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

[kevinsr98]

That's great, when you are ready to take it out for a shake down let me know (if you haven't already)!

[madkaw]

Needs a few more things , but soon.

Ive been getting rid of all the fire hazards(nests) before things get too hot.

More no rust pics!

[madkaw]

So this model didn’t have a Interior Tail Light Panel . The Masonite covers everything . 

Looks new under the carpet

[madkaw]

Well after 25 years of sitting the 77 went down the road for a little spin. Apples and oranges compared to my Z - lol. Not fair comparison I know . Shocks are bad - from just sitting for 25 years and only 30 K miles - disappointing. Brakes were a bit soggy so I might need to purge more fluid from it . 

Not a puff of smoke anywhere- except a bit of burning of rats nests between the heat shield and intake - 

Transmisson worked well for an automatic. Engine seemed a bit doggy - even for stock. It ran smoothly with no hicups or belching , but nearly as stout as the 73 Auto I did last year( with a timing chain ready to fall off). Love to have a wideband on this motor. I pretty sure the AFM has been hacked into, so who knows where it’s at. Need to go back thru the EFI bible again and do more checks. Seems to be loading up a bit at idle, but once warmed up she idles rock solid. Something’s a miss on the dizzy too, maxed out advanced to just get the right numbers . Hopefully I just got the shaft in wrong and not a slipped pulley. 

Turn signals stopped working though worked fine in the garage? 

I SWEAR the AC is putting out cool air- how can that be!!

Interior is going in . Carpet kit is a jig saw puzzle with two pieces that don’t fit - but I’ll adjust that. Ordered a full dash cover to complete a very complete interior. Everything works down to the glove box light .

Owner is wondering what he got into as the bills escalate. Most Z owners would be over the moon every time they looked at this chassis. I’m betting he will sell it because he’s not a true Datsun enthusiast, but someone will benefit from that.

I did find some rust on the passenger floor. Floors were getting wet from leaking water somewhere. The window wasn’t even all the way up when I got it. It was all surface rust- no pitting .

[jonathanrussell]

Solid looking car. Looks like the passenger floor will clean up pretty easily.

[madkaw]

Most solid Z I’ve worked on

[kevinsr98]

Nice work Steve. I can't believe you got that going so quickly after decades of sitting in a field!

[madkaw]

So getting down to finishing out the interior. Had to replace the center console it was just too warped from the heat to be able to glue back together . Interesting note that the original console had no slot visible for the choke, though flipped over you could see where it had been filled in by the factory .

Speakers ! So the B pillar speaker holes had speakers installed. The stereo in the car was a Sansui cassette deck with Sansui speakers. By my measurements they were 5 -1/4” speakers, thus the covers were 6” across. The plastic quarter window panels were notched as well as the Masonite pillar panels to accommodate these speakers. It didn’t really look too bad( I’ll load up a pic later), but one of the quarter panels were cracked badly. I got a replacement SET, so not sure if I want to notch the new panel or delete the whole speaker idea in the B pillar holes. If I delete then I have to find replacement B pillar Masonite . What to do? So I guess originally the speakers were behind the plastic totally?

Waiting on dash cap to finish out all what I’m going to do on this car as far as interior. Everything works, every light ! Not sure if the seat belt warning system works yet. 

Put my Centerlines on this car for now. They work pretty good with this color car I think. Put 205/60/15 on them . The owner still hasn’t committed to keeping this car so I gave him some loaner sneakers to drive the car around . Of course it won’t be much fun with bad shocks. He won’t be thrilled with an auto trans and poor handling. It’s a shame if he judges the car based on that. He has ridden in mine so he knows the potential . The bones are so excellent on this car, hope he sees that.

[kevinsr98]

not sure how difficult it would be, but if he could find a 5 speed and change it to a manual he would have about a perfect car and rust free!
tires & rims look good. i just bought a new set of kuhmos for my 280 online. 215-70-14. sure hope they fit!


Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

[madkaw]

Well almost finished with this project . Interior is done as much as I’m doing . Also buffed out a fender just to see what I could get out of this neglected paint job.

The owner will probably be upset because I won’t have the time or strength to do the  rest of the buff . Disc replacement surgery Monday . If there’s any work that will tear up a back it’s running a buffer for several hours . I wanted the owner to see what he could do with this survivor- though I think this is a re- spray . Color doesn’t match and it looks like there’s two layers of paint . It will make a good 10 footer for sure .

Of course the important detail is that this car is almost rust free( some small surface areas, no pitting . 

The dash cover is a Accu Form , which I thought was made pretty well. Fit pretty damn well right from the start. Just some gentle massaging . 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by madkaw

[Patcon]

I'll say a little prayer for Monday!

[madkaw]

Well looks like a while since I updated this. Well the owner took the car home without me getting any significant seat time. He hadn’t insured the car so I only went around the block with it. I told him he would taking it at his own risk . And guess what- it over heated on the way to his house. Idled perfectly as he left and later I get a call with him saying -“ I think it over heated “. In fact it had. He’s not too mechanical minded, so it didn’t register that the steam at the gas station might be an indicator somethings wrong. 

So I went to his house and sure enough - water in the oil. But why did it overheat when I idled it at my house forever and took it around the block with no problems. Took the radiator to the radiator shop and they said it was toast. So we proceeded with a HG replacement . And of course while we’re at it we had the head sent to the machine shop for a valve job. Running water in this engine had just caused too much damage and we we had to replace anything that the water touched.

Also found that the somewhere in its life the valves made contact with the pistons . Since the cam sprocket was on #3 , I figured someone didn’t get the adjustment right the first time or something like that. We pulled the freeze plugs and were glad we did, they needed changed because of the water . The head just needed a slight skim to get it true and the valve guides and valves were in good shape. The machinist just had to touch the valve seats a bit. 

So I get the engine all back together and it runs perfect! I check the oil and I’m still getting water in the oil- WTF! Now I’m worried that the block is cracked . The owner is freaking out and thinking he is in too deep. In my mind, it runs too good to be a crack block. No bubbles or air in the radiator . How to figure this out? So I got a radiator pressure checker from Oriellys . 

I pressurized the system at normal pressure and with the valve cover I could here a faint his coming from the timing cover -down inside . But what am I hearing ? So I bumped the pressure up to 15lbs and bingo - the seal on the timing cover that was hissing is now spraying water into the timing cover . Good news is I found it, bad news is I have to pull the hole front end apart again.

Alas , owning a vintage machine can go like this. I told the owner that in the end he will have one of the nicest 280z’s in the Midwest when it’s done . And almost a rebuilt motor -ha. We are going to do the timing chain also