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I have decided that I despise money and have decided to embark into the world of project cars. In five days I will return from just north of Seattle with a 76' Datsun 280 Z (S30 chassis). I don't know why I chose something that is known to have insane rust issues, other than they look awesome and give me the cool car feeling. Why am I posting so early? My work life will be a bit crazy for the next couple of weeks, and if I start the thread now I will be forced to remember to take many pics and update this thread. Here are my goals:
Some random thoughts:
I should have my first real post up by days end next Monday.
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May 8, 2017 22:51
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something similar to this (sans the G-Nose)
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I dunno G-noses just don't do anything for me. I more prefer something along this for front lines:   except for that front plate, that needs to go.
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May 9, 2017 16:07
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Waffle House posted:HELLO THERE, I TOO HAVE AN S30 BUILD: Swap plan is stated above its going to get an rb25 . Power goal is probably 400whp and torques after all is said and done. I originally thought rb26 for obvious reasons then saw the prices for them and said gently caress that the 2.5 will work just fine. I read your entire thread front to back while i was deciding i wanted an s30. I will definitely be hitting you up for help. Lord of Garbagemen fucked around with this message at 18:32 on May 9, 2017 |
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May 9, 2017 18:30
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Waffle House posted:Yep, if you're going RB, and those are your goals, the 25 will be juuuuust fine. That would be awesome. I am pretty unfamiliar with jdm nissan powerplants. I know they have oil pump and cavitating issues that will need to be dealt with, but that is about the extent of my knowledge on the 25/26. What can the stock rb25 handle with said oiling issues corrected?
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May 9, 2017 20:59
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Alright , its happening!!!!!! The Z guy in Snohomish (City in WA) is a little flaky but I am going up either way, he says some of the cars are inaccessible and waited till 3 days before we meet to tell me that (been talking to this guy for nearly 3 months) . SO it may not be a car, but I am in luck a very highly recommended engine importer is only 20 minutes away from him and they have a couple of rb25's with trans , harness and ecu in stock so if I am not coming back with a car it will be the engine. Anyways pics shall be taken and hopefully a good thread will appear.
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May 12, 2017 18:00
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Well in the short term this weekend was  . No engine , no Z yet. Here is the breakdown:Saturday: Went to the Olympus Rally, was a blast here is what I saw:  Subaru Crosstrek, with a six speed and anti lag. Nothing crazy just a bog standard STi. The coolest Saab 93?  More Saab POWAH. Cossie (I think) , but he has put a 2.3 ecoboost in it, it was really fast on the day. Thats right, Toyota Rav 4 Limited LE, everything is stock, dude still goes hard in it. This thing is pretty crazy, guy is local to the Portland area. Supercharged, and it has rear mounted radiator.  Z!!!!!!! I probably talked to this guy way to long, its a 77 hes got about 210 hp out of the l28 (heads, header,cam, etc) really cool guy. They have been racing this thing for like 10 years now.I should have another post up in a few about the Z.
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May 16, 2017 02:34
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The search begins: This was yesterday. We drove up to this guys place (https://www.google.com/maps/dir//67...29!2d47.9346361). You can see he has a ton of Z's. We narrowed it down to two cars: The Orange 6/77 Manu. Date:   This car was covered in parts on all sides, I couldn't get underneath it to check for serious frame rust. Nor could I see much inside or get near it. It ran last year (not that that matters to me), no title (abandoned vehicle process in WA state, more on that later). He said it was clean nearly no rust underneath, he wanted 3,500 and wouldn't budge. The Brown 12/76 Manu. Date         So more and more I have fallen for this one, and am thinking its the "One". Its a California car (as can be seen by the plates) the last tab on it said 1995. The owner brought it up to Washington in 2006-2007 and then abandoned it cause he couldn't pay the bill to the tech (another abandoned title). The interior is gone except for the Dash (with normal crack in middle), and interior harness. Engine hasn't run since 2008 (again this doesn't matter to me). I crawled underneath and there were some surface rust holes right behind drivers and passenger front wheel well, in front of passenger rear wheel well. However the tire were inflated and the frame rails didn't even have surface rust on them!!!!!. They still had factory