Pomorza

Update So a week or two ago I noticed my car having a real hard time idling when it was cold. The suspect, bad air regulator I presumed as it was stuck closed. Ordered a new one from MSA that arrived tonight. Hope to have it in tomorrow afternoon. Skidplate is nearly completely stripped of paint. Still have some spots here and there that need some attention but its getting there. I'll post some pictures up this weekend of the progress. Jan

I couldn't find the post you guys are talking about. Could someone give me a link. Secondly, why would I use such heavy oil? 140 is a bit up there is it not? Is it just because of the heat or is there other reasons? Jan

kjphilippona I would personally start with getting the car running. From your above description it sounds like you have yourself a nice project there to get it running. From there work your way around. Figure out what needs to be fixed and what you can live with for a while. My suspension on my Z is probably in the same boat. It sounds as if the car is going to rattle itself to pieces at some points when the road gets bumpy. But there's still like ten things in front of the suspension that I need to fix. For hints. The best product I've used for corrosion and in general electrical work is Deoxit.n Stuff is great at cleaning the connections and getting them to work great. Jan

It looks as if they wanted to make it into a Corvette. Doesn't look all that bad really. If it was a nice flat black color and had a better hood it would look better. Mate we've had this discussion a couple days ago on another topic. Yes you think it looks like the ugliest z on the planet. (I've seen worse ones). For the guy(s) who spent the time to build it and spent hours and money on it the car is beautiful. For some people putting on a body kit on any classic car "stains" it completely and makes it worthless and ugly. But that's their opinion. As the old saying goes beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't mind all these posts about how people ruin Z. Really I like to see what people do with them. It is better that someone did "That" to a Z then to have them sit in a field or junkyard slowly rotting away as time progresses. To me a rusty beaten up completely neglected Datsun is not only the ugliest but the most depressing sight on the planet. (and that goes for any old car really). That all I have to say about that Jan This is ugly: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24591&d=1218924225

I'm going to agree with IdahoKidd here. I bought my Z all of three months ago and I plan on keeping it as stock as possible. I don't see the point really of having some fancy ignition system on a mainly stock car. I've tried doing all those huge ignition updates to my jeep when I owned it. Really didn't see that much of a difference until I hit the high RPM range (which is like 4k on those;)). Up to that point it really didn't make a noticeable difference really. To me unless you have a built motor or race your car and keep it way in the upper RPM range I don't think a fancy super duper ignition system is required. But IdahoKidd I'm going to have to say no one has to convince you that your wrong. You are right and wrong at the same time. For you a good dizzy and a good coil are the way to go. For someone else every bit of horse power counts and a good coil and good dizzy just don't keep up at 7k. I'm not exactly sure what I have on my car. For what it looks like its whatever came with the car in 1976. It gets my car going, and does what it was designed to do. Would it hold up with running at 7k all day at a track, probably not. Could it be better, of course. It all depends on what you need it for and what you want in the end. Simple as that mate. Jan oh and the cool factor should always be a factor. A double distributor, twelve spark plug dual coil set up looks soo much cooler than any MSD or stock set up. More of a hassle and totally not worth it in the end but man does it look cool.

I have a 180 degree thermostat. There are cooler range ones but I think 180 is the way to go. I live in Tucson and during the summer in 110 heat it never got over the halfway mark on the temp gauge and the fan only turned on when I had to sit in traffic. My 280z did the same thing. I bought it in Phoenix and drove back down 120 miles or so and drove another 400 or so around Tucson and the surrounding areas before the coolant issue happened. It all really depends on how well it was maintained and how old it was. Just take your time on the pump and the flush and don't be surprised if you see things come out such as rust and such. Jan

Hello all Ok so this past weekend I took my Z out for a nice ride. As I live in Tucson and only really drive to school and back on week days I rarely ever really get it going over 35. Well yesterday I had it going a "bit" faster. While cruising back home I noticed that my speedometer bounces at 45mph. Most of my drive was on some nice long and twisty mountain roads so I wasn't really pay attention to the speedometer as much as the road and thus I didn't notice if was occurring at higher speed. Has anyone had this problem? I run REDLINE MT-90 in the transmission and RL 75w90 in the rear. Any help would be great Jan

