Av8ferg

Thanks for the tips. I have only done a cold valve adjustment so I need to get it hot and do another adjustment . The engine has less than 30 mins run time on it so I’m slowly exercising it. Yesterday the oil pressure gauge looked low to me. The scale on the gauge goes 0-90psi. The needle was sitting around 30psi. Not sure yet if this is correct. Could be the sensor which is a ZX version (2 spade connectors vs 1 bullet). I made an adaptor plug to got from bullet to spade and left on spade fitting empty. Maybe that’s the issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today’s mission was to install the rear bumper. Had to drop the tank and got it all bolted up. Left the drip edge on for now. Took it for a spin, and it ran great. Here is a video so you can hear the ZStory Classic Muffler. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So I bought MSAs loop carpet and plan to use it for the flooring. Once the vinyl is in an glued down I’ll take those MSA floor pan pieces and cut them down to size and have a local carpet shop sew in the wrapped edges. $3.50 a foot, so it’s cheap for the, to do it. Maybe $40 to do that max. Then I’ll glue idown so it transitions nicely between vinyl and carpet. This is my plan

Okay, I’m finished for the day. Got other stuff a to do around the house (Christmas decorations to keep mama happy) and go for a run. Here’s the test fit. Needs some minor tweaks. It’s not sitting perfectly flat because it’s not glued down but just resting there.

Thanks, only the 240s had the vinyl on the transmission tunnel and rockers to my knowledge. This vinyl I bought was only about $50 total. Spray glue is about $20 and I also bought some sound deadening material which was $60. That stuff is optional but didn’t want hear the tranny and extra noises. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gents, My trans tunnel template is complete. check it out. Going to transfer this the the diamond stitch. Anyone who wants this template let me know and I’ll ship it to you for free as long as you send it back or send it to another member and pay it forward!

Joe, Thanks for the response and I appreciate what products you provide. The company I work now for deals with the same issues. Worker shortages, constant training, maintaining high standards and keeping workers happy, all this is a delicate balance. I led a 350 man organization and everyday my battles were associated with manpower issues, training people, supervising and maintaining standards and meeting production goals. It’s not easy and the culture of your organization / business is set by the people on top. People need to trust their supervisors and leaders, they need to be empowered and must feel part of the team. Punish with caution. I never punished for mistakes, to me that was usually a function of poor training or supervision. People who bent the rules were counseled with respect, people who blatantly broke rules or negligent were disciplined. Good people are hard to find, when you find them it’s imperative they know they are appreciated and compensate them accordingly. It’s not always pay more . Sometimes it’s, take a 1/2 day or buying them lunch or just recognizing them to the rest of the team as going above and beyond. You will get more productivity out of them. You want the people who work for you to be happy. Happy workers are productive workers. It’s the leaders job to set the right environment for this to happen. Counsel you people in private, praise them in public. I beat all 4 other squadrons on my base in aircraft availability, sortie production and personnel retention by using these concepts and others.. Tell your people exactly what you expect from them and when they meet that goal reward their effort. It’s absolutely critical to the success of any organization. It’s usually always easier to fix a poor performer than it is to find hire and train a new person. You have to know your people to do this you need know what impacting those lives their family etc.. Leaders set the conditions for success and the employees make it happen. It took me 24 years of leading people to figure out the science of managing and motivating people to a unified goal. Sorry to rant but I I wanted to share nuggets of wisdom that I’ve learned the hard way. I’m passionate about leading people. The culture or an organization is what what makes the difference between winners and losers . In the halls of business academia we call this “Just Culture”. Just Culture means we: 1. Counsel the Human Error 2. Coach the at-risk or poor performer 3’ Punish the reckless or negligent Independent of the outcomes! John

Thanks Jim, I agree on the patch work, Just don’t want a hack job. It doesn’t need to be pretty but in need to be done right. That fuel line scares me. I’ve always wanted to learn to weld and have 2x 220v 30 amp plugs in my garage, I’ll sleep on it after more advice. The diamond stitch vinyl I picked up on Amazon. Quality it’s pretty good, and it’s not expensive either. I’m going to build a template out of a thin cheap U-haul moving blanket (not those heavy moving blankets) I have laying around, it the perfect material for a template and it cuts really easy. Once I’m done I’m happy to share the template with people on here. Here the link to the vinyl. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CR15YLK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I thought about starting a new thread and call it my 280z build, since I’ve successfully got the engine in and operating. I’ve got new challenges ahead unrelated to the engine so let me know if should start a new thread. Yesterday I began to tackle the interior. This car doesn’t have any rust issues I’ve discovered except for the passenger floor board. The floor board has 5 small areas where there are holes. I’ll post pics below. I really can’t tackle the interior until I get over this speed bump so I wanted to get advice from guys on here that have done rust repair. I have 3 possible ways forward the way I see it. A few things I need to share is that other than these holes, I can’t find any more rust and the floor is solid otherwise. I chipped away the sound proofing until I found clean metal around each hole. I did this a few months ago and put some POR-15 down to arrest any further rusting until I could get to this. Posting pics pre and post POR-15 so you can have a better view of how they looked. 1. pay the guy that welded my exhaust pipe to weld in the patches. Larges patch would be 3”x4”. He can do it Friday but hasn’t seen the job in person. 2. buy a welder and learn how to weld and do it myself. (Learn a new skill) 3. Buy a full passenger side floor board and have a body shop to the job. Since these aren’t flat areas, not sure how that is done and one areaI think you can see fuel lines below the hole. Take a look. Also have a pic of the vinyl I’m putting in. I did the driver’s interior rocker yesterday.

