A to Z

UPDATE. Seat of the pants tuning, and trial and error.....2.25 turns down, 20 degrees timing at idle with vacuum plugged at 6400 ft. elevation. runs pretty good!

10-22-2023 UPDATE: I decided to work on my project of putting a strip of polished aluminum below each quarter window. I picked up from thin sheet aluminum at Lowes, and grabbed a handful of small screws and jumped in. In the pics, if you see some touch up paint.....I had to touch up a few spots.....once it is dry I can sand it smooth with 2000 grit sandpaper I have and polish it in. A real unique look to the car....A touch of P51 Mustang. PICS:

that looks awesome.

Thank you so much. It has been a journey.

10-15-2023 UPDATE: I had a few spare hours today, so I went out and started cleaning up parts on the car here and there, finishing it up, then I checked my timing, still good, 20 degrees advance, 45 total with advance, works great at this elevtation (6000-6400 ft.) I also went out and did seat of the pants tuning, and got it running good at 2 3/4 turns down on the SU's, then I put my airbox back on, and had to raise the screws to where they are a total of 2 1/4 turns down now. The airbox, cut enough air off to have to take out fuel almost 1/2 turn. Engine was running weird, a tad rough and not as smooth of a sound as is normal for these engines...wasn't sure, but then after I was done tonight I realized that it must be a fouled plug from all the tuning.....colder plugs and it being pig rich for a while took it's toll. I will usut pull the plugs, clean them up and re-install. My new BOSCH 4.9 O2 sensor didn't help. Now instead of my gauge saying "---" which according to AEM means too lean to read....the gauge reads either 14.6 or 14.7 all the time....so I turned it off and did seat of the pants. She is runner! ( even with foulded plugs). Before I coming in I started on the project I have been wanting to do with the 1/4 windows. If you look at S30 2+2's, the quarter window has a polished trim piece right below the 1/4 window trim. I am copying that.....I am going to make thin aluminum strips, but I will drill holes in it and attach with some nice stainless screws, and will polish the aluminum strips up to a high shine. See pics for an idea of what I am talking about. The template is in paper now, so I will keep working on that. I actually have a Z I can drive. Funny, but it is actually weird. Since I have had her, it has been a non-stop plow forward with head down.....to get things done, ignoring small things to get the big things done......And I now almost have the little things done, but after2 years of 4 months of just work, work, work....it is an adjustment....it shouldn't be, but it is....it has been so involved....having to do EVERYTHING myself as no one is around to do it, or they want stupid money to do it. Aside from a cheap paint job and some machine work on the engine before I assembled it, it has been all me. When I started I was shocked when things would break, snap off etc., now, I expect it. Bolts on datsuns snap off. The car is actually ready for some wax and Armor All! PICS:

10-14-2023 UPDATE. I started with painting the turn signal stalk, as the factory paint was looking very worn....then I installed the steering wheel. I went ahead and ordered a new repro horn pad as my attempts at restoring the original just were not working. After that, I jacked the car up and changed out the o2 sensor to a new BOSCH 4.9 unit. Hopefully this will make the gauge act right. Then I finished up wiring the new Honda wiper motor to work on a toggle switch (model WAI-WPM 5423). I have it set up on single speed only, low speed, and is only there to keep the car street legal. I went ahead and put new blades on the wiper arms and installed. Not sure if I like them on there or not honestly. After that, I worked on my door panels. I deleted the factory push in tabs that hold the door panels on, and went with chrome screws and finish washers. I like the look much better. My emblems for the center caps on my wheels I ordered from SINIS on Facebook arrived and I got them on. I also drilled 2 small holes and used 2 small screws to hold the factory fuse box cover down....I may paint them black to blend in later, but not sure. Steps forward. Not sure on the flares now. I am finding that the rear driver's side (left side) flare is rubbing on the tire and is trying to make a groove, hasn't happened yet as far as damage to the tire, but is making me think about what other options there may be. Took the car for a short spin, and can't figure out how it was running good when I parked it, now it's acting out of tune.....Anyhow, I grabbed a few pics.

10-12-2023 Update. Center medallion for the horn button is coming along. The way the paint laid out it has a leather grain look to it, which matches the horn pan....crazy coincidence. Once dry, I will use a knife and carefully scratch the paint off the top of the letters and the outside circle. PICS:

10-11-2023 UPDATE: Steering wheel.....buffed rim with 0000 steel wool, sanded, primed and repainted spokes with black engine block paint with ceramic additive.

