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The Crusty Z (1978 280Z)


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Alright so, here is my latest project, a perfectly 70s brown 1978 280Z. Car is mostly original/stock, and is actually pretty sound structurally despite the rust seen in the pics. solid frame rails, and underside other than one hole formed from a missing drain plug. I originally had a 99% rust free '76 280Z that was my daily for about 8 months, but I had to sell it. I regretted it since and ended up finding this gem on craigslist. I bought it and the guy who owned it (who is an awesome guy btw) let me keep it at his place for the next like 4-5 months until I could pick it up (I moved to NY, car was in NC still). So, I went down and picked it up over the past 3 days. Anyway, heres some pics from the journey and I'll have more up later as I get it off the trailer and do some cleaning. Not real sure what direction I'm gonna go with this car yet but first step is getting it driving and stopping, and I'll make sure to post plenty of pics along the way.

 

Heres some pics from when I bought it, still at the guys house

 

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Lovin' the new Z! What are your plans for it??

 

Thanks! I plan on putting a turbo off a Cummins (HX35) on it along with a modern fuel rail and some modern injectors, probably 60 lb'ers off a GT 500 Mustang. I have a Mallory Hyfire box with boost retard via a MAP sensor and 2 step limiters and whatnot that I'll use along with Megasquirt for fuel only and tune it for pump gas/meth injection. I'm reading up on using Integra coilovers and I'm hoping to get a deal on some Rota's some time down the road. I don't have to worry too much about preserving the body so it'll be getting fender flares. I live off a gravel road in the north, with pot holes a'plenty so it probably won't be slammed but it'll have a presentable stance. I'm gonna clean up the interior and decide if I want to keep it or find another set of seats in better shape and rip out/replace the dash. The steering wheel -has- to go though. I'm hoping I can score a deal on a wood rim steering wheel. I took a bunch of pics and got started cleaning/working on it and I'll post those up along with an update either tomorrow or maybe later tonight. 

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Alright so, heres an update. I began cleaning up the engine bay and checking out what I had to work with. I noticed a lot of newer looking parts (new within the last few years with minimal use), even though the last window sticker is from '99. The plugs look to be replaced at the same time as the rest of the parts and have run time on them so this might mean the car was running fairly recently, and if it wasn't running, why would they bother with a new clutch master cylinder? Anyway, heres some pics. I'll have a video update later today.

 

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Looks awesome! Looks like mostly everything is intact. Are those subs in the back?!

That turbo is gonna make that Z fly. Keep the updates coming B)  

 

Yeah the car is actually pretty much complete, those were a couple ancient 6x9s in someones homemade box, wired to the 80s aftermarket tape deck. I have some subwoofers out of my last 280 ready to go in though

 

I just typed a huge long thing but it got deleted when I clicked out of the text box and it went back a page when I hit backspace. God almighty. So, I'll sum it up. since the last updated I've thrown a battery in it, found out that it has spark and turns over fine, I've washed it and vacuumed it and cleaned it all out, found out that it needs new calipers and rotors, that I need to bleed the clutch slave cylinder and I've drained the gas tank. I've also found out that I had no fuel to the fuel rain, and after some checking and testing I've comfirmed that the fuel pump is the problem. I pulled it out and pulled it apart, it had fuel in it and fuel in the line from the fuel pump, to the fuel filter in the engine bay. the fuel filter was plugged though so it didn't get to the fuel rail. Not sure if the pump could hold old fuel in it and the lines all the way up to the filter for years or if the pump had kicked on atleast once since I put a battery in it but it definitely doesn't work now. Anyway, heres some more pics

 

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Wow, I really haven't been updating this thread. Long story short, the car runs now. I took apart the fuel pump, cleaned it all, ran new wires with new terminals off the pump and got it working. replaced all the engine bay fuel lines, replaced the some vacuum lines, re-mounted the pump in the back there. The gas tank is gross. smells nasty, some nasty gas was drained out. Theres some stupid bastard hose that goes from the tank, thru the trunk floor, out the inner quarter and into the fuel filler neck that I can't get off the tank. Huge PITA. Wish they would have ran it on top of the tank and then up to the filler neck under the car so I could drop the tank and filler neck without worrying about taking it off and fishing it thru body panels!!!!!!!! If I do get it apart, thats how its going back together. The car runs, it doesn't run that well but I think it just needs fresh gas run thru it and to stretch its legs a bit. I have spark on all 6 plugs, it seems to have a misfire so I've got to check each injector. To be driveable I need: 4 used tires, two front calipers, front rotors, bleed the clutch, bleed the brakes, some sort of mounted fuel tank. I could have that wrapped up in a couple days and a few trips into town EXCEPT I'm flat broke :mad: but I'll do what I can. Reman'd calipers at autozone are 28 bucks a piece, not bad. rotors are 31 bucks. eh. I might just clean up the rotors with my angle grinder :rofl:

Boot torn? No problem!
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magic in a tube
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These are the plugs after running the car a couple times. They all had great blue spark when I tested them and they all looked equal so I'm ruling out spark issues as a misfire cause and I just cleaned em and popped em back in

 

http://youtu.be/niBX8qN9gF8

 

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happy see another 280z build start up other than mine! can't wait to see what you do with it and what direction you take it! (p.s. if you decide to get rid of your front bumper shock mounts, i might take them off your hands) let the build begin! :w00t:

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happy see another 280z build start up other than mine! can't wait to see what you do with it and what direction you take it! (p.s. if you decide to get rid of your front bumper shock mounts, i might take them off your hands) let the build begin! :w00t:

 

Yeah I haven't actually seen too many 280Z build threads around, I just read through your build, looks like a good start, and way more solid than mine  :rofl:. I'll have to check and make sure the bumper shock mounts aren't rusty. I do wanna ditch the bumper and go for an air dam or 240z bumpers eventually. I think once I sell my Trans Am I'm going to start buying stuff for the Z, I'm thinking coilovers and some wheels, maybe fender flares but I haven't decided. Then I'm after an HX35 turbo off a Cummins and see about a custom turbo setup. Probably not gonna bother with any of the L28ET stock stuff, and go with Megasquirt/Mallory box and modern injectors, and a 240SX TB for the TPS. I'm gonna leave the paint and leave the rust but make sure my wheels are nice n shiny and run rat style. Partly because I like the look, partly because i hate bodywork. Thats kinda where I'm at, waiting on funds 

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reminds me of my old 76, injectors will surely needa be replaced if the tanks rusty as hell. My 280z always had rusty fuel issues and fuel delivery issues. If I could do it over and keep the car I'd of finished my carb swap and installed a fuel cell. My advice is to toss the tank and install a fuel cell, my z tank gave me broncitis.

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reminds me of my old 76, injectors will surely needa be replaced if the tanks rusty as hell. My 280z always had rusty fuel issues and fuel delivery issues. If I could do it over and keep the car I'd of finished my carb swap and installed a fuel cell. My advice is to toss the tank and install a fuel cell, my z tank gave me broncitis.

 

Yeah thats probably what I'm gonna do, ditch the tank for a fuel cell. I don't plan on using any of the factory fuel injection with whatever I do with the car, which I'm still trying to decide. If it wasn't so expensive to go with a manual trans with an SBC I'd go straight to a v8 but theres no way this car is gonna be an auto. Basically right now, I'm open minded. Hell, even a carb conversion to get me going N/A wouldn't be out of the question.

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Yeah I haven't actually seen too many 280Z build threads around, I just read through your build, looks like a good start, and way more solid than mine  :rofl:. I'll have to check and make sure the bumper shock mounts aren't rusty. I do wanna ditch the bumper and go for an air dam or 240z bumpers eventually. I think once I sell my Trans Am I'm going to start buying stuff for the Z, I'm thinking coilovers and some wheels, maybe fender flares but I haven't decided. Then I'm after an HX35 turbo off a Cummins and see about a custom turbo setup. Probably not gonna bother with any of the L28ET stock stuff, and go with Megasquirt/Mallory box and modern injectors, and a 240SX TB for the TPS. I'm gonna leave the paint and leave the rust but make sure my wheels are nice n shiny and run rat style. Partly because I like the look, partly because i hate bodywork. Thats kinda where I'm at, waiting on funds 

yeah, we have very similar styles with what we are going to build. i can't wait to get my konigs (super ratty z and super clean wheels :thumbup: ) on and my su's (i have a 4 barrel gm carb with an arizona z car intake i might be selling eventually if you want) and yeah, i have a 260z front bumper from an air force base in florida my buddy gave me.

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yeah, we have very similar styles with what we are going to build. i can't wait to get my konigs (super ratty z and super clean wheels :thumbup: ) on and my su's (i have a 4 barrel gm carb with an arizona z car intake i might be selling eventually if you want) and yeah, i have a 260z front bumper from an air force base in florida my buddy gave me.

 

Nice. I still haven't decided what wheels I'd like to buy but I'm probably going with some ebay goodies, I'm gonna try to stay under $400. Yeah I noticed in your build thread that you pulled off the 4 barrel setup in favor of the SU's. PM me how much you'd want for the setup, I may be interested if I can't get the car running better with a good injector cleaning. Might give me some incentive to keep the L28 for a while.

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Nice. I still haven't decided what wheels I'd like to buy but I'm probably going with some ebay goodies, I'm gonna try to stay under $400. Yeah I noticed in your build thread that you pulled off the 4 barrel setup in favor of the SU's. PM me how much you'd want for the setup, I may be interested if I can't get the car running better with a good injector cleaning. Might give me some incentive to keep the L28 for a while.

The four barrel runs, but only 2 barrels open, I haven't spent enough on it to figure out why.
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The four barrel runs, but only 2 barrels open, I haven't spent enough on it to figure out why.

