Sky blue 78 280z (name TBD)

[calvinhg]

Hello all! You may remember me from a few years back, I was mostly just lurking though. I finally got my S30! 

It's a 1978 280z, with a 5 speed, 69k miles, factory AC (still running R12!), dealer addon cruise control and bumper overriders. It's just about 100% stock, except for the louvers on the back. Here, let's see some more pics!

As you can see, there's some damage on the air dam. It happened the day after I picked her up, a tire carcass suddenly appeared from under the car in front of me and I couldn't react in time. I think I was following too close... I was gonna get rid of the bumpers anyway, but IDK what to do that doesn't involve a whole lot of work on the back (more on that later).

You may also notice a few dings all over the body. I don't mind them too much, it just means I can drive her without worrying about messing up perfect paint.

Edited July 30, 2023 by calvinhg

[calvinhg]

But what about the rust?? It seems to have some kind of undercoating that kept it safe. I couldn't find any bubbling anywhere! There is a tiny bit of surface rust under the battery tray and under the driver rear rocker in front of the tire.

Driver floor pan:

In front of the LR wheel:

New brake components, in the rear too!

New fuel pump and fuel tank:

A little bit of horsepower sweating:

And finally, looks like a paint run on the driver front rocker! I just noticed it today (bought it last week)

[calvinhg]

Interior is in great shape (Certified Great Shape® by Capital Z of Texas club members). There's a tear on the driver seat, and the dash is cracked.

My first drive home!

Did I mention Z branded floormats? (It's a little dirty )

 

Engine bay is pristine!

 

[calvinhg]

Now, I do have a few issues:

1. It's running a little hot (3/5ths of the way on the gauge) and when I pointed a thermometer at the t-stat housing it said 215 degrees... Seems a little high to me.

2. I aligned it today, and the only adjustment is the front toe. For the front it's OK, but the rear toe is pretty far off. I guess the springs are just old, since the camber is also out of spec (but I like it closer to 0 than 1). Is there some kit you can get to adjust rear toe?

3. The shifter bushing is very worn so there's a lot of play in it. I'm thinking about getting a short throw shifter.

4. The bumper issue! Like I said, the front needs to be replaced. A very fine gentleman named Calvin (not me) from the club said he had a spare 240z front end that could go on it. The only issue is that it needs to match the rear, and I don't want to remove the duck (?) thing above the rear bumper because then I'd have to repaint the rear end.

I tried to drill a hole in the rear bumper struts, to sink it in so it doesn't stand out as much, but after drilling through them and draining some air and gas, they still wouldn't go in (although if I squeezed real hard I could get them to compress a little). Am I doing this wrong?

So anyway, I'm stuck on the bumper question. Luckily, the damage on the front end isn't easy to see, so I'll take my time to decide what to do.

5. On the rear view mirror on the windshield, the dimmer switch doesn't work. I can pull on it but it won't stay. Common issue? I can reposition the mirror when I drive at night, but it'd be cool if the switch worked!

6. The antenna doesn't go up. I thought I couldn't take the push pins out of the interior without breaking them but looking at them again tonight I can. So I'll be looking at that tomorrow probably.

7. Kevin (owner of the Austin Z Clinic) showed me the disconnected vacuum lines by the vacuum canister for the AC, so I have to fix that. Just putting it here to remember.

8. The tires are from 2017 so I need to get her some new shoes real soon. And since the 14s are a little small IMO, I'm looking for some decent looking wheels (yes I will keep the OGs). Any good recommendation for 15s, 16s or 17s? Preferably less than $200/wheel.

 

Alright, I think that's all! I have yet to think of a good name for her so if you got any, LMK! Thanks!

PS: Have fun at ZCON to all those going!

Edited July 30, 2023 by calvinhg

[grannyknot]

Nice car, someone took care of it,  that original under coating is infamous for for hiding rust underneath it. The only way to be sure is scrape it off with a putty knife, great job for the winter. "Horsepower sweating" I like that.

New seat covers are fairly cheap and is a DIY job, the engine bay looks very original right down to the air snorkel.  Those 5 mile and hr bumper shocks are probably seized but you might get them moving by backing the car up to a big tree or building and compress them in reverse, use a 2x4" to spread the contact area.

You might want to start replacing the the old rubber bushings with fresh rubber, it will really improve the feel and only use poly bushings on the steering rack.  Unless you are planning on doing fast road or tracking the car you may find poly bushings in the other locations as pretty bone jarring. BTDT

What are your plans for the car? 

[Captain Obvious]

Nice car and lots of stuff to talk about, but I'll start with a quickie...

If you drill a hole in the bumper shocks and drain the oil out, they should compress. But if you try to compress them with the (hard) rubber bumper accordion ends in place, you'll be trying to smash them down as well. Won't go easy or pretty.

If you're going to push the bumper in, you need to remove the rubber ends first. And then you need to figure out something to cap the ends instead.

[calvinhg]

@grannyknotMy plans for her are just being a weekend driver, nothing crazy, probably road trips too. I did notice the steering rack had a bit of movement, but it was vertical instead of horizontal so no play in the steering. I may replace the bushings either way. What other places are you talking about? 

 

@Captain ObviousI did drill a hole in both rear struts, but they still extend back if I push them in (with a lot of force). I saw some YouTube videos saying to beat them in with a mallet so I think I'll try that (after removing the bumper again). I will indeed need to trim the black end caps... Or better yet, replace them with something that doesn't stick out as much. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by calvinhg

[calvinhg]

OK, I figured the rear struts out. I got the bumper off, tapped on the passenger strut and it would just bounce back, but the driver side went in! Yesterday I never tried to push in the driver side... So I thought about what I did different, and I remembered I turned the nut inside the driver strut yesterday (it wouldn't come out, the stud spun with it but it must have made some difference).

 

So I spun the nut on the other side. It's much harder to get to, but I got it with a wobble extension and a wobbler. 

 

And boom! That did it, the strut compressed without bouncing back. I then drilled and trapped the struts to prevent them from moving anymore. 

 

And now this is how she sits! Looks much much better. I think I'm gonna try to find someone who can fab me something to cover the bumper ends, rather than modify the original rubber ends. 

[calvinhg]

Ah, I also messed with the antenna today. It's been replaced, definitively not stock. The switch (took me a while to find it 😅) works, I had power and ground switching to the blue/red and blue/white wires. 

 

So I took the unit apart, and fed power to the motor and it moves. After a little more testing I gave up, I think it's the relay-ish box that's not working. I just moved the antenna up a little (only need it to pick up my BT transmitter) and left it. 

Took more interior panels off to get to the driver speaker behind the seat, because it's not making any noise. But it tested good so I'm guessing the radio is not sending it signal or the wiring behind the radio. I kinda like the OG radio though so I don't want to replace it... There's always the Retrosound radios I guess.

[Captain Obvious]

Glad you got the bumper shocks figured out. I didn't mention it before, but the shocks are a lot easier to move independently without the bumper connecting the two. With the bumper in place, things can get cocked to one direction or the other and bind up. Easier with the bumper removed.

I'll be interested in what you do for bumper ends. There are pics around here that show some options and I'll find them if someone else doesn't first. I pushed my front bumper in, but left the rear alone. I think the front makes a big difference. Those pics are probably in the same place.   

[Captain Obvious]

OK, here's a start: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55336-collapsing-shocks-to-push-bumpers-closer-to-body/

There's some pics in there, but the links to my pics are dead because photobucket sucks.

Here's a couple pics of my front. This is with the bumper out at stock distance:

And here it is pushed all the way in:

[Captain Obvious]

Oh, and by the way.... I like your wheels.   Haha!!