Threehz

Well I don't plan on taking my Z to the track anytime soon so that shouldn't be a problem. Good questions fandsw! I also didn't know about the lugnuts or centercap issues I'll have to check that out, thanks!

Yeah it seems that might just be how it is because there doesn't seem to be all that much difference between the two, but then again I don't know a lot about wheels or tires.

Nothing beats the look of some Panasports on a Z! However my wallet strongly disagrees... So I've narrowed my wheel search down to two wheels. Konig Rewinds, and Rota RB wheels. Money is an issue however I've found these wheels coming to the exact same price, so that is not going to effect my decision. Looks wise they are nearly identical, except the RB's spokes are a little more protruding and I think the RB's have a little bit more aggressive look, which I like. Since price is not an issue comparing these wheels, and I like the looks of both, performance is my real concern. I'm sure this has been discussed before but I had trouble finding any threads that actually had performance reviews/specs, just a lot of which looks better. I don't know a lot about how wheels/tires work, but I read that Z's have a stock offset of +15mm, so does that mean that you really wouldn't want anything with a positive offset of more then 15? I heard spacers are not good and I don't want to use them. So correct me if I'm wrong on this but when I list available offsets for the wheels I'm not listing the offsets above 15mm. Anyhow I'm interested in 15x7 whichever wheel I end up getting. I know a little bit about each wheel but couldn't find too much which is why this thread is here. So: Rota RB 15x7 4x114.3 Weight: 14.3 lbs Available Offsets: +4, +12 Konig Rewind 15x7 4x114.3 Weight: 14.5 lbs Available Offsets: 0 (all I could find) That's what I found searching online, so RB's weigh 3.2 ounces less then the rewinds which is a little under a pound less for all four; not a big difference but a small plus none the less. Ok so that's all I know, I'd love to hear how either wheel have performed on your car or if you've tried both out which you like better or anything else anyone knows! Again sorry if this has been discussed before I couldn't find it anywhere, thanks guys!

Ok good to know, makes me feel more at ease! Upon looking at all the components I really couldn't see what would have to be matched up anyways, they're all circular and all symmetrical. Thanks for the help guys, now my only question is what signs suggest these parts need replacing?

That makes sense, I'll get some pictures of the plate and put em up, or go inspect it and see if it needs replacing. What merit is there to marking it though? Is there a certain orientation that it should go on or be installed?

Bobc I like your thinking! I have heard of many many Z's starting right up with just the basic drain, change and tlc, and it sounds like it's not gonna cost too much. If you still want to just get rid of it, you can add me to the list of people who would be interested in taking it off your hands. I'm right over here in AZ.

Ok so I finally got myself an engine stand and I go to remove the pressure plate, cover, and flywheel. Right after removing the pressure plate cover and pressure plate I reference my book ("How to Rebuild Your Nissan/Datsun OHC Engine") and realize I was supposed to punch-mark the position of the pressure plate cover compared to the flywheel. Ooops :/ How important is this and is there any way I can remedy this? On a better note this is the engine from my car that was sleeping for eight years. I've read a lot of stories about waking old cars and the engines being possibly seized and people having to push the car with it in gear to get the crank to turn. Well turns out when I tried to loosen the first bolt on the pressure plate cover the crank turned. So that is a relief, now I'm just hoping you guys are gonna tell me that this pressure plate marking isn't a huge deal, or can somehow be remedied! Thanks!

Well that is exactly what I've been wanting to know thank you! I have everything disconnected and labeled on the engine bay end, just need to pull the dash now and jump from the frying pan into the fire ...And, took the alternator to the auto store across the street to have it tested, works like a charm! These Z's are some strong little monsters!

Yeah I was thinking that once I take the dash off I could just unplug the wiring harness and remove it, my only concern was it wrapping around and connecting to the back of the vehicle as well because I would not want to pull the entire thing out, just from the engine bay.

Yeah I don't mind painting the harness too much haha just wanted to get it as much out of the way as possible. Masking tape on the hardness lengthwise sounds like a good plan, and I was planning on taking it down to maaco or some cheap shop like that to have it painted, think I should just talk to them about how they want it prepared?

So you're saying pull the whole harness back into the cabin through the firewall as much as possible? That sounds like a good idea to me. As for the alternator I thought I remembered a local auto store doing alt tests and was wondering if they could test it out of the car, but if so then I will definitely do that, thanks again!

