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You know that car in your neighborhood you walk past all the time? The one that makes you think, "poo poo, that's cool, but they never drive the drat thing. Wonder if they'll sell it..." I just bought that car.  It's a 1982 Datsun 280ZX. Naturally aspirated, not turbo. This thing was sitting three houses down from me ever since I moved to Albuquerque last summer. Every time I walked the dog, I'd see it and think about how much I like the Z-cars.  Last weekend, they had a garage sale. I picked up a radio, "This will be all for me, unless that car's for sale." Turns out it was. $500 and I rolled it home tonight.  So what's the deal with it? They parked it 10 years ago. According to the owner, it wasn't getting fuel from the gas tank; the guy said he could feed a little gas in directly and get it to run a bit (it's fuel-injected, so maybe he put it in the air intake? I don't know fuel injection (yet)). He also said it would sometimes pop out of reverse. It sat facing west for all 10 years. This means the front seats are turbofucked:  Completely faded. The rear view mirror plastic also crumbled in the sun:  And the upper parts of the door panels didn't fare so well:  But the rest of the interior is actually in pretty good shape:   Lap timer!  Ridiculously sick radio:  The biggest thing it's got going for it? Pretty much no rust. There's a few bits below the windshield, and a very small bubble on the right rear wheelwell. As far as I can tell, that's it. Albuquerque is an extremely dry climate, and with this thing sitting out in the sun (no trees or anything) there's been scant opportunity for water to hang around--it was even sitting on mostly bare ground, rather than tall grass. The engine bay seems to be in pretty good condition, except for some vacuum hoses that look to have been either broken or cut for whatever reason.   Finally, it came with two tapes that I consider extremely pro listening; these will go in the deck as soon as I install a new battery.  A friend from work has been egging me on every step of the way, helped me push it home tonight, and will be helping me as we work through the checklist of poo poo to do. Our first goal is to get the engine turning, then put in a battery and do a compression test, then try to get it running.
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May 12, 2016 03:49
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 18:19 |
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Today's accomplishments:
The MMO in the cylinders is in preparation for trying to turn the crankshaft with a breaker bar. I've got a good feeling about this engine; the spark plugs came out dark but dry, the engine bay itself looks pretty clean all things considered, I'm hoping for the best. Once we get the engine turning over manually, I'm going to go buy a battery and try cranking it, then do a compression test.
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May 12, 2016 03:55
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I wish you God speed you crazy bastard! I had a 77 280 and I couldn't get the drat thing to ever pass smog (but I'm in California) Do you plan on gutting the interior or having it reapulstored(sp?) and restored?
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May 12, 2016 03:57
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I'm so incredibly bonerfied about this. straight six best motor
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May 12, 2016 03:59
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Nitramster posted:I wish you God speed you crazy bastard! I had a 77 280 and I couldn't get the drat thing to ever pass smog (but I'm in California) So as of January 2017 this vehicle will not need to be emissions tested in the state of New Mexico. I'm kinda thinking about not even bothering to register it until then, just keep fettling it and driving up and down the street in front of my house. Otherwise, if you fail an emissions test and get a shop quote for over $300 repairs, they'll give you a 1 year temporary registration... and provided there aren't any weird conditions attached to that registration, after a year it would be past the rolling 35 year cutoff. As for the interior, it'll come down to either reupholstering it or finding some decent junkyard seats, I guess. These are not particularly valuable cars, however cool I think they are, so I'm not planning to put $1000 racing seats in or anything like that. Jonny 290 posted:I'm so incredibly bonerfied about this. I love straight six engines so much. Pretty much as soon as I lifted that (awesome-looking) hood, I was decided.
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May 12, 2016 04:04
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you sonofabitch. KICKASS. Get it running and make a rally car with it. 
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May 12, 2016 04:06
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Pham Nuwen posted:Today's accomplishments: Glad you've got your priorities right. Those louvers are so good
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May 12, 2016 04:09
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I'm glad you listened to us.
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May 12, 2016 04:11
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Pham Nuwen posted:So as of January 2017 this vehicle will not need to be emissions tested in the state of New Mexico. I'm kinda thinking about not even bothering to register it until then, just keep fettling it and driving up and down the street in front of my house. Otherwise, if you fail an emissions test and get a shop quote for over $300 repairs, they'll give you a 1 year temporary registration... and provided there aren't any weird conditions attached to that registration, after a year it would be past the rolling 35 year cutoff. Isn't Albuquerque metro the only part of NM that does emissions?
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May 12, 2016 04:15
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some texas redneck posted:Isn't Albuquerque metro the only part of NM that does emissions? Yeah, my other option is to find someone outside the city who will register it. I know a goon in Rio Rancho, actually...
