datsunlover

That's looking cool dude.. gona need some SERIOUS 'glasing and sanding, but it'll look awsome when it's done! Keep up the good work man!

I have two good ones.. (well, one big ticket I got out of, and another I should have gon to jail) 1; My good ol' 85 200sx, bone stock, but I'm late for work this particular morning.. (about 5 years ago now..) and seeing as I'm the only car on this stretch of road, I put it down.. Around the bend ahead, a cruiser apears.. I look down and see that I am over 130K (85 mph?) in a 60 zone (35 mph I think..) so I just pull over and wait. Cop pulls over, turns around, and pulls up behind me. He says 'Do you know that at double the limit, I can take your licence right now? And you'll have to go and explain to a JUDGE why you shoould have one?!?' I hand him my DL and ins papers... Figured I was toast.. but he comes back with a ticket for 90 in a 60 ($182, 3 points I think..) which SUCKED.. but I got to keep my licence! 2; This one is my favorite.. same car, and Im RACING my friend in his 89 Chev P/U step side, 305 (built a little) 5 gear. He's gust playing, caus he can easily out pace me. But after a few minits of this, we are BOTH now riping through town (60kph zone) and stupid speeds.. As he comes from behind me changing lanes (this is a 4 lane road) he accelerates past me on the right like I'm standing still. Im goin 100kph!! Thats when I saw the cop doing radar.. crap.. Stupid thing is, we hit a red light So My friend FINALY sees the cop coming after us, and when it goes green, he books it. I start to take off slow, and the flashing lights come on behind me. I pull over instantly, but slowly.. and the cop pulls in behind. My pal in the truck is GONE by now.. So the cop askes me "Who was that in the truck? You racing? You know what the conseqences are for that?!?" I tell him "I don't know.. that guy just got behind me and was driving agressivly, and then passed me.. I was speeding a bit to try to put distance between us, but that guy just kept comming.. I dono sir.. " Cop says "Oh.. well, I have to give you something, cause you were speeding.. I got that truck at 124k on radar, and although you werent anywhere near that, you just told me you were speeding... " So the cop checks my licence, gives me a ticket for 10 over (no points, $40 or so..) and asks me "did you get the licence number off that truck? Or catch what make it is" I said "no.. I'm not much on cars.. might have been a ford..( ) and I didnt see the plate.. sorry sir.." Not that racing in the streets is acceptable now.. I got lucky thats all!

Hey!! Copy cat!!! what are you planing on using for headers on that 351? (Im trying to figure out what I'd use if I do this..)

Not on yet, (will be instaling this winter) but fwiw; Toyota calipers, 300zx rotors+spacer up front, 280zx M/C, and stock (for now) drums in the rear.

Ah yes.. wheel spin in 3rd gear.. cool stuf man.. hope I can go for a ride in that monster before the snow flies! I might be talking to you about turbo engines and such sometime soon.. I keep thinking about my Z and how it's not fast enough yet..

Really strange that I see this post today, after watching "the day after tomorrow" last night... Yes yes, it's a movie.. but it made me think about this issue a little... I agree that the human race may be hurting the environment slightly.. but really, how long has 'mankind' been around and been able to have this kind of effect on the planet? I mean, the guess is in the millions of years for the age of the earth correct? Makes me think we're just along for the ride, and at this point, I can't see the last 100 or so years of "Man messing with things" destroying a planet that has been around for millions of years! JMO.. which is probly worth less than Jmorts..

If that car was a canadian car, it would be "OK" in my opinion.. but it looks like it needs serious help as far as the body goes.. and not running/driving with interior issues too?!? Granted, it is salvagable (mine was worse..) but you are looking at a LOT of work.. It looks like it had a really quick body job about 10 years ago, so you have to get through all that first... then replace metal that's dissapeared, THEN put an engine in/together AND fix up the interior.. If you can get it for around $200, I'd do it.. otherwise, tell the seller "it's not worth a milloin bucks. I'll keep shoping thanks."

