Mitchel0407

Sometimes the “original” works the best. Part for these cars are quite expensive and although there is a lot of information out there a lot is still missing or people just haven’t posted online, especially electrical. So please if you find things out that you had a hard time finding information about post it in one of the forums. I had trouble with my AFM (Air \Flow Meter) on my ’77 280z a while back and it was absolutely impossible to find information about the workings of them. Being from Europe also made it pretty hard as everybody just said to go on Ebay or another US supplier and buy a new one, not really an option for me. So I went on a big research spree and with some help of the Australian Z car and Land Rover forums I managed to find a suitable replacement AFM of a 90’s Ford Probe / Mazda 626. These where sold plenty over here and used parts for those are pretty cheap. In the end the 280z just uses a generic Bosch L-Tronic injection system and parts can, for the most part, be interchanged between brands and cars from that same era. I’m even running a few Porsche 944 parts. 🤣

Try and see if you can find a wiring diagram online. Unfortunately I only have one of a 197 280z which I will upload just in case as I suspect not much has been changed regarding something like the washer motor over those years. Try and follow the wiring with a multi meter and see where the power stops once you press the button. Also try and check the fuses, one might be blown or has a bad connection. It might be a stupid tip but try and activate the washer with the ignition switch in different positions. I was once lead down a rabbit hole thinking my blinkers weren’t working while in fact I needed to turn the ignition switch all the way to the on position (accessory position didn’t work). N77ZCAR-WIRING.pdf

I do sure love upgrades! But no the 280z wasn’t that small in comparison. But then again my boss drives a BMW M140i and the other one a VW ID.7 Tourer which is pretty big. Do remember I live in Europe and not the US so we rarely see pickup trucks ore large SUV’s. We rarely see cars bigger than a BMW X7, Audi Q8 or Volvo X90 (which are considered extremely big over here). Our parking spaces just aren’t that big 🤣 I mean just look at this picture for the size comparison between a normal family car / minivan and a Dodge RAM. The only people that buy pickup trucks here are people who like them, own a business (tax reasons) and tow a lot. And that’s only because it’s easy and cheap to convert and run them on LPG gas.

Took the 280z to work yesterday as I have a 62km (38,5 mile) commute each way with both city and highway driving. She ran perfectly with a nice smooth idle, stable temperatures right at 180 Fahrenheit (US gauges), a nice oil pressure and the alternator charging nicely at a bit over 14 volts. The air fuel ratio was still fluctuating a bit running lean and then rich at idle but they where pretty stable while cruising. But more importantly she was an absolute blast to drive! The power was nice and smooth and felt amazing to stretch out to 6500rpm. Not to mention the reaction of the other people around you. I saw a lot of thumbs up out of the windows and people sneaking a picture of the car. Even more hilarious was me parking next to my bosses BMW. All that said I’m not fully satisfied with her yet. I believe the rear shock absorbers are currently nonexistent which isn’t too big a deal but the right rear can slam down with tremendous force when going over a pothole or bump which isn’t very comfortable. The alignment also feels a bit off as the car feels less stable then she did before. I will bring her to a garage that also does a lot of motorsports tuning close to my work next week to try and fix the alignment. I will probably also look at a set of BC Racing coilovers sometime in the close future to fix the worn out stock suspension.

