IdahoKidd

You can lead a horse to water.............

80 miles on the rebuild and still needs................... this car is going break your heart-and your wallet. Mine is in the same situation and is still 5 grand from driving. Honestly, this isn't the car you want. Been there, done that. Leonard

Chiming in...... not on a bet! One is a $200 parts car, the other one, which is totaled, is worth the value of the wheels. $500 for the pair. You will be looking at 2 grand for body work, another 2 for paint, another 1 in incidentals. Parts are worth almost nothing. A few dollars here and there, but essentially nothing. Buy a running driving car for $4000 and enjoy it.

Voltage regulator and alternator are new (day old). He mentioned something about it not shutting off sometimes, which tells me diode too. Problem didn't go away with the new parts. Trying to determine is there is a fusable link inline somewhere that may be an issue. thanks

Hi guys, I am trying to help a 16 year old with a charging problem via phone and texting and could use some help while I search for clues. It is a 77 280z, all stock. The voltage meter apparently works but the red altenator charge light is on. The altenator has been tested and is producing 14.4 volts at the altenator, but no charge to the battery. The battery obviously goes dead in a relatively short time. As best I can determine (150 miles away) when the engine is reved, the charge light goes out. Sorry for the sketchy info, it is all I have at this time. I sold my 280 and don't have one to go look at. It sounds like a fuseable link or some thing that is interupting the flow. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Leonard More: Alternator, Battery and voltage regulator are all new trying to fix the problem

How long has it been since the motor was used long enough to be at normal operating temp? Could be residue from a previous cleaning, could be brake fluid spilled over from the brake master work, both will burn off shortly. Could be the crank breather hose is loose at the block. Are you sure the dripping sound isn't the sound of a heat shield creaking during temp changes? Really hard to tell without hearing in person. The engine doesn't look bad to me as far as 'dirty'. Leonard

I've only had one vehicle that has a turbo, and that is the Duramax in my Chevy. Accordingly, I've not heard all that much about glitches although I am certain I am about to learn. The 54 block, which came out in 79 (?) in the Zx was/is the one you read about with the siamesed cylinder walls, etc. From all that I have been able to gleen for some years is that it is the very same block for the turbo, down to and including the rods and crank. There has been talk about guys taking non turbo motors, putting the turbo (stock) on them and running them without issue. The BW 5 speed from behind the factory turbo car is physically different and apparently very difficult to install in the 77 body style. My donor had an auto and I used an 83 non turbo 5 speed as I have yet to hear of anyone breaking one behind a turbo motor. Probably been done, just haven't heard of it. I put the larger turbo clutch in while I was there. I did track down the non egr intake (much cleaner appearance), intend to use 440 injectors (supra) and an intercooler with a goal of 300-325 rwhp. (and if I don't get there, the bs story will certainly make up for it . I had an 83 donor car sitting right beside mine and it made the wire swap much easier. I am not sure how much knowledge/experience you have with the Z but there are two distinct wire harnessess, one for the fuel injection, one for the body. In the ZX, some of those wires are in the same harness and have to be separated. I don't recall now exactly what gets left out and included. Seems there is only two wires that get clipped permanently and one or two that have to splice back into the original harness. I started right up after the conversion but had an issue with higher rpms. Locally, there are four Z's, one now has tripple webbers and mild cam, one is getting a 350, one of mine is getting the turbo setup, and the other one of mine is getting what is now amounting to a major refreshment (will be a new car essentually-98% stock). The turbo car isn't getting all the candy, oe seat covers, interior, etc, etc, just a nice clean low profile zippy gg to ambush the college kids I am not a big fan of hybrid z people. I personally think there is an ego that one must have to be on that board and a budget you must have in order to not be completely blown off when you ask a question or even ask about obvious wrong information. I don't aspire to that ego, nor do I justify that budget. Do go there if you haven't and read through some of the posts about the conversion. You'll have to sort the wheat from the chaf. What I have done is to print out the posts and the pictures that I thought were relavent and put them all in a note book binder that I can take to the car with me. Leonard

Did this conversion. Ditch the zx 5 speed. If you aren't going to use the turbo, ditch the turbo motor too. Get the non turbo zx motor and matching 5 speed. Direct bolt in/swap. Get in and drive. I don't believe anything is any stronger, or even different other than the dished pistons, the head, and the cam (besides the turbo of course). I did the 83 turbo motor into my 77 and although it runs and drives about the yard, then I got interested in restoring my 72 before medical issues sidelined me. There is a ton of information and even more misinformation on Hybrid Z for the swap. Wiring is a matter of swapping the fuel injection harness from one car to the other and eliminating a few stray wires. With a good diagram, could be done in 3-4 hours. Exhaust is straight foreward and not nearly as complicated or tuneable as non turbo car. Typically the smog stuff has to be consistent with the later model, be it the car or the motor, so in your case the motor. Here in Idaho there isn't an inspection of any kind so what was there is gone, mostly for sanitation purposes. If I had it to do all over again, I'd go with the V8 swap. But, I'll finish this up this spring and do that swap some other day. One guys opinion

There is a definate color difference between 72 and 73 model years. One is white, the latter off white. I bought 'white' for my 72 from Motorsports and they were dead perfect to go with the white interior panels from Les at Datsun Motorsports. The first set I bought on ebay were to tan and gave them away...