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May 12, 2016 04:16
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2+2s are not the best looking 280ZXes, but I applaud anyone who is willing to put the work in to bring any Datsun back to life. Hell, I like both the B210 and the 610, so clearly I shouldn't talk about looks. Usually where these cars rusted is not the battery tray like the old Zs, but the spare tire well and general hatch area. I'd pull back the carpet back there and take a good hard look. Jealous of your find. $500 is a great price for this thing. As for reverse popout, it has the common 80s Nissan 5-speed design (4 normal gears, 5th/R share a weird extra fork with a nut that backs out internally and eventually loses grip) so it will develop fifth gear popout, which might be related. There was also something I seem to remember about small internal springs wearing out on the fork, which you can change yourself without cracking the case. I want to say it got better with later years of the S130 but this is a Nissan transmission we're talking about so it probably depends on how low their cocaine bucket was getting in the engineering department that week. Bad shifter bushings make it worse because you can sort of 'half engage' the fork which then immediately goes "gently caress you" as soon as anything serious happens. Subaru sort of inherited this design and made it worse in spectacularly different ways. Start with shifter bushings and a gear oil change and then graduate to a fifth gear WOT highway pull to see if it self-shifts to neutral on you, which confirms the issue. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 04:35 on May 12, 2016 |
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May 12, 2016 04:28
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also if you even dream about removing that stereo, you better wake up and apologize. If it's hosed internally I will drive down from Denver with soldering iron and multimeter in tow. (and probably a bunch of old ham radio poo poo to dump on you too)
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May 12, 2016 04:35
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If the cassette deck drives at all the first thing you should do is take the drive belt off, measure it and order a replacement. Those things turn into a nasty goo overtime that just get everywhere as you inevitably shuffle between reverse and play trying to get it to work.
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May 12, 2016 04:47
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Too rickety to live, too rad to die. Yes yes and more yes.
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May 12, 2016 05:06
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I would have bought the car for the stereo alone, let alone all of the other goodness attached to it.
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May 12, 2016 07:33
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Unf so in on this.
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May 12, 2016 09:04
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The L series motors are reliable and relatively easy to work on. Pay attention to the harmonic balancer and make sure the rubber hasn't started to separate from the rest of it. Also, get into the rear hatch area and pull out the tool carrier and take off the interior trim pieces and inspect for any rust from the inside. I understand you are in the desert, but those tail light seals often go bad which will result in water easily getting inside whenever you wash your car.
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May 12, 2016 14:17
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We pulled up the trim in the back and had a look last night, I guess I don't remember looking right under the taillights but here's the pictures we took: 
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May 12, 2016 14:39
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It's strange how I just got done talking with my buddy last nigh about a 280. He's in Indiana and it runs great and has no rust. The owner wants 6k. He said he would pay it as well if he didn't have four other projects and a track civic.
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May 12, 2016 14:40
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I almost bought one of these with a turbo but it was turbo hosed by rust to the point where my fingers went through the floorboards like it was paper mache, so I'll live vicariously through you
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May 12, 2016 15:42
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^^ To this day, I lust after a minty 82-83 Turbo 2 seater.Pham Nuwen posted:We pulled up the trim in the back and had a look last night, I guess I don't remember looking right under the taillights but here's the pictures we took: That looks pretty good. Those rear interior panels all come off with a minimum of fuss. The one on the left is where the jack/tool kit is and the one on the right is where the spare is. IIRC there is a rubber plug at the bottom for draining. Make sure it's still there. If it's not and drive down a dusty road, your car will be full of dust inside. If you pull off the rearmost panel, you'll be able to see the back of the taillights and be easier to see if you have any seal issues.
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May 12, 2016 17:57
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This looks like a really fun project. I used to have a 76 and 77 280Z. I used to cruise the 'you-pull-it' yards and look for 280ZXs and older Subarus and pull the speedo pinion gears. When I came across a red gear it meant the rear diff was 4.11. It was fun and easy swapping pumpkins and 4 and 5 speed manual transmissions to get tons of off the line power or great gas mileage depending on how you set it up.
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May 12, 2016 22:05
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When I got home from work, I put it in 4th gear and pushed from behind. The car rolled a bit, Marvel Mystery Oil oozed out of the spark plug holes, and the belts moved so I'm considering it a success: engine is not seized. Next step: buy a battery and try to crank it. If that works, do a compression test.
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May 13, 2016 00:52
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Are you going to put some fresh oil in there before you crank it, or just pump 10-year-old poo poo through it until you know it's salvageable?
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May 13, 2016 01:01
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If you disable the fuel pump and just crank it to determine oil pressure and compression, the 10 year old poo poo will be fine. Definitely change it before starting it though, no sense in bruising what might be a perfectly good engine.