I think the 260's can have one of two M/C's.. IIRC, early ones have a small one, and near the end of production on the 260 they changed them to the same M/C the 280 uses.. I could be wrong.. have you tried swaping the brake lines fron to back on the master?

Man that sucks AZZ!! I hope you find the bastards... A friend of mine had his 78 harley sportster ripped a few weeks back.. theft sucks. I despise thieves..

Did you just call me 'Old'?!??!?

I'm gona say it 'sounds' like about a $500 car.. I mean, it doesnt run.. has rust.. and it's a 280.. not as desirable as the 240 or 260s, big ugly bumpers, ect. I got my 280 for $800.. but it ran and drove home (2 hours from me!) without a problem. Being straight and complete are worth something, no mater what make it is when you're dealing with a 30 year old car.. but as for Z's, there are ussually better ones out there.. I dono.. I'd like to see the pic though.. worth a thousand words right?

Welcome to the forum man! Id say it's worth a few hours looking into anyway.. find out just how rusted the thing is, check the ussual spots that Z's like to 'go back to nature' and if the car's fairly solid, I'd go for it. The L28 shoud be FI, and if you get the harnes/sensors/ecu it wouldn't be that dificult to make work. Heck.. even if it doesnt have the wiring/ect, you could make 240 SU's work on it easily.. I built my 280 for about $3500 CAN and it was BAD.. I redid most of the rear frame/floor, put in sub-frame, rebuild the whole rear quarters, outer body panels, door bottoms, rad sadle, converted to SU's and 280zx dizzy, molded on a whale tail/front air dam, complete body job and paint, newer seats/carpet, and a year of my life in time. If they're working, there should be some pics of my car in my photo album here. I think you could do it for a lot less than me though, if this 260 is solid, and complete to start with. Good luck man!

I'd say put the shims in.. it sounds like the pads are 'floating' a bit in the caliper and bouncing around up, down, and side to side. When you step on the brake, it pushes the pads to the rotor, therfore taking away any 'space' for the pads to move in. I had an 85 200sx that did that forever and it didn't hurt anything, but was very annoing. Come to think of it, my 75 280 does that to (stock brakes) and I just ignore it now.. Im going to the toy 4x4's this winter anyway

Hehe.. yah man, the awd turbos are STUPID quick little cars! I almost bought one last winter to build an ice racer.. funding got cut short though.. Good score Zero.. A friend of mine had one of those for about 2 years; beat the crap out of it the whole time, and it just would not die.. Sold it for $800 (originally bought it for $600!) when he bought his new car last year. (Ford focus. yech.. got a deal, caus he works fr a dealership) The guy he sold it to is still driving it around town..

Heh heh.. it gets better now.. I got a set of BRAND new Cooper winter tires on rims for an extra $150.. and I think I already have them sold for $400 tomorrow!! This just gets better and better...

A few folks here will recall that I bought an 89 pathfinder for a winter beater, about a month ago. Well, after fighting with it, and dumping money on it for two weeks, it was done. I was into it $1200. So I was waiting to sell my 2wd truck, and switch over insurance/ect. Put an add out just out of curiosity for the pathy at $3200. Heh heh... I just sold it yesterday for $3000!!!! Yah... $1800 profit for sitting on it for 2 weeks! So now, Im gona buy a 93 (same year as my pickup I have now) 4X4 truck for $1700, put a windshield in, fix the passenger door (the p/o ripped the panel off to open it one day ) and I'll have a 4X4 truck, and a bit of cash left. I'll probly sell the 2wd truck today (3 seperat ppl coming to look at it this afternoon.. Im sur I'll have ONE bite!) So... I'll be set for the winter, AND have some cash to pay off credit cards, debts, and play with the Z.. hee hee.. the z's getting a V8 Wooohooo!!!!

Welcome to Hybridz man! First off, I'd go for a decent 240z (the less rust the better of course! ) as they are pretty light compared to a 280z. And a decently tuned 'stock' 240 motor (as in one that has the carbs tuned nice, opened up exhast and maybe runing a 280zx dizzy, advanced a bit) is gona be plenty for now when you consider the following; By this point in the cars life, brakes and suspension are probly going to be very worn and needing attention, as well as anything rubber (bushings, mounts, ect). I'd dump a bit of cash into those areas first, then worry about the body, THEN build a big bad L28et for it. This way, you can 'learn' the car and get it ready as you drive it... then BAM! drop in the turbo motor and the car will be ready to handle it. Sound like you're on the right track man. Keep reading, and good luck with the project!

Hey man, welcom to the board, and the Z land! About your 'pulling' issue.. might sound silly, but are the air pressures the same in both front tires? Seams to be a thing with old Z's that they pull if the presures are off too much.. You might want to check all the bushings in the front end.. could be old and cracked rubber causing the suspension to sag or be loose, which in turn may make the car pull. As for the compression.. what were the numbers? ie; how much diffrence is there between them? imo, 5-10 psi difrence is tolerable across the board.. but more than that can be a bad thing.. I'd go with the 300zx turbo engine myself.. if I wasn't going V8 I have the 3.0L in my truck (not turbo) and it moves really good, considering it's a 4000 pound truck! I've seen a few in 1st gen Z's.. can't see why it woulnt work in a zx. Good luck man!

Yah, the thing I'm finding is that the 351w is gona be a somewhat 'rare' swap into a Z.. most people opt for the 5.0 motor. And I'm gona run with manifolds for now if I can get clearance for them.. but my ford friend says I'd probly be able to use Mack shorties (unequal length, ment for stangs) ALSO; I really like the way my Z looks now, and don't want to make drastic changes.. ie; I don't wana put a big cowl/scoop on my hood.. Im gona try my darnest to do it.. I really want this to LOOK like the same car next year..

Just a thought.. is there a way to check ecu codes in the 280zx? I still say it's got to be the dizzy box, or the wires going to it..

Hey man, just wanted to let you know I DID get your e-mail, and sent you something back.. but I just got a notice that it was 'delayed' so I don't know if you got it yet.. PM me if not.. my e-mail is a piece of shiznat sometimes...

Same here! I thought it was just because I did a really bad bondo job on the fenders.. but it's that same left to right... I fell a bit better now..

Man... thats scarry how much it reminds me of my 280 last year! I riped off all the bondo back there and went "AAAHHGGG!!!! Where did the car go!!??" I didn't go as far as you have (rear floor, whole quarter from donor car) but wow.. I feel your pain! I just fab'd sheet metal for all the 'hidden' areas and sealed/painted them. The quarters and roll pan.. well... I fab'd them too, but then I wiped out the f.glass and bondo.. amazing stuf... Looking good man.. don't loose hope!

Well, I did some searching and discovered what you just said about the mustache bar, ect last night.. And due to other issues (life related, not Z) I'm probly not going to grab that 240. I'd love to, even just for the parts.. but 'things' are not so good right now with the girlfriend, and living arangements may have to be re-aranged sometime very soon.. I also havn't had any luck selling my pickup.. so I think I'll just stick with the original plan and build my 280. At least I 'know what I've got' right now, and like my car too much to sell it next year. (Think about it; I build a 351w powered 240.. why woud I drive the stock 280 anymore?!? It would sit and rot.. ) I'm already disliking the idea of a C4, and may try to sell it, along with the ratchet shifter.. maybe trade for a T5.. somethng from a stang would probly work right? (custom bell housing? Would it handle the power? I'll search a bit...) I hadn't thought about the tank either.. mine is mint, AND has new fuel/return lines all the way up! Thanks for the info guys.. keep it coming!

The fuel pump on the 280z is outside the tank, in the passenger side rear (in front of tank) wheel well area. There's a bracket that holds/protects it, but it's pretty easy to see if it's there. If not, yah Id say an aftermarket pump is your best bet. As for going back to FI, bolting on an FI intake maifold is about all you'll have to do.. aside from adding the ecu/harness and sensors. (is the harness still in the car?) I went to SU's on my 75, and have most of the FI stuff still kicking around. PM me if you need/want something.