ehren Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 I'll start with this pic. It was my final view of my 1930 Ford coupe. Real Henry Ford steel body, 400" Pontiac mill. Went 12.6 with a open 2.79 rear on 235 all season radials. I started building it when I was 21. I finished it when was 31. I turned every nut and bolt on the whole car. Did all my own fabricating and welding and built the engine. Drove it and raced it for the last 3 years. Had the time of my life in that car. But time changes all. My dad is getting up in years and I've decided that I'd like to help him build another hot rod. A real father son project. So I unloaded the old coupe for decent coin. (it went to Germany btw!) Most of the money from the hot rod, I'll be sinking into the project with my dad. But... I needed to fill that empty gaping hole in the garage... enter the 280z. I've loved these cars for a long time. The short deck and long nose is just so sexy. But I'm preaching to the choir here. Anyway, I got this car for dirt cheap. It was owned by an older gent who more or less abandoned it at his local mechanics shop. He signed the title and told the mechanic to get rid of it. I jumped on it. I've never owned one of these cars but I have a decent automotive history that has included 2 1968 Mustangs, a Grand National, 3 turbo 240sx's, a Lancer Evo, the hot rod and and currently a 350z. I never have a ton of money so I wrench on my own cars. I'm looking forward to getting in to this thing. First thing on the list - drop the gas tank and clean it out. It doesn't run and it's been sitting for about 5 years. The older gent that owned it was an ambassador or some such thing. He took this car with him when he traveled. Apparently it's been in Japan, South Africa and the Philippines... still has consulate stickers on the windshield. Even cooler, if the stories are to be believed; his wife apparently road raced it. So I'm looking forward to starting a new chapter in this little car's life. Aside from getting it running and reliable I have no definite plans. Curious to hear your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddydonuts Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 This site has a ton of information about upgrades and such, nice Z!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 Finally was able to get started on the project. I was gonna drop the gas tank out but I couldn't stand looking at those bumpers for another second. I pulled the front bumper off. I'll be doing the rear next. Gonna put some 240 bumpers on it. I was also having a really hard time pushing the thing around so I pulled the front brake pads off and sure enough its a heck of a lot easier to roll around now. Im hoping I'll get to the gas tank sometime this weekend. I'm planning to the GC coilover setup soon. I was gonna throw fender flares on it too but as Ive really started to examine the car, I think its too nice to hack it up. I'll just get some 16x8 wheels to fill out the wells and leave it at that. Hoping to have this thing on the road for next summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 Pulled the bumper off and took the fuel tank out. Not too much hassle. I continue to be impressed with the condition of this car. It appears the whole things was gone through very thoroughly at least once. I think it was originally white and it's been repainted a dark green. I've been amazed that I have not run up on a single frozen bolt yet. Also popped the valve cover off and visually inspected the valve train. Looks decent. Oil doesn't look gummed up. Wear on the cam looks minimal. I have to clean the fuel tank out. Quite a bit of varnish and rust on the inside of the tank. Plan is to use acetone to get rid of the varnish and then I'd like to try cider vinegar to eat the rust. Anyone used cider vinegar for this before? I'd like to avoid muratic acid if possible that stuff is really nasty. Last step would be to rinse thoroughly with a power washer and baking soda... I'm gonna pull the old steering wheel off now. It looks like the heat really got to it and it bubbled up like popcorn. Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 I recommend finding someone who will cut tank in half, clean it and re-weld it. I cleaned mine three different times and still had plugging of my filter and line. Just too many hidie places in there to get it clean working thru the little access holes. Super trouble free since I bit the bullet. DO NOT sand blast it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 I may have to go that route anyway. I just found a pinhole rust spot in it. bummer. Mind me asking how much it cost you to fix yours?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I paid my man $200. I pay him what he asks. He had somebody pressure test it and solder over his welds too looks totally stock (welds are on top). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Thanks for the info. That seems like a really good deal. I'll bet if I wanted something like that done in Jersey it would 2x that much. I'll ask around. Anyone on here bought one of the refurbished tanks from zcarsource.com ? I see you can get the fuel tank and a sending unit as a package deal. . . In the meantime I've gotta figure out what else I need to get this engine running. I know it needs a new AFM. Much of the rubber in the EFI system is dryrotted. Honestly I'm not sure if I even wanna mess with it. For the price a new AFM I could pick up a 4 barrel intake and throw a Holley on it. I admit it's attractive to me because I picked up a lot of experience tuning the carb on my hot rod. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Put a v8 in it and be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 I dont have that kind of budget at the moment. I 'd like to just get the l28 running for under 500$. Cruise it for a while and save my pennies for the v8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Finally some better pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Pulled the efi intake off today. 4 barell intake is on order. Man it was hot as blazes today. Gotta start reading up on the things i can ditch and what I can keep related to fuel and ignition... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfg Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Nice Project. How was it getting the Intake off? I'd like to take both the intake and exhaust manifolds off on mine but the condition of the bolts holding them on are horrific. I was up in NH the other day and nearly died of heat taking my AFM and throttle body off. That was in the shade of my garage too! Definitely been a hot week in the northeast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 wow man. yeah I suggest waiting for a cooler day. pulling the intake off wasn't too bad. .. but the bolts and nuts on mine were in decent shape. None of them were frozen or rounded off. It took me about 3 hours to take the intake off but I was working slowly and I dismantled many of the fuel lines and vacuum hoses so I could get to the bolts holding the intake on. There are 4 bolts on the top and 6 more underneath. the 6 underneath also help to clamp down on the exhaust manifold. They weren't too hard to get to. Just used a really long extension. Look for them with a flahslight. They are nuts with big washers underneath. Now that the intake is off, i could probably take the exhaust header off in about 5 minutes. I'm now debating if I should buy an MSA header. It needs a new exhaust anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted August 27, 2013 Author Share Posted August 27, 2013 Been getting a few things done to the Z. Most of it is boring (cleaning gas tank yuck.) But I haven't run the car since I brought it home. I wanted to do a compression test before I started it. Kinda thinking that was a good idea now. It's the L28. I see 155 on all cylinders except ... Number 1!! I couldn't get more than 90 out of it. So I poured a little oil in the cylinder and it immediately jumped to 160. So what do I have ? A blown head gasket or a bad ring? Keep in mind this engine has not been started in god knows how long. Seriously I have no idea how long. Possibly over 5 years. Should I just start it and see how it runs?? Or should I just call JTR................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted September 7, 2013 Author Share Posted September 7, 2013 So I bolted up the intake, poured soem fuel in the carb and fired right up. Only ran for a few seconds, but long enough to see some decent oil pressure. At this point I'm gonna get the tank put back in, hook up my low pressure fuel pump, get the carb linkage sorted, install new clutch master/slave cylinder and drive the damn thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Well its been a long winter. I have not turned a single wrench on the Z since my last post. But I've been saving my money and Ive decided its time to do the suspension. Warm weather is right around the corner thank god. Ive been making way through the FAQs and decided on a middle of the road setup. I'm gonna go with the GC coilovers and the camber adjustment bushings. I'm interested in the biscuit style camber plates that Z Car sells as well. Could anyone tell me if it will be necessary to used the Swivel bearing hats (TechnoToy) with this combo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 FAIL. what are my shock options at the moment with the Ground Control coilover setup? Guess KYBs wont take a 2.5" drop? And the Tokicos are all held up with distribution problems and Konis are listed as temporarily unavailable at MSA?? options?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Seriously, aside from konis do I have any options for shocks to mate with the ground control setup?? tokico is still having distribution issues??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 So.. It's just crazy what happens in life. I last updated this nearly 2 years ago. In the meantime My life has changed entirely. To make a long story short, I went through a divorce due to an unfaithful wife and moved to the other side of the country. I now live in Idaho and have a new job and a new wife. I am so glad to be away from NJ. That is the absolute worse place in the US to live. Trust me. In other news. I also have another Datsun! I decided to sell the green one after I realized I wasn't going to be staying on the east coast. The car still wasn't running and I didn't want to pay the cost of having it transported. I was pretty bummed when I got to Idaho and realized how hard it would be to find another Datsun. I love how sparsely populated this area (people are polite and things are more affordable) but it also means it's harder to find special interest cars. However the craziest things happen in life.... I was driving home from getting my taxes done in March last year and happened to drive by a piece of shabby looking property where two Z's were sitting out front. One had a for sale sign. I pulled in the driveway and checked out the car. He wanted 6k$ for it and that was out of my range. But as I walked toward the house and looked to my left, I literally could not believe my eyes. The dude that owns the property has been hording Z cars for like 25 years. He has approximately 200 Datsun Z's on his property in all manner of shape. Talk about serendipity. I spoke with him for about a half hour and bought a relatively rust free 77 280z for 1000$ on the spot. I felt like the Karma gods were finally giving me something back. There is no rust though anywhere on the frame or floor. I took it to a body shop and had them do a little repair work on the rockers and they knocked a dent out of the 1/4 panel. The interior is completely destroyed. I don't think there is a single usable panel anywhere. I already gutted it. The Idaho sun just wreaks havoc on old plastic and rubber. BUT I am so pleased to find so little rust on this car. I already stripped a lot of stuff out of the engine bay as well. Fortunately I held on to about 2000$ of suspension parts from my previous build and these will go in to this car. My plans are for a fox body 5.0 swap and ground control suspension. The car was repainted in the 80's with this terrible ZZ Top style paint job. I plan to repaint it the original pale metallic blue. I am so happy to have one of these cars back in my life after all the crap I've gone through in the last year and a half. I'll update with build pics soon. It feels good to be back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.