I was thinking about freshening up the suspension!

[SteveJ]

You should have moved up here. You would have been able to get me to come over to lend a hand.

[siteunseen]

3 hours ago, jlenownnab said:

Everything is all back in the car except the piece I showed you. if I recall though the one little heat shield did not fit any longer because of the header I may be mistaken I need to check that when I get there I know we got the one heat shield in correctly the big one.

Oh okay, I know what you're saying.  That picture of mine before I put it back in the car has a red circle where I had to cut out for the header.  Someone asked about that awhile back and I posted that picture.

To quote the good Captain "my work here is done" and apparently you're close to being finished too.  Enjoy the ride. 

[Chickenman]

The original hose on the 280Z is covered in a type mof heat reflective paint as well. I think the hose may be made os silicone as well, but I'm not sure. I replaced mine with some Hi-Temp re-inforced silicone hose that I got from SiliconeIntakes.com. I use the same type of hose on my Audi 1.8 Turbo engine to replace the PCV hoses that run near the Turbo. Original are rubber and they get brittle and crack. The silicone withstands high temps much better. 

[jlenownnab]

Siteunseen, thanks for pics of heat sheild. I am doing a once over with my friend on Sunday morning. Still need to install pcv pipe and bleed brakes and clutch. Then we will see how well we put it back together. I want to go back and redo a few things once its running again... I may look into the silicone hose Chickenman spoke of. I have a few parts I may take off and replace just to freshen up or shoot with some paint. I am tracking down a few factory engine bay stickers right now for a little extra detail. I think in the end I saw the project through as much as I had hoped to. My one weakness I would say is the intake manifold, I cleaned it best I could for having fuel rail and everything still attatched to it. It was super tough to clean. I also want to say for anyone doing exhaust in the future, the MSA premium exhaust system is top notch! I installed it by myself in a little over an hour and it fits perfect on a 75. I bolted up the 2 pipes together on the floor, zip tied the back pipe up to the control arm while attatched to my MSA 6 to 1 header. I knew ahead of time the muffler would be on an angle thanks to threads I found on this site. So I fitted the muffler to where I wanted it and started clamping, easy peasy! Here are the last of the pics, hopefully my pooches won't tell anyone how many times the diff was in and out of the car fighting that r180 mustache bar. I'm also hoping the left over bolts in the drawer aren't needed.

THANKYOU EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR RESPONSES TO MY PROJECT THREAD, WHAT A GREAT HELP YOU ALL ARE!! I HOPE THIS WILL HELP SOMEONE ELSE IN THE FUTURE LIKE ME (NON MECHANIC) COMPLETE A SUSPENSION PROJECT.

[EuroDat]

Are your four legged friends helping you with your built or just mental suport?

Looks really neat all nice and shine with a fresh coat balck paint.

[siteunseen]

When you hear that MSA full exhaust it will sound as good as it looks.  I enjoy reading successful/happy endings like your's.  I'm not a mechanic either but always seem to work through my projects after reading and getting help from this forum.

Congratulations!  You're happy, dogs are happy and you have a nice car. 

[jlenownnab]

Thanks again, fingers crossed it fires up tomorrow. 

[Captain Obvious]

Looks great!

You probably took care of this, but just to make sure... Did you normalize your control arm bushings and do the final tightening with weight on the suspension?

[jlenownnab]

I have not, I will once we get the brake system filled and get the tires on. What is "normalize"?

[Captain Obvious]

By normalize I mean "under no stress" and n the context of the control arm bushings, I mean "the rubber is under no torque stress when the car is sitting level on the road".

Wait.... Are you using poly bushings or original style rubber bushings? If you're using poly, forgot I said anything. Doesn't matter. Go ahead and tighten to full torque with the wheels off and the suspension hanging.

[jlenownnab]

Soooooo close, but no cigar!

I left the spindle pin wedges out, it was on my button up list. I could not find the flat spot on the spindle pins?? I had know idea there was a front and a back to the pins. Just an fyi for the next person. Of course I had a 50/50 chance of putting them in right and neither one was right. So, I had to remove and reinstall those. Next, I pulled out my power bleeder and went to town on bleeding the brake system and clutch, all is good there. It's now time to turn the key...... fired right up and sounded great! I let it sit and idle while putting wheels on, I was totally stoked..... until I realized I could not get it into gear, any gear?? My new 5 speed transmission out of my parts car went into all 5 gears with ease when in the 79 and  when it was laying on the floor. Since the clutch felt good I went ahead and pulled the shifter to compare it to the shifter that was originally in my car. I noticed the hole that holds the shift pin was missing its brass sleeve and the hole was quite a bit bigger and made it very loose and sloppy. The only thing I can figure is that it's a leverage issue and the rubber shift boots are playing a role in this??? I temporarily put the original 75 shifter in and it goes easily into 2nd, 4th and reverse but obviously not 1st, 3rd and 5th because it bottoms out into the trans tunnel. Does this sound like I'm headed in the right direction??

[Zed Head]

The bushings are plastic from Nissan, although there is a brass parts store fix used often.  You can get them from Nissan still, try you local dealer.

Can't remember what year your car is so no recommendations on what might be wrong.  Check the bottom bushing also.  They crack and chip.

Did you take the transmission apart?  It's possible to lock the gears up when it's put back together.  You didn't say if the lever moved and nothing happened or if the lever won't move.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/oe-nissan/32855h1010

http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/power-train/transmission-control/5-speed/31

http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/power-train/transmission-control/5-speed

http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/power-train/transmission-control/5-speed/32