Aaron 75280z 1975 280zt

[75280z]

Took her out for the first time since last summer more than 3 miles from my house tonight. The Mrs. and I went to the theater . We saw Beauty and the Beast. The car handled amazingly, and I even got several thumbs up and compliments. Here are some pictures remember this is my wife so no crazy comments or I will have to come through this internet and make you apologize.

 

 

 

[75280z]

Guess what I found today I will give you a hint, there is a picture below .

 

That is correct I found a competition hood scoop pretty stoked!

Edited March 16, 2012 by 75280z

[75280z]

SO now that I have the scoop I am trying to decide. I don't want to go through the trouble to match the beat up hood to my car's current paint scheme.

 

Question Time:

DO I bite the bullet and get the hood and scoop matched?

Get the hood matched paint the scoop black?

Paint the whole hood black including the scoop and have a gloss black hood with racing stripes over the rest of the car?

[billseph]

Since you've got the stripes I think you should match the hood to the rest of the car...black scoop would look good with that. A red stripe down the middle of the scoop might look goofy.

Put a pic facing the front of the car with the scoop set on the striped hood...I want a visual, cuz I love racing stripes and those scoops are friggin' badass!

[75280z]

I think since I have the crappy hood on hand I will go ahead and shoot it black and see what it looks like before I cut into my hood. The old hood was not cut, it is now .I will get a photo of the scoop sitting on my car, it will sit up a little high though since the mounting studs are inlayed into the hood scoop.

 

Edited March 17, 2012 by 75280z

[75280z]

Well instead of enjoying the car for the next few months like I was going to I started cleaning up some wiring. Tonight started with me just wanting to get the little switches on the door to cause the dome light to turn on, then I looked at the dash and thought hey why don't I just take that out I have always wanted to any way. Well I went out to the garage at around 11:00pm and it is now 4:40am and the dash is out. My lights worked should I leave them alone? Or should I upgrade to the 4Watt bulbs that MSA sells? Link http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/45-4330 . I am tired but I think I will watch the sun rise then go to sleep. This is what happens when the wife and kids are out of town I can't sleep so I work on my car. I probably shouldn't have pulled the dash, but you know what they say about curiosity.

 

I haven't had an AC since I did the turbo swap just been carrying around dead weight I will be removing the rest of the AC parts.

I have no idea what these are this whole thing somewhat started when I saw those and was pretty sure I didn't need them.

Heater Core vent stuff I think I am going to try and find a good replacement for that foam all along the outside of the housing

Just some empty space

When my car sat for 5 years in a shed at my family's farm mice got into it this is some of the junk I got out

Some Shots of the back of the dash I will post some pictures of the cracks in the dash that the cap covers in a few days.

[75280z]

No real pictures today, I cleaned up the wiring on the passengers side if you look at the first page the interior shots under the dash is a big rats nest of wires once I got the dash out I worked on getting that all back clean and not 5,000 wires hanging everywhere. It was a successful day. I set the dash back in place, I have not bolted it in though. I will try and get that done tomorrow. I am not pulling an all night work on the car-athon tonight.

 

I am hoping that since I took out some wiring it wasn't feeding something that it wasn't originally as I went by the FSM and took out things I didn't need like the AC relays and things like that. I found out why my heater and other parts never worked I took out some stuff years ago in my high school days that I thought were emissions type stuff it was my vacuum parts I need to switch from vents to heater and such. I still have them stored in my parts cars back on the parents farm I am going back in May I will try and pick them up then.

 

If all goes well the car will hopefully be fired back up again tomorrow and I won't have screwed anything up.

[75280z]

Well the car has a dash again. I also fixed most of the rats nest under the dash. I don't have everything hooked back up and found out it is pointless to hook back up the vent and heater controls since I took out the other parts long ago, so they are just sitting there. I will be fixing this in the future. My hazards aren't working they haven't since I owned the car I do believe it is because of the flasher being bad. I will be picking up a new one and seeing whether that fixes the problem. I didn't do everything I wanted to under the dash, but I now know I can take it out and put it back in and that is what I really wanted to find out.

