datsunlover

I would think you could get something similar from McMaster Carr.. They have all kind of foam/rubber/plastic kinds of stuff with stick on or glue backings.. My boss orders a fair bit of that kind of stuff, so I know there are differing thickness and 'hardness' availible. Maybe you could get something from Nissan, but I'm sure it'd be expencive..

If I had posted pics of MY 280 when I got it, most on here would have told me to strip it for parts and scrap it. (IE; find another one with less rust, holes, ect) Really, it was pretty bad.. but for what I had to spend ($800 at the time, and some of that was borrowed from a friend) it was all I could get. I'm in Ontario and it's the same, if not worse ,senario here; ANYTHING 10 years or older (sometimes not even that old) has rust. 20 years old, there's ussualy a bit of car left on the rust. Older than that? Well, it's amazing that it's still moving under its own power and is drivable! In the long run, I could have had a nicer Z by saving the $$$ I spent and just buying one with fewer... issues. But I wouldn't have learned as much, got the expiriance, and probly STILL wouldn't have a Z to drive.. I worked it out and I had about $3000 total into 280Z by the time it was 'roadworthy' last summer. I doubt I could have bought the car I have now for that kinda $..

Welcom to the forums, and the wonderfull (and sometimes painfull) ownership of old datsuns! I'll get to be the first to say it this time.. Use the search function, you'll find a few topics around that should get you started. Personaly, I'd use a 280 for a V8 swap as it is a little stronger to begin with, and there are more of them around; meanimg more availible parts, and generaly cheaper prices. Cons would be big ugly bumpers, they're heavier, and smog might be an issue depending where you live.. Good luck and have fun man!

Yah but dont some 'LSD' diffs still spin one wheel the other way doing this test? I had an 85 200sx with lsd, and if I jacked up the rear end and spun a tire, the oposite tire would go the other way. BUT; I did some ah... testing in parking lots and dirt roads and found that one wheel would spin for a moment and THEN the other would kick in. IE; One burn out mark would start, and about 2 feet away the other would spin... Two black marks, but one was always longer. It was interasting when making sharp turns at intersections as it would act like an 'open' diff (spinning the rear out, typical throttle overstear) and suddenly 'kick' and go straight. In winter or heavy rain, it would actually push the front tires (understear) sometimes..

Yes gray, you hit the nail on the head. Judging from the pics the guy emailed me, the front frame and fenders are shot, rockers and doors not so good looking, rear fenders bubling (I sence bondo..) and he TOLD me that the 'undercariage is pretty rusted. Was his daily driver till the floor got so bad his feet would get wet when driving in the rain. Dont get me wrong, I like the zx.. had one for my first car! Anyway, I've always wanted to chop up a 280zx and make a roadster anyway.. That was part of my reasoning for this as well.. Use the drivetrain for my 75 to get mobile for the summer, and if it's at all save-able, use the zx for convertable project.. Maybe I would still get the guy to build the engine (I mean, hes got it allready) , just to have something to use in the zx.. I dono..

Heh.. Well, I should elaborate a bit.. I wouldn't totaly screw him, I'd probly just get him to build the head (forget the whole engine thing) and whenever that was done, pay for it and slap it on. I'm thinking to that the zx will have the flat top pistons, and stronger block so it'd be a better chioce to 'build' off of in the future. I did my 'good deed' today as it is, and loaded a LOT of stuff into my truck (93 Nissan 4x4) AND helped unload it and another truck at his new place. Just in my truck, I'm talking 10 V8 blocks, cranks, heads, misc. boxes/buckets of hardware, valves, ect. I'm guessing I had at least 2500 pounds on.. my u-joints and leaf springs are already 'hurt' so it was a slow and shakey ride. I'm not planing on doing anything right away.. I'll give him till next week and see what happens.. I'm just thinking about the way things have been going, (the way his ex is behaving basicaly..) I could be into the end of another month and STILL not have a drivetrain in my car. The weather is warming, snow is melting, and DAMIT I just want to drive my car!

