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Christine's 280z Project


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So here goes my 280z project.

 

I didn't re-post my intro here, but since I got the car delivered, on Feb 24th it's been to hectic to start working on it -- till now.

 

This is my first real project and I'm learning a lot from this and other forums, so bare with me.... My husband and I will be doing anything that we can do ourselves, otherwise it will be done by a pro.

The paint and bodywork will we done by a professional, who just happens to be a friend. We're going to try to tackle everything else. :blink:

 

 

Here's some of the issues that will need to be addressed at some point.

 

The welds on the exhaust are pretty bad

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The holes will need to be fixed where the molding was located

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Something (I don't know what since I have no clue about bodywork, hopefully we'll be experts soon) will have to be done with this

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It's not cement, it was just mud....

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Something was done here, anyone know what?

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I wonder if these were the original sideview mirrors, they are very flimsy, they won't be staying.

The overspray was I'm guessing, based on what the previous owner said, repairs to rust - the spray was some lime green primer.

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Rust

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Passenger side footwell

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Driver side footwell

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ohhh gotta try this!

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Engine

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Looks like all new weatherstripping is needed (all around)

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Carpet needed

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Minor things

Radio

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Shift boot has seen better days

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I'm guessing hood is not too bad

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THE BRAKES

 

The car had already undergone a rear disc conversion (280zx), but something was wrong.

 

Well that was the first thing we decided to take a look at.

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Turns out the placement of the calipers along with the e-brake bracket (probably not the correct term) caused the e-brake bracket to

hit the brake hose and tear it open on both sides of the car. As the suspension traveled upward, the bracket landed

perfectly on the brake hose. That's probably not the ideal situation when installing calipers. So we are going

to flip the calipers to the opposite sides of the car (which I believe based on reading conversion instructions, is the

way it's supposed to be installed). This way the bracket is not pointing upwards towards the brake hose.

 

This is what it looks like - see the brake hose at the top?

IMG_00051-800x600.jpg

 

Ordered some brake hose, but now have to wait till they arrive to finish that up.

While we are waiting we have cleaned up the calipers and are going to paint

them so that they are not rust colored - lol!

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So we got the brake calipers painted, finally got the stainless steel brake hoses, put it all together. We found that because of the way the e-brake bracket is situated on the caliper (from a 280zx), flipping it so that it was facing downward (so that the bracket cleared the brake hose) was problematic in itself. The e-brake cable was taking the route of the least resistance which would be basically sitting on the drive shaft. Gene (my husband) did some fancy routing and hanger placement so that it clears everything and all is good now.

 

After all of that we tried to bleed the brakes/master cylinder. We couldn't get them bled. icon_sad.gif

 

We tried several times but the pedal remained soft. We also heard a gurgling sound coming from under the dash which we think is probably the master brake cylinder. Quite possibly the seals in the master cylinder had already been compromised. I ordered a rebuilt one and it should be here today. We are going to bench bleed it and try it again. Hopefully that will fix the problem.

 

Oh and also learned today that I should remove the Residual Pressure Valve & spring in the master cylinder.

Edited by Christine
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We also found that the oil pan is covered in oil that has leaked out of it for who knows how long. There are missing bolts and the gasket is most likely bad. I ordered a new one. When the brakes are good, that will be the next thing to tackle.

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After all of that we tried to bleed the brakes/master cylinder. We couldn't get them bled. icon_sad.gif

 

I could be wrong, but if I see the picture with the rear brake close, It look to be inverted.

It would mean that the bleader is under the caliper. So impossible to blead the caliper when they are fixed.

It need to temporarily flip the caliper for bleading.

Or invert the caliper right and left... But I don't know if you can to make that.

 

On the 280ZX the calipers are installed behing the spindle.

For the convertion on the 280Z, he need to install the calipers in front of the spindle.

This mean the caliper is upside down if you install the "left caliper" at left.

 

I repeat, I could be wrong...

 

Jack

Edited by Jack_280Z
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  • 5 weeks later...

oh, I haven't updated in a bit, but....