 

Here is the reason I started on Friday I was just going to clean this that way the dome light would work with the doors. They are working now, again something that hasn't worked in the whole 10 years I have owned the car. It is crazy all the things left to do on this car. I love it!

 

Some spaghetti.

 

The back of the fuse box I eliminated 2 things that had fuses. That means I have 2 free spots on my fuse box for things later.

 

Started to button it back up.

 

All finished on the passengers side

 

 

Around the megasquirt unit is cleaned up.

 

I realized I havent got the after video for my exhaust or the after shots for my ride height I will try and rectify that today.

[75280z]

Old exhaust. Skip to 1 minute 23 seconds

 

New exhaust, yes it looked like it spit on the floor. It was water. Also I hope you like my BCGs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REEhVutlB1w&feature=youtu.be

Edited April 3, 2012 by 75280z

[75280z]

So my fuel pump is driving me crazy it is so loud. So I went searching and found it might be caused by the fact I had it mounted vertically so I hacked up the existing mounts to allow for a horizontal mounting. I am also going to try and run 5/8's line until right before and then step down to 3/8s like the intake is.

 

I am also finally going to take her on the track on July 7th for the first time. I am excited to see what she can do, I also have new tires coming in this week before the track day. All in all it should be a great 4th of July week. Some pictures

 

The mount originally was solid all down the side, so I cut a big hole in it to mount the pump horizontal. I don't love the 90 degree elbow, but it used to be a 90 degree elbow straight up at least this is all mostly parallel.

Now the fuel line will run beside the pump then loop back to it, I am planning on putting a different fuel filter there hopefully with a bigger inlet and outlet.

 

I took off my inspection lid in prep for the track. The turbo engine makes a lot of heat and I have no vents. I figure while this isn't the best vent, it is much better than nothing.

[75280z]

The re positioning of the fuel pump was a HUGE success.

 

I finally broke down and bought performance tires for the Z.

So the clutch slave cylinder bit the dust today, better today then on the track, so I went and got a new one, I then decided I wanted to change the front brakes tonight rather than tomorrow, so I changed those. HOLY COW they were worn, I apologize car and all others on the road that I drove by in the past while. Pictures below.

 

Ride Height Before the new tires, I was on 205/60 r15s moved to 205/50 r15s.

Front

 

Rear

 

Old Tires compared to front wheel wells

 

New Ride Height after I got the new tires.

Front

 

Rears

 

MMMM meaty!!

 

 

Rear end just because I cleaned her up a little for the first time in several months.

 

Clutch slave cylinder out with the old, in with the new.

 

Front brakes out with the old in with the new.

[75280z]

Well I went to the track it was AWESOME. Except my radiator cap was not up to par. So I spewed quite a bit of coolant today I am supposed to run a 13psi and mine was only holding a 7psi. I bought a new cap on my way home, and will be setting up an overflow system for next time. Here are the only real 2 photos I got today, sorry I meant to take more, but I just enjoyed the conversations and drove a lot. The car handled amazing, I am using tockico blues and eibach springs. The tires (dunlop direzza star specs 205/50r15) had loads and loads of grip I cannot get over how great the overall car felt. I will be pulling the tires to check the brakes, but they didn't fade to badly, and did a great job for just some OK brakes. I cannot tell you all how happy I am to have driven her out there, flogged her, and driven her home. All in all one of the best Saturdays in a long time.

 

Right before I went out on the first run.

 

On the back straight I hit a speed over 100 I just don't exactly know what. Thanks to my friend Blake for snapping the picture he called it "White knuckled" I agree. The car felt really stable though.

[30 ounce]

Good to see you at track day. I'll post some pics & video when I get them processed.