Ok.. My engine builder came up today, we (and others) loaded up pickup trucks and moved to his 'new' shop. His ex is STILL being a stupid c*&t and not letting him remove his equipent/tools, but all the customers stuff was allowed out. My enigne/parts are out, he has the rest of the ordered parts, and sais he might have it together for next weekend. (He's assuming he can get the court order signed by a judge that will allow him to get HIS tools/ect) Not that I'm holding my breath... Here is my dilema; I have a line on a rusty but mint running 280zx for $1000. I have the cash availible because.. well, that's what I was going to use to pay for the engine rebuild/work. I figure I could go get this car, and take the drivetrain out in a few days. (might get some good spares/extras to; dizzy, rad, rear disks, ect) Another couple days work, it could be in my 280 and ready to roll.. Basicaly, I'd be screwing my engine builder a bit, as I wouldn't have the cash to pay HIM for another month or two.. So.. what would you guys do?

Heh.. saw that a while ago. Looks good on that moron. I tell ya though.. if I was on a bike with my girlfriend on the back, and some idiot stick pulled that in front of me, I'd be draging him out of the car and giving him a severe beating.

You know what? I'm an idiot... don't know why I didnt think of that...

I'm not sure how simmilar it is on a 240, but my 75 280 comes out the bottom.. I had to remove the inside plastic panel (interior) to gain access to the 'underside' of the filler neck. IIRC, there was a big hose clamp holdng the tube/hose to the metal spout that's screwed to the fender. Similar to what holds the hose to the gas tank. It's a huge pain to get out as you have to push it off the tank, twist it, and then pull it through the floor. Mine was so rotten, I ended up pulling out a piece of the floor with it..

Ok.. I did some modification to the front hubs, installed longer studs and spacers, AND bought $100 worth of special lug nuts to fit my 'new' rims (aftermarket 16x7's, used) but it works. So I figured the rear would be simmilar.. I've run into a little problem here; There isn't enough room behind the rear hubs to get longer studs in!!! As it is, I had to remove the shoes and wheel cylinders for clearance just to get the old ones out.. I really don't want to try pulling the hub just to change studs.. Any ideas?

Oh I forgot to mention something in my first responce; Last summer while cruising through town, I saw a couple 'rice rockets' in a parking lot as I passed by. They stared in awe as I screamed by in the old Z. Then, they jumped in their cars and followed me! Hmm.. By the time thay caught up to me, I was sitting at a red light. The first guy rolled by slow, with a big smile and gave me 'the nod'.. The second guy (driving what was actually a NICELY put together mid 90s Nissan 200sx, with the obligatory 10000 watt stereo blaring) pulls up next to me and turns his music DOWN! He says; "That's frickin AWESOM man!! I got over $10000 in this thing, but it's no datsun Z car!" Now...If I had been driving a sentra, I doubt I would have got anything close to that kind of attention...

Cool.. Guess I'll get to work then! I looked at the 1/2" stuts, but they were really tight in the wheel bolt holes, and I was woried about them 'picking up' and possibly causing fitment issues when installing them. The guy I bought the rims from also got them used, (they were on a honda civic) but they fit his acura integra no prob, so he didn't think nothing of it.. the bolt hole circle that I'm using has never been touched on these rims.

Well off the top of my head... -Loose the front bumbers (more of a difference with the 260/280s) -fiberglass fenders and headlight buckets -remove any A/C and emisions garbage/wiring/hoses -remove mechanical fan, run electric -remove power steering (if its there) -relocate battery to the rear cargo area -set engine/tranny back slightly (would probly need shortened driveshaft) -exhast header (GOTA be lighter than that cast thing..) Thats all I can come up with for now...

I'm gona agree with those guys too man.. Keep the Z. I've driven a sentra SER ..it was quick, and just being so much newer (than my Z) it felt very 'tight' and solid. Thing is.. it's no Z, and even if it is a rare model, its still.. well, a Sentra. PLUS, insurance costs are gona be a little silly because of the 'special build' and rarity. Like has been said, to the average joe, it's just a Sentra with nice rims and a loud(er) exhast. Drive by the average joe in a Z though... I get ideas like this sometimes too.. A few months ago I saw an 86 Porsche 944 in MINT shape, 110 miles on it and the guy wanted $4500. I started doing the math, and figure I could get at least $3K for my Z, and use my credit card cash advance (for the rest) to get the Porsche.. Then I thought... thats retarded! If I take that $1500 and put it into the car I ALREADY HAVE, I'll have a really nice Z this summer.. Plus I know the existing issues with my car, I know what insurance costs, AND I know how to work on it myself as I have the expiriance with it now (2.5 years of blood sweat and tears). It's your call but I'd stick with the Z.

