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The Slave Z build thread.


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I guess now is as good a time as any to start my build thread. I got My 75' 280z nearly a year ago in December of 2011 with no brakes and an engine that didn't run. We trailered it to my friends house where the car currently resides the same day I bought it.

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Things, however, got slightly more complex after that. A week later I returned to get the Z off the trailer and into the garage to try and get her to run. After getting it off the trailer we had to tow it up his driveway to the garage but unfortunately the tow hook we connected to his 87' civic came undone somehow and the Datsun started rolling down the hill with me inside presumably to put the car in gear to stop it. Now I'll let it be known that I had driven one standard car for no more than 10 minutes prior to this experience and frankly, things happened so fast I don't know what else I could have done to prevent it. But what happened is what you see in the pictures below.

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After lots of back-hoeing, anticipation, and stress we got her out of the ditch but not unscathed. Luckily for me the previous owner was so kind as to put 2 MASSIVE steel pipes in place of the rear bumper which saved my window as well as the entire rear end of the car from a tree.

 

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So now I was left with a damaged 280z that didn't run or stop. And the work began.

We began by replacing the AFM rubber intake boot as well as standard tune up stuff and a new Fuel pump. After some fussing we got her to run and after replacing the master cylinder and brake cylinders she was stopping as well. Eventually I got around to finding a new Hatch and did some body work.

 

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After that I studied abroad for the summer and was unable to work on the car for 3 months. But upon returning I put new stock brakes all around and started more body work.

 

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Recently I came upon a bunch of extra parts, a lot of them being 240z parts. And I have started transplanting them onto the 280z. I got a 1st generation hatch, taillights and a 240z engine that has an E31 head. I have the hatch installed and got the latch to work again. currently the lights are only mocked up.

 

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I plan on using the engine but that will be in the future when my 2.8 dies and when I have the money to build it.

Right now Im trying to get the taillights done, straighten out the body, and fix anything else that it needs to get inspected.

The house my car is at has pretty much a full garage. I also have access to a lot of other tools so I am hoping to do a lot of fabrication of parts myself whenever I can. Personally I am better at woodworking than anything else so I am looking forward to applying that to the car. I know this is a long intro but theres definitely a lot more to come.

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Dude... That is one heck of a story. I'll be honest with ya, I would probably have broken down into man-tears if my z rolled down a hill and went off the edge... No really, part of me wants to laugh and cry reading this. Haha! That said, you are taking this very well. I commend you. lol.

 

Secondly, welcome to the restoration group. It's a fun journey. Are you planning on going all stock (maybe so from the stock rear brake replacement?) or are you planning to modify? Anyway, looks awesome so far with the replaced hatch, etc. Also, your buddies shop is amazing! Is it private? And is it mainly for car work? I love seeing what shops others have, so that thing looks like paradise to me. Anyway, good luck and looking forward to more updates!

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Dude... That is one heck of a story. I'll be honest with ya, I would probably have broken down into man-tears if my z rolled down a hill and went off the edge... No really, part of me wants to laugh and cry reading this. Haha! That said, you are taking this very well. I commend you. lol.

 

Secondly, welcome to the restoration group. It's a fun journey. Are you planning on going all stock (maybe so from the stock rear brake replacement?) or are you planning to modify? Anyway, looks awesome so far with the replaced hatch, etc. Also, your buddies shop is amazing! Is it private? And is it mainly for car work? I love seeing what shops others have, so that thing looks like paradise to me. Anyway, good luck and looking forward to more updates!

 

Thanks! Yeah right now I'm going mainly stock just to get it on the road. I'm also a senior in college so I need to do everything on a budget for the time being. Eventually when I can afford stuff i'd like to do suspension and brakes as well as putting that other engine in. I have 6-1 headers and a 3" exhaust but I've heard it's a headache getting the original stuff off so i'm waiting on that as well.