 

We since purchased a reman master cylinder, put it all together and still no brakes. We bought a larger master cylinder (15/16), took off the old one and decided to check the booster. When we took it off we realized that the booster was full of brake fluid! So, I ordered a new one and I'm waiting for it to come in. But.......... I ordered the larger 10" one (2+2). I thought I read that it would be fit fine, but now I'm concerned..can anyone shed any light on this?

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The brakes now work beautifully!!!! We did get new rotors also, put the rears on and when we got to the front, realized that they sent us the wrong ones. All good though, we'll replace them when we get the correct ones and grease the bearing while we're at it. The booster and the master cylinder combo worked out great and it was a breeze to put them in. No problems with the larger master either, just had to move the washer fluid reservoir out of the way to get it in.

 

Now we're on to swapping the intake manifold (to non-egr) and putting in the headers/exhaust. I'll post some pics shortly....

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great progress! cant wait for pics! are you doing anything special with the exhaust?

 

Not really anything special, just getting rid of the extremely rusty one and putting in a nicer one ( I also bought used). for now......

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Glad to see that your brakes work.

 

Pop quiz (sorry I just don't know), does anyone know what this is and if it's necessary to have? I'm swapping the Manifold for a non-egr....

 

That is for the activation of the E.G.R valve to be possible only when the engine reaches its operating temperature. As you remove the E.G.R. valve, you will not need it anymore.

 

Jack!

 

 

_______

Edited by Jack_280Z
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  • 1 month later...

Few things on the list that we haven't done yet but have the parts for:

 

Pallnet Fuel Rail

Xenon Air Dam

Weatherstripping (all around)

 

We were looking at the air dam tonight but I have some questions if anyone can help out - first off here's some pics of some of the parts of the body that need work - don't laugh!

 

The last couple of weeks we've just been cleaning up the engine bay a little, making sure all vacuum lines are connected or plugged, connectors are clean. Swapped out the egr manifold with a non-egr, non webbed intake. Removed stock exhaust manifold, put in headers and a nicer exhaust.

 

Got some nice wrap around spark plug cables so they don't have to go over the valve cover.

 

I had some issues with the turn signals which are now resolved, after a lot of tinkering around and testing, found out it was a connector that wasn't making a good connection, so we're all good there.

Bodywork that’s next on the list:

 

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Blurry pic of engine bay

 

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The carpet was already removed by previous owner, I took out all the other plastics inside (that are not in the pics).

 

 

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Everything was checked here for the turn signals, my combo switch was bad, so the first thing we did was swap it out for another one. Problem was the the other one was from an older model and the connectors were different. My husband just swapped/soldered my combo switch wires to the other one and it works great.

 

 

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Here's where my questions are right now. So we test fitted the Xenon Air Dam and I know in the pics it's sagging a little, it was just supported by a couple of clamps.

 

But I'm awaiting the arrival of a 240z bumper so that should fill in some of that empty space. What about the rest of it though...... looks like a big opening with nothing in it.

 

 

 

 

1. Is that the way it's supposed to look?

 

2. Am I supposed to put the little bottom grill back on?

 

3. Does the lower valance have to stay off with the air dam on? Reason I ask this is because the instructions say to remove it, but it seems like it would be a very good support for the air dam, so that it doesn't twist around when driving at super high speeds (lol). Has anyone left the lower valance on?

 

4. Are there any other "replacement" grills to make it look better, or is it ugly cause I have a stock radiator (lol again).

 

 

Also, just so it's known, I know there's a lot of work to be done before worrying about the air dam, but I want to put it on in the meantime anyway.

 

 

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Edited by Christine
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Pop quiz (sorry I just don't know), does anyone know what this is and if it's necessary to have? I'm swapping the Manifold for a non-egr....

 

IMG_0042.jpg

 

 

The Auxiliary Air Regulator mounts on the two threaded holes of the aluminum piece. It will be a convenient thing to have working in Illinois. The valve with the hose at the end of it is the EGR piece.

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Did you take off the lower valance entirely?

 

mine actually came exactly how your looks, so whatever you have taken off is exactly what was taken off of mine by the previous owner... im sorry i can be a little more helpful...

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