A to Z

04-24-2024 UPDATE: Ok, so I went out to tighten up the valves, get rid of the looseness and get things "right" in the engine. Mission accomplished! The crows foot wrenches I bought do not work with the torque wrench, there isn't enough room, so I decided to tighten them by the Armstrong, "oougha dooga" method. Engine started up and runs great, purrs like a kitten! I then decided to Leak Test my gas tank, 99% good, the seam on the tank stated leaking...I got some JB Weld Steel-Stick and put it on the seam to stop the leak. I may have to put just a bit more on there, but the majority of the leak is gone. Thank goodness! I added some roll bar foam to the rollbar where my head rests, and I also have the crucifix I bought on my deployment to Afghanistan back in 2009 hanging from the rear view mirror now also. I also got it out and drove it just a little bit, it's so nice to have it running better and better every day. The rear drums are working well, but the e brake has to be pulled up high to work, so it's either adjust the handle form underneath, or replace the cable as it is stretched. 2 Videos are avaialble to watch if you desire. Click on "facebook" below for each video. Cheers! To watch videos, click on Facbook below for each video. (7) Facebook (7) Facebook

04-16-2024 UPDATE: Took the day and started with getting the Water Temp gauge working.......great feeling, had to dig back though the wiring to find the right wire and test it....really glad it's fixed.....I am noticing since I fixed my gas tank, that it is reading full when I poured 1/2 tank back in it.....and when I turn it off, the gauge doesn't fall completely back to E. I hope it will striaghten itself out once I get it out driving it around and fill it up for another leak test. I repalced the in tank sensor and it was worrking great....hmmmm. I ordered a repalcement clock from Ron at ZClocks. Upgraded to the Quartz and I am having him remove the green light filter, as I am using white LED bulbs. I also received the tires for my new 17" rims that are coming. I went with the Riken Raptor tires 225/245 45ZR17 size. They were on sale at Tire Rack, and they are a ZR rated all season.....I only drive on nice sunny days, but they will work. Less than $100/tire! Free shipping too! I jumped on my rear drum brakes, adjusted them to where the tire spins 1/2 turn or a bit less.....so they're right on, and so far, parking brake looks to be good as well. STRONG pedal feel. I rebuilt them completely a while back, but never did the adjustment...no wonder they didn't work! Torqued the wheels back on and then I noticed all of a sudden a really loud clacking sound while idling. Turns out 2 valves worked loose! All better now. Added some of my Walmart oil.....this is really good oil! Also finally got my Rising Sun stickers, put them right where I want them. Here are some pics. To view Video, click on "Facebook" below and scroll to the end of the pictures. (4) Facebook V1.MOV

04-13-2024 UPDATE: So ordered the parts I needed to redo the hoses on the gas tank as well as a new filler neck, and decided to just get it over with and do it today. Very straight forward, but yes it is messy, and when I was letting the fuel drain, I walked away for a bit and came back to my 5 gal bucket overflowing! I blocked off the small port above the lines that feed and return from the carbs, and the driver's side port with copper plumbing caps....3/8 and 1/4. They did NOT fit right on, I had to use the dremel and open them up and then hammer them on. I then used the JB Weld to totally encapsulate them so I will NEVER have to do this again! I removed the carbon canister EPA "bag" and then removed all the hoses attached to it. I referred myself to the Z car Page that explained how to do that and used that as a guide (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fzhome.com%2FRacing%2FFuelTankVaporLineMod%2FFuelTankVaporMod.htm%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1CRB-K9MEA7BV-iDKRUhF4DIav92s3URvoLfdtm9JEXMoIZa1B12t_VUQ_aem_AYERpFuuWLmDxBWQcg6kDWB5XCyqV31fHhOPXT6lckUUhZyFHzoDsib2tLU11S3eWpEyR8tA5bH2sI_tP6vtGH7N&h=AT1WDx-JsAgk_WyvqIG7dCggOKAEPMcOvU_rP9QO-rEmKJK2ttY50DvJ6-PCI_GWdrjapjaidJhw8LLWxfHl0wpTPLTBeSv8v9P16mBjFCk_W4FHKLVVYJ9ZWtcunQHfdAsA&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT3tY1wiGHPTWcClhUVohf1JdT9khcNxdIdrsxpRoIL3t22WbWZubTvra0juI7yEygG6OuLpD2kD9_E58MH_ZoetYU0UwBJvIya4nNlS8FwJWwdzxBT8iXdGx4suCF0u1kPcBtxCaurzIpo_D2feerY8kllMHgmoV9WhYbKD6GQMLnrAhny1OPM_UQ24ffyXHQZUxL-GAzQkhUn1euANohA ). I got everything hooked up as instructed and closed it all up. I then poured the gas back in and no problems. Started the Z and let it run for a bit, and again, no leaks. It will now sit and let the fittings, or rather the BJ weld on the fittings dry up. After this, I decided to fix my seating situation in the car once and for all. I have thought of all the different things I could do to give me more room, and finally decided to cut out the lower cross bar on the rollbar. It is for looks anyway, and although I didn't want to do it, I decided that it IS my car after all, and I mod everything anyway, so I modded the rollbar. Cut and vacuumed it up and now the seat position is GREAT, but I need some foam on the rollbar angled bar as my head is against it. I have provided some pics and 2 video's at the end of the pictures. Click on Facebook below "videos" below and go to the end of those pics to see the videos. Cheers! For videos click on "facebook" below and go to the end of the pics, 2 videos in all. Facebook Facebook

