hello all

[koopatroopa781]

i just wanted to say hello to the z forum. i recently purchased a 78 datsun z and i love it. i live in san jose, ca. and i was just wondering if their was anyone around here in my area.

[Smokey]

Welcome, yeah about 1/4 of the board is from Ca. You are in the Z Mecca. You had better post up some pictures of the '78. We are a visual bunch.

[koopatroopa781]

i will do that right now.... well i just took pictures but i am not able to upload them for some reason. so i will try again later.

[koopatroopa781]

i finally figured how to do it. i am not to sure what i want to do with car yet. but me and my friend just recently stripped out the carpeting, and installed a new steering wheel, shiftnob, and door lock nobs. i was actually hopping to find one of original owners on here. the passenger seat looks brand new. i am planning on replacing the front fenders, and hood. any suggestions to what i should do would be appreciated, as well as tips on maintenace. i am new to the z scene. i am only 23 years old. my daily driver is a subaru wrx.

[Ed]

Welcome to the club. Nice looking Z. What kind of steering wheel is that? Looks sharp!

Some suggestions on the maintenance for your car.

1. Buy a service manual.

2. Do an inspection and make a list. Inspect belts, hoses, brakes, and suspension components (rubber bushings).

3. Plan on changing all fluids. Oil in engine, tranny and diff. Then flush radiator and fill with a 50/50 antifreeze mix.

Depending on your budget start with the easy stuff first. Other things will probably pop-up and can be added to the list. The first thing is to keep her running properly.

If you have any questions that is not covered in your service manual just ask us here. I'd guess that there has to be over 100,000 hours of combined Z wrench time here.

Good luck,

Oh yea, did I mention to get a service manual :classic:

[EScanlon]

Some suggestions on the maintenance for your car.

1. Buy a service manual.

A. Ask the prior owner the name of the mechanic (if available), then go there and ask HIM what he would recommend. Pose as a "potential" customer if need be, let him know you are thinking of "restoring" it. Granted, this will cause him to "up" his prices, but you want to know what HE KNOWS is bad and needing repair. If necessary, pay for his "estimate" of repairs. The biggest thing to remember is you are looking for INFORMATION. not to commit to a repair regimen.

2. Do an inspection and make a list. Inspect belts, hoses, brakes, and suspension components (rubber bushings).

B. If you had contact with the prior mechanic, then you will know which items had been done recently (if any).

As an alternative, take it to your current mechanic, or to that mechanic whom you will be patronizing or to whomever will be advising you on how to effect repairs. If being mentored, have them show you WHY something is going bad, IS bad, or indicates that there will be future problems.

3. Plan on changing all fluids. Oil in engine, tranny and diff. Then flush radiator and fill with a 50/50 antifreeze mix.

C. If you definitely do not know the history on the vehicle, then this is a sure fire way of at least "starting on an even keel" i.e. all fluids changed at xxxx miles.

However, take note that in doing maintenance to a vehicle that has not undergone a systematically applied maintenance regimen you may literally "open up a can of worms". Not to deter you from doing the maintenance but remember that if you "flush" with any type of cleaner you may open up currently clogged leaks. This is the biggest reason people were originally advised to NOT change to synthetic oils if you had a car that had previously been run on petroleum based oils. From what I understand that is no longer the case, but it is useful to note what can happen, although it might be with a different fluid.

Depending on your budget start with the easy stuff first.

I'll go a step further and recommend you don't jump in and do aggressive maintenance all at once. Aggressive maintenance has a bad tendency to escalate exponentially...you change brake fluid, then when bleeding brakes, you break the line, so you figure what the heck I'll spring for stainless lines and avoid this problem in the future, you then find yet another problem with one of the calipers, so you exchange both, and figure you might as well get new shoes, then the rears have to match so.....

You get my drift? If the car is not currently exhibiting problems with the brakes, then why drain the lines and possibly have problems. I know that the urge to check out the car thoroughly and KNOW how good everything is is important. However, unless you are willing to disassemble the WHOLE vehicle and do without driving it for YEARS, then go ahead, do aggressive maintenance.

While I agree with the suggestions so far, I would recommend you first get used to the car so you KNOW what it is currently doing / not doing, then begin repairs that are needed and not try to catch up on the cars maintenance log.

[Smokey]

Good point about not jumping in cause it snowballs, but I am a firm believer that you need to start with a good base line. Fluids are cheap, and by getting under the car and changing them out, you get cheap insurance on the systems that are in good shape, and a heads up on systems that need attention. Then you prioritize the repairs based on what you see under the car. If everything checks out good, then off to the parts house and get the fun stuff.

Nice pics of your 280Z. You may be new to the Z scene, but chances are you will not be a short time visitor. These cars have a strange way of casting a spell on people they come in contact with. TRUST ME!! I don't even have one right now (though that may be changing next week ), but I can't get them out of my head.

You will have lots of fun with that car, and you will learn an aweful lot about how to work on cars with it. This site is a great resource and tool. Use it.

[koopatroopa781]

thanx for all the information guys. so far i have replace all the struts, and they lowercontrol a-arm bushing. i also replace the upperball joints. those things really needed relplacing. i also did a tune up. i am planning on changing all the fluids real soon. btw it is a grant steering wheel, i also put in a b&m shiftnob. my friend is going to vinyl the tire cover for me. the old carpeting had to go.

tai