No big deal, I'm pretty familiar with those carbs so I'm sure I could rig something. I have a Demon 750 4 barrel kicking around but that'd be WAY too much carb for a 2.8. 

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No big deal, I'm pretty familiar with those carbs so I'm sure I could rig something. I have a Demon 750 4 barrel kicking around but that'd be WAY too much carb for a 2.8. 

just a a little overkill... haha. but yeah, i will probly take them off winter, and definitely by spring once i get the SU's mostly set

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I love my little electrical gremlin with the a/c, when I turn my a/c on it kills ignition and my exhaust backfires, its so loud people think its a gun shot. I've had people duck down as soon as they here it backfire because they have no idea what happened. hopefully when I swap to a 2 barrel 500cfm holley my issues will vanish.

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I love my little electrical gremlin with the a/c, when I turn my a/c on it kills ignition and my exhaust backfires, its so loud people think its a gun shot. I've had people duck down as soon as they here it backfire because they have no idea what happened. hopefully when I swap to a 2 barrel 500cfm holley my issues will vanish.

 

Thats hilarious. I have a Mallory ignition box with 2 step limiters and a switched nitrous retard, and MAP sensor boost retard and all that. I'm definitely wiring up the 2 step in this car so I can scare tourists in town with the limiter and to flat-foot shift. 

 

General update: Today I checked each injector including the cold start injector and they all click open and shut when I apply 12v from the battery to them via my sloppy probe setup, pictured below. The terminals did have some corrosion though, so I'm gonna have someone turn the engine over (no fuel of course) while I have the tip of a screwdriver on the injector base, and my ear on the handle as a stethoscope to make sure they are getting power from the stock wiring. If so, then I guess I'll just run fresh gas thru the car until the running issues clear up. if it persists, I'll pull the injectors and clean em. So far though, I still need new calipers/rotors and to bleed my clutch and brakes before I can even think about the test drive. Also, this evil god damn gas tank won't come out, I can't get the clamp off the filler neck because the screw head faces torward the front (inside) of the car rather than the easily accessible rear of the car  :(

 

Heres a pic of the magnificent test probe tool:

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And heres my lovely brake rotor. same deal with the other side

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Well guys the next task is getting the tank out, which is turning out to be a huge pain in the ass. I can't get the filler neck off because some dick thought it'd be a good idea to have the clamp so the loosening screw is facing forward torwards the front of the car and I can't get a screwdriver on it. What a bitch. Can't get the fillter neck off, can't get the tank out. Might just have to get the tin snips and cut the clamp. Fuck sakes. No way that grody thing is going back in. 

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Alrighty, update time! So today I got the tank out. If your familiar with the old school wire style hose clamps on these cars then you'll know what I mean when I say I clamped a pair of vice grips to the stub on the other end of the tightening screw and twisted it to loosed the clamp, then got the filler neck off. Unplugged the two vent lines on top and bam, like magic the tank is out. Its really gross inside, and the outlet is plugged, even 50 psi from a compressor couldn't blow thru it. I'm gonna go with a fuel cell anyway in anticipation of future mods, I'm looking into selling the L28/5 spd and buying a RB20DET full swap from a JDM importer. Thats the most likely option. Another option would be a 5.3 LS with an edelbrock manifold, demon 750 carb, LS9 cam, 150 wet shot of nitrous, backed by a 3rd gen Camaro T5 trans. Now, that would be more expensive but should be good for a low 10 sec car. Still undecided but I think instead of investing money into turbocharging the L28 I'd just put that towards a swap. Anyway, pics:

 

Shes out!

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On the jack for inspection

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Gross. The inside of the tank looks really nasty, I forgot to get pics though. A lot of it is covered in a strange green goop. rust flake galore also.

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dont do it  :no:  keep it JDM :crying:

 

I'm probably not gonna go with an LS engine. Power per dollar its the better way to go but I'm really in love with the RB engines and its supposed to be super easy to swap an RB20DET into these cars. Stock skyline engine mounts, stock Z trans mount, boom the engine is in. You can also use the stock Z driveshaft. Wiring is supposed to be easy also. I can get my hands on a full swap from a JDM importer in NYC like two hours away for $1300. Then I'll just need to buy fuel pump/lines/fuel cell, radiator, intercooler and piping, and either buy a rear sump pan or make one. I could see this swap being done for fairly cheap, Pat1 on Hybridz has posted a lot of info about it and makes swap pans. I can sell the Z engine/trans and recoupe some money for coilovers

 

just 4g63 swap it.

 

Believe it or not I was actually thinking about that but I haven't read much into converting them for RWD and what trans I'd need and whatnot. I don't see why the KA24DE-T wouldn't be a better swap than a 4G63 though? Yet again, another option I'm looking into. I'm really open to all options at this point, waiting to get the title for my Trans Am back from the fuckin NYS DMV which is a god damn horror show. 7 weeks and I haven't got it back? Seriously? I need to sell it and start funding this project damnit.

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