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Nick's 76' 280z resto-mod


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I got the "itch" to start wrenching on a new project. I had a lot of fun with previous truck project (4g63 swap into a mighty max)but this time around I wanted a platform that would be good at all things, not just going straight, and looking good while doing it. I'm a Z guy at heard and currently have a 04' 350z track as a dd. I like the car but there is something special about the older s30's...something a bit more pure and honest. Maybe its the lack of all the airbags and safety equipment lol. I was inspired to start digging into what the aftermarket had to offer for the S30 chassis (240z, 260z, 280z). I liked what I saw so I figured I would go pick one up.

 

My goal for the car is a complete frame-up restoration with a v8 engine swap. Nice paint, wheels, new interior...the works, just enough to make for a nice street car not necessarily a race car. I'm likely to get flamed for not putting in a 2jz, 4g or rb motor but really, in my mind a proper v8 just seems to fit the car's "personality" really well. I love turbo motors but there is something about the instant torque of a big v8 that could be really nice in a light little car. So, on with the project:

 

Found this in a field, bought it for $50. It's a 1976 280z.

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Talking to some people doing this same swap, they prefer the 280z chassis. As most people on here know, datsun made these cars out of very thing gauge sheet metal with the original 240 being the thinnest (and lightest). The problem was they car would flex like a noodle with a 400hp v8 under the hood (or so I've been told). The major problem with cars or this vintage, they all have some rust. I was almost going to pick up a bmw 2002 but there would have been nothing left after it got sandblasted. the car litterally fell apart in my hands :( The Z I found is a better looking car with more potential anyways. There is some light rust on this particular Z but nothing like the old bmw I looked at. It's to be expected and really doesn’t bother me too much. 99% is just surface rust. There are minor areas that will have to be cut out (rocker panel and below the battery)

 

Getting it home...

 

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Pretty gross...(I'll call this the before picture)

 

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Starting to strip it out...

 

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Taking the engine out...

 

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Taking out the rear suspension...(sorry for the overexposure)

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Stripped it completely down and put it up on a rotisserie. Scraping all the undercoating is not fun but is necessary. Next step was to take it to the sandblaster so I can see exactly what needs to be done to patch up the rusty parts. I managed to scrap myself with a piece of sharp metal which turned into a hideous staph infection.

 

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Taking it to the sandblasters...the gray mighty max is my turbo truck. There is something really satisfying about using an old project to help out the new one. It would have towed the trailer probably better than the jeep except I don't have a tow hitch :(

 

Off to the sandblasters finally!

 

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Sandblasting is done. No big surprises...

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You can see the section of firewall near where the battery sat that I cut out. There are a few other rust spots that I cut out but all of them are easy to patch since they are all flat surfaces.

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Started to paint some small things: cross member, roll bar, steering rack. Ill powder coat some stuff eventually.

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I took a look at the steering rack.

I love how simple manual racks are. The whole thing weighs maybe 15 pounds. It goes with the theme of the car I guess. It has ZERO play. Even the smallest twist of the shaft pushed the tie rods. Im pretty happy about that. I greased the rack with some mulipurpose moly lube and called it good. I ordered new boots for the rack too.

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Patching it up etc... so here is the pic as of today, we just dropped it off at the shop so work can commence when all the patch pieces and sheet metal arrive.

 

nothing to major showed its ugly face after the blasting was done so Horray!!

 

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So today work started on the rust repair and the stitch welding of the entire chassis.... so only a little update.

 

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Also, ordered some frame rail reinforcement...weld right over the stock one.

 

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Between the stitch welding, strut bars, and new frame rails, it should be a stiff SOB.

 

More stitch welding etc...Waiting for the tubing notcher to get here to finish the X brace.

 

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That is where I'm at as off today. Feel free to chime in. Throw some critisism my way too, you won't hurt my feelings :) I've never done a project this detailed so I'm "winging" most of it. Thanks for looking!

Edited by nick-james
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  • 3 weeks later...

Started to apply some POR15. If you've never used the stuff, its amazing. The only thing its sticks to better than metal is skin. I managed to kick over a can of the stuff and spill about $50 of it all over the floor. It still pisses me off that I managed to do that.

 

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New frame rails should be here soon, then its time to rotate the car so we can weld and coat the underside of the car. Still pondering if a stock ls1 would suffice or if I should go big and do something wacky like a supercharged ls2 etc...

