1973 Rebuild

[Patcon 1,611]

Yes that is the AC drain

[Matthew Abate 145]

Made progress today...

 

They forgot the sway-bar reinforcements, so they started that. Not pleased about the sequencing of this but they assured me it will be great in the end. 😕

 

I put the rear suspension in:

 

I put the front suspension in:

 

 

And it looks like a car again! No more spaceship z.

Theres still a pile to do, including fixing some things they already sprayed, but it’s coming along. Panels and doors should be getting gapped shortly.

Edited November 12 by Matthew Abate

[Matthew Abate 145]

Question:

is there a difference between 250z doors and 280z doors? The bottom of one of my doors does not meet the rocker correctly. It sticks out about a quarter inch. We checked the shape of the car and it’s not that. I’m asking the shop to measure the doors to compare them.

the only things I could think of are the holes are drilled wrong or one of them is off a 280 and 280 doors are different.

[rturbo 930 63]

All of my 240Z doors stick out at the bottom rear of the door. I'm fairly convinced it's because the door structure is fairly weak, and the door has sagged/warped. My 280Z doors, with the big side impact beams, don't have that issue. 

[Matthew Abate 145]

My body shop is telling me that it only happens on the driver side. They want to cut bottom of the door and reshape things so that it mates all the way around.

I have asked for pictures.

[Patcon 1,611]

Mine did that, but they can be twisted some by hand or dollied some to make it line up. I haven't seen the need to cut one yet. Not saying yours don't

[wheee! 1,436]

If you watch the video series by homebuiltbyJeff in Aussie land, I believe he used a 2x4 in the door frame to "massage" his doors into position.

[Matthew Abate 145]

Bought another Moog OTRE and finally got the right part, so I’m back in business on the rack. Should be done by Monday.

Hoping to have a progress report on the body by Thanksgiving. I passed on your comments regarding the door, so we will see if he’s receptive to those ideas.

[Matthew Abate 145]

Done. Everything specs out to the FSM. Just need to attach and lubricate the outer tie rod ends.

 

 

...

 

 

Edited November 17 by Matthew Abate

[Matthew Abate 145]

Okay, so now that the rack is done, I have two projects in flight while I wait for the car to come home. One is the rear exterior panels. I am testing various paint strippers on one piece right now and intend to paint that whole set up with rattle can paint. I think I remember someone saying that Duplicolor HWP102 Graphite is the right color. That’s what I used on my wheels, but I need to do some research to make sure.

The other project is a ground up, from scratch wiring setup. That one is going to take a minute. Here is my current list of things I’m thinking of doing to car that would need to be considered for this:

• Air conditioning
• Electric fuel pump
• 123 distributor or DIS
• Alternator upgrade
• Gear-reduction starter
• Lithium battery
• Fuse-box upgrade
• Swap cigarette lighter for 12v plug
• Tachometer or full gauge set upgrade (if necessary)
• Radio / Antenna delete
• Driving / rally / fog lights
• Turn signal circuit mod
• Headlight upgrade
• LED lights throughout
• 3rd brake light
• USB plugs to charge phones
• Power for a Bluetooth speaker
• Electric radiator fans
• Seat warmers
• Sat Nav power

Just some thoughts for now. Gotta get on the research.

Any suggestions, tips, or word of caution are appreciated.

Edited November 29 by Matthew Abate

[siteunseen 2,539 5 Vehicles]

Here's my favorite rear finisher color side by side comparison.  Post number 14.  Thanks  @CanTechZ

And this one too! 

 

Edited November 24 by siteunseen

[jfa.series1 614 1 Vehicles]

+1 on the Duplicolor approach.  I've finished one grill and two rear panel sets with that combination. The grill close-up is for a color check.  BTW - I primered the back side of the rear panels then sealed with clear.

Edited November 24 by jfa.series1

[Matthew Abate 145]

Ah damn! I wish I had seen that before I did the wheels. I didn’t know that it was supposed to be non-metallic. They would have looked better like that.

Okay, so Dupli-Color CBFM0360 it is. Thanks for the help guys!

