Zedyone_kenobi

Okay folks, I recently purchased the 60 amp alternator upgrade from MSA and the install was simplicity itself. I am very happy, but to make the job complete I also bought a Deltran Battery tender Jr 12v model. I have heard nothing but great reviews so I decided my red top optima deserved it. Now here is where it gets weird. I have left it on the car for a solid 24 hours now and it is still glowing red meaning it has never reached the 80% charged level it should and go green. So I picked up my voltmeter and started to do some fiddling. Hooked up to the battery tender, I get about 12.3 volts going to it or so after 24 hours. Unplug the battery and it stay around 12.4 volts. Start the car with my new shiny alternator, and I send a constant 14.2 volts to the battery, which is good. Alternator should put that kind of juice out. My old 40 amp alternator/regulator combo that was stock with the car only put out 12.2 volts. What gets me is no matter how much I charge my battery, it never gets above 12.4 or the 12.2 range. IF left for a long time without driving or charging it will often read less than 12 volts, 11.4 was the lowest. Now my recollection is that a fully charged battery should have in the neighborhood of 13.XX volts.. I have been thinking my optima is old and may be on it last legs. Any comments?

Why not high pressure/high volume oil pump Get your pistons coated with a low for low friction Larger oil pan to hold an extra quart Also, I would avoid shorter rods. They will make for increased side loads on the cylinder walls. I would go for a longer rod if you have to build a stroker, you will get more torque out of it.

I think she is a beauty. Pictures tell only part of the picture, but it sounds 10k is a very fair price for the amount of work. I would like to see how she runs and drives.

Wow, that is VERY clean. superb job man.

I can add to your question. Is the pulley/damper one piece on Z cars, I have not looked. I have no smog or AC system on my car, yet it has a 3 groove pulley. I would like to put a lighter single groove on it. To shed some light on your question, is the OEM'ness of the stock part is probably driving up the cost due to rarity.

THat radio and faceplate look TASTEY!

I will give you an amen my brother!

Question, just because it has the vents on the rear hatch, it does not mean it was a series one. Where are the 240Z badges behind the C pillar and on the deck lid. Why would you take those off during the respray and not put them back? also, is that an overflow tank underneath the coil? I have never seen one of those on a Z. I would think that would get in the way of the stock air box, which is always missing. comments? Also the comment that it has a dash cap on to protect the perfect dash underneath is a bit hokey to me.

I like my set of gear wrenches I got at Sears. They offer fine indexing and a relatively small head. One thing of note, any indexing boxed end wrench will be bulkier than a non indexing boxed end wrench. Meaning it may not fit into some areas you would would like it to fit. I would get a set of gear wrenches for sure, but also a good set of slim boxed end wrenches available. Do not skimp on tools. They make the job easier, and the better the tools the more joy you will gain from working on your car?

I get the engineering behind it and all (BS in MCHE), I was alluding to the fact that I am not sure I can actually feel 1 extra volt.

Installed my 60 amp alternator today with custom plug. Could not be easier. Great instructions Arne! Took the car out for a drive. MY old alternator was only putting out 12.4 volts, my new one gets 14.5 volts. Very strong. I am getting almost 13.89 volts to the hot side of the coil, versus 12.2 volts. Car runs liquid smooth now. I cannot make the car hiccup or bog, or pop or sputter. Ran strong all the way to 6500 and even was smooth under all combinations up to that magical 5000 rpm band. I am very pleased. I swear the extra juice makes the fan blow stronger, but it is probably my imagination. I do wonder if it will effect my headlights since my old alternator was so marginally charging.

No special tools. just some open and closed end wrenches will do the trick. I would recommend getting the stud kit for the intake/exhaust. I put one in mine when I swapped out my carbs. Really made things easy and you know you have good bolts going back in. Also, make sure you clean out the threads in the head when you have everything off. It is a horribly boring job and it will murder your fingers, but having clean threads to put bolts/studs in will make all the difference. Plus, dirty threads negatively effects the running torque, meaning you may not get the proper preload on the system when you put it all back together. Other than that, patience. It is not hard, but it is time consuming. Take a couple of hours to properly clean off the sealing surface of all the parts. Cleanliness is key to a good seal. Also read up on the proper torque specs of your manifold/header. Good luck, and take Franks words to heart. Soak those bolts before you put a wrench to them. Do everything you can to make those things come out easy. The last thing we want to hear is you stripped your head or broke a bolt. Take your time and you will be fine. Remember, working on these cars is suppose to be fun, not aggravation.

