Serban Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Hey everyone, I recently just traded my convertible 240sx for a 280z, If you look at both cars, mechanically and body condition, the other guy got the better end of the trade....but I always wanted a Z, so it was well worth the trade! That was the 240...it was put back to stock, and then traded for this... I drove 3 hours from Fort Lauderdale, to Orlando to get it. Didn't want to risk driving it home, since the owner told me the car had a slight hesitation...which ended up being a bad injector. As of now, the immediate plans are: Get engine running 100% (maybe even 95%) Replace suspension bushing Start fixing rust Engine hesitation turned out to be a bad injector. So instead of doing what any normal person would do and just change out that bad injector, I decided I didn't like the stock fuel "rail" so I pulled off the whole intake manifold and sent it off to a friend to make me a rail, and put some better injectors on it. What a rat's nest. This is a CA car, so I'm assuming it's got extra emissions stuff I will need to get rid of. That's better. See you in a few weeks manifold. I also decided that the rear park bench, erm, I mean bumper, had to go. I will go with the bumper-less look, and eventually fill in the holes. Gas tank came out to get repainted since it had a lot of gold overspray on it. And while that was out, I might as well fix the rust in the spare tire well. Didn't look all that bad, but as I welded one patch panel, more would blow through...and this is what I ended up with. At least it;s in the trunk and no one really sees it. Gas tank painted and back in. That's it for now. This is what I've been doing in the last week. I've still got a long way to go with this car until it's something I like. I do have a set of S13 Tein Flex coilovers that will go on the car at some point, but first I'd like to get it driving right. It should be a fun project! Serban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Ben Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Awesome project! Is the rust only in the lower quarters and spare tire area? They make several patch panels for these cars. Black Dragon and thezstore will be your friend! Also, for larger repair panels, check out Tabco. Nice work so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KnuckleDuster~ Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Very nice! What kind of condition is the interior in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 Ben, thanks for the info. I just checked out black dragon and ordered a catalog Adam, the interior isn't too bad. It's very complete. But the dash is a bit crappy. Someone tried to repair it but quickly gave up. Seat covers have been replaced with cloth ones and they are in pretty good shape. Steering wheel is trashed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamo3 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Congrats to getting '75 280z! It's same as mine Look forward to seeing your progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 Some of the major rust problem areas are the lower real quarters. The front was a bit bashed up as well. I'm hoping once I get an airdam it'll hide that. Here's some small engine parts cleanup. The thermostat housing looks like it belongs on the titanic. So I pulled it off to clean it. This water fitting was a mess. Not even sure how water got through it. All cleaned up. Just waiting on some gaskets to put it all back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Ben Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 The rear sections you have in tape are like $40 bucks a piece. Its nice because you dont have to buy the whole rear quarter for those sections. Looks like someone did a bumper delete at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 I've already found someone on here who will sell me the two lower sections. As for the bumper, it was me. I pulled it off the second day after I bought the car I started doing a patch panel with some left over sheet metal I had. And pulled the trim off the driver side. Looks a lot better without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn B Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Subbed for updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super X Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Serban, you are officially my automotive doppelganger. Who else has owned a B13 se-r, NX2000, S13 240sx, Mazdaspeed3 & now an S30?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted November 8, 2013 Author Share Posted November 8, 2013 Serban, you are officially my automotive doppelganger. Who else has owned a B13 se-r, NX2000, S13 240sx, Mazdaspeed3 & now an S30?! That's actually very funny. Never thought about that. By the way, do you have any knowledge on topic of coilover tubes? I've got my Tein Flex setup from the S13 I'd like to transplant on the 280. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 (edited) Few more updates, the rear holes are all welded in. Next up, grind them down and start smoothing out the rear. Changed the rear inner control arm bushings. Could not for the life of me separate the control arm from the spindle...so I dropped the whole thing. Bushing was not there, it was just the metal sleeve. But more importantly, my manifold came back with a new rail and new set of o-ring injectors! I stripped it down and sand blasted it! Much better now. And I slowly started putting everything back together. I am still waiting on injector pigtails. Still need to run the fuel lines and regulator, and reconnect all the intake hoses on top. By the way, do you guys usually keep that heatshield between the intake and exhaust manifold on? I was thinking of leaving it off, but some of the wires may run close to the exhaust manifold. And if anyone is interested in the fuel rail and injector combo, fee free to contact me. My guy is setup to make these now. Edited November 12, 2013 by Serban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KnuckleDuster~ Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Looking good! PM me the details on the rail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 (edited) Friday was the day my injector pigtails showed up, I crudely wired them up just to see if the car will start. And it did, so I called it quits for the night and got back to working on it Saturday morning. I took it for a short drive, fumigating the entire neighborhood at no charge. I got back home and decided to let it idle for a bit, maybe the crap will work its way out. It didn't get any better, lots of white smoke, followed shortly by what looked like diarrhea coming out of every hole in that 38 year old muffler. I thought for sure the head gasket was toast, and all the coolant was making its way out of the engine, but it smelled a lot like fuel. So I further investigated, and found the culprit...one injector that's stuck open and just pushes fuel out as fast as it can. It will do this until there's no more fuel pressure in the system. This is happening with the injector unplugged by the way. So now I wait for a replacement injector to arrive. On a positive note, the car did get to leave the garage for a few minutes Edited November 19, 2013 by Serban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KnuckleDuster~ Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Always a good feeling bringing it back from the dead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osirus9 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Looking good so far. Love the look of the sandblasted manifold with the custom fuel rail. What kind of injectors did you use? I'm fairly certain my stock injectors are leaking and I was going to upgrade my injectors and fuel rail later anyway when I'm ready to turbo the car. What sort of price does your guy charge? Maybe I'll just swap rails and injectors now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Thanks. Injectors are Ford 19lb/hr which I'm told is same as stockers. Price for the setup is $300. 6 injectors, fuel rail with brackets and fittings. However you'd have to send your manifold. He didn't make a jig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zfreak Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 take your dipstick out and smell the oil. You may have to change it if it smells like gas, if you were flooding that bad. At least the injectors were only 19 lb/hr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 (edited) Oil change is definitely on the list. Did a compression test just to see if it was ok, all spark plugs removed, throttle open on a cold engine. The pcv valve was stuck. So I cleaned it out and put it back. I let the car idle a few minutes in the garage and it still smokes. I didn't see any oil coming from the muffler yet, so I don't know if the pcv was the problem and this is just residual oil burning off, or I didn't let it run long enough to activate the smoke screen, but I'll get to play with it a little more this weekend. Edited November 22, 2013 by Serban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 (edited) I've been busy with the car the last few months, lots of little repairs, and I've been driving it around a few times a week. It drinks through gas like crazy! Rock Auto has become by favorite place to shop for parts I've changed the following: Left front caliper Brake shoes 4 new brake lines Lower ball joints Outer tie rod ends Rack boots Sway bushings End links ...and probably more stuff I'm forgetting All that for less than $200 Finally picked up a set of wheels. Not 100% sure on the brand, but I'm guessing Konig Rewinds. They even came with race tires. Wheels are 15x7 with 0 offset. Tires are 225/45/15. I'm planning on getting some 225/50 tires to replace these. I even put the fart can from my 240SX exhaust on. It's temporary, but its better than original swiss cheese one. Fresh front end, no more play in the wheel. Dash cap that I got for Christmas And I moved the wideband gauge up where the clock was, since it doesn't work But now I have room for a radio! Edited February 12, 2014 by Serban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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