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Gary's 1977 Cali 280Z


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UPDATE: 09/02/10

 

Finished painting, will be putting stuff back in such as harness, lines, booster, etc.

i ran into a huge setback. as you can see in the picture, i have a huge leak coming from my transmission. luckily i have MSA right down the street. around $11 for both front and rear seals. thats not the biggest problem. a few months back, i was taking out the reverse switch to put the nylon on it so it wouldnt leak. unfortunately, i stripped the threads on the casing. so i will have to find a humungous helicoil... anyways i will probably get the engine in sometime late sept or early oct. we will see.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update:

 

Alright, As of now i got the harness and all other necessities in around the engine bay, except for the lighting system. The transmission is at a shop getting the back up light situation fixed, it should be back by today. all the seals have been replaced. So things are pretty much on schedule.

 

I was wondering what was the best way to put an l6 and a tranny back into the car. should i put tranny in first, and then engine? or put engine and tranny together, and try to get it in the driveshaft? any input will help. thanks

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anybody????

I put the engine and transmission in together, but I had two other guys and a great engine hoist when I did it. It slipped in really easily and I had no issues getting the drive shaft to line up (I left it connected to the diff).

I won't necessarily recommend this way over any other method since I haven't tried it any other way in a Z.

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I had a little trouble getting my mounts to line up. I ended up sticking a punch through the bolt hole on the engine and then through the motor mounts and wiggling it around until the bolt holes lined up. In my case, the engine stayed in place once I got the holes lines up, so I could just stick the bolt in and tighten it. Best of luck!

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Update: Alright. was wrestling the whole mounting situation down and we finally got it. For some reason, everytime i drop the motor in, the mounts always gives me a problem. the problem maybe that the mounts are really old and have been bent out of shape, or we suspect slight frame damage on the passenger side. My dad being in auto body for decades, said the frame is fine. anyways, i got one side in, and took a 4in C clamp to match the mount and the insulator bolts. the tricky part is to line up the insulator insert with a mallet. this is the best way i could do it since i couldnt find anything on the side regarding, "how to install stubborn engine mounts".

 

Engine in. Now i just need to figure out how to put on all the harnesses w/o making it look like a mess. The engine should be running by the end of september because i still need fluids($100........). I still have some wiring to do and some bolts to tighten. During all this, i will be taking apart the n/a motor that i had to learn more about it, and eventually rebuild the block.

 

Who all Went to the JCCS show in Long beach? (Japanese Classic Car Show). There were about 30-40 Zcars there, all amazing. I saw this one Z that caught my eye. The rear interior was the jaw dropping and gave me some ideas. I also bought this amazing shirt.

 

Look at this interior! That was all leather. I dont know who's car this is, but it was beautiful.

 

When i was at the Junkyard(MillikenPIckaPart, off the 60. 3 z's there right now, msg me if you have questions) i found myself a skid plate. when i was at the car show, there was a section called "original and unrestored" and it had the skid plate. im not sure if thats what it is called. but its a plate of metal that covers between the cross member and the radiator support. so far, thats the only car that i have seen it on. I will paint it and take a pic for you guys today.

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got some taylor wires on the engine. looks nice.

 

took apart the n/a motor, threw away timing cover and oil pump. (timing cover broken at corner where it bolts, oil pump had a scarred surface making it leak.)

 

Here is the plate/cover i was talking about. i just mocked it up. it needs some sanding and paint, which i will get to this week

 

I was wondering what was the best way to put a cylinder head in storage. what kind of flat surface i should use? what holes do i cover, etc,etc.

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Here is the plate/cover i was talking about. i just mocked it up. it needs some sanding and paint, which i will get to this week

 

My car has the same skid pan. I've had it on and off at least a dozen times now... Every time I put it back on, I find something that requires that I take it back off :rolleyes:

 

As far as storing the head (I assume you are talking about a L28 head), I would make sure that the deck surface is on something that won't scratch it up, like a piece of cardboard. I personally would plug the intake and exhaust ports to prevent anything from getting in and to help keep moisture out. That, and keep the valve cover on it. I would also recommend coating the cam/rockers/valve springs in a thin film of fogging oil or at least WD-40 to prevent any surface rust from building up.

 

Cheers

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everything in, slight leak at thermostat housing. very painful. no leaks from tranny and engine which is excellent. yesterday night i took off the return house (rubber part) and left it like that overnight. for some reason, it spewed out onto my frame rail. so now the front part of the passenger rail is primer.....bust. i dont know how the thermo is leaking, i just put in a new gasket. on top of all this, i wired up my car wrong, i put a wire labeled "ground on battery" onto a positive switch. once i hooked the battery up, boom. my ecu was gone. tried cranking. injectors dont click, no spark at the wires, and fuel pump not activating. 100% sure my ecu is done.

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Gary shits coming out clean man . I gotta say . Once u get it up and running me , you and a few other locals should let off some psi :D . I just got one of the skid plates also . Did u see the evo in pick a part . I live real close there . My friend got the turbo,ecu,injectors off it. Nice build.

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That Z at JCCS with the crazy leather and "Z" in the rear hatch is amazing. I probably spent 5 minutes just staring at it :lol:

 

There was another Z there that had all the interior panels covered with suede and it looked very nice. It probably would cure a lot of the squeaking that we have with our Z cars too.

 

Your project is coming along! I'm jealous of the turbo motor ;)

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so ive spent the last few days studying my chassis harness. apparently the PO loved to mickey mouse. the headlight system wiring has been removed from the stock harness and has been hooked up to a relay + my combo switch. i replaced all my fuses on the fuse panel when i bought the car. so for poops and giggles, i took a multimeter to the wires that have been cut on the stock harness(headlight system part), and what do you know. 12v. the headlights were working perfectly! all they needed to do was change out the fuse. Thanks alot PO... i digress.

 

As of now, everything is in the car, connected and working. All i need is the 81 ecu which will be here within this week. So in the meantime, im gunna sand my headlight buckets, skid plate, and clean up the wiring. Im also going to double check the efi harness just incase i wired something up wrong.

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up and running! set timing at 20 for stock ecu, 60mm tb, intercooler, and -emissions -cat. does anyone prefer anything else? im trying to look for a fuel pressure gauge (good but cheap), and most importantly an AFR gauge/kit. any suggestions on what to buy? eventually i will be moving up to MS, so wideband 02 sensors will be in the near future, but im trying to look for one that is cheap and very functional (ghetto tap onto the stock narrowband). but if someone suggests a good kit thats well worth my money, i will consider buying it.

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