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Hi all, I am Anthony ,the guy who's shop the car is residing at, so I figured an update was necessary, i'll just copy and paste the latest post from our local forum, enjoy!

 

Okay boys, and girls time for an update, sorry there hasn't been one from me in a while. We have been working hard on the underside of the car, patching metal that was previously deteriorated from rust, cleaning and using POR-15 to completely seal the entire bottom of the car, and we have about got the entire underside of the car completed. Here are some pics of progress.

 

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Next weekend the new frame rails will be welded over the old ones, and we plan to fabricate the brake lines as it should be easier to do with the car on it's side, rather than have to lay on our backs under the beast and try to do it that way. Stay tuned for some updates.

__________________

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Alrighty ladies and gents... time for another installment of nicks z-car restomod. Today I finished most of the brake lines, the rear are complete, the fronts still need finished. Major progress was made on the braking system however. I also painted the underside of the passenger front wheel well that I had fiber glassed and welded up holes on last week. I also brushed the rear strut bar and coated it in fiber glass resin that will be later wet sanded and polished to a mirror shine. So on to the pictures!

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Nick and I found a 77-78 vented Hood in almost perfect condition at the Z-Doctor's shop and scored a very good deal on it and a set of vents. Thanks Guy for coming through for us! Nick spent a good part of the day going through the body harness eliminating wires we don't need.

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Hi and welcome.

I was looking at your pictures and I was looking at your brake lines. I looked closer and I think you got the splitter upside down. The nipple for the brake switch is supposes to face up.

Cheers,

 

 

You know, I was wondering the same thing myself about it being upside down ( I didn't disassemble the car) But will it really matter, fluid flow should be the same either way correct?

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This is pretty epic. I love seeing how all of this stuff breaks down, Please update more.

 

 

Thanks! We both have some time this week we are working very hard to get the body in shape, so stand by for a very large update this weekend along with the color choice we picked!

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I think I've decided on a color: metallic merlot red. We sprayed a patch panel and it looks nice but im still waiting to see what it looks like in the sun...when we get any.

 

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Also got a christmas gift, leather momo competition wheel. Such a nice wheel!

 

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Anthony has been buzy cutting out the driver's side rear quarter panel and replacing it with a new one. He will post some pics later. While he's been doing body work, I've been busy going through the wiring harness. I plotted out a full color diagram of the harness to guide me but I ran into some issues: The little criters that called my car home for many years managed to chew up a lot of the wires and plugs. Why on earth they are compelled to chew on plastic and metal, I have no idea. Despite that, I got it mostly layed out on the ground and running off a trickle charger. It was a messy operation and I had to use plenty of gator clips for all the body grounds but I got the lights to work. I had the realiztion that for what I need, the amount of wires that the stock harness has is way overkill for its new use. Circuts like the auto-antenna, A/C, engine wires, seat belt switch and door buzzer can all go away. So even if the harness wasn't being chewed on by criters, its still a 35 year old outdated design (glass fuses?). I made up my mind that it would be so much simpler and more fun to just start from scratch and order a universal 12 circut harness. Wiring would be cake and it would be far more reliable and easier to track down any electrical gremlins that might come up. I like the 12 circut paneless kits. Anyother suggestions?

 

Oh, also ordered a fuel cell. Should be here by next weekend.

Edited by nick-james
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Alrighty, as requested here are some pics of this weeks work, the drivers rear quarterpanel needed cut out and replaced and the drivers door needed all the old filler ground out and needed fixed the correct way. So we cut up the car and welded in a new quarter panel and roughed out the body work.

 

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Here is the 7foot drawing of the wiring diagram that Nick printed and we will use to help reconstuct parts of the wiring harness that will be kept, all the rest will be custom and the entire harness will be tucked nice and neat like.

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  • 1 month later...

I ordered a 15 gallon fuel cell. It's a pretty nice unit.

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Installed flush with the floor. The way it sits, its not track legal because there is no barrier between the fuel tank and the interior. Meh, I don't really mind. It looks cool and I don't really plan on taking it to the drag strip.

 

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The stock wiring is a complete disaster. Little critters had been crewing on it and its just overly complicated. I ordered a 20 circut, micro fused wiring harness from EZ-wire. It's a nice kit and it comes with the gm connection for alternator, ignition and steering column assembly. This kit also solved the poor wiring to the headlights too.

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Just a small update. I've mostly been hibernating in the winter. :)

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