 

As far as the garage here are a couple pics of the place. The first picture is where all the work gets done (and yes it is all used for cars). theres two garage areas, both having three bays. There's a full lift in the middle bay and a sand blasting cabinet in the back. the other garage is mostly for storage. They have two 50's chevy's as well as the truck in the picture. I think you can see the Camero in the back and one of the cars in there is an AMX. I could list them all but i would be here all day thinking about what they have.

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Nice, I hope my tailight write up helped.

 

It definitely did. I had your pictures up on my computer while I was doing it haha. Just gotta drill the holes and figure out how to attach the bottoms of the trip panels.

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Haha, I was hoping you would post more pics of the garage. :D Looks like a great setup! I have plans written up for a 40x80 automotive/fab shop I wanna build one day, but all just dreams at this point. lol.

 

The 3" exhaust sounds nuts--must be pretty awesome to have! I replaced mine with 2.5", but now that I'm working on a V8 swap, I am tearing everything down again. I hear ya on the college stuff though. I just graduated college and started med school this fall. :-/ Money is tight, time is tight, etc etc etc. Still love hanging in the shop though. You got a great place to work on yours!

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Yeah it's nice having lots of tools to work with. My only problem is getting the Z in the garage. My friend's dad is constantly working on new projects so the garage has been full, and from the looks of it will stay full all winter. unfortunately for me that means working on the car outside. Not the most pleasant thing to do in New England during the winter haha. I can only go up there on the weekends though so I usually just tough out two days of cold and its not too bad.

 

I really wanted to do a V8 swap on mine until I got these parts. If I hadn't got this 240z engine and exhaust I probably would have bought a V8 in the future. But I'm hoping this will be more cost effective and just as fun. Good luck on your build!

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Oh man, yeah that would suck. But at least you have a place to work. A 240z engine will be awesome, too. Although you haven't driven much manual, I highly suggest a late model, closed ratio (more like a racing) 5 speed transmission. Easy to swap in and so much fun. If it already has the five speed, you're off to a good start, and the early fives are still a blast.

 

As far as the year goes, my datsun is a 74 260z, and since yours is basically a year newer, you are one of the few I've seen with the larger bumpers. That said, I do have a front and rear bumper if you wanted the stock replacement to go on the rear again. I'm not a huge fan of the larger bumpers, and you could have mine for $30 bucks + shipping. I think the front might have a ding or two, but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed (and you have a front already). Problem is.........you're in NH and I'm in CA. Darn, I want these out of my garage so bad... :-/ Anyway, hit me up if interested. :D

 

Good luck to you as well!

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I actually got two transmissions from the same guy I got the engine from and one of them is supposedly a 5 speed but I have yet to confirm.

 

Thanks for the offer on the bumpers but I just bought a 240z rear bumper from someone else on the forum. I'm not a fan of the larger bumpers either haha. I want to swap to the 240z front bumper and airdam when i get the chance to as well. Then I think the transformation to a 240z will be complete haha.

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Well darn. Worth a try. Lol! Probably gonna scrap them eventually. I think the 240z bumpers are a tasteful addition...err....upgrade. :)

 

Oh sweet! Well they're pretty easy to find in junkyards out west, but yeah, 5 speeds are a blast. I had a 3 speed auto, and when I finally changed it out...wow....it was amazing.

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Nice, the 3 speed must have been interesting. How was the work to change out the transmission? I really gotta figure out if I have the 5 speed or not. One doesn't have a shifter on it and I can't tell just by looking at it.

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Some Japanese tools to work on my Japanese car

 

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These pictures aren't the greatest quality but heres most of what I have to work with as far as parts. Theres a few spares but I still gotta figure out what I can use on my car.

 

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Just stand on the left side of the transmission (bell housing facing forward) and shift through the gears. You don't need the shifter if you have the stub mount for the shifter. You should still be able to shift through the gears anyway, it's just hard on the hands. I you have a pipe, you can wrap the stub (to prevent scratching) and put the pipe over it to shift, too. If you have a 5 speed, you'll have 5 speeds plus reverse. Forward and left is first, straight back is 2nd, etc. Reverse will be far right and back.

