280 FUN CAR

[plucker]

Hello new member here, wanted to introduce myself and document my new z project

I have had a 77 280z race car for 5 or so years, I have raced it in SCCA club racing and it has been the best race car I have ever had.  I really really enjoyed the car. the only problem has been I want something to drive on the street  and enjoy more often

I have been looking for a good project car for a bit and I finally pulled the trigger in September

found this on craigslist  looked ok in the pictures so I drove 5 hours and bought it , paid 2k  probably a it too much but hey.. 

1) the plan

when I first got it, I was going to tear into it and start restoring it right away.  on further thought I am going to get it running and driving upgrade and enjoy it as a beater/ rat rod  and "restore" it later

2) rust assessment

first I inspected it for rust .  when I looked at it before buying the rust seemed like a really mixed bag, no rust in lots of typical areas but seemingly bad rust in others. 

no rear hatch rust, nothing in the rear quarters,no front frame rail rust,  very little bit of bubbling in the rockers, one lower front fender was bad but the other was very good. and only the drivers side pan was rusted, but it was pretty bad.  both doors have quite a bit of bubbling along the lower edge , luckily I have probably have 5 doors sitting behind the shop

3) mechanical assessment

not so worried about the mechanics truthfully, as I have so many spares from my race car that I could re-build the engine and only buy a few things.  shocks that did not work out as good, old sway bars etc,etc.   I think at last count I had 7-8 heads on the shelf !  

engine ran , but it bogged so bad on application of throttle you could barely move the car !

clutch and gearbox worked okay

brakes kinda hinted they might slow the car, but it was only a hint....

the left rear strut was either broken or so loose from the mount that it flopped around with a huge thud when you got on and off the gas !

and the drivers seat frame was broken, so it was like trying to drive sitting on a stool !

attached are pics of the car, and for fun one of my race car

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cbuczesk]

Welcome! I think I've raced with you at VIR over the last few years when MARRS is there. Here's my race car.

 

Chuck

 

[plucker]

yea those SARRC MARRS races have been great thru the years,  especially back in the heyday !   remember racing with you  several times.

 

[plucker]

Getting it running

so it idles but does not really run,  falls on its face with any really throttle application

the previous owner put  on a new fuel pump, fuel filter, and pressure regulator. so he was thinking fuel just like I am. put on the fuel pressure gauge,  shows, 10 psi at first , then gradually climbs up to 28 at idle,  just what you need... however if I would rev it up the pressure would drop off and the thing would wheeze and cough and backfire.. aha....   my guess after searching the internet is clogged tank and lines . 

so I get out the handy dandy fiberscope camera,   drop it thru the fuel filler and it looks like the rusty titanic down in there .drain the tank    pull the tank and sure enough looks like there is a solid 1/4" of varnish rust combination  on all of the insides of the tank realy rally bad. 

[plucker]

1st I use my pressure washer thru the openings, loose nuts, etc,   then I bring out the big guns.... muratic acid...

after 1/2 hour the tank looks like it has been sandblasted inside, except for a few places in the corners and inside the fuel pickup "well" right in the center.    make a 90 pressure washer lance to shoot the water stream right into the "well"  and most of that out as well..

rinse it out with navel jelly ( phosphoric acid ) and  rinse and rinse and rinse trying to get the muratic out.    still flash rusted a bit, but I coated it with oil and gas mixture to retard that a bit.

going to try to get the tank back in in the next day or so and see what happens. 

[Hardway]

Congrats on the acquisition Plucker!  Sounds like a to-do list is getting put together fairly quickly.  Are you going to keep the FI system or run carbs?  I think your plan of getting it up to scratch as a driver is the best idea.  Once you have some seat time you will figure out how far and in what direction you want to take certain aspects of the car.  Based on the picture and info I think $2K is pretty fair.  Prices seem to be all over to map for everything these days.  You drove 5 hours which means you really drove 10 round trip so as they always say "the best time to buy something is when it is in front of you"  I look forward to your updates.

[plucker]

short term I will run the stock F.I.   long term I have always wanted DCOE's   for the sound and the mechanical-ness of them .

when I went to get the car, I was traveling for work 1 hour from it, so I just took the truck and trailer..  so I really got paid $.56 a mile to go get the car .  nice coincidence  huh? 

[Hardway]

18 minutes ago, plucker said:

short term I will run the stock F.I.   long term I have always wanted DCOE's   for the sound and the mechanical-ness of them .

when I went to get the car, I was traveling for work 1 hour from it, so I just took the truck and trailer..  so I really got paid $.56 a mile to go get the car .  nice coincidence  huh? 

I hear ya on the triple Webers.  If my car was not an early VIN car and so original, I would invest in a cam and some triples.  

Traveling for work and buying a vintage Z, there is something to be said for good planning and efficiency!

[Redwing]

Hiya plucker...

I'm Redwing, a "mature" lady of 74. I have the sister to your red Z,  my '76 RedBird.  I bought her almost 2 years ago.  She came from Scottsdale, a 1 owner car.  I was exceedingly fortunate to get her, she is in real good shape.  Does not have the rust you mentioned your Z has, but she had a myriad of senseless problems, to which my friends here helped me with.  The final thing that corrected the last of the dogging problems was to put in a new/old ECU.  Once that was installed, all other problems vanished.  She is a super driving car now, quite the sweet little lady.

I was told about your joining and how much your Z looks like RedBird.  I have to agree.  Did you say yours was a '77?  

Anyway, welcome to this great group.  They love Z's, and are willing to help figure out problems.

[Gr8tful240Z71]

Hello plucker. I've got a drivers side floor pan if you are looking for one down the road. Just let me know if I can assist you there. Congrats on the ride. Look forward to your reading about your project.


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[Patcon]

@Redwing

Glad you're still doing well Jai!

[plucker]

yep.. red bird looks almost like my car !  yours looks much much better though !

made some progress,  got the tank painted and back in the car  and it runs ok now. it is amazing how good fuel pressure makes a car run alot better!   ( still setting on jack stands )   now need to focus on getting the brakes working, and the suspension from flopping around... then i can drive it... oh and a functioning seat..