paint or bare metal on both sides!!!! He wanted 2,200 for the car as is and wouldn't budge. I told him if he wanted to pull the engine and trans he could. Why I didn't buy Brown 12/76 on the spot. Back to the abandoned title, in Washington State there is a process for these cars. I would have to buy and take it to a DMV where they will fill out the paper work to start the abandoned vehicle waiting period. What happens is that I get a temporary partial title. The DMV will then make an attempt to the last known owner to ask them if they want to reclaim the car. If after three years nothing has occurred I receive the cars title in full with no remarks on it. This scares me because I think I only have recourse up to the purchase price from the mechanic (2,200). So if I were to do all this work and the owner somehow did show up and want his car back I think I would be out all the additional time and money. The mechanic said he has made multiple attempts to get the title from the prior owner and that all the contact's he has are no longer valid , but this still has me on edge so today I will contact the DMV and possibly an attorney and see what my options are. Engine Update: I went to a large foreign engine importer in North Seattle, they have no rb25's and a gen 1 rb26. They want 4,000 for the rb26 and don't seem to want to negotiate. They wont split the transmission (need the RWD not AWD) and it does not come with a harness or ecu. They wont warranty it for even 30 days, nor will they let me check compression before i purchase. I need help from other AI'ers, anyone know of a good importer that I can get a reliable rb25 or rb26 from? On an unrelated note, they have a ton of rb20's that they will warranty for 1 year, unlimited mileage. For Aussie guys what is the story on these? Can they make some power? My end goals are about 400 rwhp and torque, with some work could the rb20 be an option?
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May 16, 2017 16:31
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Larrymer posted:Lots of things in this post make me say "nope nope nope." I wouldn't gently caress with title issue cars, especially when they're $2k+ old moldy Datsuns. I think you can do better but I haven't checked the market on them recently. Yea I talked to the DMV at lunch, its not just nope but gently caress off nope. The real kicker is that California accrues late registration fees and will not release title until they are paid. So its like probably 2,000 in back registration. The search continues.
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May 16, 2017 20:11
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EvellSnoats posted:Want me to take a look at this for you? About 40 miles from me. Tell me what to look for in terms of rust. I'm not quite ready to look out of state yet. At lunch I went and looked at a 75 280 the thing only had 19,000 miles on it , zero rust . I told the seller the car was probably worth more but my max budget on a shell was 3,000. He said if it didn't drum up more interest he would sell to me. This weekend I am back up to Snohomish to look at another Craigslist ad (https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/6109948150.html). The year is right, I can probably talk him down to 3k. As long as he has a clean title and minor rust , that could be a good car.
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May 18, 2017 05:22
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 Z CAR HAS BEEN ACQUIREDSo I bought a Z today. Its the brown one that that i looked at last Wednesday. I contacted the owner again and said i could do 3,750 and he agreed to it. So i went down at lunch today and am now the proud owner of a 280.     Here are some thoughts on driving it home:
So first up disassemble and prep for media blasting. More updates to come.
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May 22, 2017 21:35
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extreme_accordion posted:Sub'd! I feel like i am part of the cools kids club now. I am not to worried about the auto, the l28 and trans are getting yarded out for an rb26 and a cd009 six speed (likely the hr version if i can get my hands on it.) I might do the frame rails just for the chassis reinforcement , but a couple of the Z guys in Portland /SW Washington have said that the money would be better spent on a roll cage as the reinforcement is need higher up than the frame rails provide. We shall see though. As far as rust, here are some pics from what i pulled apart last night (I am a poo poo picture taker, please forgive):  Gas tank is super clean, not much visible rust from the rear end Passenger front wheel well. I tried to put a wrench through the rust patch and couldn't get it to budge possibly just surface rust. random pic another random pic Z without bumpers, best Z. Moar bumperless.I dunno I will start attacking the interior tonight will have more pics and rust updates tomorrow. Z questions, can I jack the car from the rear using the rear diff? I am always petrified of doing this on my other cars but that's because they never been RWD cars. I set the car up on stands using the frame rails (I couldn't find obvious pinch weld spots like on my subies) is that okay for the Z?