[75280z]

Please excuse the blog dump from my other build thread. Please see below.

 

12 July

Well the radiator started leaking really bad out of the bottom again so I decided to bite the bullet and order a new radiator I am going to chance it and use a Champion 3 row from Ebay. I am going to get a shroud of some sort and revise my cooling system. I am also getting tired of the crappy wiring inside my engine bay I might re-wire my megasquirt in the next few months. I enjoy just jumping in and driving it though so I don't know if I plan on taking it out of commission for very long until the winter. I want to get out to the track one more time if I can before the year is over, it was the funnest experience I have ever had in that car.

 

Posted 22 July 2012 - 12:35 PM

I have the new radiator it looks nice, I also got a new set of seat belts. These are the DOT approved 4 point Shroth harnesses. I was more then happy to get rid of the the old 5 point that was mounted incorrectly. I was going to switch back to 3 point retractables, but after my visit to the track I am more happy with the added holding power of a 4 point. So I went ahead and picked them up and will be mounting them to the stock position. The problem is the rear mounting strap is to long, and the harnesses are to short to mount to the ceiling so I am going to have to order in some metal seat belt extenders just to get an extra 6" and have them mount correctly.

 

I have yet to decide what I am going to do about the cooling system. I think my coolant temperature sender unit was bad, but I couldn't pull it out, and now I have buggered up the Thermostat housing so badly that I have to get a new one. I have a 2 bolt thermo housing that I am going to attempt to use it should hopefully clean up that area a little bit any way. I also picked up a thermostat, I know my old one worked but I figured for 10 bucks might as well pick up a new one. I have a termperature sender on the way.

 

My fuse box cover got stepped on while I was driving around which means my nice 35 year old cover is now gone anyone know where I can get another one?

 

Posted 28 July 2012 - 12:05 AM

Sorry for yet again another picture-less update I got the radiator in, the fan mounted, the front plate relocated, The temperature gauge working again, the 4 Points installed using the original mounting points, and megasquirt to hook up to my phone via Bluetooth, my netbook is being stupid and not working with the bluetooth dongle I have so I still have to plug in to change settings in Tunerstudio.

 

I ended up using a different thermostat housing I pulled off a head I sold a while back, the problem is the housing had one of the top cover threads stripped about halfway out which meant I had to use a longer bolt and go down farther, the problem is there isn't very much thread there, I will be keeping my eye out for a replacement in the near future. I am hoping to go to the mountains tomorrow, don't know if I am, but if I do I will try and get some pictures.

 

 

28 July

The new radiator and thermostat worked great the car didn't get over 190 the whole time. I didn't set any land speed records but I had a great time. I am now setting up a mount that allows me to have my phone on the dash so I can see the megasquirt gauges with my phone. It also has an opening so I can get video while driving. I didn't make any stops today so I just snapped a few pictures along the way. The worst part about making the drives up there is while you are driving you don't get to look at stuff. The weather was perfect this morning and the car ran great, it was a nice little hundred mile drive with some beautiful views, the car did well and I really want to get back up there, but next time with the wife and maybe a picnic basket.

 

Heading back from the mountains

Back to civilization

Almost Home

 

29 July

When I got home yesterday I washed her before putting her in the garage. I bought a phone mount to use as a gauge pod for my phone and Megasquirt. It also doubles as a video camera holder aka my phone. I will take some video next time I go up into the mountains. I did do something I have wanted to do for quite a while I weighed my car today.

Just gave her a bath, I moved the tag to try and allow for more air to enter the front opening. The new radiator and thermostat have been awesome with keeping up the past couple days.

 

Yup 2560 lb's this thing weighed 2800lb from factory, and I swapped in a 280zx turbo engine and a 5 speed tranny, This was also with no driver, a 3/4ths tank of fuel, spare tire, jack, and everything in there including my netbook and charger, what I am saying I didn't prep the car for weighing just took her there. I am pretty happy with a 2500lb car.