First question is about my alternator, I have no clue if it works, the car is a 77 sat for 8 years I have the alternator off and have cleaned the outside, but I'm wondering while it is off should I take it apart and clean the entire thing? Second question which is totally unrelated but none the less electrical in nature. I have almost everything out of my engine bay right now in preparation for being painted. The main thing that is left is the wiring harness.. Is there anyway to "easily" remove this? I see cars that have just been painted without it so I know it can be done but how exactly do you remove it? Along with that I only want to remove the wiring harness from the engine bay if possible, as in it enters from one side of the firewall and goes back into the other side wrapping itself around the entire engine bay. Thanks!

Thanks Healey I do like the look of that paint, even though the header is already pretty nice looking on the outside (after lots of cleaning of course!) The hot tank idea would be nice just to know it's really fresh. I think I'll go at it with a wire brush and degreaser and see how that works out!

Also the intake manifold is really grimy inside, is there any special way that I should go about cleaning it?

mjr, I have used that technique quite a few times and it does seem to work on some tough nuts/bolts/etc, good tip! So I just spend the past three hours removing the intake/exhaust manifold from the engine and they both came off a lot easier then I expected! (by no means was it easy though) This week the girlfriend and I spent a couple days scraping, scrubbing and washing every nook and cranny of the engine that we could clean and got a big majority of the grime off! I would say that 90% of the engine and it's attached parts changed colors (in other words we discovered what they actually looked like under all the grime) I ordered a new water pump, thermostat, distributor cap, distributor rotor, ngk spark plugs, ngk spark plug wire set, and an intake/exhaust manifold gasket set. First new parts I've ordered for my Z, feels good to really start getting into it! Anyhow everyone's advice has been a great help and has really helped guide me in the right direction, I think pretty much everything mentioned in this thread is going to be put into action. The only thing different is instead of R&Ring the exhaust manifold I'm replacing it with MSA headers, and on that note... If I replace my exhaust manifold with the MSA 3-2 headers, it will fit right on with a L28 intake/exhaust manifold gasket set like the one I ordered (which looks to be an exact replacement of the original)?

Oh ok so 'spook' simply refers to those specific air dams, thanks I was a little lost for a second. Seems general consensus is that MSA's air dams are better then the BRE, and logically thinking type 2 is better then type 1 and type 3 is better then both 1 & 2 right? If MSA build them in linear order and improving upon the previous style type 3 would be the best so far. Has anyone contacted MSA about it? I would think that MSA would have done testing or at least a LOT of modeling and some testing to have made three different air dams.

Sorry for this but just for clarification a spook is a front spoiler like an air dam but instead of completely blocking the air it lets air through? (for instance MSA Air Dam type 3?)

Well that is good to hear, and I have heard all along that these engines will take a heavy beating! I really want to rebuild it just so the engine will be better then new, but then again I really want to rip the entire car apart and rebuild every little thing and make it perfect.. College, time and money are a bit of a road block right now however. Guess I'll just clean her up well, replace the necessities and let her sip on some atf when I get her running. Thanks a bunch for the help, the people on this forum never cease to amaze me!

I'm wondering how long the average L28 engine in a 280Z will last, miles wise? I know every engine will be different and of course taken into account all the infinite number of variables, but from experience? I currently have my L28 out of my Z and I'm cleaning it up and going to replace the necessities. However deep in my heart I really want to rip it apart and give it a complete rebuild. It has 177,000 miles on it, I've never seen it run since I bought the car after 8 years of sitting and went straight into giving the engine bay a refreshment. The PO said it ran fine when he stopped driving it. Anyhow I just want to know because if it will easily make it to 250K then maybe I should just wait it out, if not maybe I should follow my heart and go right on in? Thanks guys.

Good to know, I never knew they existed till now! However what exactly happened with the 'things didn't work out perfectly' and the resolution?

Like this site? http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsuns30/DatsunFairladyZIndex/tabid/1543/Default.aspx

She is so god damn gorgeous! Well done sir, very well done!

Very good to know and perfect timing as I'm about to R&R mine!

That's no good, maybe they've been having a stressful few weeks? You should post when you get the seals installed and let us know if it was really worth the wait because I don't mind waiting a little bit as long as the product is up to par.

Luckily I'm taking Japanese next semester so if I learn those curse words now I'll have a head start Thanks for all the good advice guys and Healey those pics are a definite inspiration! As for the manifolds it definitely sounds like a worthwhile job, however when you added that I'd need a propane torch some strange ideas popped into my head. What exactly is the torch for? Also does the FSM give a solid outline for removing the manifolds? (I also have the book, "How to rebuild your nissan/datsun ohc engine" which I'm guessing has some info on that.)