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May 23, 2017 17:43
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Sorry for not posting in a couple of weeks, wife has me doing a ton of home projects. Today however, there is an update (albeit a small one). I was tooling around the hybridz forums and a bunch of those guys said they had good interactions with a jdm importer in Sacramento. I go to their website saw a thing, then did a thing: Here is what I saw:      Here is what I did:  I am a bit anxious over buying an engine site unseen, and not talking to the guy in person. Hybridz guys all seemed to have good things to say about their experiences. And, he did send me video of him doing a compression check (I would upload but don't know where to file share mp4). Cylinder 1 settled at 210 psi, and 2-6 all settled at like 215 psi. It seems high but they were all similar so that is the most important part. No transmission or flywheel (both perfect for my goals). It is not an rb26, but for $900 I can live with a rb25 instead. For anyone familiar with rb's, I am about 80% certain that this one is a series 2 rb25 (fan blades and grey sensor connector underneath the intake are what I was looking at). I am going to redo all the gaskets (including head) at that point should I just pull out the crank and have the longer snout machined on and the tomei oil passage restrictors put in, or is the internet forums correct when they say that was more of a gen 1 rb25/26 problem?
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Jun 8, 2017 21:34
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Small Update: Got some more time to keep ripping into the Z's interior, here are the pictures:  These cocaine cabinets are the coolest thing. I didn't know they had them. Original Nissan P/N stamped parts are still in there and the Nissan jack is in the other side. Not necessary but definitely cool.  This is a crappy little exterior strip that I think was a dealer install option. Anyway as you can see the screws have that nice petina on them, one light turn with a screw driver and the face was gone. So i had to drill out the heads of 18 or so screws to get the trim piece off.   Took off the "quik dash" the original is cracked (not a big deal to fix) but i think the glue and poo poo left over might have KOA'd this dash. I am going to make some calls to a couple of resto places from Hybrid Z and see what they can do, if its dead I guess I start looking at options. Seats, windows, door cards, all the interior trim and carpeting stuff are all out. Basically all that is left is center console , dash , pedals, harness , and steering wheel.  This is a pic of the drivers foot well, no visible tin worm (not even around the drain plug). I didn't snap a pic of the passengers but it looks the same. I keep waiting for that oh poo poo moment when the rust just appears but it hasn't happened yet. Once the rest of the interior is out I am going to try and play chemist and remove the sound deadening with dry ice and rubbing alcohol.
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Jun 13, 2017 16:19
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Waffle House posted:A largely rustless S30? You should buy a lottery ticket imo. It has three spots that will need some love, around the read deck lock (don't think it has gone through but haven't tried to put a mallet through it either), a 4 x 4 inch hole on drivers lower quarter panel, and surface rust in front of passenger rear quarter panel. I feel pretty lucky, but am withholding judgement until I get the sound deadening off to really see what is going on.
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Jun 13, 2017 21:33
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All the talking heads on YouTube say the alcohol turns it into a slurry that can be spreadable. Its not as cold but cold enough. Anyways we shall see.
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Jun 15, 2017 06:42
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So had some time over the weekend to keep digging into the Z, and the motor arrived! Pure JDMness in person. My buddy couldn't get his crane in time so I bribed five people with beer and slow cooked ribs to lift it out of the truck. Wasn't as heavy as i thought it would be. I did not take a picture of the oil pan but its from an AWD platform, and this motor came with an automatic from the factory (evidenced by the flex plate).  Its hard to see but the stamp says rb25 (so I at least know its the right engine). I don't have access to Nissan FAST so I can't check the serial number.  Probably just a maintenance sticker but still cool as hell.  This plug ( I believe its the intake vvt) along with the correct style fan blades, timing cover, and lack of igniter pack are convincing me that the seller wasn't BS and it actually is a gen 2. Having had a chance to look at the stuff if you need to get a jap motor or parts Venus Automotive seems really legit the motor was about 500$ less than anywhere else and their other stuff is on the cheaper side as well. Now on to the Z. My old man came down to oogle the Z and we decided to pull out the dash (since its difficult to do solo):  Out with the center console. The bleaching on the carpet is weird , maybe this was a California or Arizona car before it came to the northwest?  Cowl came off , just cause. Alot of surface rust, but still nothing eating the whole way through.  Dash out, this took longer than I would like to admit (2 hours). Someone has been into the dash before and it wasn't Nissan. There was a lovely splice on the ign to starter solenoid so someone was trying to pull 12v to something but haven't looked yet. The blue painters tape is my way of knowing where each plug goes for reassembly. I got ahold of someone at Collins adapters, he was one of the engineers and i talked to him for a while about what transmissions I could make fit with that adapter. I can use the cd009 from 2005-2006 350z's, any of the JK series transmission (07-09 350z, 09-10 370z), or any of the 1EA0's (from the 2012-Current 370z). The cd009 has a throwout fork and external slave, the jk and 1ea have internal slaves/thrwout combo. There are kits to make the stock lovely internal unit much stronger so thats a plus. The internet talking heads cant seem to come up with really good answers as to what changed from the cd009 to the jk to the 1ea0. For the upcoming longish weekend, get the rest of the big interior bits out of the car, have my friend find his engine hoist, get the old sound deadening out of the car, by a transmission. Sorry I cant post here more often, and if there is anything I can do better let me know.