And now I wonder......how does a guy get to a point where he is bored with his Z car and wants to sell it?

As I have fixed little things here and there, small adjustments have had a BIG effect. a tad high idle....I corrected it, and the car came alive even more! As Boston George said....as it runs more and more and all of these changed parts "seat together" it will smooth out, he is right....it is becoming better and better. I now can say it is the car I wanted it to be 3 years ago when I started.....well 2 months shy of 3 years. The stroker is SO strong in the mid range, real street RPM's.....and the brakes are now ON, and the suspension is ON. Really nice to see it come together. Only thing left really is a cleanup on both door sills, rear drums and e brake, and fuel tank fix. It gets quite a bit of attention!

04-06-2024 UPDATE: Well since I have dry rotten overflow hoses and a tank full of gas, I decided first off, to jump in the Z car and drive to Denver and back. It was a 117 mile trip, first one of any distance in the car, and it took some guts on my part to drive a 52 year old car so far from home (garage), especially something I had built. BUT....it went without a hitch.....my 280ZX Close Ratio 5 speed transmission ,81-83 variant with the "good" overdrive, and my 4:11 gears gave me 70 MPH at 2800 RPM....75 MPH at 3,000 RPM, and 80 MPH is at 3200 RPM. I dropped it to 4th and I was at 4300 RPM at 70, so the overdrive does make a difference. This car has verified 45K original miles, but the drivetrain is all new, as is most of the suspension and brakes. After getting home I grabbed the tool Duffy told me to get.....to adjust the brake master cylinder and booster. The tool is a god-send! I attached a video of it, but basically I used it, and a feeler gauge, set at .030 so to leave a bit of distance between the pins at adjustment, as I read somewhere its good to leave that much cushion. So, I got that adjusted and took her out again for a spin. Brakes are GREAT! When I stomp on the brakes the front wheels lock up and slide....never did that before.....my rear drums, even though I rebuilt them, just don't seem to work, and the E brake might as well be non-existant....so there is another project to figure out. I managed to get the fuel burned down below 1/2 tank.....here's to hoping that is low enough for replacing rubber fuel lines and filler neck. Took a few pics of the car as I always do....the closeups, if you can see the road dust...yeah I didn't wipe it down yet. When I took it out to test the brakes, I went through a local park and a handful of really tight turns with a 15 MHP limit got my attention, I went way too fast into them and threw the car into all of them.....I was trying to get it to either plow (understeer) or for the rear to break loose (oversteer), it wouldn't break loose, just stayed flat and did what was asked. I guess the near race car suspension works after all. The coilovers are set at the middle adjustment in the setting range. I normally don't drive like that on the street or in palces where people are, but I didn't see anyone and took a chance on the way up and back down. No one got hurt, and I found out what the car is capable of.....the car is better than I am capable of, so, I guess when you do all the suspension stuff, it really works. No more reckless driving on the street. Maybe someday she and I can go see how she likes autocross. Cheers! To view video, click "facebook" below and scroll through photos to the end. (9) Facebook

04-05-2024. Final rendering before manufacture. Sent to me to approve before they start to build them. These are the wheels I bought from China being custom made for me. The front wheels had to go from 17X8 inches wide to 8.5 to accommodate the -36 offset. The 17X9 inch rears are also -36 offset, DEEP dish! 1 piece made to look like 3 piece, but are still FORGED. $190 per wheel forged. Go direct through China, cut out the middle man.

