Muzez

Wow @jonbill she's an absolute beat!

Either way, need to pull the transmission to find out so I will just wait on ordering parts until I know. Debating dropping some seal sweller in there and seeing if it expands. Might just have shrunk with the <1k miles over the last decade.

*Long sigh* welp, going to get a lot of garage time this winter. ? Glad to hear that its nothing to worry about. When I pull the trans for the main seal, will clean up the transmission and dab some silicone for the weeping. Was reading last night about the nightmares associated with rear spindle removal. Is this pretty consistent across all S30s? Or prevalent with earlier years and higher miles? Praying that the lower mileage and lifetime garage storage will have helped this slightly, but maybe that is wishful thinking haha.

Was surprised to see synchromesh listed on the approved list as I thought it was GL3. Will switch to the friction modified at next change. Napa was doing a deal; 4 bottles for $15. Couldn’t pass that up haha. Update: cleaned off the oil pan yesterday and covered it in paper towel. Came back today to find this new oil next to the transmission (Shiny line, middle left of photo). Guessing this means the rear main is shot? Also, saw some fluid (assuming transmission) coming from the sensor in the center of the photo. Is there a seal there? Or do these come lose over time?

Sorry, flush was wrong word. Just draining and replacing the fluid.

I had seen on one of the chats that pennzoil synchromesh or redline were good choices. Is that still conventional wisdom? Have a few bottles of the pennzoil sitting on the bench for flushing the current 4 speed. Yeah, when we picked it up, all the seals were blown on the brake master cylinder (made roading it home terrifying and slow for the friend who helped). Replaced it and 2 of the brake lines that had taken up permanent residence the master cylinder (picture shown is half way through the process). Cleaned up the area after and sprayed it with the locktight rust converter. Will never use that stuff again. Converted the rust okay, but it seeped under the tape a little bit and converted the painted surface to rust. Very impressive how fast it worked. ?

Trust me, I can't wait.

@DannDZ @grannyknot covered it well. I am currently using a mixture of both. Most of the parts I am starting with are chassis, engine, and transmission related so the wheel stands give me a solid structure and great height to work on the car (about 2-4in higher than jack stands based on current config), but it does slightly limit what you can work on and your mobility. I have the back wheels on jack stands so that I can pull off the rear suspension components later this winter. The wheel stands are pretty solid construction. I ripped some 2x12s for the boards and used deck screws to connect everything together. I didn't seen any advisory to use glue on any of the templates I looked at. 2 things to think about as you are building. Measure your jack stand base. You can make the wheel stand structure so you can put the jack stands on top of the wheel stands for added height. Consider half fixed, half stack-able wheel stands. You can fix the bottom and then build a few additional tiers that can be added to vary the height where needed. Bonus: I saw a cool design for a bench that uses the wheel stands as the structure. Can't find the template, but its mention at the link here. @Patcon , @grannyknot,& @S30Driver any advice on common failure points on these transmissions that I should keep an eye out for? Also, will get you a few better photos tonight, but two questions: I know almost 0 about HVAC systems and haven't had a chance to look through Haynes. I need to move the HVAC hose circled in red to clean up some surface rust on the frame (currently sitting on the frame, no play). The hose is on the drivers side of the car under the brake master cylinder and runs between the compressor and the firewall. Any idea if this hose is fluid filled and/or the best way to remove? 2. Will definitely send you a better photo of this tonight, but at the top of my engine bay and along the top of the trunk, there is a dark brown film. It has two layers, one brown (primary), then below it is white (secondard), then below that is the engine bay paint. Was there a protective surface coating on the engine bay that I should be wary of removing? Planning to do a deep clean on the engine bay this winter and wanted to make sure I wasn't removing anything important.

@DannDZ Thanks for checking in! Had the in-laws in for the Thanksgiving Holidays, so went dark for the ritualistic "make everything in the house spotless only for guests to trash the place" dance. Got the car set up on cribs and jackstands this week, so I am getting ready to go to work. Did a deep inspection. Chassis was in better shape than I expected, which is good. Few metal components which probably will need significant refinish or replacement (see e-brake components below). Going to drop the oil pan next weekend and then clean up around the transmission to see if my oil leak is from the main seal or just the pan. General question (happy to move to a different forum section if better there): found a 280z 5 speed transmission for sale near me for $75. Guy just pulled his 5 speed to replace for the ZX 5 speed. 80k miles. Good working order. Debating picking it up for expressway driving and added value on resale value (I presume). Worth the effort? Pros and cons of 280z 5 speed versus waiting and eventually doing zx 5 speed?