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Jun 26, 2017 16:43
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Don Dongington posted:That looks like the timing belt sticker. Either it was changed at 100k KM, or it was due at 100k KM. Either way, best be changing it before you stick it in a car. Its getting a tear down for at a minimum all the maintenance items (head gasket included) and address some of the oiling issues . I have been trying to decide if I will build it up, mostly cause I don't know and can't get a good answer as to what the factory internals are good for. The coils look good but I might just convert to GM ls2/lq9 coil packs.
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Jun 27, 2017 23:18
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Waffle House posted:TIL: http://www.mojoperf.com/?q=node/3 , This guys stuff is highly lauded in the RB community. I think he started the trend and everyone else has followed suit. Oh ya its way cheaper and more durable, the only thing you have to watch for is superseded parts. I talked with the guy at Mojo and he says they went cheap on the coils after a certain supercesion , you want the old coils not the new ones. Also, you will have to change the dwell time for the new coils, the overall consensus is less time compared to factory.
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Jun 28, 2017 16:01
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Lame rear end update: That thing happened, should be here end of august or so. Going to forgo the 350/370 six speed for now. I can catch a pretty penny if i decide to sell the five speed. But for now I want to try for a good baseline. I will update Sunday or Monday. I am pulling the engine and transmission this weekend. Additionally, I have continued stripping it down. It is almost ready for media blasting. More later. I will wait to give any recommendations on the website till I see the transmission, but they assured me they only deal with bnib parts so the trans should be mint.
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Jul 10, 2017 18:47
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Larrymer posted:At least in 'Murica, the CD009s are <$1k. And you don't have to order another from Japan. A JK41A or 1A#### (the later [in some opinion] better versions of the cd009) from the 370 and 370HR are about $1,000. The conversion kit is another 900 ( bellhousing plate, slave cylinder plate). A better internal slave is about 600. The price isn't the big worry, its that I have some trepidation about so many moving pieces to begin with (never taken a car down this far, all foreign engine and parts, new to the nissan world,etc). So to begin with I think its easier just to work with the transmission that came with the car then after its all sorted and good, move to a six speed if I so desire. Another option for around the same cost is sending it off to Andrewtech and having custom gear ratios, stronger gears/shift forks, and synchros put in. They quoted about 3,500 so that is an option down the road. edit: also i can fit a 200sx speedo gear on this if I choose to keep my speedo working that way.
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Jul 10, 2017 21:02
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Work were done: The garage got an update: Before  After  Got a sweet deal on 5k lumen led shop lights so bought and hung six of them above the car. The contrast is much more stark than these pictures show, i think my phone was trying to compensate on the low lighting in the first pic. They were 150$ for six sets , if you are interested I can post the brand and all that or something. Now for another advertisement:  This poo poo is gold, spray on and 2 minutes later comes out easy, it works every single time. Now on to work:     On Saturday engine and trans was pulled. Started at 10 am and had it out by 3pm. I elected not to cut anything so the harness is still fully intact, probably going to post it on hybridz and craigslist for free to whoever wants it (if you are in the PNW). Offer stands to any goons as well. It ran but the mileage is unknown. Still haven't found any serious rust, a tiny bit on that drivers side engine compartment. I think it has no rust because this used to be an Arizona car. I found a parts receipt under the carpeting from a dealership in Arizona. I originally thought So. Cal. but Arizona makes more sense as the salt water in the air probably would have done more damage then what I am seeing on this car. The l28 is huge (35 inches long) the RB is only 29 inches and the mounts are way farther forward than on the L28. This RB is going to shift weight way back which will be interesting, as without the engine I could lift the front of the car up. Doors came off and pass fender, the car was in an accident at some point on the drivers side. I am assuming this because of the horrible job someone did to put back the regulator/motor/door components. There is also a bit of over spray on the door jamb. I don't see any obvious major repair to the frame rails or impact markings on the floor pans but I wonder if I should have the chassis checked for straightness before it gets sand blasted? Any thoughts? I have no experience with this kind of stuff. Im still working on getting the wiring out of the car, and have more interior to remove, here is the progress so far:  Excuse all the painters tape, its how I am marking where the plugs go and the other stuff. Transmission comes in today will be a small post tomorrow covering it.
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Jul 17, 2017 16:10
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Transmission came on Monday. Looks like a new transmission. The only strange thing is it shipped with gear oil in it, without a prop shaft there was no seal in the rear and the oil got everywhere. My garage stinks with that horrible gear oil stench. The fed ex guy marked it as damaged, so I have got to inspect it tonight and look for any cracks, will be tough without any dye but going to give it my best.
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Jul 20, 2017 17:35
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Those trans were brand new and shipped with fluid? If they were it will make me feel better about mine truly being bnib.
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Jul 20, 2017 20:33
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Weak update so it doesn't get archived: More poo poo removed from car. Fabbing up a rotisserie bracket to mount to the bumper struts. To hot to work in garage lately, more later.
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Aug 8, 2017 15:49
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Chemistry Update!!!! But first cool car spotting: Saw this gangster hiace or liteace while camping:    Now on to Z stuff. The cage is scheduled to be dropped off Middle of September , so I had to remove all the prior sound deadening in order to keep costs down for the fabricator. A couple of hours on the inter webs left me with the option to use a heat gun or use dry ice and isopropyl alcohol. The first sounded like poo poo so the second option it is.  This is after some experimentation on the first section, we laid the blocks down bare in the middle. It eventually froze the material but took a while. The slurry on the outside is mixed with the alcohol. It speeds up the process and freezing alot, but it also evaporated the dry ice alot faster. Usually it only needed to sit on the material for about 2 minutes using this method.  Just a shot that was much cooler in person. The camera didn't seem to catch the insane amount of fog that was coming out of the drain plug hole.  Bag of the poo poo ready to get thrown out.  My dad helping out with the drivers side while I was doing the passenger. Behind the pedals and up the trans tunnel was tough.  Completed drives side, don't see any damage or warping. The rust spot by the drain hole was only surface rust, couldn't jam a screwdriver through the spot. Likely it will just get cleaned up in the media blasting.  Passenger side, my trans tunnel was more difficult as they are not symmetrical shapes on either side. The foam on the firewall will get removed with media blasting. Only surface rust around drain hole. I have ordered the parts to put the engine and trans together, I will likely have an update in two weeks or so for that. Also, another update for the cage thats getting installed. I also bought two kei trucks.
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Sep 5, 2017 22:13
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extreme_accordion posted:intact floors... nice. Ya I have gotten lucky. My dad said this one looks better after 40 years then his did brand new after 5 years. Slung Blade posted:I would like to know more about the kei trucks please. I bought a 91' Suzuki Carry 4wd (w/ diff lock)    And a 91 Hijet Climber (4wd with diff lock)     We are bringing them over to resell, both are going to get their beds sanded down to metal and bed liner sprayed on (got a friend who does it professionally, will do cheap sprays with no warranty and we do all the prep). They both had their tires replaced at the port. Going to get a good wash and interior cleaning. Alot of little fixes (stuff I can do for free or super cheap). I think my buddy and I are going to list them for 4,000 each and settle for 3,600-3,700. I might end up keeping one though because kei truck. Since we have a thread for importing , I will keep all the info about them and this stupid adventure in there from now on. slidebite posted:Yeah those pans look great. Have you looked at the rear deck/hatch area yet? I know on the ZXs they liked to collect water from around the tail lights, not sure if the older Zs had that problem too. The rear hatch seal was leaking (standing water was present in the spare tire well, but no rust not even fading of the factory first coat. A little bit of surface rust where the taillight seals met the metal but it will come off with media blasting easily. I can not say this enough, buy all your cars from New Mexico, Arizona, West Texas. You will have jacked up dashboards but literally zero tin worm.
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Sep 11, 2017 17:06
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The Z went on an adventure today:    It is getting dropped off for a cage to be installed. Since this wont need to conform to any rule books he is going to get creative on the door sills, and the dash bar. He said he should be done in two or three weeks. So After that there will be a flurry of posts as it goes into media blasting right after that, then body and paint work.
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Sep 24, 2017 03:38
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The main hoop, Halo,rear strut bars, harness bar, and a pillar Bars are all conforming. However, this is never going to be a race car, so I don't want to have to deal with the sill bars that make getting into and out of a hassle. I mostly just need the cage for chassis reinforcement, alot of the Z guys say that around 350 ft lbs certain spots on the Z will twist and pop welds/crack paint. The cage eliminates that by tying more points together. This is just a fast street/ open track day car, not a race car. http://www.jegs.com/p/Jegster/Jegster-Datsun-Roll-Bar-Cage-Kits/753931/10002/-1 Remove the door bars and replace with one down low, remove the dash bar, and remove the brace bars in front.Thats just for reference, the guy is building his own.
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Sep 24, 2017 05:14
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Car isn't ded, just waiting to get back from fabricator.
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Oct 20, 2017 16:54
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UPDATE!!!!!!! Got the Z back from the fabricators.    The camber plates are in, going to make sure they are symmetrical to each other tonight (no reason to think they would not be, but better safe than sorry.) The struts are on order and should be here in 2 or 3 weeks.      The cage is also in, it looks really good. There is almost no interference with getting in and out of the vehicle. Also, he said the only things needed to make it fit the rules for most series is the door bars (which could be pretty easily added). The fabricator is going to email me a website for a good padding for the cage, he said its not to bulky and starts out firm but changes to soft upon impact (he said stay away from the pool noodle crap). A clutch has been ordered, engine and trans mounts, oil pan, and some other minor stuff have been ordered. I had some things come up that have changed the plan for the Z. I was going to take my time and get everything done at once, its going to go in stages now. This is what the proposed changes will look like: Get car back together and running , leave interior and exterior stripped or unfinished (May 2018, little to no rain from June to Sept. so should be ok to drive) Strip car back down to shell, prep for body work and paint (October 2018) Assemble all running gear and start interior work (May 2019) Fully Finished (Dec 2019).
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Nov 6, 2017 17:19
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This was 1,500 for the cage and camber plates. This guy does it to fuel his race car, so you have to be really patient with his timeline (2 months). The other quotes i got from big shops were all about 200$ a point (weld).
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Nov 7, 2017 00:58
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A tiny update:  Crankshaft was converted from A/T to M/T, could not get the engine and transmission to mate. The pilot bushing fit over the input shaft i think we were just struggling with both the engine and transmission moving while we were trying to combine them. So we will likely just wait for the mounts and mount the trans in the car and drop the engine in and mount it that way.  Goodies came in, front struts. Techno Tuning Toys. Going to order the rear conversion kit in December.
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Nov 21, 2017 04:56
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I was thinking that the Z was getting lonely so I got it a friend: 
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Dec 7, 2017 16:56
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Since the 280 is on haitus for a while I had a chance to start compiling a list of what the 300 needed: What I believe to be rear main seal area is leaking Power steering rack has a slow drip Hicas light is on Abs light comes on and off Idle is high Temp gauge is wonky (bad ground as it is reading wrong and also wobbling) PO used stop leak (what a cocksucker) Heater doesn't blow hot or warm air PO tinted the windshield (other tint needs to be removed and replaced) Missing front turn signals Seats need to be foamed and upholstered Interior is burgundy Window motors sound like the tracks need grease Wiper cowl needs to be replaced Wiper blades need to be replaced Tires need to be replaced Front tires rub on hard corners Engine has trouble getting up to temp Fan clutch failed on all the time Shroud missing Lots of cracked lines on top of engine Lots of little bolts missing All the exterior plastic trim pieces missing (ie fender liner is beat up, all the black plastic behind bumper covers are beat up, plastic skid plate beat up) Possible exhaust leak at manifold Do not know if I trust PO after digging into his handy work, likely needs timing belt and rollers just for a base. Just a running tally for me to keep track of my to do list. All in all though the car is fun as hell and pulls like a freight train. Will provide updates on this list.
