78nismoZ

Not done restoring yet! im about to load those photos

Thanks titus! Ill post some pics today I cleaned more bolts over the last few days and brackets and everything looks great. When I say that I am cleaning every bolt, I mean every single bolt. Im using this chemical dip bucket from autozone, its for small carb parts but it works amazing!!! Ill show you guys when I get out of school in about an hour..

I have used two kinds, one is the VHT epoxy paint from pepboys and the other is just black rustoleum the one you get from autozone or other car parts stores that says it is gas and oil resistant. O and all of the bolts on the car are going through a wire wheel to clean any rust off of them and then they are going to be sprayed clear with high temp paint to keep rust at bay.

Hey guys here are some pics of a few things I restored...

Hey guys sorry here they are:

And yes it was a very lucky find. The PO did not want to sell it but I guess money talks. In about fifteen minutes Ill post pics of the dolly so stay tuned!!!

Yea i go to SPSU....is your name hunter? if so didnt I have a class with you?

Ill take pics this afternoon. The only problem i see is that my dolly was made to make paint and body work easier and to keep my garage from being cluttered up with a car that cant be moved. The dolly attaches on the four bolts that the front crossmember was bolted to and the rear attaches were the two threaded pegs come out were the moustache bar sat.

the guy in the second pic is a buddy of mine just in case anyone is wondering....

Alright guys here are some pics of when we pulled the tired L28e. I think thats it for tonight Ill post more up in the morning to get closer to where the car is tonight..plus Ill have some pics of a dolly made for the car to roll on without the suspension in it and it only cost me $92. Any questions commments or concerns please post them Id like to here some feedback!

The rear was pretty easy actually...Unfortunately I don't have any other pics of the rear in the process. I started by removing the rear finisher between the body and the bumper by breaking the spot welds. After that was gone I dropped the tank and removed the bumper support things...I think they are called shocks? After that I took the cheap way out, I bought bondo filler screens and adhered them in place and then filled in the holes from the bumper shocks, then I filled the rest of the holes with filler. I honestly don't recommend doing it this way. If I did it again I would weld patches into the holes and then fill it from there. On a side note when I finish mine I will leave the shock holes and some of the rear dimples and what not and only fill in the holes made when I broke the spot welds.

Not long after all that I decided that the paint had to go because there was no way that a body shop would be able to match all the spots that were on the car. I found the easiest method for me would be to use chemical stripper. So I went to the local Autozone and picked up some aircraft remover. Found this under the paint....no big deal i guess I realized the engine I had in it would be too expensive to rebuild so I decided to wait. I found a 1981 280zx turbo on craigslist for $1100 that came with megasquirt installed in it and running well. I made the choice that this car would be the perfect donor for my project. So here are some pics of the donor, the car is in rough shape but the engine runs great! Ill try and continue this tomorrow I got to get to bed....

Ok sorry for the late update. Right after I bought the car I did what most 280z owners do I got rid of the huge bumpers. Here are some pics of what it looked like.... A year after purchasing the car and driving it the timing chain tensioner broke which led to a bunch of problems but left me the oppurtunity to restore and upgrade. So while the engine was down I started tearing into the car. Here are some pics of the car when I started the break down...

The body is in great shape, minor rust and it is completely straight. My plans are to take the L28et out of my 1981 ZXT and the megasquirt and put it into the 78.

All of those photos are from the day I purchased it. Ill post some from the last two years tomorrow.

more photos!

Hey all! My name is Steven. Ive been lurking around for a while trying to decide how long id wait to start this, and how exactly I would start it. Well ill start with a background....I bought the car two years ago. I passed the car everyday while I took my girlfriend home for about a year. I one day worked up the courage to go and knock on the owners door. The z was not for sale when i spoke to the gentlemen but I knew I had to own the car. I bugged the owner for two weeks and eventually pried it out of him that if someone came to him with 1700 dollars that he would contimplate selling his beloved car. The next day i showed up with 1700 cash and a bill of sale filled out with all of my information. I showed him that i had the money and told him if he lets me know by the end of the day that I would be there with a flat bed to get it. I left, he called 45 minutes later and told me to come and get it before he change his mind. So I decided to give up my work on the 240sx scene and start on my first s30. I am the cars third owner, the man I bought it from owned it since he was 19. It had 73000 miles on it when I got it. All of the engine accessories were all original datsun no remans or replacements, spark plug wires and air filter along with the oil filter were all nissan/datsun parts. The man took car of this car! He sold it to me with all of the original paperwork that he had for it: the window sticker, owners manual, epa estimate paperwork and sales paperwork. The car was purchased by a couple in Savannah georgia in 1977 and they used a 1970 something MG Midget as a partial trade-in. Ok so enough of the story here are a bunch of pics from when I bought it. Enjoy!

any word on the crossmember? have you taken it off the car yet? Also what shape are the all the bolts in that connect the fenders to the car and the ones that hold down the cowl panel?(as in are they rusted out or just missing paint?)

i need the trans crossmember to 30008

that guy sold them out from under me, so im still looking for them if anyone has them for a good price.I have cash in hand, if i dont hear something by saturday im ordering them full price so please anybody!!!

thanks srbigbutt, but i was wondering how do the msa kits compare to the energy suspension ones?

like the title says looking for a good priced energy suspension kit. i dont care red or black. let me know a price shipped to 30008. looking to buy before the weekend! i have cash!!!

pics please!!!!ill show mine if you show yours:mrgreen:

dont be lazy