It took some time for an update but I am proud to say that I did it, the 280z is road legal again!! Aside from the car I have been very busy working in my backyard as the previous owners took out all the plants and then neglected the yard for 4-5 years. But back to the build log. One of the parts I still had lying around where the oil pressure sender and the coolant temperature sensor for the gauges in the dashboard. It really bothered me that both of them weren’t working and I had a feeling that it was just both of the sensors that were bad. So out with the old and in with the new. Or so I thought…. While installing the new temperature sensor into the thermostat housing the housing itself broke. As the break is a really weird one I suspect that the aluminum housing just became pours. Luckly one of the local Z club members had the correct version of the housing and send it to me. I gave that one a quick coat of paint and reinstalled all of the sensors. This time nothing broke and both the oil pressure and coolant temperature gauge finally worked! Now that that was fixed I started working on some of the smaller items on the list. I replaced the air filter, both exhaust gaskets, the horns, painted the front grill and installed the KNAC shield (translated: Royal Netherlands Automobile Club). As I had a bit of time left in the day I also replaced my pre fuel pump fuel lines and filter, installed the new speakers and fitted the fender mirrors. I expected the fender mirrors to be pretty useless but they actually gave me a way better field of view then my old door mounted mirrors! I believe these are the same metal reproduction mirrors as Zdepot sells. As I was in a bit of a time crunch for the inspection I unfortunately couldn’t finish the door cards and seats in time. Luckly the door cards weren’t mandatory for the inspection so I could just simply leave them off the car. As for the seats I reinstalled the covers for now and reinstalled them into the car. The aftermarket wheels the car came on where poking out a bit too much in the rear so to avoid any complications during the inspection I decided to install the stock wheels for now and switch them afterwards. I hindside this wasn’t necessary as they were allowed to stick out 3cm (1,2 inch) past the fenders. Then came the moment I had been working towards, inspection day! I dropped her of at the garage and they immediately started with the inspection and alignment. The only thing they found was they the washer fluid wasn’t spraying but the mechanic traced it back to a pinched line. Other then that the car was in great shape and both the mechanic as other customers were impressed with the car (S30 Z cars are pretty rare over here). Now I can finally enjoy the car and man she drives good! The only thing I noticed was that the rear shocks are gone but it isn’t a problem for now.

Welkom! It’s good to see you posting here as well.

That’s a bit of what I am trying to do with my own build thread. It’s mainly just a log for myself to build a timeline of everything I’m doing to the car but I also like sharing my discoveries on the forums to hopefully help somebody out in the future. And no I’m not some old sentimental person but just a guy with a love for the S30 body style and L series engine (who will be turning 26 in a little over a month).

Another week has past and another weekend of work has been completed. Luckly the orders I placed where send out pretty fast so I got all the rubbers and bushings I was missing ready to head to work. I started off with finishing the work on the transmission. As the speedometer gear had been leaking, and I didn’t know how much fluid the transmission had lost (or was even serviced the last time), I decided to change the transmission fluid for some Redline MT-90 transmission oil. That was easier said then done as Redline MT-90 is pretty hard to find in Europe. But it appears I was in luck, one performance parts shop here in The Netherlands had a few cans in stock and send them out for me that same day! Even though the transmission mount and crossmember bushings where is decent shape I still decided to chang them out as a precaution. I used a OEM style rubber transmission mount for vibration reduction but polyurethane bushings in the crossmember for added stiffness. Next came the most exciting but also the scariest part. Replacing the front crossmember, engine mounts and oil pan gasket. I wanted to leave the crossmember for last and start by removing the oil pan. To do that and have easier access to the bolts I first removed the steering rack which I gave a quick clean and paint job while I was at it. I might have figured out why the oil pan was leaking in the first place, it turns out about halve the oil pan bolts where loose! Other than that the process was pretty straight forward. Removing the oil pan did give me a pretty interesting look into the engine which felt pretty weird so I quickly reinstalled the oil pan with new bolts. To remove the crossmember I had to find a way to support the engine in the meantime. For this I created my own, incredibly sketchy, engine support bar together with a jack under the crack pully. Even though it was incredibly sketchy it was surprisingly sturdy and stable. But still I hurried as fast and as careful as I could to remove the old crossmember and install the Apex Engineered crossmember. This went surprisingly smooth with the only difficult part being reinstalling the bolts into the new engine mounts. But with a bit of help of the jack and some patience I got them all in and everything safely secured again. Next came the most difficult part of fitting the Apex crossmember braces. The passenger side went without a problem but the drivers side not so much. There the crossmember brace didn’t fit as the car had aftermarket headers and signs of body damage to the left side of the car. The headers where interfering with the brace and the brace was sitting much more forward then the passenger side. This required some modification of the headers (with a hammer) and a few spare washers as spacers to fix. To modify the headers I had to take them off the car which I really hope I won’t have to do a second time as the bolts are really hard to reach. To finish off the weekend I got a call from the body shop telling me my doors and cowl where finished painting! So I immediately got in my car to pick them up and install them back on the car. The installation went pretty good but I didn’t get the doors to sit perfectly flush, the back always sticks out a bit. This may be because of the weather stripping which I assume to be cheap aftermarket. After the doors came the fenders and the rest of the bodywork. As I was missing a lot of bolts around the car I ordered a nut and bolt kit from ResurrectedClassics a while back. During the previous “restauration” (if you can even call that) they just left damaged bolts out or spot welded panels in place. As I absolutely hated that I took my time to retap all the holes or install rivet nuts wherever I could. I also replaced a lot of the bolts with nice plated bolts from the kit. All of this nearly has the car ready for one of the final inspections of it’s life (as they aren’t mandatory anymore after 50 years). I just have a small list of things left to do. - Reinstall the door cards - Reinstall the seats - Set a rough alignment (enough to get me to the shop) - Install the wheels - Install a new set of horns (existing ones have underbody coating in them) - Repaint and install the front grill - Install the new fender mirrors - Install the rear speakers (for now optional) - Replace the pre fuel pump fuel filter (for now optional) And of course clean the car!

