1976 280Z Restoration Project

[dutchzcarguy]

5 hours ago, wheee! said:

quick spin around the block and was quite dismayed to hear a rotational clunk in the rear end.

Some noise in the diff is normal..  In the '70's people who had a 240z sayd, it's normal to hear a whine in the rear, i would worry when one day i would'nt hear it!  

My just restored 280zx has also a bit of noise but it's not very loud and it's probably due to the rubbers in the diff to chassis connection.

I get that your diff makes a bit more noise than normal, hope you get it right, just wanted to say that a bit is normal.

[Pilgrim]

So, @Wheee!

How did you re-center it?  Move the mount or change it somehow?  I can't visualize how you achieved that. 

[wheee!]

28 minutes ago, Pilgrim said:

So, @Wheee!

How did you re-center it?  Move the mount or change it somehow?  I can't visualize how you achieved that. 

Some black magic! Seriously though, I adjusted the top GM style mount on the RT Mount to recentre the diff. There are two holes for positioning about 1/2" apart. I moved it one over. I also shimmed the driver side of the RT mount against the tunnel to allow the slightly narrower mount to sit centred in the tunnel. To offset the slight shift, I added a washer to the back mounting lugs on the driver side to make the diff sit flat and flush to the moustache bar.

[wheee!]

Checked the rear differential and half shaft alignment and all is good there now too. 

[wheee!]

Verified the driveshaft has the preferred “droop” to keep the u joints working properly. 
Trans output is level, then checked the diff and it is level, then checked the driveshaft and there is about 2.5 degrees of drop down along the shaft to the diff. Very close to the “magic” 3 degrees!

 

[wheee!]

Well, the rotational clunk is gone!! All the lasers actually helped. Still some little gremlins to sort like the speedo decided to stop working and now my power steering thinks I’m stopped and it’s on full power assist all the time..! Easy fix. 
Weather is crap this weekend so I will try and get a good pull down the road next week and send the data log to the tuner for evaluation.

Onward!

[wheee!]

Cut and polish day. I was hesitant to do a full wet sand, and I may still do that one day, but for now a hard cut and polish was enough to get her shiny enough to drive. I have a few clear coat sags that need sanding out eventually but I can live with that for now. I wouldn’t want to burn through the clear and have to respray before I even drove it!!

 

[siteunseen]

Your passion for good work has paid off! Damn fine car. Can't wait for the zcon I get to see it in person.

 

[wheee!]

Your passion for good work has paid off! Damn fine car. Can't wait for the zcon I get to see it in person.
 

[emoji2957] wouldn’t that be nice?!

[ETI4K]

Awesome motor tunes.  Beautiful car.  You've really done a very nice job.

[Yarb]

Can you pass on what size wheels and tires you chose with the offset info? Thank you. Car is Beautiful!!

[wheee!]

16x8 et3 VTO Classic 8’s
Front 205 55r 16
Rear 225 50r 16

Edited July 5, 2021 by wheee!