UPDATE: Yesterday I had some time to fiddle with the Z. First I checked my timing. Still about 5-7 degrees at 800 rpm static, so I am happy about that. I think it should be more stable, but it will do for now. First thing I did was change the plugs/cap/rotor. (plugs looked a beautiful light brown, she is burning cleeeaaaannn) 15 minutes later, I was out the garage and yup, still had my popping and spitting at 5000 rpm. Pulled back in. Next I changed my fuel filter. Out the garage I went for the second round, and the car immediately shot to 6500 rpm when I floored it in 1st and 2nd gear with no drama at all. I was starting to smile. Did some driving and again, no issues pulling very hard all the way to yellow line. I was very pleased. I still need to hook up my 60amp alternator and plug in module (nice instructions Arne), but I was happy. One thing I did find out is when I rev the car very slowly in gear, meaning I do not floor it, just part throttle and I creep up on 5000, it will still pop once or twice until I put the pedal down to the floor. Perhaps I am still running a bit rich. Judging by the plugs I would say that is not really the case. Anyway I went from hitting a wall sputtering and spitting at 5000 rpm to smooth pull to redline with a fuel filter change and tune up. I have to physically try to make it pop now and it is not easy. I am going to try to check my wiring to my coil like Arne did, maybe run a larger wire, and install my 60 amp alternator next. If I can still find a way to make the engine hesitate, I will resync my carbs. I have not touched the air/fuel on the bottom of the carbs since I got them installed from Ztherapy. I turned each of them half a turn and ended up putting them back to where they were. And they were balanced spot on in 10 minutes. LOVE my carbs. Although, I did balance them with the air cleaners base plate with the horns not on it, and I think I need to balance it again with that part on the car. I figure you should balance the carbs in as close to running condition as possible.

I was not aware that the Z's could adjust toe in the rear? Before you start blaming anything else, I would recommend a new set of struts, and replacing your bushings in the rear end. Under braking or decel the weight transfers to the front of the car to some degree, leaving the rear suspension somewhat unloaded. It may be enough to upset something. Just a thought. It is hard to diagnose something when you have known rear suspension bits that are shot. I would recommend parking her and fixing the bits that are worn or tired.

A spring left unchecked will bounce up and down like a slinky. This is what your struts are designed to prevent. They dampen the motion of your springs. A car sits on its springs, and DRIVES on its struts. If you put overly stiff short springs, the car will bounce all over the road uncontrolled. Not only is this not good for handling it can be down right dangerous. Properly stiff struts are needed to handle stiffer springs so that all the movement of the chassis is controlled.

Why do you want to lower it. Is the rest of the car in good condition? How are your struts. You do plan on matching the lower car with stiffer dampers right?

Nothing anywhere I have found near us Frank. Need to keep as little of that crap in the tank as possible. I think if I can fill up more often, I can at least keep fresh gas in the tank.

For what it is worth, when I added mine, the whole car squeaked far less going up and down my driveway and the car felt more solid. It is a great mod that is not intrusive

Noted. I think I will pick up a battery tender.

I would not give you a dime over $110,000

Wow, this may be the real deal. But not driven since 76 worries me. The car would need new brakes, new rubber seals just about everywhere, the engine may need to be broken free, the carbs will be toast sitting that long with fuel in them. Not saying it is not worth a serious look. But I think for 19000 dollars it would have to be running and drivable. The seller could do a lot of good for himself if he would get it reliable and then tried to sell it. As it sits now, I would not offer him 10000 for it. A car that does not run is a bee's nest full of potential problems to me. Does that 19500 seem just too perfectly centered? Maybe I am stirring things up, but something about seems too dead center.

Agreed 7500 is too much for that car. for that price in a 280Z it would need to have a much better body, (ie no rust) and should be mechanically sound, meaning working AC and the like. The dash cap is not really a big deal if it was done correctly. Finding a perfect Z dash is like finding a leprechaun on a sunny day. The haste at which it was painted worries me. Could be hiding much more than you see. 1600 dollars in fuel system repairs is really nothing considering most of that was probably labor. Sounds like to me they just did a quick job of fixing it up just enough to sell to a buyer who is not yet trained to spot the issues. Walk away. There is no shortage of Z cars.

If I ever make it back up to Oregon, I will have to come by and we can compare war stories. I bet you will win though.

Actually Arne, with my energetic 2 year old running the roost lately, I will HAVE to do them one at a time! HA HA