Phantom

I'd also check in with the guys at www.northwestz.org. They are primarily in the Portland area. Personally, I'd stay away from a Nissan dealership. If your car doesn't have an OBDII connection they won't know how to work on it.

Here is a walk-around video. http://vid321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4214.mp4

This has been my project car / daily driver for 23 years now. Stuff is still happening with it but this is where it is now. http://vid321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4214.mp4 Drivetrain: a) 1998 Camaro Z-28 Aluminum block LS1 V-8 (390 HP) with K&N intake, custom headers with dual 2 1/2” exhaust through an ‘X’ pipe to a dual inlet/single outlet Dynomax muffler, B) 1999 T56 6-speed transmission with Hurst billet shifter with custom John’s cars modified torque tube transmission to differential driveshaft and mount with integrated driveshaft loop, c) CableX converter to drive the mechanical speedometer with the electronic T56 output, d) 1988 Nissan 300ZX turbo 3.70:1 R200 LSD differential, e) Centerline Trident II 16x7 aluminum wheels with 225/50-16 Dunlop Direzza tires. Suspension: a) Eibach performance coilovers , 250 front, 300 rear., B) Koni fully adjustable gas struts, c) Urethane bushings throughout the entire suspension and steering. d) Nissan front and rear sway bars with urethane bushings. e) Racetep multi-point strut tower braces, front and rear. Brakes: a) 1981 280ZX master cylinder, B) Willwood forged Superlite calipers in front with 12.19” x 1.25” slotted Spec 37 rotors c) 240SX calipers in back with 300ZX 11.38”x .81” solid rotors d) Adjustable proportioning valve. e) Stock 280Z emergency brake Exterior: a) Motorsport Auto Type 2 ground effects kit including front air dame, side skirts , and rear valance, B) Motorpsort Auto one piece rear, hatch mount, spoiler, c) Motorsport Auto Sentra window frame mount mirror kit d) Chrome front grill. e) 1997 Cadillac Eldorado Pearl Red paint with white racing stripe and pin stripes. f) Tinted windows by D&D Auto Tint. g) Air conditioning: Stock Nissan except for s special high efficiency compact compressor and the use of “Freeze 12” rather than R12 refrigerant. Interior: a) Katzkin leather seats, door panels, headliner, sun visors, ‘A’ pillars, face of rear deck, and rear strut towers, B) Wavemaker “Chevis Regal” residential carpet throughout edged in Katzkin leather. c) Autopowr 4-point bolt-in roll bar coated in black bed-liner. d) Custom center console pad & cup holders – Motorsport Auto e) Motorsport Auto White-faced gauge conversion with higher wattage dash bulbs and green lenses removed. f) Bed liner coated ash tray with chrome trim. g) Cabin is fully lined in Dynomat for noise and heat reduction. h) Original Dash with no cover. Lighting: a) Dapper Lighting HID headlight conversion. B) ZLEDslights LED conversions on the front turn signals, side marker lights, and taillights. Front and rear turn signals operate sequentially. Sound System: a) Alpine CDA 9851 CD/MP3/WMA Receiver B) Alpine CHA-S634 CD/MP3 Changer, c) Alpine SDR-17LS 6 ½” component speakers in custom enclosures on each door with 1” soft dome tweeters custom mounted on each ‘A’ pillar, d) Alpine SPS 130A 5 ¼” side speakers, e) Alpine SWR-1042D subwoofer in a custom, ported, and tuned at 32 Hz enclosure, f) Alpine MRV-F545 500watt amplifier, g) Rockford Fosgate CPC-1003 capacitor. This car is the first professional LS1 installation in the US and was the prototype used by John’s Cars in Dallas, TX to develop the conversion components he now sells worldwide. Throughout the development my guidelines were for the installation to have OEM appearance and daily driver reliability. The nod was always given toward reliability and ease of maintenance vs. extreme performance. The development took 14 months back in 2003/4 and resulted in this car and the kit components. One difference in this car versus the components provided to others is that this car has no transmission mount. Instead, it has a modified “torque tube” set-up similar to a C5 Corvette which hard connects the rear of the T56 transmission to the nose of the R200 limited slip differential. It is unique, totally functional, and has been absolutely reliable over the past 12 years. In the past 22 years the car has been driven over 140,000 miles, about 100,000 of it since it was painted in 1997. I have competed the car at Texas Motor Speedway, Texas Motorplex, Motorsport Ranch, Renegade Raceway, and also hill climb and autocross events.

