BLOZ UP

It's on BaT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1977-datsun-280z-122

Still here. All the Apex/T3 parts are in. It drives. Needs the brakes bled and some tidying up, and then like the Z32, it'll be for sale. Sad to see it go, but it's time to move on.

Parts! T3 everything except Apex control arms. Ordered the T3 stuff in May and it only arrived earlier last month. Still waiting on a rear disc brake kit. Installed, with the R200 LSD. It did not come with much in the way of instructions, so I initially had the rear drop mounts in backwards, which interfered with the R200 finned cover. So I trimmed the cover only to find out the drop mounts were backwards. Oof, but oh well, I'll only be reminded of that every time I'm under the car. I still need to swap the flange on the differential and am waiting for new bearings and to remove the stock hub stubs.

Hey man! Always nice to see someone from the forums IRL.

$10k reserve - https://www.ebay.com/itm/284602109150

Heyoooo Moved. Selling the 300ZX. Went to my first Z Con. Broke a half shaft. Still working on fixing it. Have new adjustable control arms and a LSD to put in. Waiting a spindle pin tool.

There's a sleeve at the base with a bolt that tightens the sleeve. Should have a torque arm.

You can rotate the motor around to make it fit tighter if there's room. I found out this the hard way as it torqued itself in front of the brake pedal during an autocross.

Went to the dyno. Still have to parse the results and match it up with my ECU logs. 320hp @ 10psi, 420hp/440tq at 16psi or so. Might have blown a headgasket. Really unsure. Runs fine, no smoke, but at the top end of the 16psi run the coolant reservoir spewed coolant out 6ft up... dyno operator was not amused. Like it was pressurizing the coolant system. Gonna look at the oil and plugs, and in any case get a bigger reservoir because it does this under non-dyno conditions as well as the reservoir is too small. I had just topped it off the other day in prep of this session, so i was expecting some. Ugh. Wish the motor would just die conclusively instead of this wishy-washy maybe it's an easy fix stuff.

Yep, Silvermine motorsports' electric power steering kit. Love it.

Fixed a couple issues. Timing was off, about 8 degrees too advanced. Distributor was off a tooth. Not sure when I last checked the timing... been years. Figured that would solve my high load/RPM cutouts. It solved hard hot starts. The car still likes 25 BTDC at idle for whatever reason. That's a relief. Replaced the pre-injector filter. The old one was clogged. Guess it is about 7 years old. Oops. Car runs rich AF now. In boost it's 10.5:1. So, went to a autocross and increased boost, of course. It's, uh, fast when it hooks.

Went to another autocross at NOLA. Nice place. Dedicated autox pad. Will go again this weekend I think.

Went to an autocross. Put back in the stock seat (for the 11th time), because the other ones I have just aren't working out for various reasons. Otherwise, - New brake proportioning valve. Bled brakes like crazy but there's still a lot of slack/dead travel before they kick in. The 1" master takes quite some effort, even with the booster to lock them up. Will need to double-check the pushrod. - Electric power steering! It's amazing! - Horn clock ring connection thing started shorting out and honking the horn at certain steering angles (sigh...) - Fuel pressure dropping under boost (it's a Bosch 044, shouldn't do that)

After installing the steering wheel it works great (in my garage, anyway haven't been able to drive it due to brake issues). I still have the tach and ign wires both connected to an ignition source. I'm guessing it needed the steering wheel to correctly sense torque, as you'll generate much smoother/consistent torque with the wheel over trying to crank the hub like I was. There's an autox this weekend that I think the car is ready for so ill report back.

I wired it up temporarily to test. Not sure why there's both an IGN and "Engine RPM" (tach) hookup. I tried without the tach wire, and it seemed to cut in-and-out of assist. Put both to a spare IGN wire and it works much better. Did seem a bit finicky rotating the hub with my hand, but I'll have to put a real steering wheel on it to be sure.

Clearance on the 280Z seems worse, like it's clocked differently. I tried sitting in it and hitting the clutch though and in my brief test it wasn't an issue. Just have to wire it up now. I don't have the GPS sensor, but I do have a Speedhut GPS tach. It currently has an analog 0-5v speed output I had Speedhut modify for me, that I'm not using. I wonder if they can modify it to be a digital/tick or whatever the EPS needs. In any case wiring looks simple, but I'm going to clean up some crap from my EMS I left in here for the past 10 years while-I'm-at-it.