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Dec 18, 2017 07:31
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280RBZ Update: Guy who makes custom mount kits and does really good oil pan conversions decided to take 2 months off and not tell anyone. Still waiting on oil pan and engine/transmission mounts. 300Z Update: The 300 does drive fine except for this (as the PO said) "small oil leak , maybe a couple drops a day, its probably the cam seals." So I looked underneath when buying and saw quite a bit of oil. So I got it up on the stands and behold the carnage (trigger warning my pictures suck rear end):  This is more than halfway down the car. A bit more forward of the last pic everything is still soaked,also bonus, that transmission cradle should have three bolts visible in the pic. The PO was kind enough to leave me the third snapped off inside the body. Just bathed in oil. More oil, jfc. Also another trigger warning look at the starter. WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE gently caress!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry for the blurriness) For the small bit of good news, found a company that has original BBS center caps, and ordered one because the car only came with three. I don't this think is a pic of the new one but I didn't take any others and wanted to post some good news.  I got the exhaust off, starter mostly off (still figuring out that PO fuckery), all the other stuff off to drop the transmission. I want to redo all the exhaust gaskets (manifold back) because the engine is very loud under the hood (and from what I have encounter finger tight is the PO torque spec for hard to reach exhaust bolts) but am legitimately stuck on how to get the down pipe /turbos off. This is a first on a car, mostly because everything is packed into a tiny as poo poo space. I need to get the turbo off to see what bolt pattern it has (likely the standard four bolt) , but in addition to the exhaust gaskets I likely still need to get a new starter, starter/alt/battery wiring harness (could crimp on a new tab will have to see, might just be better to get as much of the PO poo poo out of the car as possible), might get new manifolds as the OEM has a tendency to crack and I am in there and poo poo really is hard to take off. Lastly, I think I am going to wrap the exhaust manifolds, turbos , and down pipes. Does anyone have any preference? Wrap, blankets, paint? Lord of Garbagemen fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Jan 8, 2018 |
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Jan 8, 2018 16:56
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Larrymer posted:Isn't the service procedure on those pretty much "Step 1: pull engine" Yes and no, from what i have seen its not always necessary. To get the down pipes off I think I just need a set of these https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-255...foot+wrench+set . Once the down pipes are off the turbos come off, then the manifolds. The crows feet might work because the bolts are too close to the pipe to get a box end on and my wrenches are too long for the open end, same issue with sockets not enough clearance between bolt head and pipe to get socket over. Also the leak is from the rear main seal (or other two gaskets right there) not anything up on the heads. Lord of Garbagemen fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Jan 8, 2018 |
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Jan 8, 2018 19:27
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Larrymer posted:Best of luck. Always loved the 300 but was never ballsy enough to work on one (better to live vicariously Eventually I will, just want to get its Code Red problems all squared away then get back to the 280. When the 280 is done the 300 will get all the tlc it needs. Also if you can get a 300, the car is so dam fun. And it's got such awesome looks.
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Jan 8, 2018 21:01
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Small 300 update: Didn't have to work both days this weekend so did a little bit of work on the 300ZX got the transmission pulled and the carnage became obvious:  Obviously the extent and duration of the leak is on full display here, everything was wet to the touch.  Nice, trashed trans mount. No wonder the shifting was a tad wonky. More stuff to replace.  FFS, dude probably thought 1/2inch ratchet was fine. (btw this thing was torqued on to an ungodly amount) Guess it needs to be replaced.  This is the neutral switch, likely A reason the HICAS light is on, the wires should not be exposed and it looks like the wires on one side are frayed.  Speed sensor, inspected the gear no teeth missing.  reverse Switch, this would explain why the reverse lights never came on.  Somewhat cleaned, new reverse and neutral switches installed  Moar cleaning  Moar cleaning, I dont think the oil is gear oil (didnt smell horrific) but I think i will replace the front seal and cover gasket just to be safe. I have a ton more cleaning to do on this.
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Jan 29, 2018 03:12
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Larrymer posted:Replacing the rear main seal? Might just be motor oil from that.
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Jan 29, 2018 22:30
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iwentdoodie posted:I love this project. Probably too much in hindsight (welds are bad). But I have since met a guy who welds for a living and also has a Z fetish. Said he could fix most of the welds and get them looking much better/stronger for a bottle of good whiskey. So that will be in the cards before too much else. My current need is finding someone who makes decent quality mounts for the swap since McKinney Motorsports is no more. I have heard cx racing product is hot garbage so no go on that.
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Jan 30, 2018 05:52
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