A musician's therapist (The $300 Z)

[jpndave]

My brake will probably handle the floors depending on how much you need to replace. You are welcome to use it.

[jpndave]

I have some electric shears that should work as well or we can just use the plasma cutter.

[seattlejester]

If you are going for stockish as in seats and such, I would grab some replacement floors if they are bad. If you have a couple holes to patch, 18 gauge is thicker than stock and would handle fine. If you are really concerned you can even go for 16 gauge, although that makes it much hard to fabricate. 

 

I knew I was going to drop my seats down to make more room. My 20 gauge floors flex. When I first noticed I asked my friend to sit in the seat and bounce up and down while I sat under the car. Noticed some deflection, the seat is mounted on 3/16 thick steel welded to a tubular frame rail so not worried, but if I had to do it again I would go with 18 gauge off the bat, or at least roll a couple beads into the 20 at the bare minimum.

[Zetsaz]

I'm going for stock seats. Had them reupholstered last spring when my dad was in Mexico. Driver side is a little bit worse. That's really the only side I might consider a whole panel for. Passenger side would just need a patch over a thumb size hole in the front, and a larger patch by the rear seat rail. Both rails will be either removed for the bad dog rails, or just have the rot cut out then hammered a bit back into shape so the bad dog rails can fit over them like they were designed for.

[Zetsaz]

Alright... so I'm trying to wire this Speedhut gauge and it's giving me a serious headache. 

 

EDIT: Problems resolved. For those curious I used the write-up by BLOZ UP here: http://www.nearwood.net/280z-speedhut-gauge-conversion/#more-336

 

The biggest help was this. This is specifically for a '77 but the wiring in my '76 is similar.

 

 

I haven't soldered the black and white sender cables to the original connector yet, but the rest for lighting is working and soldered. The sender harness is really long, so I might just run it directly back to the sending unit, especially since I have that F-Body tank and sender. Might as well eliminate any extra unnecessary connections from stuff I've removed. 

 

Currently figuring out how I'm gonna mount this thing to look mostly stock.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2015 by Zetsaz

[Zetsaz]

Gauge wiring is all done. Burned my pinky on some soldering (still stings). 

 

Routed the speedhut harness along the stock harness, will double check length later. It's about ready to go with one exception... the sensor contacts on my gm sending unit were screwed up, tried fixing it and only made things worse. From what I've read, it's not uncommon for the contacts to fail, so I might as well fix that while I'm finishing up the fuel gauge.

 

Will update later with a short video on how I fit the 2-5/8" gauge into the stock pod to look mostly original. 

[Zetsaz]

 

I was planning on flipping the original clock bezel, with some slight trimming to get the fit I wanted, but it actually won't slide into the back half of the housing if you flip it. I ended up cutting a ring from the same cardboard the gauge was shipped in and fitting it between the lock ring and the adapter to create a friction fit into the back of the housing and just placing the front half back on. Down the road when I'm replacing other gauges I might make a new ring for the friction fit. This is working well for now, but the friction fit isn't nearly as tight as I'd like because I went overboard and cut the cardboard down a bit too much.

 

 

The wires on the new gauge are routed through the same hole the original backlight would have been in. I just removed the light then the green dome. Cut into the metal just a bit with some tin snips so the wires wouldn't be bending so much and so the wider connector for the new harness would actually fit through. Extremely easy.

 

Tried to match the original font and coloring as close as I could, so I went with black back, white tics, and a white needle. Needle will light up red however. Just liked it a bit more. 

 

Sensor contacts for the sending unit in the fbody tank also arrived and work incredibly well. Much beefier and durable looking than the originals. Part is GM64 Fuel Sensor Contacts for those curious. 

Edited December 28, 2015 by Zetsaz

[Zetsaz]

Routed the new harness through the body. Not long enough to reach right were the original one is, so I ended up routing it behind the passenger seat then under the console to the gauge pod. Here's a few pics of how I left it before coming back to Washington.

 

 

After seeing one of Dave's autometer gauges here in town, I'm actually really happy I went with the Speedhut. Quality feels much better I think they look nicer overall.