[75280z]

8 August

The wife already gave me the go ahead to go back out to the track September 8th, that is the next Z day. SO I figure I should get a few more things done to make her ready. I am changing the rear mustache bushings right now, blue tech tips suggest burning them out, but I live in a culde-sac on a military base and if I start burning stuff in front of my house I could get in trouble. SO I am trying a slower approach just letting Lacquer thinner loosen it and get them out I will report back whether it worked. I had a heck of a time getting it back in that was because I had the wrong washer put on the bolt like an idiot.

 

[75280z]

I have the car up on jack stands I have a bit of an exhaust leak somewhere that smells bad, but still super fun to drive. I have the mustache bar back in and just need to re-install the heat shield under the car. I also took apart my rear wheel cylinders and cleaned them up and re-bled the brake system. I am looking at some Riken mesh wheels they are 15x7, if they are lighter than my swastikas I will try and convince the wife to let me get them, anyone know what type of lug nuts they require? Or have a legitimate weight on then, because I can't find actual weights on them. I have tech inspection on Saturday and another track day on the 8th of September I am pretty stoked!

Edited August 29, 2012 by 75280z

[75280z]

Another picture and thread update from my build thread over at Ratsun.net.

 

POSTED 5 December 2012___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Holy Cow it has been a while. I haven't been completely inactive on the Z. I unfortunately didn't get to take the Z to the track that day as my wife needed me to watch one of the kiddos while she took the other two. So we went on a spirited drive through the mountains where I ruined one of my rims since I forgot to tighten one of my wheels lug-nuts all the way and didn't realize what was happening until way to far in. I ruined the lug holes in the rim. I am getting a knocking from one of the rear struts I don't know whether it is blown (they were bought slightly used) or I just need to take it apart and have a look. I also think next year might be time to invest in a better exhaust.

So since then here is what I have done. I got another set of Swastika rims moved my tire to a new one. Replaced the front lug nuts (They were all sorts of beat up). Replaced the front wheel bearings. I also got a slight bit of while I am at it and replaced the front brakes with the 4 piston calipers from the 4x4 toyota (Non-vented rotor). I haven't been driving it much, I have been working a LOT and really just haven't had time to enjoy her like I like too. Here are a few pictures sorry I forgot to get pictures of the new calipers.

I moved the datsun Sticker to above the plate I saw someone else had it there and really liked it.

Out with the old grease and bearings.



New Lugs new races

Old rotors (they were in spec, and those those are my shoes!

Cleaned up

old frozen calipers

Hardware all cleaned up, well most of it

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Posted 12 July 2013 - Yes another 6 months of sitting.

Well I would love to say I have been out driving, and that is why I haven't updated, but that is not the case. I replaced the wheels and brakes, and all that stuff and she has pretty much been sitting except for a few run arounds the past couple months. I have also moved houses as well as got a promotion and switch positions in my work 2 times since last time I posted. Life is busy.

No pictures today, but I finally bought a vaccum pump so I can bleed brakes by myself. I bled the brakes and clutch today, so that was fun. I also completely started from scratch with my Spark and VE tables in Megasquirt. I did this after reading several hours of posts and theory over at Hybridz.org. My car is already starting better and reacting to throttle better. It has been raining and storming constantly and with my shift work I do I haven't been able to get out to drive her often. I am gonna try and take some trips in the car over the next few days. I wish I had more pictures to show off, but I can't seem to find the pictures of me finishing up the work above it has been sitting done for months. I hope to get some more updates soon. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Getting ready for the track day Sept 14th 2013 I did some more stuff. The main thing is I fixed the windshield wipers (which have never worked) and got a great day at the track, and a drive through the rain out of it.

Originally Posted 11 Sept 2013

I have been working on her again, no real cool pictures sorry, I took off the cowl today, I fixed the windshield wipers, I now have fully functioning windshield wipers which means I can drive her in the rain! I have checked all the fluid levels they are good. If nothing bad comes up I will take her to the track on Saturday, there should be some pictures after that event. 

