[2016] What Did You Do To/with Your Z Today?

[Walter Moore]

Installed a 125A Z Specialties alternator, new ignition switch, and repaired the turn signal switch in my car.

[racer47201]

Not necessary today but in the last 2 weeks I ordered Sean Dezart's stainless steel headers and exhaust system from France for my 1977 280Z 2+2. Ordered black leather seat coverings (front and rear) and black leather door skins from Interiorinnovations. Pictures will come after I rebuild my engine and install them all.

[moelk]

Engine reasemble has started!

 

[siteunseen]

On 2/16/2016 at 8:46 PM, racer47201 said:

Not necessary today but in the last 2 weeks I ordered Sean Dezart's stainless steel headers and exhaust system from France for my 1977 280Z 2+2. Ordered black leather seat coverings (front and rear) and black leather door skins from Interiorinnovations. Pictures will come after I rebuild my engine and install them all.

Will you be bolting the header up before dropping the motor back in? I'm at that stage now and can't decide. Any advice would be great.

Cliff

[racer47201]

Cliff I am not at that point yet I imagine it would be easier to install the headers after the engine is in.

Edited March 12, 2016 by racer47201

[Jeff G 78]

YES Cliff, it is easier to install with the header while the engine is out of the car.  I roll the stand to the side so the flanges are up at a 45 degree angle for easier access.  I then install the carbs and even the air cleaner assembly before decking the powertrain.  It's very easy to make sure everything is properly tightened when it's looking right at you.

I've done it this was about 15 times over the past 35 years in various Z cars.

 

[siteunseen]

15 minutes ago, Jeff G 78 said:

YES Cliff, it is easier to install with the header while the engine is out of the car.  I roll the stand to the side so the flanges are up at a 45 degree angle for easier access.  I then install the carbs and even the air cleaner assembly before decking the powertrain.  It's very easy to make sure everything is properly tightened when it's looking right at you.

I've done it this was about 15 times over the past 35 years in various Z cars.

 

So you bolt on as much as you can before dropping it in? That makes more sense to me, the manifolds gasket is very important in my opinion. Needs to be equally torqued all the way around and given a day or so to " squash/squish" down then retorqued in my opinion. I can have someone push the header towards the passenger's side while I lower the motor into place. On my 280 rebuild I read someone's suggestion to remove the steering rod and that turned out to be a HUGE pain in my a** reinstalling that rod. Thank you for your experience.  I'm so glad I got that p79 to you! It'll be a blessing from now own I'm sure. 8^)

More advice from the members please! Actually i do not want to use the lifting eye on the rear exhaust stud, nylon slings is what I'm thinking of using. Y'all are what makes this doable, it's family helping family.

Thanks again!

[Jeff G 78]

I install everything I can before dropping the assembly into the car.  I use the stock lifting eyes on the front and back of the head.  I have tried several different methods over the years to tilt the powertrain with varying degrees of success.  I bought a balance bar before my last install and it worked okay, but it didn't have enough travel the way I hooked it up.  The next time, I will try to start with it all the way at one end of the travel to get the maximum tilt.  When I installed the powertrain in the pic above, I did it alone and simply used four adjustable straps.  Two on the front and two on the back. I would leave the front straps really short and then alternate the rear straps back and forth to lower the trans tail down low enough to fit under the firewall.  Once in low enough, I would work the two front straps down to lower the front of the engine down.  I can have the engine sitting on the mounts in about an hour working alone or about half that long with a helper.

Quote

 

 

Edited March 13, 2016 by Jeff G 78

[rcb280z]

Decided to remove door panels and look at the window regulators and such. At that time I realized that it was time to clean everything up and re-grease things. Unbelievable the amount of, what looked like, 

white lithium grease build up on everything that didn't need it . Here's the thing; I think it was me . Anyway, I cleaned it all up and used a silicon spray on the lock mechanisms, graphite in the lock tumblers,  and white lithium (just a little) on the widow tracks. Talk about effortless to roll down a window now. I love it.

Edited March 13, 2016 by rcb280z

[gundee]

It hit 63 degrees here today so I got back to work on removing the head on my N42 L28 engine.

Got the intake and exhaust manifolds removed. I had previously removed the head bolts. I did not think

one was coming out without snapping off. Very corroded, but I got it. I don't think this head has ever been off.

The cam is already at Schneider to be reground.

[Patcon]

Worked on rebuilding a 510 hood, 2 fenders and a splash pan. worked on getting my suspension black the right sheen...

[siteunseen]

My phones been chirping all night. Just figured out why.

I mistakenly hit the "notify me of replies" when I hit the "submit reply" button. I'll have to more careful when I'm using my phone. Fat fingers!