Project Boondoggle (or, so I went and bought a Z!)

[charliekwin]

I've been lurking here and some of the other Z boards for a while, and after wanting a project car for basically my entire life, I finally pulled the trigger a couple weeks back so I guess it's time to join; hope y'all have room for one more!

 

So here it is, my new 1978 Z, as it looked when I brought it home:

  

 

I scoured CL for a while and any reasonably-priced cars were getting snatched up in hours.  I checked out a handful of cars in my desired price range and 

 

they were all projects well outside my budget or capabilities, so when I found this one I jumped on it.  It looked pretty good, and I knew it would be some work, but have uncovered some unexpected surprises in the last couple weeks.

 

The starter died when I brought the car to the shop so someone more qualified could take a look at it. It failed smog with an illegal cat, gross polluter numbers and an EVAP leak, and almost every nut and bolt I take off has revealed some bodgy-at-best repair work by previous owners.  All part of the fun!

 

I have a lot of plans and a whole lot of work to do, and I sure am grateful for all the helpful folks who have already walked this path before me.

[Zed Head]

Looks in good shape.  Two sources you'll want to at least open and browse through are linked below.  Engine Fuel chapter in the first, and the second is a collection of tests covering many years, in the Guidebook.  Get the 1980 book, it covers all.  

 

There aren't really many people out there "qualified" to work on these old EFI systems.  If you  know the basics of an engine and how to use a meter you might be best off to do your own work.

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/

 

http://www.xenons130.com/reference.html

Edited April 23, 2015 by Zed Head

[charliekwin]

Thanks!  I had the FSM already, but didn't know about the 1980 book, so I've grabbed that too.

 

As for the car, it's decent from across a parking lot, but the body work is rough when you get up close.  It looks like first-time DIY work with a MAACO-type spray job.  I'll worry about that stuff much later.  That it was as rust-free an example as I was able to find was the clincher for me.

[73str86]

Congrats on the purchase! What are your plans?

 

Let's see an engine bay and interior photo.

[siteunseen]

My '77's best help with a lot of good pictures, http://atlanticz.ca/index.php/tech-tips.html 

[S30Driver]

Appears to be a solid starting point.

Are you going to keep it mostly stock, or do some tasteful upgrades?

 

Congrats, & welcome!

[rdefabri]

Good job and congrats.  On the subject of the FI, you could convert to carbs - don't recall how "easy" that is, but if you were looking to mod it, might be a better bet...

[charliekwin]

My plan at this point is to keep the interior and exterior fairly close to stock, though that might change once I start getting my hands dirty and spend some time driving it.  The bumpers have already been removed and I'd like to replace with 240 ones, at least in the front.  I'll probably put on some Rota wheels when it needs new tires and would like to drop it about an inch.  When I finally take on the body work, the air dam will be replaced and the side molding will go.

 

I haven't started to dig into the interior much yet, but I'll probably end up refreshing or replacing most of it and would like to put in an audio system (this, at least, is something I'm plenty experienced with).

 

Maybe an L28ET way out in the future.

 

Already taken care of some little things like spark plugs, air and fuel filters and cleaning off the 37 years of gunk from anything that I take off the car.  Bushings and suspension are high on the to-do list.

 

At the moment, I'm in the middle of restoring the fuel tank.  There was no o-ring on the sending unit and a puncture on the top, so I'm hoping that fixes the EVAP leak, though I also replaced all the hoses just to be sure.  

[SteveJ]

I hope your car isn't officially labeled as a gross polluter. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get a test run before doing an official test in California.

Edited April 23, 2015 by SteveJ

[charliekwin]

I hope your car isn't officially labeled as a gross polluter. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get a test run before doing an official test in California.

 

Great advice that, in my excitement, I didn't think about at the time.  Hopefully it saves someone else some trouble.  AFAIK, the car isn't tagged as a gross polluter until it fails the test with GP numbers two times, so I think I should be fine if I pass on the re-test.  I'll be doing the pre-check for sure.

[rossiz]

congrats on the purchase - let the fun begin! 

 

mine is a 78 with the 240 bumpers. black dragon and futofab both sell them for ~$400 shipped (each) or you can go 2x that $$$ for harrington stainless out of the uk.

if you want a quick, cheap option i have a basically new 240 front from black dragon with a small ding in it - pm me if you're interested.

[charliekwin]

My fuel tank restoration is about finished, but before getting into that, some more photos and a little history.

 

The engine bay, as requested, which is pretty unremarkable.  I'm definitely jealous of you pre-smog guys and your spaghetti-free engines.

 

 

And a quick shot of the interior, which should give a good idea of what I've got to work with.  It's livable, but I suspect that just about every piece in there will end up restored or replaced eventually.

 

 

I took off the dash cap to see how bad it is under there.  It looks salvageable, but it's gonna be some work.  Like everything else I've started to look at on the car, the dash cap came with a couple of what-was-he-thinking!? facepalms:

 

 

It was held on by two sheet metal screws through the cap and into the dash.

 

 

And a bead of what looks like bathroom caulk.  I'm getting used to seeing this kind of stuff by now.

 

 

The glove compartment yielded some treasures!  The original owner's manual, looking like all of its 37 years.

 

 

Some free socks, courtesy of Delta airlines.

 

 

And a bunch of older insurance and registration paperwork.  It turns out that the car has had 4 registered owners since 2010; 5 including me.  Somehow they managed to owe a combined ~$1000 in back fees to the DMV.  And my favorite, apparently it was stolen and recovered a few years ago!

 

 

 

Quite a life.  I wonder what happened in the 30 remaining years!