10-08-2023 UPDATE: I painted the steering wheel and it went horribly! I had to set it to the side and let it dry while I worked on other things.....later I coated it in filler primer and let it dry, and then sanded it smooth, and then painted again, came out GREAT! I took the center horn button, and removed the center piece, and wire wheeled all the paint off. it is a solid chrome piece. I mounted it as is to see if I liked it this way, or should I paint and then carefully scratch the paint off the letters and ring.....anyway, I also repainted the passenger door panel and arm rest and while apart I white greased the door latching mechanism like I did with the other side and then put it all together. I also managed to do a lot of odds and ends, little clean up here, clean up there. I am just closing up loose ends, as the finish line is withing rock throwing distance now. PICS:

10-07-2023 UPDATE. I started with getting the hazard relay/clicker wired back in....works wonderful....and then wired the volts gauge to a toggle switch....removed the second volts gauge and cleaned up the gauge bracket and re-installed. I then installed new motor mount bolts....Grade 8 bolts. I am working on the wiper motor, and having a hard time getting it to work, so I got to a certain point, and then left that for another day and went to pulling the driver's door panel, repainting it and the arm rest with SEM interior paint, Napa red and Landau black. While apart, I lubricated the door handle and opening mechanism with white grease, works much better now! I got the driver's door put back together, and then pulled the steering wheel to clean it up. I went over the whole thing with 0000 steel wool, and I was able to get the look I wanted on the simulated wood doing just that (matches the shift knob).....for the spokes, I then sanded them down and hopefully will get them painted tomorrow, God willing. I finally get to do "fun work". PICS:

10-01-2023 UPDATE: Tuning. So many issues, I started over on tuning.....timing was way too low. I set it at 20 degrees at idle no vacuum, all plugged off, I reset the mixture screws on the carbs, went down 2.5 turns, resynchronized the carbs. DARN SHE RUNS! feels like 200 horse and loads of torque. little denotation under load, turned the mix down just a hair.....pinging all gone. The 280z never ran THIS HARD. some of it must be the gears.....no bog, squat and roar! After this, I cleaned up the garage and got rid of a lot of clutter. I also managed to locate the Hazard clicker. When I went to take it off, the leads were already broken off! So, I will fix the wiring and re-install. I am now at the point, where the majority of work left is beautification. Cheers. Pics below:

09-30-2023 UPDATE. Wiring again! I went ahead and installed a secondary fused box, so instead of having a bunch of wires hooked to the battery, I have one big wire from the battery to the box, and all the accessories are now fused and it is a much cleaner installation! I also went ahead and installed my SM needles, but it still isn't enough. I have had to keepo turning the mixture screws down until it stops popping, and my A/F guage keeps showing "---" which apparently means too lean to read. I need to re-establish my timing and figure out what to do....when driving I can smell the raw fuel, but no black smoke, and it now rev's to 5000 instead of just 4000. I can feel it being held back, like a governor....but even with the hold back, I can feel the torque. She is a strong one! I just have to get the carb situation figured out. Do I really need to sand and polish SM's for more fuel? I need to study this some more. Here are a few pics.

SU question. I was running N54 needles. WAY too lean, I got them to 4.5 turns down (at 6000+ elevation) and they finally stopped popping and ran until I hit 4000 RPM then that was it. When I went to change the needles, the needles were allt eh way in. So, I ordered some SM needles and went at it again. I set them with a straight edge level with piston bottom. I had to keep turning down I'm at around 5.5 or so turns down and the popping stopped, but driving I can smell the gas, and it is still acting like a governor ont he engine. The engine is definitely being held back. The engine is a 2859CC with 11.5 to 1 compression, ported head E31, with larger exhaust vavles, again ported out, nissan A cam exhaust manifold with free flow exhaust.......the engine isn't that hot, why are my SU's having such a devil of a time with it? Do I really need to sand/polish the needles at WOT? instead of 4000 RPM, its now 5000 RPM. I will reset the timing, but at this altitude we don't have air, so why would it need SO MUCH FUEL? thanks.

