eatingZ

hey all, i'm at a loss for which springs/shocks to use on my 77' 280Z since the tokiko's are seemingly unavailable.. i'm looking for a ride that's not harsh, not anything for the track, i live in pot-hole central. and i want to replace most of the front end suspension, steering, and other parts to get as tight of a ride as i can with rubber bushings.. no real need to lower if it makes any of this harder to achieve. i'd be appreciative to hear the products used by anybody who's had success doing this to their late model Z. and the order of which parts done in which order, i'm hoping to put the car up and down in one shot..

hey all, i have had my 77' 280 on the road for a few weeks now. almost 3,000 new miles on it's odo, bringing it to 44,444 original miles today! anyway, the car starts and runs great 95% of the time, once or twice i have noticed a small increase in the revs at idle after starting, normal idle around 800, little blurps bringing it around 1,100 and bouncing round a bit around there. after driving it comes back to 800 at a stop light or parking spot and stays there very steadily. the other issue, is when turning the car off after coming in from the highway, or even after some city driving. very seldomly, when i go to turn the car back on 10 or 20 minutes later, it coughs and stutters, starts and dies, starts and dies. it takes a few tries or even 5 to 6 tries and seems to be firing on only a few cylinders. in these instances, it never quite feels like it gets running as usual, i then pull off and drive and then it will act as usual and drive on all cylinders or get full fuel... if i stop and idle, even 20 or 30 yards later, it is idling fine as usual, 800, no burps or stutters. like i said, i've been on the road for the last few weeks, and it has maybe done this 6 or 7 times total. i am probably starting the car 10 times a day if not 20. just want to keep ahead of any issues, looking for some investigative direction. thank you all for so much experience and advice.

hey there, i have the same year z, 77', and after it sat undriven for 12 months the clutch fluid reservoir ended up bone dry with all the fluid on the driveway below the car. i am curious how far i need to go replacing parts to get the clutch working again..? also exactly what part/s to purchase to put back on the car so i don't end up with some of the problems i'm noticing such as differing length rods etc.

y'all are awesome help. i won't get to work on the car for another 2 weeks, so i hope i can get most of this done or assessed when i get at the car.... i can not thank you all enough for all the great advice. pittsburgh, where i live now. SoCal, where i am moving to in 2 weeks! hope it all works smooth..

am almost done getting the title sorted out and in my name for the 1977 280z with 41K that i got one year ago. the last hurdle is the smog test in So Cal. anyone out there have any advice on obvious things to be aware of and look into to be fully prepared? thanks for your help,

don't have a ton of pics on this computer, this one from the day i got it..

so, the CA DMV informed me that i might be able to get around all of this without the help (or lack thereof) from any of the previous owners. it turns out that title is still in the name of the credit union that gave the 2nd owner the loan. they have let me know that is paid in full and sent the CA DMV a "lien satisfied" letter, which will put the title in a sort of limbo.. if the right forms are filled and the right dmv agent pulls the right levers, the title can be put directly in my name, skipping both the 2nd and 3rd owners.. it seems like each different dmv agent has a different opinion on how to resolve this thing, some seem extremely complicated, this last one seems as easy as i could possibly hope for.. anyway, i do appreciate all the help and opinions and insights. i guess you keep trying everything and keep talking to a different person at each step until one is willing to push the papers through.. i'm not out of the woods, but it's turning a bit better. the car does have a discloser from the dealer that sold it in 2008 stating 35,000 miles. i talked with the dealer that sold the car in 2008, they say they had gotten the car from the widow of the 1st owner, after he had died, she had put the car in a garage for 25 years. i don't know, but the car sure is mint inside, clean, good paint, all electric working perfect, starts the split second you turn the key, all that stuff..

hhmpf. John, that last bit sounds really appealing. and is that how you have titled these 10 or so cars? the dmv's, both CA and PA, didn't make that offer available to me as far as i could tell from questioning them about it... the Credit union would not release any info beyond what they let me know, and from what they said, can not release the "lien satisfied" form to me, only to the loan holder. they mentioned that they are happy to send me the lien satisfied letter, once the loan holder contacts them to have it resent to her. john, do you really think i should try taking the bill of sale to the dmv in PA ahead of all this other digging? and in which states has this been successful for you?

it's already been a taste of hellish time/energy consumption... the credit union that loaned the money did tell me today "we no longer have interest in that loan". i got it out of him that this was a coded way of telling me that the loan has been definitively paid off. now if i am correct, i need to make contact with the 2nd owner and get her to send me a "lien satisfied" form letter from the credit union, and get a copy of the bill of sale between her and the 3rd owner before going to the CA dmv...?

i do think the police are an outside chance after i make sure the ownership of the car and the status of the lien. i'm pretty sure i would chance losing the car or being told it was my responsibility to see through a proper sale, which i feel i did not do. i did a bit more double-googling and have tracked down the car dealer that made the loan, so i should hopefully make a bit of progress there today... thank you so much for all the input!

thanks for all the info, just a little tired of dead ends with all this, hence the interest in the VIN thing... i looked harder at the name of the dealer that loaned the 2nd owner the $ for the car (it was double typed rendering it pretty hard to read) after some cross-googling i have the contact for them so i can try them tomorrow to see the status of the lien... do appreciate the help!

i should say, i have not been able to contact the 3rd owner for a while now, if he cooperated i could have him do the 3 or 4 things (send certified letter to 2nd owner, fill out specific dmv forms, etc.) to get the title in his name, then to mine, but he is not willing to reply to my contact, so the proper channels have run out as far as i can tell.

this is where i'm at: i know the names of the 2nd and 3rd owners, the plates from the 2nd owner are still on the car, the dealer that sold her the car seems to out of biz, i can not find her address or any other info, i think the 3rd owner might know the 2nd owner and helped her out with selling the car... the car is not stolen, just in some weird limbo, the California dmv has given me info about the status of the car letting me know that there is a lien on the car from the 2nd owner, and that the title may still be in the 1st owners name, i do have a bill of sale from the 3rd owner, i am at a loss for how to proceed other than some creative vin exchange.. .............................