Here comes trouble

I bought a 1979 280 ZX for $120.00 with little rust. The car was from California that an "ace" airplane mechanic bought at a storage sale. He brought the ZX to Oregon. I bargained with him for a year on price and got him down to $100.00 but when I arrived from 40 miles away with the tow dolly, he went 20 bucks up on the price. For some reason ???????? after a cylinder head job highly touted by the ace mechanic,the engine would not start. A head job is not painting the valve cover and cylinder head blue. I drug the crippled thing back home thinking an easy fix to get the engine running but my gut feeling was the old phart was full of crap. After a valve adjustment including the sinking feeling that the the timing chain was also:nono: way off the mark, the compression check was done. OUCH !!!The lowest of the low was 35 pounds. 20 feet away set a $100.00 350 SBC out of a Surburban. Further out set an old van with a 700R4 with another 4 bolt main SBC with a bad rear main seal.

Seems the big guy's marriage did not work out. Yes there is justice in this world......................he has no children!

The Arizona Z website has a step by step text and picture instruction in adapting an off the shelf aftermarket cable system to the the Holley 4 barrel back to the gas pedal

Considering myself lucky that in all my eBay deals there was only one seller that was more idiot than fraud. Pay Pal refunded the money. I had an ongoing eMail peeing match with him to gauge his lunacy. A bottomless pit. The sociopath did not know wrong from right and it was too late for him to learn. He seemed happy to be caught but showed no remorse and was making plans for the next sale. I blabber mouthed on Craig's List in his home town. The numerous blabbermouth ads finally got flagged but the message was out.After the first ad, the peeing match was over and the creep went totally silent. Sociopaths are a rare breed but eBay or Pay Pal has yet to devise a plan to stop these creepy predators. They thrive on the honesty of the other 99%.

LOL........... Somewhere in a big " later for posterity" box in my shop is a never used Crown Manufacturing complete turbo kit with instructions less the SU carb.

Dr Hunt..........These days I am still working on my Datsun junk (Tomahawk Cobra and 250 GTO) and increasing my Barlow folding knife and "No Evil" monkey collections besides questioning authority with one more last of the last lawsuits against the Bureau of Prisons. But more than anything I miss those precision instruments and double actions.

Yes a for real mp 44 magazine with three cartridges picked up at a garage sale....seems Saturday I am off probation finally. Possession of a rimfire 22 caliber cartridge would get me five years. My attempts to get the conviction overturned failed at the 9th Circuit. What is really strange, had my case been overturned, I could have never possessed ammunition or a firearm again because I was initially convicted.

hello John : great pictures...................The 22nd of March will be the final milestone of my ordeal.Free at last (?) I ordered stainless steel engine bolts for the SBC that was stripped in the Tomahawk Cobra. Figured it was time to put it back together with all the bling parts. Bought a rust free plain jane 1979 280 ZX for $120.00 and a complete good running 350 SBC for $100.00.

I bena watchin Doc Fill and Opre. dey say these youngins cat red or writ 2 good thez days. Now donut go skeering off the younger fellers by makin fun of dem. Purt soon just be old pharts on here like me.

guvenmint took mine.....................SVT 40 (7.62X54R)Tokerov sniper rifle, M14, (Winchester) 308 caliber (serial # 8) with Choate folding stock, 2 fully dressed SKS 7.62X39 with machined AK mag well plus (7) 75 Round drums, M16 pistol with (5) 120 round drums, 6 preban AR 15 recievers Colt Cobra 357 Magnum,Thunder 5 shotgun pistol, AMT 22 magnum SS pistol, 223 caliber AK 47 rifle top folder with hand and foregrips. M1 30 caliber folding stock jungle carbine with M2 Winchester parts, approximately 40 pounds of M11/9 Cobray parts and flats. This was my extremely rare section of guns of over 60. Also about 5000 high capacity magazines of all denominations including a German MP 44 magazine with three original 30 caliber rounds. If you recognize the last entry, then you realize that Mr K is full of crap about inventing his gun.

Check some of my old posts and I gave an address for coil over sleeves to fit 280 Z struts. The 280 Z size fits Pontiac Fiero conversions

Later model heads may have a block off plate on the mechanical fuel pump mounting boss . When the plate is removed may reveal a cylinder head that was not machined fully to accept the pump arm. I will have to redneck machine the new hole with drill bits and a Makita reciprocating saw. I have a 240 Z mechanical pump but some of my old L20 B 4 cylinder fuel pumps look identical. Also a fellow in Gladstone, Oregon who sells Z parts has a 500CFM Edelbrock on his 280 Z (displayed at the meets) that swears by this carburator which has been in use for years, The Edelbrock 500 CFM on his 280 (used on V6 Jeeps) replaced a 390 CFM Holley

The first time I wedged the timing chain to get out of removing the front cover..............I wound up removing it anyway....................I removed one bunch of heads and front covers over the years due to blown head gaskets from overheating.....and found about 90 % of the timing chains off the marks. The timing and fuel delivery was then adjusted to account for the timing chain error. I always figured the former mechanics wedged the timing chain. Some people claim they can do this and get away with the practice.........I never could even with a commercial wedge

with that battery on the passenger floor board I suspect an electric hybrid. The electricity coupled with that holly 350 and headers, that car could have 300 HP. Looks like a urine stain on the driver's side floor board. He must have opened it full out once or twice.