I think the ferrari would be do-able.. more so that the other two cars that have been posted, as the proportions seam to fit the ZX.. LOTS of work is gona bee needed for the roofline/windshield areas though..

Well I KNEW something would go wrong.. Turns out the rotors they orderd in for me were for the REAR, hence the cheepness. It got even more interesting then, as there are TWO front rotors listed for 84, identical except for diameter. One is about 1" bigger.. It was the cheaper one though ($67.29) and I figure if I have to turn it down some so be it..

Ok.. a bit of an update on this.. I got some 52mm M12X1.5 studs, and they do just fine. Well, after I reamed the holes slightly and counter-bored the back side of the hub about .050" deaper they were fine.. Also, I ah.. heh heh... mis-calculated. Turns out I'll need a spacer about .900" thick. I was going to use steel, but my boss seams to think aluminum will do the trick.. THIS has got me a bit woried. So far I'm gona have about $80 invested for material to build the spacers, another $100 for stinking lug nuts (needed special slim ones to fit these rims with 'spline drive' and special tool ) on top of the $200 for the rims. If I loose one on the highway, it's gona be messy and expencive..

I think that could be arranged... Assuming the 76 is the same. (I would think so, but I'm not 100% on that..)

I know, I'm being a post whore.. Anyway, I ran across a great deal on a set of rims. 16X7 5 spokes (painted white matching my car) with rubber in ok shape for $200. Has 2 bolt paterns, so stud fitment is fine. Apon test fiting, I ran into a few issues however... The rear will need a 1/4 spacer to clear the strut tube. No problem, I have a couple spacers lying around. I checked, and it'll work fine. Moving to the front.. ugh.. From what I can figure out, I'll nend a spacer (between hub and wheel) that is about 5/8" thick. Also, I'll need longer studs, as the stock ones would only allow about 2 threads. AND I can only get M12X1.5 nuts (Checked at UAP, stock is M12X1.25, no nuts availible though... ?) ok... no problem.. I'll build a spacer, buy new studs and nuts, and the wheels will bolt on. I'd hate to waste time and $$ though if this is going to be incredibly unsafe in the end.. Any thoughts?

Well thanks guys, I managed to find some. $25.97 each from UAP, they'll be in tomorrow. Hey ZR8ED, did you find the spacer specs for 1975 280? Hopefully I can make them up this weekend, but I may have to order some material. (our shop doesn't keep a lot of round steel stock; we order stuff as we need it ussualy)

Yah the only reason I went to crappy tire is that it was sunday, and nothing else was open. I was just getting pricing anyway, I ussually shop around for parts... evry once in a while they have better prices, but I prefer to buy elsewhere. I've had some.. ah.. problems in the past with CT. I'm gona check out Car Quest today, and maybe UAP. (I'm not too keen on the UAP up here, a lot of stuf I've tried to get is 'unavailible' or 'discontinued' for some reason..) Thanks guys.

I decided I'll gather the parts I need for the 4x4/300zx swap so after the engine is in, I'm ready to go. Again, I am amazed.. I go to canadian tire today and find out that the 84 300zx rotor is NOT availible from them! They can get the pads, and the bearings, but no rotor. I hate the thought of going dealer for this stuff.. The other place in town I ussualy go to for parts is closed today, so I have to check tomorrow.. Just curious though about anyone who's done the 4x4 brake conversion here in Canada: where did you get your rotors from?!? I got to thinking maybe this is an 'omen' and I should just convert to 300zx 5 lug's (as those rotors are still availible) at the same time I'm upgrading the brakes...

I've seen a 240 with a custom back seat in it... Not very big, but depending on the size of the kid and or dog, it could work.. The one I saw was a little 'hack' but with some effort could have been really cool. Looked like the little 'pockets' behind the seat had been taken out, a custom frame built (looked to be wood.. ) and then upolstred with some kind of faux leather(not well done.. this is what I mean by hack). Kind of resembled a pickup truck bench seat, just smaller. The guy had done it for the same reason; He had his 6 year old daughter in his care 3-4 days a week, the Z was his only car. He called it his 'mini rumble seat'...

I guess we should say something about Tim then? I mean. I WAS on TV and all.. that makes hims sort of famous right?