09-24-2023 UPDATE. I found myself doing a lot of little projects....I bought 2 volts gauges I wanted one gauge but they offered 2 for a low price, so why not? I made a bracket out of sheet aluminum, and mounted them just below the hazard switch on the dash. I figured I would wire the bottom gauge to read the volts on the ballast, but it didn't work, so more fiddling on that. I also went ahead and made a wiring harness for the remaining 4 toggle switches I have installed. I am in the process of putting in a fused secondary box for additional needs, and they will be trimmed out on that box. In so doing, I was also able to close up the dash and steering column for good. I painted my 2 rubber plugs for inside the rear hatch, and installed them. (see pic) Afterwards, I decided it was time to get her out and adjust the fuel mixture. I had to keep adding more and more.....I am currently 4.5 turns down on the fuel mixture screws, and she is still running out of fuel at 4K RPM and more. So, it looks like some "SM" needles are needed. I also hooked the vacuum advance back up and no issues.....so going down 2 steps on the NGK plugs fixed the issue (BP8ES). A lot of pics, to see below, Cheers!

09-23-2023 UPDATE: Ok, so I went ahead and cleaned up the tail, sanded, dealt with a tad of rust, and got a fresh coat of paint on there. Then I installed the Tailight surround pieces that I had vinyl wrapped to look like carbon fiber. Then I spent time trying to get my wipers to work. I have the new Honda Wiper conversion, but the wiring isn't working. I may decide to just re-run the wiring for that. Small steps!

sure! Thanks!

09-17-2023 UPDATE. All about LIGHTING. Today was about getting everything working. I only have the horn and wipers left....everything else is working now! I wired up the tailights, and found that even with a new reverse switch, the backup lights weren't happenin'......so I pulled a wire and put the backup lights on one of my toggle switches! I was finally able to close up the interior in the back and call that completed. Having installed my new hazard switch, I now have almost everything done. Hazards will not flash.....I realized the emergency flasher module must be bad.....so now I know what I need! My gauges are all bright from the LED bulbs I put in when the dash was out forever ago.....that darn clock still looks green....I need to go through the glove box and with a small screwdriver push the green filter out of the way....I mentioned about fixing the switch spot on my console with a swipe of caulk and some dirt.....then brush it away....below is a pic of it. I then took a small paintbrush and sprayed some of my SEM Landau Black into the cap and the carefully painted over the repair. I then took some time to have a few beers and just look it all over and take some pics......for 2 + years it has been go,go,go....and it was good to relax, look it over and get a new perspective. The darn thing is really almost done. It has almost killed me. I have put so much of "me" into it, I can't imagine ever selling it. Cheers! Pics below:

Better safe than sorry.

09-16-2023 UPDATE: Lighting work. I went ahead and removed the original tailights, looked them over and set them aside and unpacked the new Euro style tailights I bought. They are made in Taiwan, not China, thankfully. The tailights didn't come with bulbs, so I took the old ones out, and boy were they corroded (see pic). This corrosion causes increased resistance in a circuit, pushing voltage down and amps up, which is what burns stuff up on these old Z's....so if you haven't done so, get some fine steel wool and spend an afternoon cleaning up your bulbs and sockets (disconnect battery first) . Also of note is that the bulbs are the original Toico branded bulbs. I noticed that although they state these tailights are plug and play, for my car, they are not. I went ahead and marked each wire as it was colored on the original tailights, then cut off the ends. I will wire them in myself. This will be okay as I have to change the wiring a bit anyway, as I don't want the amber to come on with the brakes. I also went ahead and unpacked my clear front turn signals, which DID come with amber bulbs. I had to take a rat tail file and slot the rear holes a tad to get them on, otherwise easy work. Before I installed the tailights, I went ahead and put a bead of pure silicone caulk on the mating surface, and a couple of daylight holes I saw after tightening them down got a bit of caulk as well to keep exhaust fumes out. I ended up the day installing my 5 remaining round toggle switches into the console cover that fits over the fuse box. The center one's hole is a tad bit big, I put caulk behind it tonight to dry and tomorrow I am going to put a thin line of super glue, sprinkle some sand on it, brush it off, and mask and paint the cover with SEM Landau Black paint....once done the little bit that you see in the pic will be gone. Last pic is closing it all up for the night. God willing more work on the wiring tomorrow. PICS:

09-10-2023 UPDATE. Well, it looks like all the mechanical stuff is under control (finally).....other that beautifucation, electrical is what is left. The new Fuse box I ordered from MSA "The Z Store" arrived, and I took the time to get out my multimeter and record they way it is wired...what goes where, and ensured it is ready to go....no shorts. I then got it all installed, and began a check of what works and what doesn't. Most is working, but Some isn't.... so...more reading and figuring it out. Seems like my rebuilt hazard switch I bought a year or so ago is no good (no hazard lights flashing), and other things that aren't working may be a result of it being bad since apparently a lot of things are wired through it. I also installed the round switch I got for turning the AEM A/F Ratio gauge on and off. Works good. PICS:

09-09-2023 UPDATE. Replaced my fuel tank sending unit with an NOS one, as well as a new O ring and lock washer I got from the Z car depot. No way to do this without getting gas everywhere. I had to mop up and put the towels in the sun to dry out, get the gas on the floor evaporated, and go in and wash up and change my T shirt. The gas even left a nice mark on the blacktop outside my garage bay! Anyway, I also went ahead and finished the fuel hose routing for the new fuel rail. Started it up, and went and fill it up to check the gause......Fuel gague works correctly! So that's good. I got some hose and ran the carburetor breather hoses to the air cleaner, and then I also went ahead and finished polishing the hood. It glistens now like the rest. I opened up and inspected my new fuse box from MSA "The Z Store". Looks like a nice piece. Soon, I will install and then see what wires I need to re-run and eliminate the problematic ones. I went ahead and bought some new tailughts, the Euro model ones with the orange lense in the bottom, and new front ones in clear with amber bulbs. I think I will have my tailight surround wrapped in carbon fiber. PICS:

thanks. Its been a long journey. Tired.

A few changes. I got rid of the mechanical fuel pump, and got a real nice black Z monogrammed cover plate, and went with a CARTER electric fuel pump mounted in the rear. The Mallory distributor was being very problematic ( 2 Mallory dizzys both blew the modules, so no more Mallory) so I switched to a eBay breakerless ignition, and I have gotten it running, and I installed an AEM UEGO A/F gauge to help with getting the tune better, but she definitely like fuel more than she did when she was stock! I then decided to go ahead and jump on the fuel rail project. I cut the hard lines next to the firewall and started putting the rail together. I put off the piece from the old rail, the return line, that is necked down to a very small orifice to keep the fuel pressure correct....well I cut that off, cleaned it up, and added it to the return line I have for the rail. Rail is made by Pallnet, available through Godzilla Raceworks, this one is made for SU's. My rail is set up so that the feed and return lines will be at the back of the engine to give everything a real clean look. A piece of the old rail on the front of the head is still in place holding the sprak plug wires until I figure out a good way to tackle that job. She runs great, but won't ahve any real powre figures for awhile, as I need to get the fuel spot on. Currently at 8 degrees advance with vacuum advance plugged off. Too much compression for it.

09-03-2023 UPDATE. I installed the remaining pieces of my windshield trim and have some duct tape holding them tight overnight while the pure silicone caulk dries up. Then I used gorilla glue, water and clamps to glue on the parts of both doors weatherstripping that has always ben a problem. Problem solved. I then started on the building of a plate with 2 switches I have...one will be to turn the Wideband on and off...the other will be there if I need it down the road. I painted it, and everything was well, then the paint got screwed up, so I will have to unfortunately redo that small piece....then find a good place under the dash ( to the left of the steering column preferrably). I then decided to go ahead and jump on the fuel rail project. I cut the hard lines next to the firewall and started putting the rail together. I put off the piece from the old rail, the return line, that is necked down to a very small orifice to keep the fuel pressure correct....well I cut that off, cleaned it up, and added it to the return line I have for the rail. My rail is set up so that the feed and return lines will be at the back of the engine to give everything a real clean look. A piece of the old rail on the front of the head is still in place holding the sprak plug wires until I figure out a good way to tackle that job. I ordered an NOS fuel tank sensor and arm setup, along with a new spin on retaining ring and a new O ring. That should cure the leak AND give me a fuel gauge that reads correctly. The setup I have is way off. Progress continues. Pics below. Cheers!

09-02-2023 UPDATE: I installed the AEM "UEGO" wideband air to fuel ratio (A/F) gauge to start off. I had to do some light sanding to get it into the pod I bought on eBay.......works good. I then got the car started and drove it to the gas station.....carbs were out of sync, but otherwise great! I topped it off with 91 and it started leaking out of the fuel sensor hole. So I drove it home, jacked it up and got a bucket under the leak. It's always something huh? :) I went ahead and synched the carbs again and used the UEGO to get the mixture ok at idle.....10-11.0 to 1 at 800-900 rpm, good enough for now. I then put the air clener and everything back on, and started on the remaining windshield trim. Got dark and called it a day. PICS and a link to video's below. Videos: Click "Facebook" link below Facebook (1) Facebook (1) Facebook