If you want to do some serious brake upgrades look at Techno Toy Tuning or Arizona Z Car. All depends on what your future plans are for the car.

Final update - I was able to go with some Spec 37 GT 48 vane slotted rotors instead of the 32 vane Ultralights and Wilwood BP-20 pads. Install was straightforward and they work great. Headlights have been a real pain but it was self-inflicted. The headlight plug on the driver side was wired like a 240Z during the conversion and then the shop tried a bunch of different configurations to try to get the passenger side to work right and they were never successful. Long story short - I pulled all the wires out of the plugs and rewired them per my '77 280Z service manual, replaced both headlight fuses, and now they work just like they should have on day one if the headlight plug wiring had been kept in the stock 280Z locations. Hats off to the guys at Dapper Lighting for sticking with me through the whole thing to the successful conclusion. Also hats off to the tech service guys at Wilwood for working through the brake conversion with me.

Dang - it looks like it was in a hail storm!

Yup, Got mine today. Already read through it and sent you an email. Also Google Mapped 3 routes from Yakima to Olympia. Probably go the White Pass route on the way over as it's the shortest time-wise at 3 hours but it will be the Chinook Pass route coming back for a little fun. Hope my brakes survive the abuse. :-)

Signed up yesterday and paid my fee. Other than a "payment received" email I've received nothing else. It would help to have an email that gave the address of the dealership and maybe y'all could use information on the car that is being entered other than Datsun or Nissan?

Did you check with Motorsport Auto? http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/classic15s Their units are only $10.83.

Well, the diode didn't do it for the passenger side high beam. Since I'm not hearing a "click" on that side when high beams are selected it appears that power isn't getting to the solenoid. Now it's time to pull the wheel, pull the fender liner, and remove all the electrical tape covering the wiring so I can check connections and voltage at each connection. There is an issue somewhere. While I'm at it I'm going to get the specs off my Willwood calipers so I can order some new pads when I replace the rotors. Trying to get a Spec 37 rotor instead of the Ultralight in hopes of getting a more durable, better machined part. I'm also going to go ahead and extend the DRL wring so it can be hooked up later without having to tear the car apart again.

Hmm - the PO had an eye for a nice interior. :-) Here's mine:

I bought my current '77 280Z back in 1992. I drove it completely stock for 5 years before I did anything to it and then it was just paint, wheels 7 tires. It was my daily driver for 14 years and 100k miles except for a year of down time getting a new drivetrain. Your Z looks REALLY nice. It will be a great foundation for anything you want to do to it. Sit down and write up a dream sheet for the car, prioritize it, and then think on it for several months while you're looking around this site, zcar.com and hybridz.org to get more ideas and sort out your plans. I was a naval aviator so have a fond place in my heart for you jarheads.j :-)

Totally disagree with that statement. The Bosch EFI system on the 280Z's was excellent and much more reliable than carbs. I drove my '77 280Z 100,000 miles on my L28 and the only issue I ever had with the system was a loose connector to the fuel pump and some corroded contacts in the engine temperature sensor harness. Yes, it does require a different skill set than carbs but then, this is the 21st century. :-) You're in Texas. contact the various Z clubs in the state. Z Club of Texas in Dallas, Cowtown Z in Ft Worth or the club in Houston. Not sure - there might even be another one there in Austin. Those guys will know where there is an S30 that will fit your budget and they'll be a great resource when you start working on it.

Headed out tomorrow morning about 7:00 AM. Hope to be in Canby around 10:30-11:00. Wife is driving the support vehicle, a 2002 Suburban, so we can haul all the stuff to be comfortable and have a way to get the Z home in case something unforeseen happens. Anyone from the Yakima, WA area want to meet up along the way?

Going through a debugging stage - lights on backwards, LED panel inserted backward, diode problem, and burned out flasher. All are fixed now except the diode for the HID headlights. Here are some photos/videos. LED turn signals in action: http://vid321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4992.mp4 http://vid321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4993.mp4 New white faced gauges, higher wattage bulbs, and a working clock: http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4996.jpg LED side marker lights http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4994.jpg http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4995.jpg