Great info guys thanks. I'm getting in contact with a upholstery shop that might be able to add some holes, as well as put on some real leather while they are at it. Also I am looking to get the Kameari headrest as well, and a shoulder strap holder.

I bought the kit and will be installing it shortly along with a new brake MC. I have a VG30 and plenty of clearance (I think), so should be "easy".

I had a Torino II in this car previously, but it was a tad too large width wise and was destroying my door panel. It also was ugly. With that seat I ran a 4 point, with the shoulder straps going to the stock shoulder strap location. I'll have to see if I can disassemble the belt to pass the shoulder strap through the left-hand part of the seat, so that it's not reduced to a lap-belt. I'm no automotive engineer but thought the whole point of all seat belts, 1-5 point, are to hold you in a fixed position (with some allowable stretch of the fabric). Manufacturers just compromised safety for convenience by staying at the 3 point. If we're counting on a 3-point belt to help save me when the car rolls over I think there are other issues that need addressing rather than the belt. In any case I'd rather not have to deal with a non-OE belt system. I also don't want is a roll cage, because that basically guarantees a severe head injury unless I have a 4/5 point harness on, tight, with a helmet on.

So I got this knock-off of a reproduction Kameari seat. The stock seat belts feel totally inadequate as they hang across the bolsters of the seat, inches in front of my waist. I'm aware that the only DOT approved solution is the stock seat with the stock belt. I wanted something that works for autocross so I'm not driving from the passenger side every time I turn left. I rarely drive on the street (mainly just to car meets). Being a California car very few more modern seats fit without modifying the cat hump. So, what are my options here? It looks like I'm going to need a 4/5 point with a harness bar (and headrest) behind me, and to slot the bottom/sides of the seat?

Got a repro Datsun Competition Seat off eBay for $500. Judging from photos of other repros, the vent holes on the back are a, uh, factory error. Perhaps why this one was so cheap. Luckily no one will really see it. Love it. I fit snug in it, but not too much so. My stock seat was really worn out so it feels much more comfortable. And the fake leather is not bad. I was going to get it redone in real leather but might push that back unless I need belt holes. It's resting on stock 280Z rails. Seat of it at about the same height as the stock seat, so not sure it will help the limited helmet room. I'm also going to have to fabricate an adapter for the stock rails to get them on the narrower seat base (roughly 13" rail spacing on the stock seat vs 10" on this). But, no door rubbing or hard-to-reach seat belts. Speaking of seat belts the stock one seems super unsafe in this. Not sure what I'll do about that. And I need a head rest. Don't feel like breaking my neck if someone rear ends me at anything over 5 mph. From other threads about this seat I can get a legit Kameari one.

Got one off eBay for $500. Judging from photos of other repros, the vent holes on the back are a, uh, factory error. Perhaps why this one was so cheap. Luckily no one will really see it. Love it. I fit snug in it, but not too much so. My stock seat was really worn out so it feels much more comfortable. And the fake leather is not bad. I was going to get it redone in real leather but might push that back unless I need belt holes. It's resting on stock 280Z rails. Seat of it at about the same height as the stock seat, so not sure it will help the limited helmet room. I'm also going to have to fabricate an adapter for the stock rails to get them on the narrower seat base (roughly 13" rail spacing on the stock seat vs 10" on this). But, no door rubbing or hard-to-reach seat belts. Speaking of seat belts the stock one seems super unsafe in this. Not sure what I'll do about that. And I need a head rest. Don't feel like breaking my neck if someone rear ends me at anything over 5 mph. From other threads about this seat I can get a legit Kameari one.

Clean up some vacuum lines and tweaked the throttle stops. It no longer wants to die at idle (had some vacuum lines temporarily connected that were just bypassing the throttle plates). Got the stock boost gauge working. Drives much better though although it idles even higher now (I believe the throttle stops are too open). Had to order some vacuum caps to finish off the vacuum lines then it's time to cleanup some wiring and get the A/C working.

Yeah. I'm waiting for the eBay ones again. No way I'm paying $1500 for fake leather replicas when I can get $300 fake leather replicas and have them redone for much cheaper. I've also see seats here: Sebring Car Seats - Sebring Seats But they haven't responded to my email.

Got some Z31TT adapters and beefed up axles, as well as a Ron Tyler diff mount. That's it. Have a truck and trailer now so once my savings recovers I'll be looking for an LS2/3 and TR6060 I think.