No problem, it’s been a long process. Drove the car around the neighborhood today, the light flywheel takes a little getting used to but only in first gear, otherwise its fine. I’ve been driving manual trans my whole driving life, it’s like second nature, so I don’t find it difficult at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally got the exhaust mostly installed. I still have some minor tweaks with hangars and I’ll be finished. Spent a couple hours today hunting down someone who could weld stainless steel. It began as a wild goose chase but finally found a guy. Charged me $40 to weld the V-band fitting to the pipe 2”-2’5” adaptor. Came out good and I got it all bolted up and the system sounded great. Will post a video tomorrow, once I’m done so people can hear the Z-Story classic muffler on a EFI L28.

Maybe they’re just using Hagerty’s? I just pulled one up for a 1977 280z. Here was the result. I wouldn’t use “excellent” to describe that car though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To add to the insanity the seller’s reserve hasn’t been met at $11,700. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We are living in a crazy world. I don’t understand it and the only thing I can think of is people are coming to the realization that their money is losing value so fast they want to move it into any asset as soon as possible. 6.2% inflation un October which is the highest in 30 years and that’s after removing energy from the CPI. That clouds the real inflation figures because crude oil is up 65% and Natural Gas 112% in 2021. We are living in truly unprecedented times and it is reflected in the price of used and particularly classic cars. That Z is not worth 11k on any universe except this crazy one we live in. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CO, yep that’s how I understand it as you stated. But shaving the head caused the head closer to the crank thus creating minor slack in the chain but I felt the tensioner could compensate for that small amount. Secondly the cam sprocket adjustment is for valve timing as the valve are opening slightly earlier than with a normal head thickness. Again I’m the resident idiot....I know you have a better understanding of all this. When I saw the cam sprocket drawing you made that shows the valve timing adjustment it madero the each position I knew it was playing T-ball with a major league player [emoji1787] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m no expert but my head is shaved .020 and I didn’t shim and my chain is tight. I believe the stock cam sprocket has 4 deg adjustments with 12 total degrees. You can shim or buy a Kameari cam sprocket with 2 deg increments that can account for the timing issue and I think the chain tensioner should be fine. Here’s my engine chain. Here’s the cam sprocket: https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/10-2042 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jeff, I’m on the same quest for mirrors. What did you come up with ?

Nice persistence there. My plan is to find a crappy bent up set for sale online on eBay or something and just rob the hardware off it to use. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I could probably spend a weekend reading all the information in this thread. You’ve done an incredible amount of work, the little stuff matters and takes time and patience...lots of patience and money. . My motor is mostly a stock ZX, I’d like to squeeze some extra power but we shall see which direction I go in the future. I love the Louvers too. I have a nice set I bought and can’t install them because the hardware is unobtainable. Did you use the stock hardware? Super job! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s great! Your car is beautiful. Your paint job is amazing, love the color. Where did you get the raising sun sticker for the hood? Pretty cool look! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I investigated that approach today. Went to two different shops today both said they don’t have and cannot bend stainless. Something about its hardness and tendency to crack when bending. Both could do something out of regular steel pipe but want the car there to do the work. Both say their booked for the next 3 weeks and both charge $115/hr so with parts and labor going to be $350. That’s almost half the cost of a Zstory’s header that I could order and get in Jan that will bolt up to everything. I’m going to trying this new idea. Parts and labor will be around $80 and if I don’t like it I can still run the car until Sean’s headers come in. I used to have welders that worked for me in the squadron. These guys could weld titanium, stainless, aluminum.... If I were still in I’d have this all buttoned up by now, for two pizzas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That Y pipe already slides over my header collectors, I don’t need any adaptors there just 2 clamps to lock them down. The adaptor is for the other end of the Y pipe. Since the resonator is 2.5” and that Y pipe is only 2”. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No that Y pipe came with my current headers. It doesn’t have a vband connect just a straight 2” dia pipe. The vband is on his resonator pipe. So I need to fab that reducer with a vband to connect to his resonator Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jim, Thanks I think I got a game plan now. I order the 2.5” to 2” stainless pipe adapter from Amazon that you sent. I called a shop and for $40 they’re going to weld the V-Band connector to the 2.5” side of that adapter. I can the use slip joints on the rest of the fitting and we should be rolling. Of note Sean said it will be early January before the headers are available. I’m going to see how this works before spending the money on his new headers. Anyone who understands the dark science of exhaust system might be able to comment about going from 2 to 2.5 inches. I guess it would be preferred if I was 2.5” diameter pipe all the back from the header collectors to the muffler instead of having this 28” piece at 2” pipe that I’m using that came with my header which eventually grows to 2.5” once it meets the ZStory stuff. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My floor pans had some mild surface rust in a few areas that I cleaned and put POR-15 on I didn’t strip the paint that was not showing signs of rust. I did run the POR-15 slightly into the pained areas to ensure complete coverage. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk