10 pictures taken sorry. I will upload a video to Youtube of one of my runs, be gentle with me. It was an awesome day I know what the car needs now and so the new checklist begins.

 

 

Ron Tyler Differential Mount

Better brakes

Maybe it just needs better pads

Better Brake Fluid

 

The car is definitely quick enough, now it just needs to stop and not clunk every time I get on the accelerator. 

 

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This M3 was very very fast!

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Another Turbo Z, his is a 240z.

 

 

 

 

 

They are porsches who can say no?

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The lotus driver was Super cool, along with the Porsche that park behind him (I didn't get a picture of it it was a carrera, and I got to ride in it)

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Alpha anyone?

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I also got to ride in Jeff Winters car it is very cool, loud and fast, the most amazing part is watching him drive it, and how well it handles.

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