This also got me connected to some 240z style turn signals which is really the look I wanted on the front end of the car. I'm really heavily leaning towards the fiberglass type 1 air dam. I like this front end look.

 

 

But I'm slightly concerned about damaging the fiberglass since it's not flexible. Might just wait until later to make an air dam decision.

[Zetsaz]

Next purchase is front air dam, but that'll probably wait until next month. 

 

Muild might be slowing down just a bit. My beater daily car that I was driving in Washington while I fixed the Z or went home to rebuild my Celica's engine died on me middle of I-5 just a couple miles from home. It'd been having some electrical issues that I thought I resolved, but I lost power within a half mile of noticing my lights dimming. Had the adventure of getting pushed across a bridge by highway patrol and coasting to an exit in the dark with no lights. Fortunately I was close to home and the tow bill wasn't too much. Shame I don't know anyone here, back in Utah I could have called any of a dozen or more friends who could have pulled me home. I think I can still fix the car and get it back to Utah at some point, but I'm definitely gonna look at buying a new daily.

 

Anyway, that being said, I'll still be slowly buying parts as I had planned, but I'm in the market for a newer more reliable car. $8k-10k. 

[seattlejester]

That's a bummer. Don't think my daily could have pulled you very far even if I could have gotten up there.

 

AAA is pretty fantastic, pretty cheap investment especially if you have a project car.

 

Cheapest place for a xenon front air dam is 4x4 plus or something of that nature, they are a xenon dealer and you can have it shipped to the store and pick it up for I think like 170 vs 200 or so other places want.

[Zetsaz]

That's a bummer. Don't think my daily could have pulled you very far even if I could have gotten up there.

 

AAA is pretty fantastic, pretty cheap investment especially if you have a project car.

 

Cheapest place for a xenon front air dam is 4x4 plus or something of that nature, they are a xenon dealer and you can have it shipped to the store and pick it up for I think like 170 vs 200 or so other places want.

 

Yeah, down the road I'll definitely have AAA. This is my first real job out of college and I've been saving loads of money, but I haven't really gotten to the point of getting on my own insurance or anything.

 

If I go with the xenon I'll definitely buy it through them, but I'm leaning towards the fiberglass type 1 dam, non-ducted. I like the classic style a little bit more and I won't really be tracking the car much, so the brake vents are really just aesthetic at that point. 

[seattlejester]

I think the type 1 does look nicer, the reason I went with the xenon one is it is poly, it bends. Given how low our cars are even at stock height and how monstrous speed bumps and such have gotten having it flex instead of crack is real nice. I've seen a guy pull up to a parking spot and just run straight into the curb and just back away with his poly lip. On the flip side my friend hit a speed bump a little too hard and his fiberglass bumper spidered, it still is breaking off chunks every now and then. 

[Zetsaz]

Never trusting autozone bench tests again. After my Maxima left me stranded I couldn't figure out the problem. I had already bench tested the alternator when I first noticed problems and it tested good. So I was without my own car here for about two weeks wracking my brain with multiple multimeter tests trying to find voltage drops in wiring, ground points, and fuses. Finally on a whim I bought a new alternator because I figured that had to be it, just like my first thoughts were. Swapped it out and what do you know... I'm back over 14v at the battery when the car is running.

 

The alternator tested good three times, and those faulty tests cost me rehearsal time when I was left on the side of I-5, a $100 towing fee, and two weeks of my social life. 

 

Next time I go into any parts store ever and I'm asked if I need help I'm just going to reply with Ron Swanson's "I know more than you." Haha

 

 

Gonna keep driving this thing and get more use out of all the recent new parts while I keep my budget as it was for the Z and keep saving to get a new daily in cash.

[1969honda]

I hate autozone electrical parts, know several shops that refuse to use them due to component failure. Of course I also have never had good customer service with them so I am biased and go to Car Quest/Napa/O'Reilly

[Zetsaz]

I hate autozone electrical parts, know several shops that refuse to use them due to component failure. Of course I also have never had good customer service with them so I am biased and go to Car Quest/Napa/O'Reilly

Yeah, I bought the new alternator from O'Reilly, but I don't even trust them all that much these days. Will probably just go through NAPA from now on.