No. in my opinion that’s the definition of passion and commitment!

Just like all classic and especially classic sports cars they end up sharply increasing in price once they approach 50 years in age. I always loved the look of the S30 Z cars and I really wanted a classic sports car as a hobby/project car. For me the only affordable option was the Porsche 944 coming in at €10k to €15k for a somewhat decent example. But even those shot up in price the last few years to the point that the price difference between those and S30 Z’s (280z in particular) became pretty low. I ended up paying €22,5k for my 1977 280z at an auction (including auction costs) and put around €4,5k into the car. Mainly comprising of the Apex Engineered suspension parts, body shop (welding frame rails and repainting the doors) and some long overdue maintenance. And yes I overpaid a couple of thousand on my car but at this point I really don’t care anymore as I plan to keep this car for the rest of my life!

I bought my 1977 280z in august of last year and afterwards started looking around at all the available forums and other information sources. This let me to here, the ClassicZcar forum and the WhatsApp group from my local Z/ZX club (Holland). Each I use for a different purpose. - HybridZ: Modified Z projects, technical information, inspiration and keeping up a build thread (mainly for myself). - ClassicZcar: General information and information about stock/original parts or details. - The local Z/ZX club: Meets / rally’s, used parts and local knowledge (we have a few S30 restauration specialists in the group) As the S30 Z is pretty rare here in the Netherlands (and Europe in general) my only option is to use the internet and figure everything out myself. Parts are also hard to come by as my only options are used parts (when they appear online), Zservices in France or importing parts from the USA. As for car culture in general I do agree that it’s slowing down a bit. The cars are becoming more modern, parts are becoming more expensive and complicated and less people have the option of owning two or more cars. In general I’m seeing the economy slowing down and people watching there wallet. That said there are still a lot of interesting S30 Z projects going around. Yes turbo builds are pretty common as they have become easier to make power with and are a relatively cheap power source. But NA or NA ITB builds are also pretty common still among them being the V8 swap. Personally I’m keeping my L28E and will probably end up going the NA ITB route once I upgrade the stock injection (yes I’m keeping the injection and no I don’t want carbs). I do like the sound of the V8 swaps but I also think that they don’t really belong in the S30 Z’s. The Z’s being Japanese cars I find them more suited for inline 6 (NA or turbo) engines. And I just really love the sound of the L series engines. But hé, that’s just my personal opinion.

The rear control arm length issue might just be a factory issue as my stock control arms measured in at 15,5” inches just like the Apex control arms. Up to know my parts have been of great quality (passenger side frame rail excluded) with excellent and tight tolerances. That said I will be installing the front crossmember and front control arms next weekend and will probably update my thread next Tuesday. That said I do believe they might have a slight quality control issue with their suppliers, as for example my passenger side frame rail was plainly bent the wrong way by the supplier.

