70,71,77,83- projects - the studio is full

[madkaw]

So somehow I have 4 going at once. Been too busy to play on the forums much lately .

71 is my car , which is the continuous project. Did take first place at the Midwest Heritage show this past weekend !

70 is sitting on the rotisserie sideways to make enough room for the 30k mile 77 that just showed up from Reno.

Then there’s the 83 720 4WD that’s supposed to be my retirement truck. I probably have to retire just to finish it at this rate. 

Having fun juggling all this, but it s almost too much. Might have to give up my RR career to concentrate on the Z studio projects .

[JSM]

12 hours ago, madkaw said:

Then there’s the 83 720 4WD that’s supposed to be my retirement truck. I probably have to retire just to finish it at this rate. 

Man I feel you. Your moving at a turbo pace compared to me. Dave will come over and go what did you do? Usually nothing!

i do like the truck. I’m looking for a v6 96-97 d21 king cab 4x4. At least I’ll get first few years of OBD2. I sold my ZX just cause I didn’t think I would ever get to it. 

[madkaw]

Don’t understand your question about Dave ?

[JSM]

Don’t understand your question about Dave ?

Oh sorry. Not a question just a statement. Dave is a member here how lives close by and swings over from time to time. [emoji3]


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[Dave WM]

get anything done Jeff

:)

[JSM]

get anything done Jeff
:)

. Yeah, lots of nothing! Actually at Mayo Clinic with the wife today.


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[Patcon]

4 hours ago, JSM said:

 

. Yeah, lots of nothing! Actually at Mayo Clinic with the wife today.


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That doesn't sound good...

[madkaw]

The 76 is priority because it’s not mine ! Dropped the fuel tank today . After I drained the 12 or so gallons of 20 yea old gas out of it. Can’t tell if the tank is rusted inside or just gooed from the fuel. Trying some soaking in apple cider vinegar to see where I get on that. Tank was also the most damaged part of the car . Looked like the car rolled into a big rock . Goal is to get the car running and driving so the owner can just drive it for now. He never owned a Z and is not sure he will keep it. It’s so nice working on a rust free project. Still lots to do, but the body is a 9 for an unmolested car. Paint is shot , a few dings ,  it that’s it . 

The truck is second on the list because I need to keep moving on it. It’s in the wife parking spot and I’m getting some dirty looks lately :0

Edited June 22, 2018 by madkaw

[madkaw]

After days of trying white vinegar , agitation , SS cable to unclog the return lines I have the tank clean. I went ahead and did the POR -15 tank seal kit. This was battle but hopefully the worst I’ll see on the 77 . I still have a lot of the fuel system to go thru, but the nasty tank job is done . I bought rebuilt injectors and now need to change every piece of hose in the engine and fuel system. I told the owner that this is where the car nickel and dimes you broke. I can’t even use the original fuel clamps because of the difference in size of the braided hose diameter . There goes another 25$ ! 

So far I’ve bought over 1500$ worth of parts and materials to get this beast going again. And I have no idea of the true shape of the motor? By appearances and inspection I think it’s okay. There’s so much to go thru with the EFI set up that you can’t just try and start it.  

[Captain Obvious]

Cool projects. Clearly you'll be a busy guy! Couple of observations, comments, etc.

First, about the fuel injectors... I'm assuming that black painted injector is one of the rebuilt units? If so, I would take the paint off the nose. I don't know what kind of paint that is, but I question it's longevity in the very hot, fuel spraying environment while in use. And I don't think I want that paint dissolved or flaked off inside the engine. I'd rather have it come off first before I put the injector into service. I also wouldn't want paint where the vacuum seal is. I think I would strip the paint off as far back as to include the seal surface as well.

And second, I'm hard pressed to be convinced that is really just a 30K mile 77... Are you sure it's not 130K? I mean, it doesn't really matter since I'm not buying or selling, but if that's just 30K miles, it's certainly a HARD 30K.

[madkaw]

I think it’s just neglect. The car sat outside in the elements for decades in the hot Nevada sun. Being under the car you realize that it has seen only 30k miles. The struts had/ has some kind of assembly markings( stickers)for left and right. The zinc is still pretty on the brake line brackets and hardware . I think the maintenance was done by hacks . Remember years ago when no one cared about these cars except they were a cheap import ? 

Ill investigate the paint 

Edited July 1, 2018 by madkaw

[JSM]

11 hours ago, madkaw said:

So far I’ve bought over 1500$ worth of parts and materials to get this beast going again. And I have no idea of the true shape of the motor? By appearances and inspection I think it’s okay. There’s so much to go thru with the EFI set up that you can’t just try and start it.  

 

 

On a lot of the FI cars esepecially the 280zx I’ve bought over the years, this is the first thing I always did to check the motors. What I did and had good success is disconnect both lines at the fuel Rail. Hook an external pump straight to the rail and the return back to the gallon or so of gas I had in a jug. Sometimes it would take a while for the injectors to free up but they all have so far.