 

Anyway, I've been test driving some newer cars now that I can get out with my beater daily, but the more cars I test the more I just want to get the Z going and bring up to Washington with me, so I'm thinking of just dumping what I would have spend on a newer car into the Z and driving that as my daily for a year or two before relegating it to a more horsepower oriented project once I get myself a nice new daily down the road.

 

That being said I'll be focusing on finishing some patching and suspension/brake work in the meantime. Going to try to keep up with my old purchase list especially since I got a nice tax return.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Zetsaz

[Zetsaz]

Tiny update: been home for a bit, but not much has been done. I haven't had as much funds as I'd like since I had to replace my daily and went for a g37 on top of not having a roommate.

 

Added some epoxy to the fuel gauge adapter to make it really sit well in the housing while still being able to unscrew it when it's out. Only complaint is that it's a little more recessed than the stock, but it's nitpicking considering it looks pretty good in there. Also spent some time redoing the hoses going from the tank to the hardlines since I had originally just thrown in whatever rubber tubing fit and they weren't rated for the higher pressure efi uses. 

 

Other than that I'm just rethinking strategy on this thing and what I want to do. In a few months when I'm back I might just finish up the rest of the major rust areas and start throwing things together to enjoy it whenever I'm in town. Just redo suspension/brakes and do a tune up, but leave it ratty looking until I'm back next summer. 

[Zetsaz]

AWESOME NEW

 

I recently found an early 240z that I picked up for $100... 

 

It's mostly all there but the whole driveline is taken apart. It has a giant hole in the passenger floor and firewall, and the area under the battery nonexistent. Other than that, the rear quarters, and the entire driver side is almost rust free. 

 

LOTS of really good parts that I'd been looking for for my 280z. The fenders, headlight buckets, early turn signals, taillights, and both bumpers need to be buffed up, but they're in amazing shape. Will probably just be using all those parts available to make my 280z look more like an early model, but I'm still checking out how bad the structural damage is to see if it's worth saving the 240z. Purists will probably say keep the early model and restore it, but I think most of the experienced crowd around here agrees that it's all just metal and these cars will never exactly be like the old 911s. 

 

Either way, pictures to come when I get home tonight, and it'd be great to get everyone's opinion. For now I'm running a band camp. Got the car into my carport at around 1 am last night. Long day and very little sleep haha

[seattlejester]

...100$ is pretty amazing!

 

I say to do whatever floats your boat, as long as you don't start calling your 280z a 240z. So many ads for 1977 240z's, drives me nuts.

 

Looking forward to the pictures!

[rturbo 930]

Purists will probably say keep the early model and restore it, but I think most of the experienced crowd around here agrees that it's all just metal and these cars will never exactly be like the old 911s

I certainly wouldn't say that, especially if it's a series one car. There's a good reason most people go for the earlier cars. As for value? These cars, especially 240Zs are going up in price and won't be going back down. No, they will never get crazy like 911 prices, but that doesn't mean they're disposable.

[Zetsaz]

...100$ is pretty amazing!

 

I say to do whatever floats your boat, as long as you don't start calling your 280z a 240z. So many ads for 1977 240z's, drives me nuts.

 

Looking forward to the pictures!

 

Yeah, i would absolutely never call it a 240z haha. A while back though there was some thread where there was discussion over whether someday early 240 prices would be enough and they would become rare enough for someone to turn a 280z into a 240z "tribute" car. That trend might be starting

 

 

 

I certainly wouldn't say that, especially if it's a series one car. There's a good reason most people go for the earlier cars. As for value? These cars, especially 240Zs are going up in price and won't be going back down. No, they will never get crazy like 911 prices, but that doesn't mean they're disposable.

I've definitely seen the value go up on them. Maybe things have changed but 7-8 years ago I would read people saying it was ridiculous to even call the early models a "series 1" because they were just slight changes throughout the years. That early models would only fetch marginally higher prices than later ones. To me it doesn't really matter, because I don't plan on selling. These have been my dream cars since I was a kid and they're purely for my enjoyment. 

 

Opinions may be swayed one direction or another when I get a chance to take pictures of the really great parts vs the conspicuously large hole in the passenger side haha.