Happy Birthday to me (280z build)

[walterclark]

One of the problems with older cars is Ethanol blended fuels and what that does to rubber (dissolves it) and some metal parts (rust). Odds are the car has an Ethanol blend in it now and has for a while since that is almost all you can buy these days. It would be worth going thru the fuel system and check the condition of every part, and probably replace anything rubber with something that is known to be immune to Ethanol.

[drummingpariah]

One of the problems with older cars is Ethanol blended fuels and what that does to rubber (dissolves it) and some metal parts (rust). Odds are the car has an Ethanol blend in it now and has for a while since that is almost all you can buy these days. It would be worth going thru the fuel system and check the condition of every part, and probably replace anything rubber with something that is known to be immune to Ethanol.

I'm half a step ahead of you. I checked the inside surfaces of the primary rubber fuel lines (I'm just hoping/assuming the metal lines are good enough for right now, since they're such a pain to test) and it looks like they were all recently replaced (within the past year or two, no dry rot and no rotting like I've seen ethanol cause in the past). The fuel tank was bone dry (and rust free!), which is generally a good thing but the Datsun fuel pump is notoriously picky about its priming procedure. I may just wire up some aftermarket pump in its stead.

Unfortunately, these are barb'd injectors, which means they have a rubber hose between the fuel rail and each injector. By the looks of it, those rubber hoses have never been replaced (the engine came from a different car than this 280z, so that follows logic), and they're badly cracked and rotted. Before I commit to keeping these injectors (which are most likely also rusted with frozen pintles, if the hoses are any indicator), I may swap over to DSM 450cc injectors. They would give me more flow, more consistency, and since this efi system has such a primitive rising rate fuel pressure regulator, it's easy to retune to adjust and not make it run any worse than before.

With all that being said, I'm going to see if I can get it running this afternoon. I have a few gallons of fresh gas, which should be good enough to prime the pump/lines and identify any leaks that might be present. I also picked up some new battery leads to replace the frayed, sad-looking ones that crumbled out of the engine bay. Finally, I have a bunch of brake fluid (and a cheap one-man bleeding kit), so I can fill the reservoirs and see if/where the leaks are in the brake system.

Keep the suggestions coming, I hadn't even thought to mention that as one of the considerations until you brought it up.

[Drgrumpus]

So, yesterday (Tuesday) morning, I saw a pale yellow Z car on Rte 9 in Roxbury heading northeast. Was that you? It was a good looking example, though that pale yellow is a little limp.

Mike

[drummingpariah]

So, yesterday (Tuesday) morning, I saw a pale yellow Z car on Rte 9 in Roxbury heading northeast. Was that you? It was a good looking example, though that pale yellow is a little limp.

Mike

I really wish it had been, but mine's just been sitting in my driveway, churning through drill bits as I drill out the sheet metal screws holding the excess body work on. I don't know of many others in the area either, especially other ugly yellow ones. At some point, I'll have to decide which car to paint black and which car to paint white and print up little 'spy vs spy' decals. It'll be the first time I've ever decorated any cars.

[Chief Geek]

So, in order of importance:

• ...
• 2014 Hillclimb
• ???
• Profit!

I'm pretty sure the only people making profit from NEHA are Mr. & Mrs. GoPro and Steve's favorite Ford dealer. ;)

[sdwarf36]

I hear theres a fella named Rusty that will be having a good winter too.

[drummingpariah]

Because it's starting to get cold out and it isn't going to get any warmer, I'm going to need a real garage for the winter. This weekend I'm taking a little time to look at a house for rent with a 1bay+workshop. It's a bit pricey, and will force me to put off buying a house of my own for an extra 6 months or a year, but I'm going to need an indoor space to take care of things.

Thankfully, the weather looks like it's going to be nice all weekend, so I hope I can take care of the barebones basics:

• Get a key cut, try starting it up
• Fix the driver's door alignment so it stays closed
• Realign the passenger's window to keep the snow on the outside of the car
• See what the brakes do, if anything

It won't pass inspection yet, but that should be enough to get it rolling around a bit and uncover any other major issues that I may need to tackle. It gets dark out too early for me to be able to work on it after work now, so progress is going to be slow until I have a bit of shop/storage space (two s30's, three motorcycles, a yaris, and my girlfriend's civic add up to "too many vehicles" for the apartment building we're in right now).

[drummingpariah]

I finally got both bumper skirts/covers off, along with one of the side skirts. The driver's side skirt is being somewhat problematic, so my drill is charging and my stepper bit is waiting for action.

Something was living in one of the rocker panels, and had nested in there. That nest absorbed some water, and ... you know where this is going.


I found another small patch that'll need to be cut and welded in under the front wheelwell also:


In more positive news, my first look under the car was really encouraging. The frame rails are reinforced and extended to the back of the car. It looks like all they need is paint and underbody coating, and I'm in business.

It's nowhere near as bad as I had expected, and replacement panels are available, inexpensive, and straightforward to weld in. I'll visit Bad Dog soon to pick up a pile of little things I need. Most of the other rust is just going to take some wire wheeling and a fresh coat of paint, but I'm sure there are a couple other spots I'll have to patch. I certainly didn't expect perfection out of a near-40-year-old car for $1k.

I temporarily repaired the passenger window (it's up, but only two of four tracks are attached, so it doesn't move from 'up'), and found that the ratcheting latch mechanism on the driver's door is broken. It's kind of a pain to remove, but I'm going to pull it this weekend and see if it's salvageable or if I need to order a replacement.

I haven't tried starting it yet (I'm slightly nervous to, if I'm honest) and haven't tried the brakes yet. I'll bleed them this weekend, hopefully prime the fuel pump, and possibly start it up.

After that, I think the tail lights are going to have to go back to stock. Corvettes can get away with Corvette lights, I don't find them pleasing on an s30.

[Drgrumpus]

Kevin, rusty is ready for your car. He says "baby needs new shoes".

Frenchy

[KevinGale]

Ok I need to quickly finish tearing it down when I get back from hunting.