Edited Sunday at 09:06 PM by Matthew Abate

[Matthew Abate 145]

I’m starting to research my options for the ignition on my car and the ‘79 distributor swap is one of the paths I might take. Since total cost is a factor in this, I thought I should see what they run.

Do any of you have one in good shape (preferably with minimal to no refurbishing required) to sell? If so please send me a direct message with your asking price. I’m not ready to jump on it yet, but finding one here and getting a good price could push me into a decision.

[madkaw 412]

26 minutes ago, Matthew Abate said:

I’m starting to research my options for the ignition on my car and the ‘79 distributor swap is one of the paths I might take. Since total cost is a factor in this, I thought I should see what they run.

Do any of you have one in good shape (preferably with minimal to no refurbishing required) to sell? If so please send me a direct message with your asking price. I’m not ready to jump on it yet, but finding one here and getting a good price could push me into a decision.

Why not consider the ZX dizzy from 81-83 if doing the swap . 2 wires with a built in module and a decent curve for a modified motor. 

[Matthew Abate 145]

When I looked at the advance curves spreadsheet that Walter Moore put together I saw that he recommended against the 80-83 distributors because the mechanical and vacuum advances together were potentially dangerous, so I was prioritizing the 79 in my search.

However, I have found one or two errors in that data so maybe it’s not the case.

Edited Tuesday at 03:50 PM by Matthew Abate

[240260280 1,586 1 Vehicles]

You can adjust vacuum advance too. There is a set screw on the front of many "pots". These screws control the rotation of the breaker plate.

[Matthew Abate 145]

I did not know that. Everything I’ve read about this pushes the ‘79 specifically.

It’s been maybe 27 years since I rebuilt a distributor so I kinda forgot how they work. Clearly I wasn’t paying attention that day in class. I’ll dig into it.

i still want to know what people are asking for one, though. What I’ve found online isn’t great, but I’ve found a bunch of scrap yards quoting $40 to 125.

Edited Wednesday at 01:20 AM by Matthew Abate

[240260280 1,586 1 Vehicles]

@EuroDat helps out: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/59492-wtb-280zx-distributor-e12-80/?tab=comments#comment-541677

 

[madkaw 412]

8 hours ago, Matthew Abate said:

When I looked at the advance curves spreadsheet that Walter Moore put together I saw that he recommended against the 80-83 distributors because the mechanical and vacuum advances together were potentially dangerous, so I was prioritizing the 79 in my search.

However, I have found one or two errors in that data so maybe it’s not the case.

Depending on your build you might not want tor need the vacuum advance . I didn’t run one and ran between 17-20 degrees initial and had 35-38 all in . Ultimate would be a compromise between mechanical and vacuum , but if there is probably going to be a failure in any part of those dizzies it’s the vacuum advance . 

[Matthew Abate 145]

14 hours ago, madkaw said:

Depending on your build you might not want tor need the vacuum advance . I didn’t run one and ran between 17-20 degrees initial and had 35-38 all in . Ultimate would be a compromise between mechanical and vacuum , but if there is probably going to be a failure in any part of those dizzies it’s the vacuum advance . 

Here's a quick recap of the engine @Takhli is building me:

• F54 block with 87mm bore
• L28 Crank with factory 79mm stroke
• L24 connecting rods (133mm long)
• P90a head converted to static rocker pivots
• CompCams Stage 1 camshaft
• Custom JE pistons designed for 9.80:1 compression and relieved for valve clearance
• Round-top SU carburetors on a European balance tube
• Various other optimized parts (flywheel, etc.)
• Deleted smog system

Things I may do in the future (if I don't do them for the initial build):

• Replace the mechanical fuel pump with an electric one
• Switch to FI
• Switch to COP/DIS

Edited Wednesday at 02:32 PM by Matthew Abate

[240260280 1,586 1 Vehicles]

Stock bore and stroke?

[Matthew Abate 145]

11 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

Stock bore and stroke?

• 87mm bore
• The crank is from the L28 F54 block, so factory 79mm
• The L24 rods are 133mm long
• The pistons are designed around these mods and the P90a head and relieved for valve clearance.

Edited my previous post for clarity.