Cornbreadxd

Ok, i'll see what your talking about but I figure I can get it out of the hood and then work on the rust in that area while the battery is in the back, along with a new hold down and battery tray, and it'll give me a better angle to kill all the spiders that have been living under the hood

I bought an optima battery and have had it under the hood for a while but the fit is kind of weird so I made a spacer to put in my tray to get a better fit but it's not the best solution so I want to relocate to the trunk. I looked online at kits and everything, but am I correct that to do the relocation I just need 2ga welding wire to go from the starter through the firewall and into the rear, splice(extend) the fusible link plug from under the hood through the same area and onto the battery, and a ground going to the trunk floor? I am going to have a simple box welded out of spare aluminum and bolt it to the trunk floor also. I figure with the weight in the back it would help a bit with the COG as well as solving my fitment problem.

ok I'ts running now, i think i was right about the cracks in the boot and i sealed it w/ sealent and electrical tape temporarily while i wait for new boots from courtesynissan. I also cleaned the TB and the AFM (QD Electrical Cleaner) because they were filled with carbon buildup so if anyone else has this problem those should be cleaned while everything is disconnected.

i was able to check the fuel pressure and it was fine, so im guessing its the rubber boot or a combination of that and the cone filter

ok so I read through a few threads, the manual, and the efi-bible and I think I have an idea of what is going on but im not for sure. The problem is just as stated in the title the car will start but the idle is weak and it dies almost instantly, if I give it some gas I can keep it alive but it's really rough and I get some whiteish smoke out of the tail. I have a l28e from a 83zx' and I think there maybe be some gaps forming in the rubber elbow due to it being old and the weather I had an idle issue before from this but was able to seal the cracks with sealent. also I have a cone filter and I know it needs to be replaced cause it's kinda dirty but would that cause the car to stall out instantly? I changed the oil, plugs, cleaned the dist rotor, cleaned alot of the connectors, replaced the fuel filter, and made sure my fusible links were ok but it's too dark/cold to look at the rubber elbow. Any other thoughts on what could be causing the problem? The car ran fine 3 days ago and I had it towed home from the gas station that night when it first started acting crazy.

i used eDead before on my other car for trunk work and its not that good, it has mylar backing and doesn't stick too good, it also peels off in extreme temps so for the people out west and down south i wouldn't reccomend it....but also for people in cold areas because it peels in cold temps too. It also leaves sticky residue all over the panels and your hands. I don't want to sound like I work for them but the secondskin stuff is the best hands down, if you don't want to spend the money the only other products would be RAAmat or the stuff from Cascade Audio but its almost the same price. Here is what i was doing on my other car before someone crashed into me on friday. http://www.secondskinaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4274 It'd be worth it and really easy to apply deadner to the Z because there are alot of flat spaces its only annoying when you have to work w/ alot of contours, i'd do mine but i'd have to kill ALL the rust first . But depending on how much you want to deaden it 160sq ft is close to 70lbs. I used 80 for a hyundai elantra and didn't cover everything and did 2 layers in the trunk. So I think maybe 100sqft would do a 280z

i know this thread is kinda old but secondskin damplifier prois the best stuff to use imo, its thicker than anything else available. I used it for sound deadning my other car and it gives luxury car noise reduction. I haven't used any on the z but i've had good results with Frost King duct insulation also but i would put that over the damplifier. http://www.secondskinaudio.com/

wow thats a nice z, i agree that its good to be patient, i bought the Z as a 2nd car to replace my car that was totaled but its become a learning experience so i'll know exactly what to look for when im able to buy another one or a 510.

--just an update i replaced my rotor and caliper today but have to wait till friday to replace the rotor on the passenger side. It was a PITA to get the hub off of the old rotor and i eventually required a hydraulic press. i also regreased/repacked the bearings and axle, this was my first time doing such an extensive job but the SEARCH bar( and fsm) makes everything easier. I'm kinda regretting replacing the brakes though because if i'd known it'd been this simple i'd spend the $$ on a big brake kit, maybe i'll do a rear disc conversion instead.

did you make sure the rubber elbow to the intake pipe doesn't have any cracks in it? mine did and it caused my car to idle really bad .

those are some nice pics

well thanks to the search tab i've found that i was sent the wrong caliper i've emailed the seller and am waiting for a response. i'm just going to go ahead and replace the passenger side and not worry about returning it, hopefully they really have the driver side caliper it only took 2 days to arrive too.

that is what i was thinking, that if I was able to get a south/west car that all the interior could be replaced with what I have now because there isn't any sun damage to my interior.

