ArcticFoxCJ

My guilty pleasure is some of the old Sedaris BBB action movies from the '80s and '90s. This one's from Malibu Express.

View Advert WANTED: Wiper Arms for 280Z (S30) So when I got my project car it didn't have wipers. Found one in the back that turned out to be for a Honda, so I am looking for both. Advertiser ArcticFoxCJ Date 03/11/2023 Price Category Parts Wanted Year 1977 Model 280Z  

Well, after all that, I got out the arm that was still in the car and looked at it, comparing it with the pictures in this thread and... ...it isn't even a wiper from a 280Z. When I bought the car it had a bunch of parts in the trunk, mostly its own. There were a handful of parts form other cars in there. I guess this is another one. So I guess I'm looking for the set. Thanks for your help guys.

It helps tremendously! Thanks very much! I forgot to mention I have a 280Z so that was perfect.

Hey all. So when I got my project car, it wasn't complete and among the missing parts was one front wiper arm. The problem is that the other arm was removed and in the back of the car so I don't know which side it originally came from. I know both blades are 18" but it's the arms I need. So my question is this: Are both arms the same? I have seen them sometimes with different part numbers and other times the same, so I don't know either way. If they're different then I need to figure out which side I have already so I order the right one.

So my son talked me into reupholstering the driver's seat, and adding a seat we found on eBay for the passenger's side from a 260Z. It all wound up costing more than a set of seats new, but I guess at least we keep the stock seats which are flat enough. I'll post pics when we get it done!

Those look good, but with my wider backside I need flatter seats more like the original.

What did you have to do to adapt them? Did you modify the original rails or are they from the 350Z?

Well the problem is I'm big in terms of height and width. The stock seat seems like it was about right, but since I have to replace it and the missing one, it's an opportunity for an upgrade. I read somewhere once that the width in 280Zs was a problem because many aftermarket seats are too wide for the available room.

My project has no passenger seat (or rails) and the driver's seat has seen much better days. I'm just going to replace the set but I don't want to wind up with seats that are too wide for the space. Anybody have any wisdom to share? Not looking to do racing type seats, but something comfy but sporty. I remember liking the high back seats in my old 280ZX.

Yeah I've seen that too. I don't know if the difference is by manufacturer, or era, or place or something else. Might be an interesting thing to look into. Seen it done with torque converters too but not as often.

In a perfect world, all parts would be balanced as one. In this world that's not going to happen in my case. Why not the flywheel too? Well to be honest, because I don't care. I used to be an ASE Certified Master Tech, and I even worked at Nissan dealerships and I can tell you that in times we had to pull the flywheel from vehicles, they went right back on without necessarily being at the same clock position as they were when they came off. The part is indeed balanced by itself. I'm sure you 've noticed there's sometimes a weight welded to the flywheel somewhere. That's why. We didn't worry about putting it back in the same position because it just doesn't matter on these. Argue that point if you like, but never once did I or any tech in the shops where I worked have a problem or a comeback when doing this. My flywheel is going to get taken to the machine shop to be resurfaced and cleaned up, but I'm not concerned with balancing it with the assembly. Now admittedly I have little experience in tearing down engines and reassembling them in a shop environment because when we had internal engine problems we'd replace the engine at the dealership. Regular repair shops just don't get into that kind of work. It's a shame, but again, real world vs. perfect world. The last time I did anything like this was on an '87 Jeep Wrangler with a 4.2L inline six. And that was... a while ago. It turned out fine. I'm building this 280z on a budget, and I'm already over $3k in just this engine and I'm not even done yet. I wasn't expecting to completely teardown, machine and rebuild it when I got the car but yet again, real world. Decisions have to be made. If not balancing the components together bites me in the backside later then it bites me in the backside. The project is being funded by eBay sales and mad money out of my paychecks so this kind of compromise gets made because the alternative is that my grandchildren will be finishing the project for me. Some, including people with more experience in engine work may disagree and I respect that, but this is where I stand on it.

So I contacted the machine shop and they actually offered to bore it again at no charge. I guess since I JUST had a bunch of work done. I also ordered the pistons from Greenline. They say they're backordered until November, sadly... But it is what it is. In the meantime I can focus on the car's body and other systems.

Yeah all that other stuff was done (except the flywheel) in my first iteration at the machine shop.

So to get the block bored again it's $600, not $300, because there's also the step of honing and washing. So... that brings the total cost to about the same. Meaning if it's going to cost me the same to wind up with forged pistons with either an 86.5mm or 87mm bore, I'm inclined to go bigger.

The set runs $711. Not sure what leadtime would be but I'd guess 3 months, and maybe... I may have to call the machine shop tomorrow and ask. According to the invoice, it was $200 to bore them to .50mm the first time.

I reached out to Greenline and, sadly, got this response:

I just checked the Kamearis site and didn't find those. Was it on a different site?

Looks like it's a moot point. Nobody's got 'em. The place where I thought I'd be buying them from is out of stock indefinitely. According to California Datsun, it's been 6 months since they last got any in, with no idea when there will be more.

These are new. (Do pistons normally come with wrist pins? Can't seem to find those.) The cylinders have already been bored. Which is fine because the pistons I found don't seem to go higher than .020 from that supplier. They're dished pistons, and I'm still using the original head so that's good to go.

So I just got my L28 block back and the 2 things I need are an oil gallery screen that apparently disintegrated, and oversize pistons because it was bored .50mm over. I found a set of pistons that are .020" oversize, and I just wanted to do a sanity check... .5mm equates to 0.01968504 in, so I feel safe buying these. Does anyone know of any gotchas I should be worried about?

Just for fun, here's mine and its current state:

That makes a lot of sense, thanks. For what they charge for that part on KF Vintage I don't want to have to do that much work to it. Since the one I have has a few holes but no major rust damage, I'll just repair it.

Is it a 240z?

Yeah the 280ZX is definitely a very different car. As far as I know there are no interchangeable body parts at all.