hall.nathan89

Nope... definitely EFI... He must have been thinking of another car. I opened it up and it looks almost identical to my '83 (with a few differences in connections). So then comes the question: What are the major differences? Obviously there's the body style, but mechanically, what's the same and what's different? Also, it's not a 75, it's a 76. Sorry for misleading you all I took some photos, but it's my bedtime, so I'll put them up tomorrow.

@Duffman: Thanks for the offer! I might take you up on that. If you don't mind, I'd rather you show me how to clean them up as opposed to just switching them out.... I'm always out to get another skill under my belt! I'll PM or contact via craigslist to discuss arrangments when the time comes. Are you in DZA?

Thanks for all of the comments! I'll take some photos while I'm there this afternoon and post them this evening. Out of curiosity, what would be the advantage to converting to carbs if it was already EFI stock?

Ugh... (embarassed face) yes, it's a '75. I typed the 8 out of habit from my '81 and '83s. He did say that it was carburated. I haven't looked under the hood to check for sure (it's covered in boxes at the moment) but I'll look this afternoon and update from there. Does rebuilding the carbs require new parts, or just cleaning out old ones? If so, about how much will that run me?

My wife's uncle has a few Zs that he is looking to sell. One that I'm particularly interested in is an '85 280Z. He parked it in the garage after the last time he drove it, so the body looks immaculate, the paint is flawless, the interior isn't rotted too bad, and things overall look awesome! The problem is that it's been sitting for 10 years and being the young'n that I am, I've never worked on a carburated car (though I have worked on carburated lawn mowers) . I'm assuming that the fuel system will be pretty well toasted all the way from the tank to the carbs, but what else would likely have gone bad from sitting? I guess my question is, what kind of a project would I be getting myself into? What kinds of thisgs would it need? I know the basics (oil change, fuel system/tank clean, plugs, wires, etc, etc, etc...), but what kinds of things would likely be wrong with it once I started digging into it? I've had three 280ZXs, but I'm expecting this to be a whole different animal. Thanks!

Are you sure it isn't water? Strange as that sounds, I found water in some vacuum lines after a rainstorm in my '81 a few years back. It gave me all kinds of trouble until I figured it out and pulled some of the lines to let them dry for a few days. If it's fuel, I would think you'd have more problems with your vacuum system, since it would probably mean that something is misconnected in a pretty drastic way.

Funny you should mention that... My wife and I just took a "survey" of an '81 and an '82 to piece together my '83's vacuum system. Is this an '80? your coil seems to be different than what I'm used to seeing. If you can trace the metal vacuum line to the other side and see what it connects to (and take a photo) I can probably help you. Also, are you experiencing any problems that might be symptomatic of a vacuum leak? If so, what are they? That may give some clues.

Checked my FPR. Seems to be operating fine, but my fuel pressure seems a little low; sits at around 30 until I pull the vacuum line on the FPR, then spikes to 40. Question NOW is, would the low pressure be caused by anything other than a failing fuel pump?

Does anybody have an image file of the 280ZX logo alone? Preferably black and white without reflections or anything. I've been looking all over the place, but I haven't been able to find one. Thanks!

If it helps, I just bought an '83 with a straight body, rebuilt engine, new paint, nice stereo, only one rust spot that I can find (classic spot; above the windshield trim) and a completely restored interior for $3000. Car lot originally asked $4500 but then it sat for six months and I was the only person that had looked at it. Let me tell you... that gives you a LOT of bargaining leverage.

I realize that it's been almost 18 months since the last post to this thread, but I ran accross this the other day and it's been killing me ever since. WHAT HAPPENED?!?! Are there pictures? Are you still working on these? Are you still documenting it? Sorry to stir up an old puddle, but the curiosity is just too much for me to handle...

A while ago I was having a hard time with my '81 doing odd things with the turn signals. I pulled out the whole multi-function switch 'collar' and took the whole thing apart. I cleaned the contacts with some metal polish to get the corrosion off and put the whole thing back together. Never found the problem directly, but after that they worked just fine. Might not help, but at the very least it's a quick place to start and it couldn't hurt.

YES! That's exactly what I meant. My apologies for the incorrect terminology; I was a bit flustered at the time that I wrote that update. I have a fuel pressure gauge that I can leave in line for a few days. I'm relatively certain that it's not the filter, given the on-and-off nature of the problem. Am I wrong for thinking that? Thanks for the suggestion. It leaves me with a question, though. Once I determine that it is a fuel pressure problem, how do I go about determining the cause? I would think that the FPR would be the easiest place to start, given the ease of access, but is there any way to bench-test one of those? Obviously from there I'll start looking at the tail end, and if I'm going to spend an afternoon under the rear of my car, I'll check the tank and the pump all in one shot. Thanks!

Update: After some troubleshooting, I think it may be the fuel regulator valve... Any input?

I recently bought a this car and to be perfectly frank, it has me stumped. I bought it from a dealership who had aquired it as part of a trade-in for a truck. It's obvious that the person that last worked on it knew what he was doing, but I'm starting to think that he either gave up or died prior to finishing the project; certain things about the car are beautiful! Other things (such as the vacuum system and the in-dash electrical) are nothing short of a nightmare. The car wouldn't pass emmisions just days after I bought it, so I took it back to the dealer to have them fix that issue. Their mechanic claims to have tuned it and replaced the catalytic convertor. They then gave it back to me and told me to drive it for a few days. My suspicion is that they didn't actually tune it, and if they did, they didn't do it well. There was a lot of backfiring and sputtering. It ran... Not well... but it ran. Which brings us to Saturday. The engine has been replaced fairly recently but when it was done, the vacuum lines weren't connected right. After contacting some folks in the local club and spending the better part of last Saturday on it, I was able to get most of my vacuum system sorted out by comparing it to an '82. Following this great adventure, I proceeded to check the plugs, wires, coil, distrubutor, etc... and then I adjusted the timing (8 @ 700 if memory serves). I can tell that it's a much happier car! It runs wonderfully... sometimes... My problem now is that it doesn't want to stay running. Sometimes it won't start without giving it gas, sometimes it stalls if I'm not giving it gas. It stalled in the middle of an intersection yesterday and on my way to work this morning. It almost stalled on the freeway when I let off the gas a few minutes ago. It seems to idle well most of the time, right around 700-750 but when it decides it's going to quit it'll drop down to about 500, then come back up to 700 momentarily and then just die. I've looked all over the forums to figure this out, but I'm not finding much. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!