It was done about 6 weeks? ago. Very recently. There is a pic posted here when I had it done. It was all blasted to bare metal. I was so happy I took my wheels from my daughters car (very badly oxidized aluminum) and had them done. I picked a color a bit too dark but they came back looking better than new ones ever did for $35 each. Here's the link to the original post http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?42621-Powder-coating&highlight=powder+coating

I had every single piece of the undercarriage of my car poweder coated, with the exception of the rear diff assembly, coil springs and calipers, for $300. Pretty sure I got a great deal. Wouldn't even consider painting it for that amount. VERY pleased.

I have the exact same setup but I had a donor car to do a side by side conversion. I got a lot of material from Hybrid Z. No help at all from the members as they are VERY clickish. Read and compare all that you find as there is more misinformation there than that of use. I did finally find a pretty good wiring diagram with pictures that was about 80% correct. There is a lot of "I think" and "it should" and "I haven't actually done it but..." stuff there. Sort it all out but I did determine it wasn't as complicated as it appeared to be. Leonard

Seems to me everyone is overlooking the obvious. You are trying to prepay for fuel economy. You've been watching too many Prius commercials. If gas is $4.00 a gallon: The car gets 22 mpg, that is 18 cents a mile. At 30 mpg, it is 13 cents a gallon. Driven a 1000 miles, you have saved $50. At the cost of the $1000 megasquirt system, you need to drive 20,000 miles to reach the break even point. How likely is it that you will drive your Z 20,000 miles? If your goal is to improve fuel economy, it is a fools errand. You will spend everything you are trying to save, if not more. My 280 gets 22-28. It is what it is. No complaints at all. My Benz gets 17. It is what it is. My 240 is STILL on the rack. It too is what it is........ : (

Found this with only 20 minutes left in the auction but how cool is this? http://cgi.ebay.com/Datsun-240Z-Bj-1972-Barn-Find-Diorama-1-18-/320720164641?pt=UK_ToysGames_DiecastVehicles_DiecastVehicles_JN&hash=item4aac695721

Wondered a little about that. Really concerned about the offset. Am told it will result in no rubbing issues. Don't want to waste a bunch of money......... Got the tires really cheap and I can replace those if necessary

Looking at 245/45/16 on 16X8 wheels, +10, tokico struts and springs. Anyone see a red light with this set up? Already have the tokico's and the tires, ordering wheels tomorrow ( I hope). Leonard

Olzed, A Teabagger is a political term referred to someone who believes in the US Constitution, believes you shouldn't spend more money than you have, should be accountable for your actions, don't believe in entitlement (what is your is yours and what is mine is yours), doesn't believe government should be your big brother, your parents or guardian and so on. The political left in this country are trying to force the US into socialism and a generic form of communism. The term has its roots in the beginning of the US revolution when patriots dressed as Indians stormed British ships in Boston Harbor and dumped all the tea over the edge in protest of taxation without representation. Now the group has become a powerful political party and the entitlement folks are running scared because they may have to get a job, become responsible citizens etc. To suggest the joke was somehow "teabagger" was juvinile at best. There was no association to the political party at all unless it was somehow Obamacare related. It wasn't. The joke was funny. Unfortunately, Grantf couldn't contain himself and is so bitter that he may have to become a productive citizen in this country he is lashing out in anger. It is unfortunate, but there are several "grantf's" running amuck. Of course the entire political scene is slightly more complex than that, but this is the general cliff notes of it. FYI-San Francisco has the highest per capita of gays and lesbians in the US, thus the reference to it. As my dad would have said, "a blind man could see that one coming with his cane"

I've dated every one of them, and several of them at the same time..........

Remember back in the day when it was "bitchin!" ? "Sick" rates right up there with "my bad" and the stacked use of "really". Now that makes me sick!

My car went to bare metal. The painter didn't want to trust someone elses bondo (was none though). He used an over the counter product from the hardware store and then a plastic scrapper and scraped the sludge off, then washed it down with water. It went quite fast and no dust.

Not a bad plan Sarah. The timer would be a good idea too. It could wire in cleanly at starter solonoid. Where does a guy buy a timer delay like that? I would like to have one for my dome light/door light too. New cars have them, I just don't know what to look for at a bone yard. Would like to find something that is similar in size to an aftermarket headlight relay for example.

A while back I had asked if anyone had any idea how much powder coating might cost. The (nearly) local shop that does that work (35 miles away) called me in this morning to tell me they were all done with all of the parts. What you see, which is everything that would detach except for drive line, axles, and rear diff assembly, came to $319.50. I think that was a screaming deal considering they sand blasted everything as well. It looks AWESOME as far as I am concerned. Now the rugged adventure of reinstalling everything....... Damn I have a lot of money in this car..............

.....my grandpa had one just like it!

But wait, we get to do it again on October 21st. Plan ahead!

I bought the Z Therapy carbs and manifolds for use without the water and those ports have a plug in them. Perhaps for appearance? One would think it would just be an open hole and wouldn't matter much though....