2ManyZs

I'm fairly sure all the 280Z's from 75-78 had the non-replaceable u-joints. MSA has a replacement driveshaft for the 75 that has replaceable u-joints in their old catalog for 234 bucks (wish I knew why they haven't sent me my new catalog:angry: ) so that would probably be cheaper than doing what he wants to. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think there is any difference in the 75-78 flanges, however I haven't tried swapping them, and don't have one to check. I see no reason the holes couldn't be drilled out to a larger bolt if that is the only difference in the flanges.

If the U-joint has gotten to the point the cups are gone and it is eating into the yoke on the driveshaft, you are probably just as well of to get another driveshaft from the boneyard. It would probably cost you as much or more to get the correct yoke and have it welded onto the driveshaft. It could have been a lot worse, it could have been an input shaft bearing on the diff. or the ring and pinion.

They are all listed on zhome with the years that they were available, and with which exterior color you could get.

I think the "bar" you are referring to on the red car is actually the hood weatherstripping or gasket. It just looks like a black painted bar. The bars attached to it are the upright chrome ones right? They are hood pins, looks like they are on a L shaped bracket attached to the firewall. The shroud over the trumpets is a "cold air intake" in a sense, they have the air duct going to the hole in the radiator core support, and that is blowing air in the "direction" of the trumpets. In the series they are running it may not be legal to directly connect the outside air duct to the "air cleaner box" so they have skirted the rules as best they can. Lot of racers in Improved Touring did the same thing as we weren't allowed to use a cold air intake. So they did the same thing to "bend" the rules a little. Since it is only forcing cool air in the "direction" of the airbox, and not physically connected,it is legal. Gotta love the red one and the way those Wattanabe's look on the white car.

Yeah, not everyone knows my favorite nickname for the state of Massachusetts, so I thought I would spell it out.:devious:

Geez, going through DC? You are a brave man Ed. A little too far east for me to wave, but have a safe trip. Don't worry, the leaves are still on the trees up north, at least in Massachusetts they are. Hard to tell about the Buffalo area.:cross-eye On second thought, I won't be home yet to say ta-ta. I don't get out of Massachusettes till 7:30am.

If you have been doing a lot of hard shifting, you could also have a bent shift fork or shift fork roll pin. Easy enough to do, not quite simple to fix, although it would be cheaper than trying to find another trans. Besides u-joints it could also possibly be the front diff mount.

I agree with Rick. Check out the possibilty of a loose valve and/or a worn out rocker. Only have to take off the valve cover and do a good visual inspection. A leak down test would be a wise second choice if you see nothing out of the ordinary when you do the visual inspection. One simple test and you will know whether you have a valvetrain problem or a more serious problem, eg. rings? If you pressurize the cylinder and can hear air escaping through the carbs, it is a valve problem. If you hear nothing there, take off the oil filler cap, if you hear air there, well, it's a little more serious...... If you hear the air through the intake at least you will know that it is only a head problem. You will then need to figure out if it could be a loose/improperly adjusted valve, a possible burned or bad seat, a bad valve stem guide, or possibly even a bent valve. Have you ever had the valve seats replaced with hardened steel seats? This would be one of my first picks for the trouble spot. Taking a head off is much better than tearing down the whole engine....... Good luck and let us know what you find.

Talk to a customer service representative when you choose your cam. Tell them what you are doing, how you will be driving etc, and they can pick the best cam profile for your use. I would recommend a cam that gives you peak power in the 2500- 6000rpm range or perhaps a little less than 6000. Say 2000- 5000 which is where you will be doing most of your driving. Remember, if you go too far with the cam, you will need to modify the ignition and carbs to be able to use the cam. Also, some cam profiles will leave you a little short on vaccuum, so beware of trying to go too wild. Also, do get a set of new lash pads with it. The old ones have been worn to fit your old cams lobes and will be short lived on a new cam. Not to mention the excessive wear on the new cam. New cam, new lash pads, and anything else that may be suspect.....

If you are talking about the lines going up into the bottom of the master cylinder, they usually are a pain. Hopefully you are using a 10mm line wrench. If you aren't, you should get one. You can apply a lot more pressure to get it loose without worrying about messing up the line. Anyone who doesn't have a 10mm line wrench should get one, they are indispensible when working on these old, corooded lines, and do save a lot of work by not snapping off those stubborn brake bleeders when you are bleeding the brakes. If soaking and a line wrench don't do the trick. Try tapping the bottom with a small hammer or if worse comes to worse, you could try heating it just a little. Don't heat it too much or you will cook the seals in the master cylinder, unless you are planning on replacing it anyways. In which case, heat it as much as you need.

