studioti

Thanks guys. thats the part. instrument panel cover. sorry about the bonehead mistake of not listing my model and year... (two minutes too late) 77 280z Thanks once again.

Hello all. I am trying to find the name of a specific piece i am missing. It is the part right under the glovebox. i can tell i'm missing something there because i see where the screws would theoretically go in should i have that completed panel. once again its the part that would go under the glovegbox but above the passenger legs (of course). Thanks

Arne, awesome idea. I'm going to follow your lead and try this out. Most likely i'm going to run with my stock 77 280z piping (which is in great shape) and simply have a shop weld on the magnaflow 11148.

Cancel this... i did a search and found the answer. i should have done this first. sorry.

Sorry for the dumb question, but.... I need to know which direction the brake booster check valve does. there's a litte arrow on the valve, but i still dont know for sure. if you blow into the valve...it obviously goes only one way. can't blow one direction and can easily blow/flow in the other. so which direction does the valve flow... air going "TO" engine or air going "AWAY" from the engine. Thanks a mil

ConeDodger, what is CSS? Although i still like them, I now can't get the image of Shrek out of my mind. Will probably just put OEM Datsun mirrors on my Z. Thanks all for the input.

thanks... i'll keep searching

I dont know if they are the Vittiloni Californian, but MSA has some California Style mirrors that i like.

I've tried the advance search feature and can't find any pictures of Zs that have california mirror on them. Just wondering if any of you have one that you can link me too. Thanks

Everybody had great reasons mentioned above. I guess if funds weren't limited, we'd build multiple Zs. one for each day of the week. And by the way, my apologies to any Z-car "gals" out there. My wife took my Z for a spin one day and came back 30 min later and said she got one "thumbs up" and another guy asking if she wanted to meet up at Starbucs to talk about cars.... YA RIGHT BUDDY... i'll be waiting for him with a crow bar.. haha j/k

Ever since i bought my 280Z, i get this question a lot, "What are you planning to do with it?" The answer to this is what i love the most about the S30 Z cars. I figure most of us fit into one of three categories: 1) Classic restoration: This guy loves the mystique of the car and wants to restore it to the day it drove on to the dealer floor, with attention to detail and period correct parts. 2) Hot rod: this guys loves the car for what i can do. He dreams about engine swaps...L28 turbo, RB, maybe a V8. Definitely driven by function over form, but you can't go wrong with the S30 chassis. 3) JDM Spec: I'd like to fit myself in this category. If money was not an issue i would build a blue Devil Z. This is a group that wants a bit of modified style, yet will stay true to period/regionally correct aftermarket mods. Anyhow... tell me what kind of Z guy you are and what's your dream car look like?

Thanks for the pics guys. I guess there's not much to do about the "spaghetti" of wires, except clean them up.

Thanks for the picture. It does look clean. I'm trying to find ways to clean up the look of the messy manifold and fuel injection wires. I've been looking into Pallet custom fuel rails...but considering i live in CA... there's not much else i can do to remove the Smog stuff... oh well... should have gotten a 75 280z if i wanted F.I. but not have to smog.

Before we start, i'd like to mention that I have a 77 280z and I live in California. So i'm really looking for pictures of really clean FUEL INJECTED L28s... A better bonus would be one that has all the EGR stuff in it still because I live in the smog restricting state of CA. Thanks anyone.

OOPS i just saw your posting after i posted my response. I WILL NOT BUY FROM THAT EBAY SELLER. thanks for your heads up!!!!

Arne, thank you for your response...but I think you're under the assumption that i am rebuilding the transmission myself. In fact, no. I have the option to send it to a shop and have them rebuild for $950. OR.... The other option is to buy a completely rebuilt transmission on sale for $599. This trans will be all put together and all i need to do is swap the old one for the new one. I'm asking if there are any specialty tools or difficulties in simply taking off the transmission only, not opening it up. Thanks once again.

My transmission on my 77 280z is making a grinding noise. An initial diagnosis and estimate says that the bearing are falling apart and to rebuild it would cost me about $950 total in labor and parts. There's a list on ebay for a clean rebuilt 5 speed for $599 and they are close enough for me to pick it up (no shipping cost). I am fairly good with tools and have done project on my own. As long as its just nuts and bolts, i can handle it. I just dont have a press or any specialty tools. My question is: Should i fork up the $950 and have a pro do it? or an i save some money and try it on my own? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

I'm sure plenty on this forum already know this, but I just wanted to pass on a good word for Mike's Z Shop in Whittier, CA. After a year and a half of doing my own minor work on the car, i finally needed to bring it to a professional mechanic. I didnt want to take it to any "around the corner" shop, so i did some internet research and stumbled across Mike's Z Shop in Whittier, CA. I knew nothing about them...but once i gave them a call... I knew instantly this was the place i'm going to take my car. To sum it up short. They are honest and they know their stuff. Z knowledge goes back generations at that shop. Awesome friendly service and fair prices. Disclaimer: I have absolutely no affiliation with Mike's Z Shop and I am definitely not get paid for this...I was just very please with the service. Now my 280z idles with a purr and drives like a rocket.

Joker72z, People didnt stop you just because your car was black... they stopped you because you have one AWESOME Z.... very nice and very clean. 2 thumbs up.

rewiredz, thanks for sharing your Z...

thanks guys. i agree with you Diseazd....i use to have a black car and it was a pain... but once you actually got around to giving it a wash... it sure did look better than any other color. I will probably not go black and stick with metallic blue...

I was wondering if someone could link me to the Official Black S30Z thread? I'm on the fence of what color to paint and want to get ideas. Thanks btw if you have a pic of a black z... i'd love to see it thanks

Thanks to everyone for their input. I might be over reacting, because the car does cool down rather quickly once i turn on the engine and the fan starts up again. As for the temp... it rises to about 3/4 of the way on the gauge. The water temp sensor is new, just fyi. Another fyi... is that (much like most threads here) this is probably not an isolated problem. The rough start might be contributed to the fact that i have a leaking head gasket and coolant is leaking into the engine. (something i need to fix real soon) I've noticed that i have to refill my radiator every so often, yet there is never a leak under my car when i have it parked for any period of time. oh well, so goes the joys of restoring a datsun z......

I'll try some of that Water Wetter and see what happens. On another note though. I just wanted to mention again that when the car is driving... the heat is below 1/2 way and everything is smooth. its when i stop for a few minutes and restart again. (just thought i'd say that again)

Thanks. T-stat is new and i bought the 160 degree version. Don't know how to verify dash gauge, but will search here to find out. Don't have a fan shroud. just bought one and will install it soon. Have not checked fan clutch, so there's another avenue for me to start. Radiator has recently been replaced with a rebuilt OEM. I dont have A/C and i live in SoCal.