jakeoster Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Thought I'd post my project. Its a 1975 280z. $100 Z projects do exist, you just gotta get lucky. I got this one without the engine and trans and its pretty straight. The guy that was selling it was tired of getting jacked around by people that didnt have the money (it was posted for $450). So he said hed just give it to me for $100 because he was moving and his wife was getting pissed. I'm waiting on an RB25 engine and trans at the moment, however I may cancel the order and take my business else ware. -DO NOT BUY FROM JAZZPRO PARTS- they have horrible service and i am getting the vibe that they are trying to rip me for $2700 and that aint gonna happen. Anyway heres some Pics. Thanks for looking! I'll update when I get my engine -.- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 UPDATE: Got my engine. Still haven't got it out the back of the truck haha. I gotta take off the tranny to get it off with my lift. Overhead View Front View Side View with me standing behind it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 UPDATE: Went down to McKinney Motorsports in Murrieta, California. Its about an hour drive from my house and i wanted to drive over to pick up my parts and see how legit they are. I got an engine and transmission mount kit and a drive shaft all meant for a 280z and RB25 swap. The staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. They let me go check out their projects and customer cars as well. Very nice and got my parts done when they said they would. Will do business with them again. I'm going to have them do my harness for me because I am not a skilled electrician. These guys are legit and I would recommend that if anyone is doing an RB swap into a Z that you buy their mount kits and drive shaft. They are very good quality. http://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/products I have some pics below. My pops wrenching on the waterpump pulley which was a pain to get off because it was jammed on. I am going to go with an electric fan so I'm going to can the broke fan that it came with. Tranny Mount. (sorry its kind of a bad shot of it) Driver side (left hand drive) engine mount Passenger side (left hand drive) engine mount Driveshaft Had to pull the clutch off to get the engine on my engine stand and found a nice little surprise... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 Havent done anything to the car in a few days because ive been pretty busy. However I put in an order for an oil pick up and an oil pan for a 200ZR and a stock intercooler set up. I'll post pics when i get them and update when I do something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 Small update for today. I got my intercooler set up from Streeteg on this forum. Its really nice and fits like a charm. Streeteg was a pleasure to deal with, he had a reasonable price and shipping wasnt bad at all. He also sent exactly what he said he would and sent it immediatly after reciving my payment via paypal. Thanks streeteg! Also my grinder died so im kind of at a stand still on my project. I cut off one of the stock 280z triangle tranny mounts and it died half way through the second one. I need to get the other off so I can mount the tranny and engine so im kind of at a stand still. A friend of mine is going to let me use his so tomarrow ill be cutting them off. Intercooler setup Streeteg also hooked me up with the crossover pipe and stock blow off valve since mine were damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 ahhh school and a lack of oil pan has kept me at a stand still. The oil pan I ordered is on back order and should come in next week. Been lacking updates because I have nothing to update on. I need the oil pan to be able to mate the transmission and engine and align them correctly with the mounts. I will update as soon as possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 FINALLY got my oil pan and pickup! its been a long time, it got lost in shipping or something. I was so jazzed when I got it that I forgot to take pictures of them out of the box. Somehow some kind of plastic melted all over the oil pan on my engine so I had to pry it off and un bury the screws to get it off. I then got it off and replaced it with the 200ZR one, forgetting that I also had to relocate the oil dipstick which took a while. Heres a picture of the box the pan and pickup came in. Heres a picture of the oil pan on the car. This is pretty much a quick diagram I made that shows what happens to that pesky Dipstick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 I then went in and took off the stock driveshaft which was a bit of a struggle but I finally got that sucker off. To my dismay when I went to slip the one I got from McKinney it didnt fit. Come to find out I have a rear end from a 78' Z and need to take it back in. I called up Mac from Mckinny and he was real cool about it. Im going to take it up sometime this weekend or early next week to have him fix it free of charge. Heres some pics of the differances between the stock and custom driveshaft from Mckinney. Yes, My lazy self has not cut off the other stock triangle mount yet. That is coming off very soon as the engine is ready to be dropped in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 I decided to take off the wiring harness from the rb25 so I can take it into Mckinney when I bring in the driveshaft for adustments. They will wire it completely for the 280z so that its all "plug and play" for $550 which is a pretty good deal in my opinion. I am not a very good electrician so its worth the money to me just to take it in and skip the headaches. I also removed the front tires so I can put on new brake lines, pads and bushings to tighten up the cars handling. On kind of a side note, these two are my best friends right now as I get the Z running =D The good ol' San Diego Trolley My cruiser board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 15, 2008 Author Share Posted August 15, 2008 Shes ready to stuff! I am at the point of