 

Here's a five speed:

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Four speed:

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As far as swapping goes, the swap is easy if you already have a manual in. If you have an auto...some fabrication or swapping is definitely needed. I'm assuming you already have a manual in from your last posts, so this won't be a problem. If you have an auto, you would need a flywheel, have to remove the spacer for the flex plate, add a pilot bushing, swap in a slave and master cylinder, etc. If you already have a manual, just replace the pilot bearing. Not sure if the early and late model 5 speed and four speed flywheels are all the same size or not. I know turbo cars had a different sized flywheel, but a N/A car receiving a tranny from an N/A car I BELIEVE you can just bolt up any transmission you want without worrying about spline counts on the input shaft or flywheel size, etc.

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong? I just took everything from a 79 280zx and swapped it directly into my 74 datsun (resurfaced flywheel, of course).

 

LOL, are all those parts in your dorm room, or are you renting a place? Man I would have never gotten away with that where I went to school. haha!

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They were all in my apartment in Boston. Right now I just have the differentials and rear suspension sitting in my room haha. Everything else went up to NH.

 

I was able to shift through 4 gears and reverse on one transmission but the other doesn't have anything at all sticking out of it to shift with. So I am unable to "pretend" shift. I'll try to get a better pic next time i'm up there But the one in question is the darker one in the back.

 

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  • 3 months later...

So after many weeks of not getting much done and getting snowed out, I finally have something to show.

Started attacking one of the rear quarters and the front fender.

 

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Finally got the taillights mounted permanently and cleaned things up a little back there

 

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I got the E-brake to work partially but it doesn't disengage unless I crawl under it and smack it with a hammer. partially because it looks like this:

 

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Awesome,  It's always fun to see a thread with lots of great picts.  It looks like you're mostly just bondo'in things to fix your body panels.  I would liek to see what the underbody looks like especially the floorpans out there in NH, you'd be lucky if they're still in decent shape.  Reason I ask is that if they're okay, They undercoating likely is not for the age of the car. Not to mention the Ferris Bueler you pulled with it.  If the floor pans are intact, then you can  just scrub the underbody down, let it dry then get some cans of undercoating and rubber it up. That'll put off the rust a while hopefully.  Next it'd be a good idea to pull off the front grate just below the windshield, and seal up the seams in there. That prevents moisture from seeming down the firewall and soaking your carpets. You can lube your wiper arms at the same time.   

 

An idea for that shop.  You could stack the firewood by the wall and put your car in the "storage" bay. It's awesome you have such a great place to get to work on it.  I only wish I had access to a lift like that.  not to mention tools and sandblasting etc etc etc...

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I went through almost the same thing when I was selling my s12. The wonderful kid who came down to look at it took it for a test drive and left it idling on my (sloped) cul de sac. He came up to the garage, we chatted for a little bit, and walked back down the driveway to find the car missing. It turned out to be around 30 ft in the woods, propped up against a slim tree. Luckily there wasn't a lot of damage, but it should go without saying that he didn't take the car home, nor did I ever see him again.

 

I ended up selling the car to another guy in the area.

 

Based on the Beetle sitting next to the Z, I'm guessing you know how rust works here in NH. Get a gallon jug of por15 every couple years and rust will be a thing of the past.

 

I might be interested in picking up a spare r180, but let me see how the one that's coming with my new shell looks first. Once I crack the rear cover open, I'll have a better decision for you.

 

As far as the transmissions go, it's a little bit complicated. The throwout bearing is the most critical part for swapping; everything else pretty much swaps fine, even between 510's/trucks/z's. I'm pretty sure I have photos with calipers measuring different components somewhere, but these are the transmissions I was comparing for my l28eT swap back in California:

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I'll see what I can dig up for facts from then.

Edited by drummingpariah
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