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May 13, 2016 01:24
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Slavvy posted:If you disable the fuel pump and just crank it to determine oil pressure and compression, the 10 year old poo poo will be fine. Definitely change it before starting it though, no sense in bruising what might be a perfectly good engine. This was my plan, I figure it probably won't hurt it to run the old oil for a few cranks with the plugs out while I test compression. I'll have to figure out how to disable the fuel pump, find the appropriate wires to disconnect I guess.
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May 13, 2016 02:04
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Pham Nuwen posted:This was my plan, I figure it probably won't hurt it to run the old oil for a few cranks with the plugs out while I test compression. I'll have to figure out how to disable the fuel pump, find the appropriate wires to disconnect I guess. Should be a fuse with an obvious label, or a similar relay, but I don't know anything about those particular cars.
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May 13, 2016 02:07
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Pham Nuwen posted:This was my plan, I figure it probably won't hurt it to run the old oil for a few cranks with the plugs out while I test compression. I'll have to figure out how to disable the fuel pump, find the appropriate wires to disconnect I guess. TBH it might be a good idea to disable spark, leave the pump hooked up but have the inlet hose pointing into a bottle while you crank. This'll let you get an idea of the condition of the fuel and will stop any garbage that made it past the filter hitting your injectors when you do eventually start it.
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May 13, 2016 02:51
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Slavvy posted:TBH it might be a good idea to disable spark, leave the pump hooked up but have the inlet hose pointing into a bottle while you crank. This'll let you get an idea of the condition of the fuel and will stop any garbage that made it past the filter hitting your injectors when you do eventually start it. I've been intending to remove the fuel tank and clean it after doing the compression test but before trying to start the car--I figured there was no way 10 year old gas should go anywhere near my engine. Maybe clean the tank, reinstall it, put some gas in, and then try pumping the inlet hose into a bottle to clean out any poo poo left in the line? Where's the fuel pump on this thing, anyway? I kinda wanted to get a compression test before I buy a Haynes manual.
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May 13, 2016 03:03
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IIRC and this is really going back, back of car.. I'm thinking RH side of tank? Shouldn't be that hard to find. Follow the lines if you have to. It's not in in tank pump. Filter is super easy to replace, you've probably already seen it. Z-Car community used to be pretty big on the internet, I can't imagine it's gone.
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May 13, 2016 03:12
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slidebite posted:IIRC and this is really going back, back of car.. I'm thinking RH side of tank? Shouldn't be that hard to find. Follow the lines if you have to. It's not in in tank pump. Filter is super easy to replace, you've probably already seen it. This is extra good because if the pump has poo poo itself you can replace it with a generic in-line one with the same pressure really easily.
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May 13, 2016 05:43
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Found one essential accessory for this euphoria-inducing Z-car: http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Awesome-Plaid-Binder-Pants/dp/B00J1J7HZW 
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May 13, 2016 18:14
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Pham Nuwen posted:Found one essential accessory for this euphoria-inducing Z-car:  I'm pretty sure he wore his euphoria enabling pajama's all the time. The one time I met him he did. And every photo or video had him wearing them.
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May 13, 2016 18:22
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This is awesome. Z cars are awesome. 2+2's are less awesome but paying $500 more than makes up for that. It's my dream to do up a Z car one day. Ideally a 240 or 260, but I'd take a 280 coupe. slidebite, did all that gen of Z's come with a turbo hood even if they were NA?
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May 13, 2016 20:31
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Yes 82-83 all had a naca duct.
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May 14, 2016 00:16
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Pham Nuwen posted:Found one essential accessory for this euphoria-inducing Z-car: Needs the PBR golf pants and a pink or orange polo shirt with green tint sun visor. White shoes make the outfit. Accessorize with gold chain(s).
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May 14, 2016 05:49
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I took off the rearview mirror and pulled away all the crumbly plastic parts before re-attaching it. Then I got out the shop vac and vacuumed up the tiny little bits of plastic that had gone all over the front seats and floor. That poo poo was so wrecked by the sun you couldn't even pick up the pieces, they'd turn to dust when you applied any pressure!
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May 15, 2016 00:15
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Whoever made the glue that attaches that thing to the windshield deserves a medal.
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May 15, 2016 03:44
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Whoever made the glue that attaches that thing to the windshield deserves a medal. It's actually attached via 3 screws just above the windshield, so I pulled the screws, took the whole assembly out of the car, and crushed the plastic over a trash can.
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May 15, 2016 03:48
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 18:19 |
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Anyone who can help me figure out how to get this drat gas cap off will be forever my friend. It looks like this: And apparently the underside:  If I turn the key to unlock, the cap will just happily spin counterclockwise forever, clicking gently once or twice a revolution.
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May 20, 2016 19:34
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