being able to mount the engine and transmission in the car! All wrapped up for the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 The day belonged to the Z. First thing was first, get the other transmission mount off so we could have clearance for the transmission to slip into he tunnel. The next order of business was to prep the engine to be put in. We got it up on the lift and wrestled it in. It took three people and a little monkeying around for about twenty minutes to get it in. Then we mounted it. As my neighbor put it so eloquently, we got the engine stabbed into the chassis. Finally both triangle mounts are off! Lifting the engine up high enough to clear the core support. Almost there! Shes in! The pops and I. The sun sets on a very productive day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 Got the wiring harness and driveshaft loaded up to take up to McKinneys tomorrow. We are going to pay to have the harness "plug and play" because were not very skilled electricians. The driveshaft has to be modified to fit because a previous owner installed a rear end from a 1978 Z and the driveshaft I ordered to fit the 208z and the RB25 transmission is for the 1975 rear end. The flange is different so it does not match up. Wiring Harness Driveshafts (orginal and the custom one that is being modified) On a side note, got a sweet laptop setup for school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 Today I drove to Murrieta, California to drop off the driveshaft and wiring harness to McKinney. I'll go and pick them up in about a week. In the mean time its time to scourer the junk yard for a radiator and a few other nick nacks to get the engine up and running. I'm going to end up purchasing a full exhuast set up from McKinney as well as I don't have the time to fab one up myself. On the way back I came across an old Skyline GTR which is a pretty rare sight around here. Thought you guys would appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 Managed to get down to the junk yard and got a few essential parts Ive been after. I got a radiator out of a 240sx. Not sure what year it was but its the one that resembles the S13. I also got a dual cooling fan set up out of some V6 Nissan sedan. I was able to get a suitable throttle cable and pedal that would fit my application out of the same 240sx. Its long enough to reach the plenum with some slack. Radiator out of the 240sx sitting in my Z ready to be mounted, its not a perfect fit. The cooling fan is again not a perfect fit but will fit with some minor fiddling. Picture of the throttle cable on my Z. This is the gas pedal out of that 240sx that must replace the one in my Z because the one in my Z is mechanical and will not match up to the cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 28, 2008 Author Share Posted August 28, 2008 Decided to change all the flex lines that go from the caliper to the hard brake line because the ones on the car were cracked and about ready to go. New brake pads were also installed on all four corners because the originals were toast, which is not much of a surprise. Also got the radiator mounted and the fan put on. Originally a dual fan set up was going to be put on, but after further examination it was concluded that it would not fit. So we cut it in half and are using one. We also bled the brakes, they seem to be working great as of now! Radiator mounted. Fan almost mounted. New pads and flex lines all around! Heres a little peek at the turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted August 30, 2008 Author Share Posted August 30, 2008 Small update this evening, got the driveshaft back from McKinney and it looks like itll fit like a glove! I had a lot of non-Z related things to do today so I didnt get it in. Ill save that for tomorrow when Im less busy. Driveshaft fresh out of the box. The part McKinney changed so itll fit on my application. I know Ive posted this picture already but heres the difference once again (Left side fits a 1978 Z and the left is from a 1975 Z) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Very disappointing update... the driveshaft flange does not fit, yet again. I was hoping to get the drivetrain done before I started college. It seems as though that will not happen. Ill get her done though! just not as soon as I would have liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share Posted September 3, 2008 one of my classes got cancelled today and I'm bored as hell with two hours to kill with my iPhone. So I found myself on hybrid z and decided to do a little update. I'm still waiting on the driveshaft. However I did find a nice autometer monster tack and shift light laying around the garage. I'm going to replace it with the stock one in the dash and put the shift light in the center console where the radio is supposed to be next to my future boost gauge so it won't look all ricer haha. I'll post pics of it when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 Going up to Mckinneys tomorrow to get the wiring harness and drop off the driveshaft(for like the fifth time). Heres that tack I was talking about till I get some pics of the harness tomarrow :] In box. Sitting in the dash where it should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeoster Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Got my harness back from McKinney and boy is it pretty! I got the correct driveshaft finally! She fits like a charm! I discovered that my clutch master cylinder has a leak somewhere and a friend of mine had a spare so he gave it to me. I can confirm that a K&N HP-2008 oil filter will work for an RB25DET as most people know. I put in an order for a fuel pump and that should be on be coming sometime. Completed drivetrain in all its glory: Box -o- Wiring Harness: Clearer view: Clutch master cylinder: Oil Filter: The most ghastly looking bumper in the history of automobiles. Going to use it temporary until I can get my hands on a JDM 240z bumper: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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