My pretty long weekend has come to an end and I’m pleased to say that I accomplished a lot in those four days. I started off with finishing the installation of the interieur. Because of the Apex Engineered rear strut brace I had to make some modification to the floor board, carpet and strut covers. This took a bid more time then I had hoped but I managed to finish the interieur within a day. Me and my girlfriend are still slowly working on the seats and the door card but we will probably end up installing those last. Next came (for me) one of the more exiting parts, starting work on the rear end! So it was time to put down my QuickJack’s and take the wheels off….. Never mind, the previous owner installed locking wheel nuts on all four corners and all four lugs at that! So a trip to the parts store for a lug nut removal socket and some angle grinder lathe action later (and about 3 hours) the wheels where finally off. If you told me the rear end was still factory fresh then I would have believed you. All the bolts where incredibly stuck and most of them where cross threaded (thanks previous mechanic). Not to mention all the rubber bushings where pretty worn out. Luckly with some heat, penetrating oil and a hammer all of the bolts came out. The threads there even still usable, lucky me! Before the reinstallation I did retape all the threads and cleaned up all the nuts and bolts. Before reinstalling everything I took my time to replace the differential gasket and change the differential oil for some new Motul 75W90. I also replaced the mustache bar bushings for polyurethane bushings. Removing the old bushings went pretty smoothly with a saw, some fire and a bit of patience. The only problem I had was during reinstallation of the mustache bar. The only way it would fit back in was by rotating the bar 180 degrees, may explain the difficulty removing the bar in the first place. I don’t know if this is the correct orientation but it wouldn’t fit any other way and I can find many pictures online of the bar in both orientations. I decided to leave the bar as is and finish up by finally installing the Apex rear control arms. Man it feels good to finally make some upgrades, the car feels more and more my own. The refresh of the rear end took a bit more time then I initially thought (two days) so before starting on the front, knowing I couldn’t finish it this weekend, I decided to take on some smaller jobs first. The bodywork on the car is a bit of a slopy mess with some signs of surface rust all along the lower edges of the rear of the car together with fading powder coating / paint on the fuel tank. It may be a bit unorthodox but seeing as I have a rust converter spray / paint that’s pretty close in color to the car I just took a sander to the edges and sand away the rust and knock down the body filler on the bottum edge. I also sanded smooth the fuel tank and used the last bit of remaining texture spray to hide the imperfections on the fuel tank. And even if I say so myself I’m pretty pleased with the result, at least the rear of the car is now less of an eyesore. During all the work on the underside of the car I noticed a small oil leak coming from the speedometer pinion gear. A quick search online showed it had an o ring sealing the pinon gear so I quickly popped it partially out and replaced the o ring inside. Another small job of the list! As I still had a bit of time left in the day I tried my luck at removing at least the front control arms. And I don’t know what magic was used but this was the easiest disassembly ever! A little spray of penetrating oil and a quick tuck on the wrench and out came the bolts by hand. Even the front ball joint and tie rods came right out! All in all it was a very productive weekend. I just placed an order for some small stuff like a few new rubbers, normal lug nuts and two new horns (mine have underseal in them) and will be continuing my refresh of the front suspension next weekend. That will be a bit more tricky as I need to replace the oil pan gasket and the front crossmember. Also I know you guys probably find my work space pretty interesting so enjoy!

I finally got around to refurbishing the rear end and installing the Apex rear control arms. I checked my control arms and they too measured in at 15,5” inches. But the funny thing is is that they where the same length as the original control arms!! Anyway the install went smoothly except for the fact that I had to rotate the mustache bar 180 degrees as I couldn’t for the life of me install it another way with the new bushings. That said the bar was incredibly difficult to remove in the first place. P.S. the T3 spindles do indeed appear to be shorter than OEM so adding the extra spacer seams like a good choice.

I would be down for that!