Kevin McSweeney

I also got the welds from yesterday cleaned up and painted. Not sure what the standard is here but I did a couple of coats of SEM self-etching primer followed by several coats of Rustoleum Flat Black Enamel. Should do the job!

Well I managed to get everything taken apart today and ready to be blasted and powder coated tomorrow.

Crossmember, lower control arms, TC rods and other suspension parts will be getting blasted and powder coated on Monday - if I can get everything separated tomorrow that is. Some of these bolts don't want to let go after 40 years...

Some progress today... Next week should see lots more!

Yes and no. It is from their next shipment, but has a few cosmetic flaws (will post some more pictures later when I get to it). I happened to be in the area yesterday so went and picked it up. The flaws are very minor and would need to be pointed out (to me at least) to be noticed.

So that is actually a full new dash - as opposed to a dash cap - courtesy of Vintage Dashes in Albany. That being said, I will definitely be giving the gauges a once over and replacing/upgrading all of the bulbs before it gets installed. I'm really thinking of fitting the dash to the frame, and then farming out the installation. I definitely like the feeling of doing as much of the work as possible myself, but there are certain areas that I just know are better handled by the professionals ?

Agreed, I think I'll pick up that motor next weekend and work on it in parallel with the rest of the build. In other news, I managed to get myself another steal this morning.. ?

No real updates at the moment, I've been so busy, but a few opportunities have presented themselves so looking for some opinions: First off, let me say that I'm putting the original stock motor and transmission back in the Z within the next month, and I do plan on driving it as is for at least a year once it's ready. I'm aiming to have it on the road early to mid 2020. Now, I have done lots of searching and reading and I'm aware of the facts and figures and advantages and disadvantages, so here I'm really just looking for subjective views. I've been offered 2 motors from different people so here are the options: 1. I was offered an L28 N42/N42 combo in good shape for just a couple hundred bucks. I'm considering buying this as a 'spare' and over time dropping flat top pistons and potentially some 240 rods in there to up compression, and farming the head out to be ported and polished, valves deshrouded, and have Isky or the like do me a light cam to work with the flow of the head. The aim would be to have a street motor with compression close to 10:1 that sounds great and is a blast to drive, even if it's not that powerful. I'd be sticking with FI so likely changing out to MS. 2. I was also offered an L28ET with turbo and downpipe. These are rare now from what I can gather so this is appealing, but it's not cheap. I'm looking at $1,500 and closer to $2,000 shipped to me. I would need to pick up a harness and ECU among other accessories so could end up being a sizeable investment. I'm leaning towards the first option because (a) I feel like it'd be more of an opportunity to dive into working on these motors (I'm mechanically inclined but not very experienced with engine building/rebuilding), (b) I just prefer the sound of an NA straight-six, and (c) the initial investment is much less which is important, given that I still have a lot of time and money to invest in the resto(mod). Anyway I'm rambling but interested to hear opinions. Again, to be clear, this is a side-project for the longer term. The aim is to have the original stock L28 up and running within the next month.

Makes sense. I'm replacing the rear main seal next week anyway so may leave it without the collar, for now at least.

Good question. Is it necessary? As far as I can see it would be a cut and weld which I'm not thrilled about..

I amaze myself at my own stupidity sometimes. I literally reinstalled this plate 2 days ago and never realized it has the engine number on it also! Thank you. Good news - matching numbers!

I appreciate the response, but I actually knew all of that, I meant more in terms of production date, how likely it is that the motor is original to the car, etc. Thank you though!

Ordered a new driveshaft with replaceable U-Joints as the joint on my old one is bad. Arrived this morning. Everything appears to line up - other than at the rear flange - it looks like there may be some issues with bolt clearance. Can anybody shed some light on this? Ordered from here: https://www.wholesaleimportparts.com/Nissan_280Z_Driveshaft_1978.php

Apologies my posts are incoherent and all out of sequence but I'm trying to post more frequently. Lots going on in the background at the moment, there will be big progress in the next 2-3 weeks. Today I got the motor on a stand and started cleaning. For now, unfortunately, it will just be a basic clean/refresh, and hopefully at a later date - after spending some time actually driving and enjoying the car - I'll do a complete rebuild or swap. For now, I'll be changing out the water pump, oil pump, alternator, timing kit, rear main seal, and all the basic tune up parts. Also received the MSA 6-1 header yesterday. Can anyone tell me more about the engine number?: L28-284789 PS - The Fram oil filter was not me. Previous owner installed must have installed it. I have a genuine Nissan filter ready to install.

I used a dremel with polishing kit and some small stainless steel brushes. I have not clear coated it yet at least. Will it dull quickly if I don't clear it?

I was also planning to go with stainless steel fuel tank straps, but decided to be a bit more creative (and save some money for a change) and make use of the fact that I have access to free plating services. Got my old straps clear zinc plated and mounted some new rubber as an insulator. Fuel tank is also freshly blasted, sealed and painted, ready to go back in the car (Not a good photograph but it looks good in person). Looking for a new sending unit but they seem to be hard to find..

Also finished polishing my new brake master cylinder and bolted it back onto the freshly painted brake booster and adapter plate. Need to clean out the reservoirs next.

Valve cover came back from powder coating today. Very happy with the finished product.

Also decided to give the transmission a degrease, clean and power wash this afternoon. Came out pretty good, some before and after below. I know the trans works well so won't be messing with it too much. It's a 5-speed. Just replacing the shifter bushing and boot, and changing the oil. Also have a new mount insulator coming and I had the mount crossmember zinc plated with new bushings. If anyone can tell me any more about my transmission - what the numbers mean, whether it's original or not, gear ratios, etc. - I would appreciate it. Haven't done much searching on this topic to be honest.

You are correct, it's more like a scratch, nothing to worry about I suspect. The valve cover is now at the powder coater. Will post pics when it comes back.

In other news.... I got them to include extended studs so I can run a strut tower brace aswell as having the camber plates.

Ok, I spent some more time on this valve cover today. Removed as much of the silicone as I could and took out the baffle and power washed the whole thing. Looks ready to sand blast and powder coat.

Lots of parts being delivered this week, there will be a lot of progress in the next month. Today I was power washing my valve cover to get it ready for sandblasting and powder coating, and I noticed what looks like silicone residue on the interior. Is that supposed to be there and, if not, why would it be there? Will sandblasting remove it? I don't really want to bake that into the metal at 400 degrees...

Oh, thanks for the info. I may have to go to urethane then!

That is the mount insulator, like pictured below: https://zcarsource.com/transmission-mount-insulator-240z-260z-280z-280zx-70-83-new-oem I'm looking for the transmission crossmember bushings, like these: https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/7.1101 except in rubber.