bhermes

Ok, the painting is soon to begin. Still trying to decide on a color but have finally decided not to worry about stock color or look. I am going to purchase a body kit including rear spoiler and looking for suggestions. Currently looking at MSA style 2. I currently do not have front or rear bumpers. I am also leaning towards a modest rear spoiler. Just looking for some options and or photos. I have already had plenty of suggestions on color; however, feel free to comment on that as well. Red and Black are always choices but I am affraid to normal. I also like the light blue color but not sure if it is my personality. My friend are trying to encourage me to paint like a bud light can with blue and red and grey strips. You would need to see a can.

Great. I was a mechanical engineer. Always struggle with voltage and current. For now I will replace the external regulator and see if that fixes the problem.

Bare with me. A higher voltage output? I am currently getting voltage readings at the battery of 17-18V. I believe I need something less than 15.5V.

I am going to be buying parts on Monday and wanted one last clarification. Is there an advantage in gettng the alternator with the internal regulator over just replacing the current external regulator with an better one? One of the earlier posts discussed getting the external regulator from NAPA.

OK. Just want to make sure I make the right corrections. Does the car have two voltage regulators, one internal to the alternator and one external? Are we talking about the external regulator? Where is the MSA link? I actually had my mechanic replace the voltage regulator before just because he was looking into a few other things on the car so I am taking back to him to have a new one put on. I will get this one from NAPA. I think the other may have come from Auto Zone or OReilleys. Taking car early next week and just want to make sure we have the right parts on the way. Thanks for all the help and patience. I bought the car to learn and you guys are helping me along my way. Once I paint this car over the summer I plan to buy a couple more for my sons to work on.

I will looking at replacing the voltage regulator and possibly the alternator. Someone mentioned a self regulating alternator and I am checking to see if one exists for my car. With this said, is there something else causing these parts to fail or not act properly. I have replaced the alternator twice and the voltage regulator once and the baterry went bad after less than one year. Maybe just a bad voltage regulator but curious if there is another part in the equation I am missing. Thanks for all the help.

One more thing. I will also be replacing the window gaskets and more than likely adding a body kit (not sure if I want to mess with the stock vehicle).

After going back and forth I have decided to paint my car myself. I have no background in painting but I bought the car to learn and this is another learning opportunity. Wish me luck. Does anyone have a good step by step painting guide, maybe with videos. I am mainly concerned about stripping down to bare metal and repairing a small amount of rust and a few small dents. Soem direction here would be great. I will not be painting the car until the beginning of June. Teacher and have all summer off to get the car looking and running good. Runs good for the most part a few minor things between now and then. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks to all. This forum is awesome. I on the other hand am not so thanks for all the patience. I will replace the voltage regulator again and let everyone know if that fixes the problem. I am still concnerned that the ignition module is bad. Not sure if anyone has expertise here but would a bad ignition module typically cause the car to be difficult to start. The car has always started fine. From a previous post it was said that the increased voltage from the alternator and subsequently the battery may cause the ignition module to do funny things. Again thanks for the help.

OK. So a little more learning. Is it the job of the volage regulator to regulate the voltage. In otherwords if the alternator is full fielding shouldn't the voltage regulator drop the voltage down suppleid to the battery. Maybe the incorrect voltage regulator was installed. Comments. Again, thanks for all the help. I am beginning to think I am going to make it to work more than 3 weeks in a row without walking.

Not sure if this really means anything; however, I checked the voltage at the battery. Car off 12V At idle or about 1000 rpms I got 14-15V At 1500 rpms I got about 17-18V The radio did shut off at about 1400 rpms so I am guessing that it does not like the increased voltage. Does this mean that the alternator is supplying proper voltage to battery? My initial issue was the car breaking down once every three weeks but would restart and run after waiting about 30 minutes. If the alternator was going bad would the car want to restart after 30 minutes. I am now looking through the FSM.

Great posts. Thanks and I will begin looking deeper at the FSM and EE section. Also I will check the capacitor on the alternator. Does the alternator output vary whether the car is in gear or out of gear? I will try and check as well. Thanks. Any other suggestions or comments would also be appreciated.

OK I have downloaded the FSM. Not trying to be smart but if I can do everything in the FSM then I probably could solve the problem. I will give it a try but a little more guidance on the things I should be checking would be nice. I thought that someone would be able to tell me how the cars rpms could impact the electrical system and the battery. I am at best a novice. I may just need to take the car to a mechanic. I have had the car in the shop about 4 times for the breaking down issue with no results. Good mechanic generally but for this car or this problem not helping. Thanks for the link and I will see what I can do.

Sorry last post missing some words. Anyone have thoughts of why my radio would go off when out of gear and reving about 1500 rpms and when in gear and reving the radio stays on?

I have replaced the alternator twice. I will check this one. When I replaced the second time I also replace the voltage regulator and battery. Any thoughts of why out of gear at 1500 rpms the electronics would have issues but not when in gear? Thanks.

I posted on this a few months back but have had my 76 280 2+2 in the garage since. I started it up yesterday to get back into the problem. I have had the car for about 1 year and it has always broken down on me about once every 3 weeks. I drive the car about 6-10 miles daily. I suspected I might have rust in the gas tank, and still might, and it was suggested that maybe I have a bad ignition module. I have replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter, voltage regulator, alternator and battery. Here is were it gets a little odd. My wife gave me a retrosound radio for christmas and I installed shortly after. I ran a wiire directly to the battery terminal (could not find one under the dash). I drove the car a few times after installing the radio before putting it into the garage. When starting it up yesterday I noticed that when I had the car out of gear and reved the car over 1500 rpms the radio would shut off. When I let off the gas and under 1500 rpms the radio would come back on. When in gear the radio stayed on no matter the rpms. Any thoughts if the car breaking down issue and the radio issue may be caused by the same thing? My next step is to replace the ignition module. Side note the car as always started fine. Any help would be appreciated.

Zed head, thanks for the reply. I have a masters degree in mechanical engineering and a masters degree in education but I know very little about being a mechanic. One of the reasons I bought the car not to mentioned I owned a 280Z back in 1981 so bare with me. Injector signal??? You mentioned starting fluid, apply where?? Replaced the fuel pump already but no real help. What is the easiest way to check fuel pressure? I am currently replacing the spark plugs to see if that helps at all. Again, I learn quickly but know very little.

Does anyone know if the igintion module is bad would the car be difficult to start? This has not been my problem. In addition to the car stalling out on me I also notice a high rev when I come to a stop. The rpm rev last about 2 to 3 seconds and then lowers.

black gold man Can you give me a little history on the ignition module? Just want to make sure it is good. I realize it is used. Is it just the module or the distributor etc? Is it difficult just to replace the module? Is it for a 76 or does it matter? Thanks.

Any thoughts on the car stopping issue?? Decided to get the NGK spark plugs. Found them at O'Reilly's Auto Parts. Where can I get the ignition module? How much should it cost?

A little new to the sight but have posted previously. I have recently purchased a 1976 280Z 2+2 and use it as a daily driver. It runs and starts fine but about once per month it stops running while I am driving. It starts to sputter (if that a word) and acts like it wants to keep going and then dies. Occassionally if I keep pumping the gas pedal it will pull through and run again for several days but others it just dies. If I try and start the car immediately it will try and turn over but not start. If I wait an hour or so it will almost always start. I drive the car 3 miles to work and 3 miles back daily and not much more driving. My original thought was rust in the gas tank or hole in pickup line in tank but not sure why this triggers only occassionally. I beleive it was suggested that it may be an ignition module (not sure where this is located). Before fixing both of these items I thought I would get one last round of posting. Gas tank thing is somewhat expensive and not really sure I want to do this unless it is necessary (ok probably a good idea regardless). There was an earlier comment about looking when the car dies to see if the rpms drop to zero which would seperate from fuel issue to electrical issue. Unfortunately the car died early morning and my dash lights do not work. I did notice a small red light coming on and the brake light came on as well when it died or stopped running. Little additioanl history; car has 80k miles and sat for about 12 years. I have replaced the alternator, battery, and voltage regulator. I have not replaced the spark plugs but will do so sone. What plugs should I use. Enough for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

All of these are great. My 280Z I owned back in 1981 was orange and I really have a history with this color and liked it. I also like the toyota dark green along with the light blue. I will be getting new window gaskets/seals and rear, front spoilers and body kit. Then the painting begins. I have removed the front and rear bumpers and ust curios of what is nomally done on the rear to cover? Thanks for all of the options.

The greens look great. I ran across this color any thoughts or comments. Hopefully the photo comes through.

No, I have not looked in the garage section. Not even sure what is there but I will look now. I will be painting as much as possible and hopefully everything. Not sure what needs to be done to be able to paint inside the engine area but will want to get everything painted. I have a few good people that are going to help paint the car at a good price ($2000). The car is currently white with blue racing strips (poor job) with some of the insides green and some red. Thanks.

Ok, I know immediately that I am going to get blasted for this post. Getting ready to have my 76 280Z painted and I know that no one can tell you what color to paint your car. The car is completely stock but I am not sold on going back to the original color which was green. I am leaning towards a shade of orange but go back and forth. My friend is suggesting painting like a budlight beer can, light blue with grey and red strip. I am looking for a color that makes a statement but not like other cars on the road. If you have any suggestion I would appreciate and if so photos would be nice. Also, I am considering a body kit with both front and rear spoilers and side pieces. There goes my stock car. Any suggestions? Interior is black.