ZR8ED Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 ZR8ED’s New additions. The saga continues. Well its that time again fellow Z’rs to settle down for the winter, make plans to repair what you broke this year, and what you plan to rebuild, replace, or upgrade for the next Z season. Well that’s how it works for most. Not me. I’m a “Z aholic†My story. As some will remember, I have been driving a 2003 Altima 3.5 SE with some minor upgrades. Beautiful car, great handling, wicked acceleration and braking with traction control and heated seats it’s a comfortable winter vehicle. Great car. Not the greatest car to buy when saving for a house. So I decided to sell it to save the payments and insurance. It was a quick sell and I took the usual loss on selling such a low mileage new car. No problem I say “I’m going to have some cheap driving that will recover the cost of the car, and save me money.†(Remember the “Z aholic†part?) I figured I could maintain a Z for less money than any other car I could buy. “I have lots of spare parts†I told myself. “I have lots of knowledge and experience with Z’s too.†I really am a true Z man, and I just feel comfortable driving a Z. It just feels like “meâ€, my personality, Its what I am. So I searched for a suitable Z to drive as a daily driver, and ended up finding a nice 1982 280ZX 2+2. Dark blue, black leather, 16†TSW wheels newer engine and 5 a speed. Pretty much everything worked. It had a power steering leak at the boots, but the guy had new ones ready to install. It also had a problem with stalling. Everything else was good enough for a daily driver. So I go to get it certified. I replace the steering boots and needed some power steering stop leak to finally fix the last drip. I redid all of the brakes, the rears were seized solid, and the fronts just needed pads and rotors. I found 1 tire with belt separation; the others were ok, but “just okâ€. So I replaced all 4 with all seasons. The windshield washer bottle was missing, so I used the one for the headlight washers. The windshield wipers had the typical Verrry slowww action. I dismantled and lubed all the linkages and wire connectors, and got them working as good as new. One seat in the back needed a new seatbelt, and I got one from a friend. I traced the stalling problem to the ignition box on the side of the dizzy and replaced with one from that same friend. Everything was great, until one morning. No headlights or running lights or heater fan. More searching though the wires and I figured it was the switch, but had no time to mess with column switches. So I ran some fused wire and installed new switches and replaced one suspect fusible link. No problems. Everything works again. I’m still not sure what’s going on with them, but as long as they work, I won’t argue. It now runs well and gets me to work everyday. Almost. Except for some oil on the driveway and some mysterious antifreeze. I must also have a vacuum leak because the heater in the car doesn’t work well. A few more weeks go by when I noticed I had to top up my clutch fluid. Then again, and again, now more frequently. I find out the master cylinder is leaking. Ok. I order a new clutch master cylinder. I top up the fluid and take the car to my Z club meeting in January. The next morning I take the car after work to get the master cylinder, and notice an odd yet familiar noise. Guess what? The engine just turned 160,000km. I know this because when I checked under the hood to top up the clutch fluid before I went to the shop to replace the master cylinder, I see the fan wiggling badly, and the water pump leaking coolant. I now need a water pump. I take the car to the shop to have the master cylinder and now the water pump replaced. While it’s in the shop, the mechanic tells me he’s found a mysterious oil leak. AhHa! I now need an oil pressure sender because it is dripping oil. I should be good for a long time I hope. This “drive an inexpensive car so I can save money†isn’t as cheap as I had hoped. I’m still way better off money wise compared to driving a new car. Even though the leather is a bit cool in the winter mornings it sure turns heads as I drive around, and I hear lots of “hey man, what kind of car is that?†“nice jaguarâ€, and “hey that car is older than me!†I feel real good when driving the car, and it brings a smile to my face. Even when a flicker of rage comes over me when it gives me a new challenge to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Oil pressure sensot - been there done that on my '83ZXT... Water pump - mine took out the fan when it went... AFM to turbo boot - replaced when it failed - the people that put the T3/T4 in LEFT THE SPRING OUT that keeps it from collapsing. Found another one and cut it to fit, along with removing, cutting the spring and getting it back in - NOT FUN! Other than that - 176K miles and still goin' strong. (Did replace alternator w/a 130 amp Taurus unit, and have changed Digital to analog dash, and on general principles converted to manual HVAC)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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