Im going to try and get into some welding classes and auto body stuff this summer and fall semester but I don't know if its a losing battle, I just figure I'd use the one now to learn the inner workings of the car and then do a restore on a LESS rusty Z. I guess i'd consider this my practice car although there is alot of the car that isn't rusted. But this is the damage. Excuse the dust/dirt its been raining and the car was last driven through a muddy road before the brakes went out on me. This is the main rust area, and when I took a flashlight to a mirror in this I see rust all inside the door in patches, The floor is decent and i can't see through it but the frame rails likely need to be replaced and i know the battery tray is an issue, i didn't post a pic but it looks like everyone that had tray rust when i searched that issue. I just don't know if I can save the car or just make it a daily driver/ parts car/ weld training vehicle. I did a search and found out about the Tabco body metal iirc but is that even going to work with a hole like that?

i think the piston could be rusted though, and i'd rather replace the caliper for now and rebuild the original after the car is road worthy again. so is this caliper worth buying or is there something missing from it i compared it with the fsm but this will be my first brake job on the z.

I've come to the conclusion that my Z is slowly dieing and welding isn't going to save it, plus i don't have the money or skill to REALLY do a restore on it. So im just going to drive it till it falls apart, im going to search for an arizona/nevada/florida etc. Z when I have money saved and just use what I've learned from this forum and my current Z to make it respectable. I'll post pics of my rust but its really bad i think beyond saving (the previous owner did a good job of hiding it) and i've seen stuff on other cars while searching. I really like the car but the rust is out of control but at least now I know where to look whenever I get ready for a replacement. I wouldn't mind a 510 either but do those have the same rust issues?

Ok I've read some threads about brakes and was thinking my master cylinder was going bad but after more searching and being under the car (found more rust:disappoin) I noticed that fluid looked liked it was leaking in that area and the caliper is stuck. It was sticking on and off and the car pulled to the passenger side but now the pedal goes to the floor. The driver side wheel has caked brake dust all over that i smacked off so im almost 100% sure the caliper is the problem. I checked ebay and found this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Brake-Caliper-Nissan-240Z-260Z-280ZX-70-78-Front-Left_W0QQitemZ200206326593QQcmdZViewItem but for some reason it looks like its missing something other than brake pads but i don't know. If I replace the caliper will there be an issue with the other caliper later on or will there be uneven wear on the pads because the newer calipers are more efficient? Thanks

you can also get rubber boots that go on top of your terminals/cables so they don't make contact w/ anything and stay insulated.

a fuel pressure gauge, you can get one at almost any autoparts store

oh, because once i wrapped it with tape it held an idle and ran until the battery/alternator? lost power. The only other things i've done recently was sand the rotor and distributer terminals, replaced the corroded autolites with seiwa plug wires, and threw in fresh ngk plugs.

yeah i saw that on ebay but it is the other elbow the one from the afm to the air filter pipe (i have a short ram intake) Anyone know if I could just fab one with a flex pipe or something or is the afm sensitive and would read wrong if its not the oem elbow? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-280z-Air-Cleaner-to-Air-Flow-Meter-Boot-NOS_W0QQitemZ320243002247QQihZ011QQcategoryZ46101QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I think my alternator or battery is going now though because i watched the volt meter slowly start to fall as i drove the car around the neighborhood and it died right in front of my house<lucky> i'll charge the battery and get it in the driveway to get a better look. It's like a domino effect one thing gets fixed for something else to break, im not gonna give up on it though.

update- Ok I got it to run and drove it around the neighborhood, the elbow going to my intake was ripped open on the underside so I that it why the car wouldn't idle I guess, i'll be ordering a new one on ebay unless anyone knows the part # via Nissan.Its from the air filter pipe to the afm kinda like this. I used tape for a temporary fix and it is now able to drive, thanks for everyones help. Once the semester is over I will drop the gas tank and have it cleaned/rust proofed so everything will be ready.

Well, i received my plugs today in the mail and put them in but the car wouldn't hold an idle at all. They felt oily and didn't smell like gas though. I was able to record a video though. I was only able to keep it going by giving it gas and it wouldn't go above 2300rpm. I didn't replace the gas and its been in the tank for 2 weeks could it be old gas or is there a different problem here?

update- The autoparts stores around me are pretty worthless so i had to order parts online and wait for them to come, i did get new sparkplug wires and am waiting for new plugs but i tried to start the car after i replaced the plug wires and it actually turned but it sputtered and I had to keep giving it gas to keep it from cutting off. I read the thread by johnnyddn but that didn't help much. It sounded VERY ROUGH and I did see grayish (i think hard to tell in the mirror) smoke coming out of the tail that smelled pretty much like oil, when I tried to see if it would idle it didn't and it cut off on me and wouldn't start again. I checked the plugs and they look oily now. So does this rule out a fuel problem or ignition or what? Riding the bus to school is getting annoying.

im having my own problems but I still can give some general help, have you checked your spark plugs because they could be fouled. http://www.centuryperformance.com/spark-plug-reading-spg-192.html