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Redux Z ('76 280zt)


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I started a 280z build in 2004 but I picked up the car a lot sooner than that. In 2002, in need of  car, I bought a '78 280z off of a buddy that came from Vermont (yeah...you probably see where this is going, huh?). The car got under my skin and I suspect I'm in similar company. 

 

After screwing up the engine racing two blondes in a red 73ish corvette I decided a rework was in order. But life had other plans with a deployment to Afghanistan. The car was vandalized while I was deployed...mostly body dings and broken windows. Not deterred by such a thing I decided on return for a full frame-off restoration. The rotisserie and all of the other doodads to make it work were purchased.

 

After stripping the car and getting it up on the rotisserie I began the painful task of stripping the underbody which led to the unfortunate discovery of systemic rust...too much for my appetite. Thanks, Vermont. So, the project got shelved and scrapped.

 

But the Z kept popping up in my thoughts over the years. The brief experience I had with the car finally drove me to pick another one up. So, this happened a week ago:

 

$ 57

$ 57 (13)

$ 57 (10)

$ 57 (7)

$ 57 (14)

 

A rust-free 280z from west Texas. A long road-trip later and she's home. 
 
More to come!!!

 

Edited by quickdraw
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  • 3 weeks later...
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Cleaning the fine West Texas dust off the car was surprisingly difficult. It was like baby powder everywhere. But I'll take it for a rust-free foundation.  

 

I've been focused on acquiring the parts that I lack and working on the items that can be executed while the car is in it's current state. As an exmaple, shaving a few things:

 

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  • 1 month later...

Quickdraw, I'm gonna love this build. One day I hope to do a full rotisserie as well. That sound deadening in the door is the first I've seen of that but I like it. Good Luck and keep up the progress shots.

 

Not sound deadening...thick paper to keep any paints spills off the garage floor. 

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Catching up a bit...

 

Got all of the body cleaned up (surface rust) and sprayed with a rust converter. I had a tough experience with the passenger-side door. It looks as if the door was dropped on a corner and the skin shifted about a quarter of an inch off it's natural fit. This cause door fitment issues which caused fender issue which caused hood...etc. You get the idea. 

 

Washed and ready for body work. A little anxious about the effort but I think it will come together nicely. 

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Edited by quickdraw
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The filler portion was little tougher than expected. Apparently there is a little art to this whole body work thing and I'm no artist. So, rinse and repeat until it's right seems to be the trick.

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Oh, and the cream hardener...make sure you have enough when mixing. It's a lot better to have the filler harden too quickly than to spend a weekend sanding off the gooey under-cured filler. A good lesson. 

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The block sanding is neat in it's on way...but pretty damn tedious. (And I got my air dam in...test fitted it for a quick glance at what she'll look like)

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I think I prefer tinkering with the suspension/engine/etc. Good thing this phase is close to being finished. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I've been waiting on a suspension setup for about two months now. Realizing that the tokico/eibach setup I was going to go with was going to be particularly difficult with the distributor-bankruptcy-then-long-backorder thing on the tokicos...I decided to go with BC Racings new setup thinking they'd get here sooner...and they're coilovers. Pretty excited about it but still waiting. They sent the 240z's last week which are 4mm narrower so now I'm waiting on the correct ones. Bummer...

 

In the meantime back in the kill room I decide to tackle cleaning up the remaining suspension pieces. Pretty nice bang for the buck I think and not a lot of effort to cleanup and repaint. 

 

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I finally received the delayed parts. I ordered the new BC racing Coilovers setup through JPN garage, not the group buy. An original early October delivery date turned into a late November delivery date. Then BC sent the 240z sleeves not the 280z sleeves. Another few weeks delay on getting those from Japan. And then the USPS loses them for two weeks. Grumbling aside, JPN handled it well and the setup is impressive. It's at the suspension shop now getting welded on. I'm also having them press out the spindle pins. I know it's a right of passage...but for $30...I'll let them have that blessing. 

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While I've been waiting on the suspension stuff which has been holding up paint I started working on the interior reconditioning and other little things. I rebuilt the hinges. A surprising amount of gratification there:

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And another car show. The P1 was amazing. The guy also owned a '73 240z with full Arizona Zcar setup and LS1. I think he was a bit surprised I was more interested in the Z:

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...alright..seriously. No words of encouragement or criticism? I've dropped a Celine Dion & Dexter reference, put my pics of my new P1 up (it's actually not mine) and the build is a full ground up resto with RB swap from a guy who's never touched a car. Tough crowd. 

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