I used JB Weld as a poverty repair on an aluminum L20 B cylinder head as a temporary fix where the water jackets were ate away from use of only a water coolant by the former Californian owner. The JB crap held a couple years of hard driving but exhaust found it's way into the water passage and blew the radiator apart. Put another radiator in without a radiator cap and drove it another year. The ol pickup never quit running but I left it on the eastern side of the Cascades because it lacked enough power to cross over the mountains again. Use the JB Weld only as a temporary fix or no longer than three years anyway unless you really feel lucky. It is best used in a sandwich like between the cylinder head and the block.

I plan to use the Chev pickup motor mounts as used by JTR bolted to the Datsun mount with "home made triangular three bolt" adapters bolting to the 350 SBC engine block. The engine set back will be governed by the ($15.00) MSA transmission mount I already have. (as long as the hood shuts and the HEI dizzy does not rub against the firewall). I have a ZX turbo radiator for engine and turbo cooler (for tranny ?) in a ZXT ($350.) parts car for cooling. I have a selection of SBC cast headers that might work or a set of block huggers.(used) I have a ZXT exhaust and tail pipe from another ($50.) parts car for a single exhaust into a used Super Trapp muffler ($00.). I am looking for a shifter. The ZX car has a rack steering with no power. I plan to retain the air conditioning and use ZXT parts to upgrade appearance like tailights and black pillar cover...mirrors etc. One ZXT parts cars is fairly intact minus a $150.00 distribitor sale. and the $50.00 ZXT netted about $500.00 profit in parts sales. I have a differential/driveshaft adapter bought a few years back. If I get my hands on the right diameter GM drive shaft, I can shorten it but not balance it.

Huh !

Ignition switch if equipped with one maybe bad. Had an old 720 pickup that ran like crap and the head lights would go dim when I hit the brakes. Hot wired the ignition and by passed the switch and the old beater ran like a new pickup. you can check the alternators on old Datsuns by disconnecting the positive cable from the battery while the engine is running. If the engine dies......98% chance the alternator is shot...................do not try this on newer cars

This may help. I just installed an 2400 cc engine in a 1983 Maxima and the fuel pump would not work. Parts changed to a Z car pump and still no gas. Checked the Maxima Shop Manual and no under dash fuse for the fuel pump. Seems the electric fuel pump is wired into one of three fusible links under the hood. Grabbed some fusible links and replaced all three and gas flowed out ten feet before hitting the ground.

I am north of you in Lane County. I picked up this fairly rust free, plain Jane 1979 ZX for 120.00 with a "rebuilt" head by Morons Inc. that could not set the valves. One cylinder after correct valve adjustment managed to pump up 30 pounds on my compression gauge. About 10 feet away from this abortion cylinder head sets this 350 SBC out of a rust bucket Suburban (engine smells like 4 bolt main and 4 bbl carb to me). I bought the SBC on Craig's List for $100.00. The owner bought the rusty Suburban in Crescent City for the motor and drove it to Lane County with no problem. By the time he got the engine out of the rustasstus bucket to transfer to his pride and joy Suburban, the gas prices were going up without mercy and that finished his love affair with Suburbans. A few years back I picked up a MSA 700R4 tranny mount for a ZX for $15.00 off this website. What I propose to do is document and photo this pastime as the ultimate el cheapo ZX SBC conversion attempted in the history of Hybrid Z. Stay tuned !

One minute run ....huh ! ..........With the price of gas, I can only afford to run an engine 3 minutes and 23 seconds. I need a gas govenor like you have. Hope you have the problem fixed.

You do not live on the equator or at the Arctic or competing in the Indy 500. My belief is that multi-weight oil wears out fast due to the additives. For my money and if a engine is any good, I pour in Chevron Dello 400 30 weight. I just installed a good compression 2400 cc straight six in an old 1983 Maxima. Poured in a gallon of diesel to the old black as hell oil and ran the motor (idle) for awhile and then drained it out...........new filter and 30 wt Dello 400. Had to double check the dip stick because the oil was so clean. I have been doing this routine for 30 years on old beaters with great results. Dello 400 is what all those truckers use.

What are your damages ? What does a lap top cord cost? Can you prove that your wife has permanent injuries. Has the outlet been fixed ? The repairman can say your wife improperly plugged the cord in and damaged the electrical outlet?

Ya, don't mean chilli beans could lead to a flash fire in the cabin by an electrical spark or static electricity ?

Buying an old Z is not like making a marriage proposal or making new friends Offer $400.00 for it. The guy is into cars (VW) and in a "multi"car deal he made, and may have less than $400.00 in it. Make an offer and move on if turned down. Hey we are in a recession and about 85% of the population needs cash to pay the credit card debt and gas to get to work. I bought a 77 Z last year for $450.00 and did not quibble on the price...............no rust and new jet coated headers and a great interior