Try removing the center pin from the rivet with an awl or small punch first. Push it until it comes out of the rivet, then remove the panel. Sometimes you can replace the pin into the rivet and re-use it. Best to get a small bag of rivets from someone like MSA to replace the rivets anyways as they usually are getting kinda brittle and don't like being messed with.

NOS stands for New-Old Stock. In other words, it is an original part that was never sold. It may have been in a warehouse or in a dealerships inventory. Some parts are non-returnable to the factory when a model is discontinued and the dealer is left with trying to get rid of the part. It will be from the original prduction run of replacement parts, ie. not a reproduction of an original part from an aftermarket supplier. NOS parts are in high demand, not only with Z's but any collectible car. Companies will go out and search for dealerships that are going out of business, or just trying to unload excessive inventory of parts, and this is how NOS parts are brought to the market at a somewhat inflated price. It is especially prevelent in the US muscle car business, where a lot of the parts are date coded.

About your driving.....:devious: Just kidding. How much air pressure are you running in the rear? Try dropping a couple pounds out and then see what happens. You might just be running too high a pressure and the tires are loosing their grip because of it. Of course a wee bit wider tire won't hurt anything. Especially when you are playing "road racer" on the on-ramps... Seriously though, try playing with your pressures a little. It might make a big difference. I'd go with about 32 to 34 so if you are running any more than that it might be half the problem...

That was bad Rick......... Stop drinking that rocket fuel, it won't help your car go any fasterLOL

Ah ha, you're the one that got the silver car with the red interior. I used to race his wife's old 280. He's still trying to get a car off me for nothing. Never happen.....

Wait a minute, you are in Woodstock too? I thought Figgins and I were the only ones with Z's here in town now.

Depends on how strict they are with the safety inspections. The wheels are clearly marked For Racing Purposes Only on the rim. Might raise a few eyebrows. Yes, they are strong enough for the street, but without the DOT's safety rating and approval, technically they are illegal to run on the street. If they are strong enough for racing, they are strong enough for the street. But, I wouldn't want to be in an accident and have someone see them, the lawyers would be knocking down the door trying to sue someone over it.

Nice to know there is at least ONE intelligent person working for our government. Maybe there is hope of finding more!:stupid: :tapemouth

If the car doesn't have any hidden underbody rust it looks like a great find. Worth 5K? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what the underside looks like. Be sure to check out the floor pans, frame rails, under the battery tray, around the fender lip and the rocker panels to see if there have been any not so perfect repair jobs. The 3rd gear being hard to find is somewhat normal with the early 4 speed which this car probably has. If it is original it should have the early A model trans with the less than perfect shifter linkage. It can be swapped for a later one or you can try a set of solid bushings to help. The bumper looks like it could be fixed without much trouble, just some work to straighten the bumper mounts, as long as there is no damage to the lower fender and headlight bucket. The bumpre itself looks pretty clean. Hood can be re-aligned with little trouble. Interior looks pretty good, some holes cut for speakers you will want to cover up. Door panels are orginal style. For what it is worth, I paid 3500 for a car in nearly the same shape. Mainly because I could only find one rust area on the outer body behind the door. Don't know what your budget is, but you can start low(2500 or so) and work your way up till he agrees to a price. Good luck, looks like a pretty well kept car, certainly worth a second look!!

Only time I have seen a triple SU set-up on a Z, the guy had to fabricate his own manifold. Luckily for him one of his relatives owned a foundry that could cast one. No known manifold made for the swap. :disappoin

I haven't driven mine in a couple years, why you complaining???:tapemouth :disappoin

Everything looks pretty good except the Panasports. They aren't DOT certified. He must have had a deadbeat bidder on them, they sold a couple weeks ago and he now has them re-listed, or else he didn't get his reserve:disappoin If I had an extra 1500 I would be going to Florida to buy another car. like I need another one right? You play the Lotto????:devious:

Sounds like it may have a problem in the cold start valve (injector) or one of the sensor that controls it. You really need to get a Factory Service Manual for your 75. It will give you step by step instructions on how to diagnose and test the various systems in the fuel injection. It is expensive, but worth every penny when diagnosing FI problems.