Car54280ZX

I love wheee!'s postings!! Thank you soooo much for pointing this out to me!! I have been going through them. I'm on page 32 of 84 and I'm being careful not to miss anything. I saw his photos of the floor boards and what a mess. So far I haven't found any items about the firewall material in the first 32 pages, but I'm still going through them. VERY HELPFUL. Saw the fuel that he pulled from his tank. Mine looked like that, also. A completely full tank in my case. My tank has been re-lined but I still need to clean and paint the exterior. Fortunately my 280 ZX just sat in a farm house garage in central Illinois for 15 years (while I was working in Chicago). Garage has no heat, no humidity control, and no mouse traps. I've had it in a humidity and temperature controlled shop for restoration for 11½ months. The guys let me be as involved as I can, so that's good. It's just that there are other cars in their restoration shop. After seeing how long wheee! has been spending on his, now I'm not too concerned that mine is only 11½ months into the process. I should probably plan for 12 more months at least. Mine is rather rust free, but still it's a big restoration for me. Any additional comments are greatly appreciated!

That would really be awesome! As long as it doesn't smell musty and stinky. There are some black clips and some white clips that stick through the engine wall (firewall) and clip to the engine side of the wall. They sort of look like these photos. I'm not sure how to arrange payment and shipping address since I've only been on this forum for a few months.

Thanks Patcon! That’s a really good series of posts. I found a vendor in California that sells firewall insulation for earlier Z’s and I’m working with them to see if I can just purchase the rubber base with the insulation in a roll. Then I can cut out the holes and heat-press the edges. Photos of my smelly firewall insulation are attached. Both rubber side and insulation side.

Thank you Patcon! Can you give a web link? Thank you???

The firewall pad on my 1981 280ZX has been cleaned by a fire restoration company but still smells musty. I'm looking to replace it but I cannot find it anywhere. It has the normal insulation WITH a heavy rubber backing. Does anyone know if there is a seller that has this kind of material in ROLL STOCK so I can just cut the holes myself and mold it to fit with my heat gun? Also, I saw ZUP's post and photos about floor deadener material that he bought from a Porsche website. Like ZUP, I'm trying to bring my 280ZX back to original stock condition. Does anyone have other recommendations for floor insulation / sound deadener? Looks like there is some very thin tarry (sprayed) material on the floor (not in may places on the floor). I'm thinking about leaving them and painting over it before re-applying a new layer of deadener. I bought the car brand new in January 1981 so what I have found is ORIGINAL.

Great news to report on valve cover cleaning. I’m using a variety of chemicals and I’m constantly watching it, never walk away when doing this. I’m using “Zip-Strip” Premium Paint and Finish Remover, Mineral Spirits in a chemical spray bottle and a very fine powdery cleanser called “Bar Keepers Friend” with water. Results are amazing. Takes the lacquer / cosmoline off and beneath is a very nice aluminum surface. I still need to get the cosmoline off the edges of the letters on top of the valve cover and do more light scrubbing with Bar Keepers Friend before I spray it with Sharkhide aluminum cleaner and then with Sharkhide aluminum protectant. Here are a few photos. More to come.

Very nice. I need to get one of those for my Z. Manx now it’s getting close to installing the dash. More fun.

Thanks for the very detailed discussion. I am going to replace the headliner in my Z very soon.

These look awesome! I’m trying to figure out how to fix my seats. I have the seats, carpet and dash out. Very smelly from sitting in a damp garage for 15 years. Seats and carpet are in very good condition and the seats have been air-ing out since November but they still stink. I’m thinking about taking the seats to a fire restoration company to get the smell out. Do you know of any success or failure stories of others that did this to get the stink out?

This stuff which I understand is cosmoline, is not a heavy gun grease. It’s dry. I understand that it was applied at the factory before it went on the boat from Japan to USA, to minimize salt spray on the valve cover and manifold. I would describe it as a clear urethane. Tomorrow I’m going to try Acetone, and see what happens. The Sharkhide doesn’t do squat on the cosmoline/ urethane. It did well on cleaning my manifold. But it’s slow. Like watching corn fields grow. See the two photos, before and after. But not finished yet.

I will check out this product. I purchased the Sharkhide from Eastwood.

Hmm. This is the valve cover “before” doing any cleaning. It’s under the cosmoline. Looks nice in some places but some mouse urine corrosion on the side of the valve cover near the intake manifold. Mice built a huge nest on the manifold. Car sat for 15 years in a farmhouse garage. 25,600 original miles. Had to rebuild engine which I hope to get back today so I can start putting everything back together. I always kept it garaged but mice got into the engine compartment. Massive nests on the intake manifold and in the ventilation squirrel cage blower (another problem). And of course the mice loved the exhaust pipe too. Maybe I should mask off this mark. Also there is another mark on the other end of the valve cover that I should mask before cleaning? Another option is “do nothing” but not sure how it would fare in a show. Comments are appreciated!

Many thanks! I mounted my valve cover on plywood too. Used an old sewer plug for the oil cap opening. Plugged the rest of the holes with 6 mm dummy fasteners. Not sure how to plug the breather pipe. I’d rather not take it off as it looks like it’s really on there and a new fitting is pricey.. Also, take note of the greenish blue mark beneath the cosmoline. Must have been made by the factory in 1980. Is there any significance to keeping this as I want to keep as much originality as possible. Would I loose points at a car show if it has been removed during cleaning?

I want to restore the valve cover on my L28 engine to original stock condition. Somewhat difficult due to presence of cosmoline. In some places the aluminum beneath the cosmoline is shiny as it was when I purchased the Z-car new in January 1981 (Manufacure date 09-1980). I purchased Sharkhide aluminum cleaner, very expensive for a quart!! Tried it, a 3 parts water to one part Sharkhide ( rather strong) and it foamed-up per instructions on the valve cover side facing the fire wall but it didn’t do much. Does anyone have experience using this on valve covers or other engine aluminum parts that need to be cleaned (bell housing, alternator, stock intake manifold, etc.)? I saw other posts about wet glass bead blasting but I don’t have a local source. I “do” have a local source for dry glass bead blasting. How do you get the cosmoline off? Will the Sharkhide cleaner work after cosmoline is off? The Sharkhide cleaner is used for shining up aluminum pontoons on boats. Should work on Zcar aluminum engine parts. Any comments would be appreciated!

Thanks, Zup! I’m doing a lot of reading here and researching before I ask a question that’s already been addressed. Learning a lot so far! Thanks! See photo of my engine block on the stand. Leak in cylinder no. 1. In the machine shop now.

This was my first Branson Zfest event! I enjoyed every moment, despite the heat. I want to especially thank Mike W, Zup, David Johnson for your willingness to provide suggestions to me, being new to the scene. My 1981 280ZX is in a million pieces right now and I hope to have it ready by next year. Keeping it original stock. The body itself is in excellent condition but I have a lot of cleaning to do to get the engine back to looking like new. And thanks to Zup for pointing me to classiczcars.com and the plating discussion thread! Awesome.