1977 280Z In The House

[mentalite]

Hi all.

I've been on the hunt for a Z for a while and finally brought one home.  I live in the mid-atlantic where good cars are scarce so the net was cast far and wide.  I ended up finding a decent car within an hour of home.  I'll call it driver quality and a project that I can drive while I work on it.

It's got rust as you would expect, but in places I consider fairly minor.  Rear quarters, left front fender over the wheel well and minor spots at the bottom of the doors.  Frame rails, floor pans, and battery tray are solid.  It's been repainted once with a custom color over the original wine red #611.  The PO included a NOS left front fender and the replacement panels for the other rust areas.

The engine is the weakness of this car.  It feels tired and low on power, smokes, has a tick in the valvetrain, and the fuel injection is finicky.  It starts right up and can be driven, it just needs some attention.

I plan to leave the body alone for now and just monitor the rust since it's not too bad.  I'll replace suspension bushings and tinker with the fuel injection while I plan a rebuild and shop for a 5 speed.

I'm a very happy new Z owner!  My first one even though I've pined for one since I was 16 and just starting to drive.  I've got a few photos of bringing it home.  There'll be tons more taken soon, I'm sure.

I took the opportunity to check the underside even more thoroughly.  Solid on the bottom!

Edited December 22, 2016 by mentalite

[mentalite]

A video of it going into it's new home.  Quite a tick, ain't it?  I'll have to take the valve cover off and see what's what.  The sound seems to be coming from #6.  I'm hoping that it'll just be a valve adjustment.  I haven't driven a manual trans in almost 20 years, and it shows!  

VID_20161222_112753429_(1).mp4

[Zed Head]

4 minutes ago, mentalite said:

Welcome.  This picture shows that you will do well here.

[siteunseen]

I agree.  You've found your car and it looks good.  Welcome to the forum.  Tons of knowledge here when you get stumped.

[Dave WM]

heck of a tick, sounds more like something hitting the fan.

[rcb280z]

Sounds like valve train. Check valve adjustment. It's pretty loud. Curious what you discover as you get into it.

Nice looking all original car!

[rcb280z]

I've listened to it a couple more times now and I would be afraid to run it too much with that sound. How familiar are you with these engines? When was the last time it was run?

Maybe do a compression test on it. Again, really curious what you find out. 

[Patcon]

Check not just valve lash but the condition of the cam at the lobe ends...

[gwri8]

Also, double check your oil level.  It's easy to forget simple stuff when your new baby comes home.  Nice color, looks like a good find!

[dmorales-bello]

Welcome ! She looks pretty reasonably good.

BTW, my first Z was 1977 280 that I bought new from Bill Schuller's Datsun in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

[S30Driver]

Great looking car!

You've found the best site for knowledge & experience.    Download the factory workshop manual & fuel injection bible when you get a chance.

Best of luck with your new wheels.

[jfa.series1]

One more welcome to the group. That's a Zweet looking car, looks like you'll have some fun with it.