I did some tuning in the past few days she is accelerating much quicker, and isn't hesitating as badly as she used to. If all goes well at the track, I will be adding a boost controller, and an intercooler this winter. This will allow me to use more than just the bottom half of my VE table in Megasquirt. 

______________________________________________________________________________________

14 September

Accelerating is much better now, but she still hesitates a smidge the track was AMAZING today! My camera died with only like 10 pictures taken sorry. I will upload a video to Youtube of one of my runs, be gentle with me. It was an awesome day I know what the car needs now and so the new checklist begins.

 

 

Ron Tyler Differential Mount

Better brakes

Maybe it just needs better pads

Better Brake Fluid

 

The car is definitely quick enough, now it just needs to stop and not clunk every time I get on the accelerator. 

 

 

 

This M3 was very very fast!

 

Another Turbo Z, his is a 240z.

 

 

 

 

 

They are porsches who can say no?

 

 

 

 

The lotus driver was Super cool, along with the Porsche that park behind him (I didn't get a picture of it it was a carrera, and I got to ride in it)

 

 

 

Alpha anyone?

 

I also got to ride in Jeff Winters car it is very cool, loud and fast, the most amazing part is watching him drive it, and how well it handles.

 

[75280z]

Originally Posted 17 September

So I tried taking my car to work today, but it kept dying. I traced it down to the wiring harness going into the relay board was getting jostled and not seating well. I am tired of the relay board sitting in the engine bay like it is. My goal is to take the relay board out of the engine bay (farther away from the turbo) and clean up the wiring, because lets be honest here, my wiring was pretty ugly. So before shots are below I hope to remove that disgusting wiring mess. And wish me luck. 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Originally Posted 

 

Progress is slow, because I am trying to be very methodical.

 

I am going to replace my battery terminal clamps as well. I am making progress. I am running a good chunk of the wiring along the intake, along the fuel rail. I found a long chunk of very nice wiring loom with like 10 wires bundled together that I will be using as best I can to keep everything tidy. I will not be sealing all the solders up until after I see the car start (learned that lesson the hard way.) I also added terminals to the power and ground for the relay board so I no longer have to de-solder when I need to remove it. Picture dump below.

 

 

The relay board cleaned up

 

 

Megasquirt itself

 

 

The new location for the relay board

[75280z]

More progress over the past couple days. I made a mounting plate for the relay board to make sure it stays in its place. After I did that I kept running wires. I am about to be on my weekend (I work a weird schedule) and should hopefully get it running again in the next few days. I ordered the Ron Tyler Differential mount, but Paypal pre-filled my permanent address, and I forgot to check, so it ended up at my parents. So I was going to do that in the next few weeks, but that will have to wait until I pick it up when I see my parents in October. I think the engine bay is going to look much nicer here in a few days! It has been going well I haven't had to much trouble, but I am trying to be very methodical and label everything! Here are some photos of the progress, I forgot to get a picture of the finished wiring in the wheel wells I will try and get that tomorrow.

Added some spade connectors to my relay board for easy removal

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two out of three of my little helpers!

[75280z]

Things are still moving on the wiring project. I didn't like the way the new harness area was looking. So I ran the wires under the relay board, and will clean up the harnesses behind it tomorrow. I got it all hooked up today except the electric fan relay, I will do that tomorrow, and clean up all the wiring. I am pretty pumped for the engine bay to look clean! Pictures below. It didn't start when I tried, it wasn't getting spark. I traced it to the resistor wired in line off of the 280zx dizzy. It wasn't hard to figure out, and when I repaired the break it fired right up. Tomorrow I will clean it all up!
 

I didn't like the way this looked.

 

So I changed it to this.

 

 

New quick connect battery terminals I really like them, but need to clean up the wiring before I say I am done with them.