@wal280z Thanks for sharing and thanks @EuroDat for maintaining this for us! Added to my favorites! @Patcon thanks! Appreciate it. I have seen Courtesy mentioned a few times before. Is it because they have a big eCommerce presence? @EuroDat Thanks for the feedback re: Poly. Will start with Rubber. Can always change up later once I get a chance to see how stiff it is. That rattle is something I am more concerned with knowing the wiring is 43 years old and Chicago's roads aren't known for their smoothness. Thanks for the heads up for the Mustache Bar bushings. Now I know what to scan for when I find parts cars haha. Is there a list somewhere of the NLA parts? @grannyknot Not the same guy (unfortunately for him). Seller was a nice guy, but he wanted $13,000+ for it originally. The paint is in pretty terrible shape (looks great from far off, but is rough up close) and there are a lot of maintenance things that need done from years of minimal use. Ended up buying it this summer for a little less than the BAT number about 2 years after its original listing. May PM you in a few weeks regarding your experience, but will look through your post first. Excited to see the progress you made. ? PS Sorry everyone for all of the call outs, had garage cleaning duty before Chicago's salt makes taking the car out of the garage impossible.

Yeah. She has 38k original miles. Might save this one for cruising and turn the next one into a thrasher. Any recommendations for where you got your rubber? I see a lot of kits for Poly, but not many rubber kits. Good call. Was looking through one of the posts last night and it had some good suggestions.

Was looking through the guide on S30 and it looks like it is possible to do it without lifting the engine. Link below in case it is helpful for S130 as well. https://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/76816-oil-pan-removal-280z.html I will be lifting the engine over the next couple of months to do some rust clean up on the engine sub frame so I can do the engine mounts them. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for the warm welcome Cliff! Glad to hear these are relatively easy fixes. Any insights you have on them are welcome! Do you know if there is a inspection list of common issues somewhere on the forum that I should run down while she's put away for winter? That has been a big debate of mine. My friend (~60 y/o man, lifetime track rat) made fun of me for considering rubber bushings, but the car has pretty good road feel already.

Valve cover looks dry. Fully expecting it to be the rear main seal. Will keep you posted! Ooo. Excited for that thick goo paste. Thanks for the heads up, will have some extra gas on hand.

Hi Guys! Tracking down an oil leak. Getting some light leaking from the back of the oil pan even after tightening, so I was planning on removing the pan and replacing the seal. Wanted to see if there are any other maintenance tasks I should think about doing while the engine oil is drained and the pan is off.

Hi Guys! New to the site. Just bought a 1977 280z. Its my second Z, but first S30 and I am ecstatic to get started. It seems pretty common place to introduce new projects here so I figured I would drop a note. Current Prognosis: Chassis is in good shape and car both starts and runs pretty well for its age, but definitely needs some dialing in. Going to keep it mostly original and focus on restoring its performance to 1977 spec. Many of the bushings are original and need to be replaced. Engine ticks pretty loudly until it is fully to temp and likes to hang at 2000rpm on downshifts. There is light surface rust on the rear suspension components, engine sub frame, and a few small body panel issues (picture below) which need some TLC. Car was repainted a decade or so ago and while it looks good from a distance, its very rough up close. A few photos are below, or you can get all the detail from the seller's BaT Post from a few years ago. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1977-datsun-280z-8/ 2019/2020 Projects Fluids Change [Complete] Shifter Bushings [Complete] Brake Master Cylinder Replacement & Bleed [Complete] Vacuum Hose Replacement [In-Process] Powder-coat Suspension Components Bushing Update (Poly Primarily) Oil Pan Seal Replacement Rear Main Seal Replacement Rust Remediation Future Projects (WIP) Front/Rear bumper & DIA trim delete and replacement with 240z/260z components Paint respray (Either original silver or the blue/green Datsun paint of same era 5 Speed Transmission? Small body rust spot above drivers side door drain Chassis/Suspension components to be painted or powder coated Test 3D print of the car (Still waiting on Silver filament ?