I custom ordered some forged wheels from China for my Z. 17" X 8/9 with -36 offset. Gold Mesh, BBS RS design. Yep, fakes, I don't care.....it won't say "BBS" on them anyway. AND.....as I said they will be FORGED (yes it costs more). Will be probably 30 days before I see them. $190 per wheel. Just couldn't pay 3-4K for a rebarrelled wheel. So....$780+450 shipping, so $1250, and just need tires. Shopped around online on the made_in_china webpage for a couple days, there are many companies will make whatever you want. I could have paid double and got 3 piece, but I don't NEED that, they will "look" like 3 piece, but won't be. See the pic below, but keep in mind, -36 offset....DEEP rim. I will have SINIS make up some center cap covers like he did for my 15"s. Anyone interested in going that route, drop me a PM. Asian car~Asian wheels. P.S. Where are you going to find a wheel for under 200 bucks that is FORGED? I cut the middleman out, went direct from China.

03-31-2024 UPDATE: Happy Easter. Rememberance of the day the Lord Jesus came back to be seen and commune with his apostles before leaving to prepare the "House" for those that come to him. I took today to work on the Z some more. Basically just more and more finishing up all the little things.....Started with a full wax and armor all on the flares, winsdshield, & back hatch weatherstripping. Then sat down, and one wheel at a time, clenaed them up with armor all, a screwdriver and a rag. Then I started with interior cleanup and fixing little do~dad's everywhere....Every time I drive it, I make a mental note of everything not working right, and fix it. Then I took it for a drive and everything is just right. It is like the car is getting "seated in"....and things are working better together now. Power is great, a lot of torque, suspension corners FLAT. Loud exhasut, and the car gets attention everywhere it seems. I took A LOT of pics, and I will post them, but be advised it is pic HEAVY. Cheers! My observations from today's drive, now that it is a "car" again: "Boston George, After working some more on it today, I took it out and drove it some more. I am pretty jaded. Driven a lot of cars, and what is surprising, is how this car makes me feel like I did 36 years ago. My Mustang is no where near as "fun" to drive. I WANT to toss this around. The power delivery, the suspension, the sounds, everything is just spot on perfect. I never thought I would feel that way in a car again. Really flabbergasted! I drove datsuns hard as a kid, I felt like a kid again. "

3-30-2024 UPDATE: I ended up replacing the factory NOS oil pump, as it was failing with a Kameari Oil pump. Nice unit, but the idling oil pressure was 90 psi! So, I ended up getting the adjustable oil pressure nut setup from DP Performance.....problem is, 90 Psi was at the lowest adjustment....So I took it apart and with my die grinder ground off the "tit" inside and then also put a washer between the nut and the housing witch has the effect of making the nut farther away when tightened. Oil pressure dropped to 45 at idle. So, it worked! I also found out, that on initial startup the detonation was from degraded fuel not too hot of a spark plug. I am currently using the standard heat range plug....NGK BPR6ES. Gapped at .031~.032 it works great, really woke the engine up! Timing is 20 degrees at idle, 91 octane fuel at this altitude which burns like 93 at sea level, 11.54 to 1 compression, no pinging! SU's are one click from 2 1/2 turns down......Very strong, and the stroker works well with the stock "A" cam grind on the streets. Nice power and the 4:11 rear makes it even more so. Mid range is a lot more than you would expect for an L6. Next post eventually will be a DYNO test result to close out this thread. Anyone contemplating building one, feel free to drop me a note. Cheers!

03-20-2024 UPDATE: Wash day, to include engine compartment. used a leaf blower to dry the engine compartment out, and it helps keep water spots away also. A day of fixing little things all over and just finishing everything all up, squeak here, squeak there......something loose, etc. I also went ahead and pulled the BR7 plugs and put normal heat range NGK BR6ES plugs in at .031~.032 gap. It woke her right up! So, the detonation at first engine start up was old degraded gas, not good 91 octane stuff. Took a few pics. Fun little go kart!

03-24-2024 UPDATE. I had a couple hours with nothing to do today, so I went out and used some denatured alcohol and a rag and wiped off all the Sharpie marks on the paint from installing the fender flares, and then on my rear shock towers, I swapped out the nuts for thin nuts or "Jam nuts". After that. the caps fit back on nicely! I put the caps over the front struts as well. Took a few moments to touch up some paint chips and then I took a hair dryer and removed a couple stickers under the hood and updated them. Then I decided to take her for a spin.....I think the plugs may still be too cold, so I will have to go back to the regular plugs, and see if the detonation I had when the engine was first started was becasue of degraded fuel. Even at that, she has a lot of power, but with this suspension, I am much lower and stiffer....bumps in the road toss you around like your on a bucking horse or something. I then stopped at a gas station and went to fill her up, and it looks like a couple of other hoses started to leak after 3/4 tank of fuel.....the ones I haven't touched yet. So, the deal is......dont fill over 1/2 tank until I can lower the tank just enough to change ALL of the hoses and make it go away permanently! I made sure to take plenty of pics with the new flares and lowering. Front wheels are also spaced out another 1/2 inch. If the car looks like it's dirty, IT IS! It needs a bath and some Armor All on the flares and sidewalls! Not to mention the engine needs to be cleaned. Oh! I also took a few moments and switched the tie wraps I was using on my spark plug wires to blue to match better. I found the multicolor set at Ace Hardware in case anyone else needs some. Cheers!

03-21-2024 UPDATE: Ok, so I started with taking the front sway bar off, cleaning up the reinforcement plates and painting them. Then, while they are drying I went to the rear end and finished tightening up the "drop down" brackets for the rear sway bar then installed the rear sway bar. After that it was time to break out my new Motive Pressure Brake Bleeder and give it a shot! Trial by error, and the first thing I found out is, you have to put the adaptor plate over the master cylinder VERY tight. 15 psi sounds like nothing, but it will leak if you don't have it on there as tight as you can get it. I also found out it works better if you put a quart of brake fluid in there....it may be weight from having that much in the bottle, but it will build pressure much better that way. So, with this deal you have to pump and pump and eventually it reaches 15 psi. Then go one wheel at a time and bleed them out. When I was done, the pedal felt stronger than it ever has, so that is great news! After that I went ahead and re-installed the front sway bar on the now drier paint. I then had to go back and touch up a few things in the rear wheel wells, and had to paint some inner wheel well spots, mainly a portion of the old wheel lips down low where you can see it with the flare on....painted black and all good! Dropped her back down, torqued the wheels on, and I am done for quite a while underneath! Busy day! Pics:

03-11-2024 UPDATE: I replaced 2 pieces of metal brake line that were damaged in the coilover job, the rear piece was nicked pretty good (see pics below) and a front one broke when I tried to bend it a bit. After that, I went ahead and bled the brakes, and as usual, they aren't good enough, so, just like last time, I will limp down to a garage and have them vacuum bleed them to give me back my nice pedal feel. After that I took my die grinder and cleaned up the welds on the bottom of the K member, and used a dremel on the other spots, then I went ahead and tackled getting my DP Oil pressure adusuter for my Kameari oil pump working and lower the pressure a bit. The DP adjuster "as is" wasn't going any lower, so I removed it, took it apart, and with my die grinder ground off the little tit on the end of the rod which would let the spring relax more, and then I came to a revelation.....a washer would push the adjuster out a bit and relax the spring even farther. So I took a washer and with my dremel make it fit and then assembled. It's a thick washer so it will have an even more noticable effect. I started the car and checked the gauge....isntead of 90 psi at idle I now have 40-45! I like that. if I ever wanted to bump it up a bit, I could use the adjuster or just wap out the thick washer for a thinner one! I then went ahead and torqued down the front suspension from the coilover swap, and got the wheels back on. At this time, I went to the rear, to take a look at what I was going to have to do to get the rear Techno Toy Tuning rear sway bar on. The factory drop downs are 2 thick steel plates vertically on each side of the rear differential. Thsoe have to be removed and replaced with the Drop down from Techno Toy tuning. Easier said than done. It fought me the whole way, but I was able to get it all back together loosely and now that the TT3 Drop downs are in, putting the bar on is just putting bushings on the bar, running the new bolts through the holes, and then install the end links in the holes already provided in the rear A arms. Whew! Tired again, but true progress made today. See pics!

03-07-2024 UPDATE. Mike from Juggernaut Welding in Colorado Springs came by this morning, and welded my coilovers to the spindles, welded the bolt heads to the sheet metal for my rear sway bar reinforcement, welded in my reinforcement brackets for the front sway bar and added 2 thick steel plates to he bottom of my K member to strengthen it up. After he left, I went to work, installing the 1.5 wheel spacers on the front, to match the 1.5 inchers I already had in the back, and then got acquainted with my coilovers, getting them turned down. I have 1.5-2 inches of ground clearance, and the space between the tire and flares looks good. I used my die grinder to clean up the plates I made to reinforce the rear sway bar mounts where they bolt through the floor, giving them a coat of gloss black engine block paint afterwards. Here are a few pics of the day. Video: click on facebook link below. (16) Facebook