Ben's Z

While Andrew here seldom knows what the hell he is talking about. I completely agree on this!

Hook up?

I am envious of the 240z, so much less **** running everywhere. My 77 has crap going all over the place. My engine bay looks like poop. When I pull the N/A motor for the turbo swap I am going to sand it all down and repaint it the OE color code before I slide in the new engine. I have a non egr intake for the Turbo motor, this should help clean things up. I plan on buffing the raised portion of my turbo valve cover and wrinkle coating the rest. Probably wrinkle coat the intercooler pipes as well.

Not to hijack a thread here but I am in midst of having a 280zx turbo motor rebuilt to drop in the 77. End horsepower goal is 250-270 at the wheels. I think I need something like exedy 240mm stage 1, the 240mm being designed for the turbo apps. Other threads I have looked at say the N/A 225mm clutch size would be fine with some sort of upgraded friction disc material. Does anyone have an experience with this?

Put some good miles on the car yesterday. Drove about 35 miles one way down to the Houston Galleria. I had the AC on and radio up and was mostly in 5th gear. I got in to traffic in the galleria rolled down the windows, killed the AC and turned down the radio. As I pulled away from a light and let out the clutch I heard squeelish moaning creak. Sounded like the throwout bearing perhaps. This did not happen before my entire chassis teardown and overhaul last summer and it didn't do it before I changed over to Redline MT fluid this last weekend. However I never have really driven the car that far since I have owned it. I got back about 11 last night and as I eased in to the driveway it did it again. I backed out of the drive to listen again and it seemed to be worse with more load on the engine. It almost sound like it is coming from the rear end somewhat. The farthest I usually drive is about 5 miles in the car so I am not sure if it took it really getting warmed up to make the noise or something else is going on. I did notice a few months ago, a "whirring" noise from the trans or rear end that would cease when I depressed the clutch. Not sure if something is getting worse or something else has popped up.

My 77 has a slow leak. I put in freeze 12 last year, by itself and then later put in some freeze 12 stop leak. Once again this year it is low, but still cools somewhat, so I have no idea how much I have lost. When L28 goes and the turbo motor goes in I am going to replace all the o rings and lines in the engine bay and also paint the engine bay. If that does not fix it, I suppose it is behind the dash.

Changed transmission tail shaft seal and put in Redline MT synthetic.

Bought some 280zx wheels. Been working on a couple of them. Not an expert by any means. 2 are buffed 2 are not. I used an air angle grinder with a blue roloc disk to remove most of the aluminum ridges on the spokes, then just went at it with some buffs and rouge.

I get Automobile. Why the hell did we not get that DOHC here?

As Area Sales Manager for a large automotive aftermarket parts manufacturer I can confidently tell you that Beck Arnley is a reboxer of parts, often times liquidated by others manufacturers. It is possible they are not the right springs, even though the part number says so.

FWIW. I own an old Oldsmobile Bravada with a digital dash and it does that too. Not so much going down but jumps faster than it can count.

I'd push my car to El Paso if someone wanted to give me that much coin for my car even in that kind of shape.

I know, I was looking at his prices and figured he must live in River Oaks area of Houston (for those of you who do not know, that is big time money) He seems to provide no KY that is for sure.

I found a local guy with non EGR intakes. I thought only 75 models had non EGR. He said he has one that is from a 75 and 76 both have no EGR provision. I am not sure this guy knows what he is talking about. Before I drive to go see it, are there any 76 non egr intakes?

Anyone know who this person is?

I went to BJ Scottsdale 2 years ago. You can pretty much go anywhere you want with general admission pass, except the area they bring the cars up for auction. Staging lanes and all other spots are open to general public. The $500 fee you pay to bid is not that bad really. It included (at the time) 2 or 3 tickets for your buddies (smart idea to get your pals to egg you on to buy, since it isn't their money!) and also I think 8 drinks per day for you and your buddies (smart idea again!). It is really worth it to go that route if you go with friends.

Is there a way to bench test a digital cluster from 1983 turbo?

Guys I did this full kit and used the supplied bushings for the tension rod. What I am missing with this socket and tension rod kit? I am satisfied with the bushings.

I'd recommend soda blasting them. I glass beaded aluminum wheels but it leaves them rough. I intended to wet sand and polish them out, that might be tough on drums. You may also want to stop by a HD truck parts store, something like a FleetPride or TruckPro or a truck stop and try some "aluminum brightener" Truckers use it on fuel tanks and aluminum wheels. Keep me posted.

Before I post it in the general classifieds... Does anyone want to buy my 280zx Turbo diff? I have the diff, CV shafts and can remove the stub axles and nuts from the control arms if you want them. I travel TX for work so I can possibly deliver to guys in east Texas, Austin, San Antonio, I live in the Houston area. 160k on car, diff spins fine. Not sure what it is worth. It is a R200 with 3.54 ratio. Car was an automatic.

I posted this over at hybridz, no response (Imagine that). So I did the 280zx rear disc conversion and the eibachs. Now my rear brake hoses rub on the parking brake cable bracket on the 280zx calipers and cause the hose to rupture. This has happened 3 times now since the conversion with probably less than 100 miles. I have tried rerouting and bending the hoses but nothing seems to be working. Anyone else have any ideas? I have thought about ditching the eibachs and going back with the OE coils but really when the suspension fully compresses the result would be same. Everyone would have to have this happen if they use the factory bracket where the brake hose and hardline are joined.

I literally just walked in from bringing my 280zxt parts car over to my house. I immediately checked on there where it went. Thanks anyway guys...

Where abouts? Car drives great without it!

Came out during intake and exhaust gasket job. Any ideas?

Also, my temp gauge is not working now. I put in a new sensor earlier this year and it worked before I started this project. Is there a ground for this sensor I could be missing?