Free280Z

I haven't posted in a while so to bring every one up to speed. . . . The parts car has been gone for about three weeks now. Thank God. I have been getting the '75 working bit by bit. The car had no power any where. I located all the fusses and cleaned contacts and ground points. Test stuff and what not. I borrowed my brother's Power Probe, it makes it much easier. So anyway. I worked on that thing for two weekends and was getting now where fast. My brother (mechanic for about 20 years) came down and in about an hour and fifteen minutes we got the engine turning over, ignition working (I did the old hit the starter when he had his hand where he could get shocked, its still funny), lights (not head lights yet, but can make them come on by jumping at the fuse block) and indicators, no brake lights yet either. We started tracking down the fuel issue and verified the injection relay was working. I haven't had time/weather to take the fuel pump out and try to get it working. That's the nice thing about a Power Probe, you can put power on stuff. The pump isn't running. It is very inspiring to hear it turn over on its own. I am an absolute newbie to Z cars. If anyone is reading this is a newbie also. Listen to the "Old Hands" and a) Get A Field Serve Manual - indispensable. Get A Wiring Diagram - very illustrative. c) If You See A Connection Point, Clean It. A buddy of mine gave me a car cover. Those are nice things to have also. Much of the time when I wasn't making progress on the electrics I stared kind of cleaning the old girl up. That makes it easier to stay motivated. I think I may be able to drive it before October gets here.

I can dig 4x4ing in the ocean. Here are some pics of the parts car at the end of its life. Also one of the shunt unit. I had to really clean it up.

d240zx2: I have pics of the intricate stuff. When I started I thought I would post a complete pictography, it takes a lot of time to take pictures while taking a car apart. If I need a part from the bin it should be a game of "match and go".

I have finally gotten rid of the parts car. This weekend I will put a battery in "Nadeen" and start fixing the damage from the battery being put in backwards (PO). I will post pics of the parts car tomorrow. (stripped and flipped, much like I like my women)

I think that if where me I would take a rear drum and have a buddy push the brake pedal SLOWLY AND NOT TO FAR, to verify that the wheel cylinder(s) where working. If they move, great, then its one of the other things. If not fix that first.

The bottom one looks like a race part.

Oh yeah I'm not a guru. I'm a simple monkey.

bloody dam well dam it!!! I had a complete explanation typed out but I did a refresh on the page............ OK, once more. This one will not be as good as the first..... "One argument is the moving of a "larger volume of fluid" with the larger bore. What does this have to do with anything?" Consider this, if you have a master cylinder bore of one inch that moves the caliper piston (diameter of 1") 1/4 inch, then what happens when the caliper piston is 10 inches. you understand this..... You could have the situation where the MC bore is to big and the brakes will be stiff, too small and you will run out of pedal stroke before the pads meet the rotor. When, under normal circumstances, you add larger calipers you are increasing the area swept by the pad (larger pads) and therefore you don't need as much pressure ( at the caliper piston) to achieve the same drag coefficient ( at the rotor). "One argument is the moving of a "larger volume of fluid" with the larger bore. What does this have to do with anything? Basic analysis of any hydraulic brake system tells me that, if any one component is for some reason moving farther (such as a piston retracting farther from a rotor) simply becuz it's larger then something is wrong." Yes you are right, the assumption that the distance traveled by the piston, at the caliper, to engage the rotor should be the same. But ultimately it is a matter of displacement so you have to move more fluid, see above. Most importantly, never underestimate the advantage of having good brake balance and pedal feel (that is why you make the changes to the MC when you make changes to things at the wheel). This is the ultimate answer to your question. It doesn't matter if you have your head wrapped around it or not. Many people before me have done the experiments. They tell the tale. I am sure I haven't explained this to my satisfaction.

I have underestimated how long it takes to take a car apart and bag and label things. I thought I could do it in a month. Don't think that their isn't a lot parts in the dash. I am down to a few interior trim pieces and the pedal bracket on the inside then I can flip it over and get the suspension/diff bits out. My brother came down and helped me take the engine/transmission out. I have it stored. I would have had it stripped down already but life interferes. ....On the topic of pedal brackets.... the good car is an automatic, the pedal bracket is the same as the manual parts car. All I have to do is swap pedals, etc! I was glad to see that after taking out the dash/all componentry completely. I am very close to focusing my attention to the good car. My den is filling up with Z parts (cool). I plan on listing them once I get the 'site built. Once again life interferes. Thanks Jeff G 78 for suggesting I keep everything >. (humor) Stupid camera cable doesn't help me with my old ssa computer. I gave up trying to visually documenting everything with it any way.

Left out a ")", so there.

I have a 1975 Z. Why does the luggage area look like a 260/240, (smooth vinyl on the shock towers etc, split carpet to get to jack area {catalogs show a non-split carpet}, a built in anti-skid lip {or toe rail in nautical parlance} vinyl covering the transmission hump? It was built in May.

oldhemi, I looked at my parts car and those re-enforcement pieces are completely gone ( I mean this literally). No dice there. There are things worth saving. I have considered cutting the top off. It's still good. As for grantf's request for tail light stuff. I have taken them off and they are still good enough to work, the trim on the outside is shot. I don't know if I need them though. I have a mission of getting the parts car taken care of before I even look at the good one. I have washed it (the good one) though. I cut the striker pin today on the door. It still won't open, it is hanging all along the bottom, I will take care of that tomorrow. I have to do that first to get the dash/instrumentation out. I plan on sitting in it and drinking beer again tomorrow. I checked the fusable links today and they seemed good. Long story short the "giver" put the battery in backwards and then couldn't get power to the interior. Any Ideas.

