Hey guys, I have been lurking around here for awhile and gathering information during the very early stages of my build.
In early April, I purchased this late 1977 280z. The cars is a pretty solid car. I have not found any rust holes in it yet. The car was originally from California so it has the "FLOOR TEMP" light (which I think is pretty neat). I purchased the car for $1750. The car came pretty complete and even came with a poly bushing replacement kit that has yet to be installed on the car. The original color is a gold color, but at some point in its life, it was painted the brown that you see in the pictures. I am looking at painting this car Deep Impact Blue in the future. The late 1977 280z has a unique luggage area where the floor goes up at a 45 degree angle towards the back near the tail lights.
Later that week, the engine and 5 speed transmission were pulled and sold the next day for $250.
I parked the 280z next to my bird for a couple of days and was quite surprised on the size difference between the two.
I acquired a 76mm Master Power Turbo 1.0 A/R from a buddy.
A couple of days ago, I purchased a 2003 LQ4 with 120k miles on it. The engine lived most of its life in Detroit so it was in rough shape externally. Surface rust, peeling paint, and aluminum corrosion covered the outside of the engine.
There were 0 metallic flakes in the oil which led me to believe that there are no spun bearing. The spark plugs were not covered in oil or anything either. When looking at the exhaust valves through the exit of the head, the valves look pretty clean also. There isn't sludge build up in the engine either. I am pretty surprised how clean the engine internally is for 120k miles. I eventually plan on removing the heads and getting them cleaned up, getting the valves reseated and everything. I am contemplating on getting them ported and polished while the heads are at the machine shop, but i have plenty of time to decide whether or not to P&P.
I also want to run an LS6 intake with these 317 heads. Today, I have been working on removing old peeling paint and loose rust. I have most of the loose stuff off and a descaler will be used to remove some of the other stuff off and then a wire brush attachment on the end of a grinder. Rust converter will then be used on whatever surface rust is left so i can paint the block.
The rust and peeling paint has been removed from the block and was painted black. Also i just ordered an F-body oil pan, oil pickup, and windage tray. Decided since i don't need my power steering and i can't use the truck Ac bracket, I am just going to use F-body harmonic balancer and water pump for the extra space.
