Project X

Hi, I just joined the forum so I thought I’d introduce myself. I inherited an ’81 280ZX with 5 speed and T-tops. Mechanically the engine and drivetrain are in good shape, needs mostly just minor things like shocks, speedo cable, brakes, etc, etc. Interior’s a bit ratty, I’ve been ebaying a bunch of those items and cleaning up the hack work done by previous owners. Dash is full of electrical gremlins and half the instruments don’t work. When I got the car it had a short that drained the battery all the time so they had put in a battery disconnect and every time they got out of the car they disconnected the battery. Finally traced that to the hazard flasher circuit, but couldn’t find the actual culprit, so I just disabled it for now. At least the battery doesn’t run down. I’m new to the Z community but as you can see from my vehicle list I like to work on cars, using my lavishly equipped outdoor shop, aka driveway. The Jeep is actually Cherokee #2. I had built up Cherokee #1 then an uninsured driver ran a red light & T boned it into oblivion.

Thanks for the tips. I wound up also removing the center AC louvers so I push on the plastic ducting, and finally got the cluster out, digital clock stem & all.

Hi, I’m rehabbing an ’81 280ZX. I’m trying to remove the combination gauge (oil/volts/digital clock) & the shop manual says to get it out through the glove box area. My problem is the digital clock’s 1.5” stem for stopwatch function is in the way. Anybody know how to remove the stem? It’s a working clock so I don’t want to brute force it off in order to get the gauges out. I searched the forums & most references seem to be dealing with analog clocks that don't have that pesky long stem. Thanks.