This is the 1977, the last pic is the rusty hatch I cut my head on. It hurt like a hctib.

1975 pics

As a newbie to all things "Z" don't listen to me, but, I have had strange things happen too and it was a ground. Very strange things.

Bad Ground somewhere.

Took out rear tail lamp assemblies and some other stuff. Cut head on rusty hatch. Camera cable supposed to be here Friday. As a newbie I didn't know until Saturday the the parts car was a '77 (found "accorddian" style bumper trim and noticed some valance differences). Live and learn I reckon. I'll be getting a 5 speed instead of a 4 speed. Tried to get drivers side door open. Mechanism rusted shut, must get sawzall to kill striker pin . Got passenger door open with crow bar. Killed all wasps in good car. Cleaned seats. Sat in car and drank beer. Ahhhhhh....I can't describe my satisfaction. I really think I love this car. After seeing the parts car on blocks and looking at every thing. It is what I want. A simple machine. Evidently it (the good one) was the 19112th one made. It's a '75 but in the black dragon catalog the rear trim pieces are 260Z. I have actually been thinking about keeping the gold color! I want a green one. The parts car seats are in the good one and vise versa. I will hold on to extra frames though. Be patient while I get a cord. I have taken pics on my phone and will put them up tomorrow. I think I have been given a gift.

I have lost my cable to the camera. I will take it with me tomorrow to buy one. Grantf: I will take a rear lamp socket off (the lamp assembly) tomorrow to look if it is good. When you say socket do you mean the actual socket (where the bulb attaches) or the whole "bucket" ( the part that forms the reflector that the lens mounts to), or is it the same? [i am a newbie to the Z car] Right or left? I haven't done any dis-assembly on a 280Z. Sooo.. sorry for the questions. I will be making a website to link to. It will record the progress of the car. We washed it today. Boy does that make a difference. Darrel: I see what you mean about the manual transmission swap. It is straight forward. All: I am new to this forum business. I saw how I can "go advanced" to post some pics. Is this the best way to do it?

I have cleaned out the good one and have changed my mind. All is well... I must strip the parts car and get it out of my driveway. If anyone is looking for some part, let me know and I'll see if I have one in good shape.

I think its burden. I went and looked at the car(S) and once I got one home [i'm posting at 11:25 central time], the good one it seems to have rust every where. While I know that some stuff is more concerning than others....... The little hood-doors that give you access to the battery.... the hinges are all rusty...I don't know if that is an issue...the holes at the bottoms of the doors seem larger now. I think they can be taken care of with a skin job.....the rust areas are normal. The interior, is as expected, has been used as storage.. so it's not perfect or anything. I think I have bitten off more than I can chew. But at the same time, to me, if I have a z car and can get some crusin' out of it, all the better. Under'neath the car seems solid but to get one the is too messed up to deal with is a diferent story.

THE GAUNTLET HAS BEEN THROWN!! I have to get the cars this weekend or they are going to the scrapyard. I took a day off to go look at them. My wife, Virginia, has a friend up there to visit so it's not a wasted trip. It's a two hour drive. I have it all lined up. They had to move the "parts car", they couldn't get the door open and busted the window out... oh well. Both are in the same place now. He said the parts car was way faster than the other (good) one, maybe it has the different head and stuff. OH!!! I can't believe I almost forgot this... Today I was going to work, ane I stoped in at this little country store to buy some smokes. When I pulled in I noticed a 300ZX but when I got closer it was badged as a Fairlady (!). I went inside and asked who's car it was and talked to the guy. It was, indeed, a Fairlady imported from Japan, twice turbo'ed and all that! I consider it an Omen that I should have a Z car. Weird look'in guy though. He was quite knowledgeable about things "Z". I didn't ask if he was local.

Darrel, thanks for the info, as I suspected with good Japanese engineering, they wouldn't do "one off" chassis design. Gary in NJ, I haven't even seen the car(s) yet. When I get them home there will be pictures! What kind/type wheels are those in your picture? They remind me of mini lites. d240zx2, I have access to a lift, I hadn't even thought of that. A very good idea. How did you know I have .45 <humor>. Since my last post I have downloaded the FSM. I am very pleased that it exists. It seems to cover every thing.

The way the car looks in the 3/4 rear pictures is what I dig. Any of the Z cars.

Thanks for the reply Darrel. Does the pedal assembly bolt in or weld in? I hope it bolts. I think I have located a trailer! I am trying to not get to excited as I haven't seen it yet. But owning and driving one would be the best. When I was a kid in '75 I remember them being new. I am from a small town and there was one or two around. I really want the chassis to be good so I can dig in and get it on the road. There will be much to do. I have been reading horror stories about the fuel system after long term storage.

Hey all, My step daughter's dad is giving me two 1975 280z's. One has been in storage (garage) since 1996, he bough it from the original owner at an unknown time. It is an automatic. The other he bought as a parts car from Ohio. It is a manual. It is so rusted, he said, you could through a cat through it! It is supposed to have a new (at that time) engine. It didn't get stored in side... Both are complete. The stored one is supposed to be in good condition. I will see when I get it together and go up there to trailer it back. I'll have to go another weekend after that to get the parts car. I hope its in decent condition. The car he gave the daughter was in "good" condition too. So I hope his rating of good holds true this time also. I decided to join the group after doing research on the web about Z cars and kept getting good information from these forums. I hope I won't have to lean on 'yall to much. My first question is. Is it possible to put the manual transmission in the other car with out to much hassle.