OK I own a 76 280z and have had this problem. The easiest way I found to check for leaks, other then to take it to a shop is this. Turn the car on (in your driveway with some sheets or something under it for leaks, preferably white). Wait for the car to reach operating temperature. With the car at operating temperature carefully observe your engine bay and look for leaks. Check the underside of the water pump, the radiator, the thermostat housing and all the hose connections. If you don't see any leaks turn off the car and watch your water pump. With the system still pressurized coolant will flow out of the weep hole if the pump is bad. As for the thermostat. While your replacing your water pump (and thus have no coolant in the engine) go ahead and replace the thermostat. Takes about ten minutes and its added security. It also wouldn't harm doing a full flush of your cooling system. An obstruction in the radiator or cooling system can cause a hole boat load of trouble. How over heated did your engine get? Jan

Will a ZX headlight bucket (the round thing that holds the light) work. There's a guy up the street parting out his ZX.. Jan

I'm pretty certain that my adjusters are pretty screwed. Anyone have any advise other than using large washers? Jan

Hello all So I've owned my Z for about three months now. In complete love with it but I'm having a bit of an issue with it. When I try to put the car into second gear I *sometimes* get a weird buzzing sound. Sounds really like something spinning or something. I also get this noise sometimes when I revv the engine with the clutch in all the way and the car in any gear (but 1st and 2nd as I'm slowing down). I've been told it could be the throw out bearing but a friend of mine that owns a Z. Not sure if the bad tranny mount has anything to do with it. Any advise is appreciated. Jan. P.S Forgot to mention what occurred on thursday. I usually don't do this but I happen to hold the clutch in at a light while I was sitting. Took about three minutes for the light to change. When I went to put it into gear all I heard was this buzzing sound. Wouldn't go into first or second. I let the clutch out and pressed it again and was on my way.

If the pump is really 33 years old, opting to buy a new one isn't really a bad idea. With the coolant out it will make the replacement very simple instead of having to drain it again a month or two down the road. I bought mine from here for $47 with shipping to my door and new bolts. If you plan on doing the water pump please spend the extra $5 on the new bolt kit they sell on MSA. Its just quick insurance so that you don't get stuck with a broken bolt or two in the block. Jan P.S Oh and if you let that online store know that you are a member of a z club (such as this one) you get a discount

I would first check the fuel pressure and make sure that it is where it should be. Secondly, make sure that while cleaning up everything you didn't happen to knock something off or disconnect something (I've done that), or you didn't get some of that cleaner on anything else fairly important. Varify that your timing is correct, could have been altered somehow when you were working on the car. Start there and see where it goes. Jan

Might as well post mine here. 1976 280z built 01/76 HLS30 288273

How does she die? Sputtering or just plain old flat out death. (as in just shuts off). Jan

Ok. So I'm slowly trying to get my Z working. Can someone please explain how to adjust the headlights. At the moment with the normal beams on the lights are pointed way to the left. With high beams they point straight ahead but still a bit to the left. I don't have regular headlights but the H4 conversion ones. Not exactly sure what kind as I bought them with the car. Any help would be great Jan

I'm going to have to agree with ktm here. Why replace something if its not broken. But if you wish to replace the water pump by all means go for it. But, please, please if you are going to buy a new pump replace the bolts with it. MSA sells them for like $4 or something. The bolts that hold the pump on are not very strong after the many years of expanding and contracting. The likeliness of you breaking one is fairly high and this will lead to more headaches then you really want. I've had the fun experience of having to pull a broken bolt out of the engine block. (as the P.O broke on of the water pump bolts) took me nearly two hours before I could get it loose. So please buy new bolts! Jan

Thanks guys. Exactly the answer I was looking for. I must agree with you that Dave that people in General are stupid. It tends to be worse now with all the technology such as phones and GPS's and all that people insist on using instead of paying attention to the road. I almost got hit last night on my way home by a lady who "forgot" that you have to yield on a red light. Nearly took me clean off the road. Again thanks Jan

JM2CW I didn't mean to be rude or insult Oliver and his rules. I just wanted to know what people's driving habits. I also didn't mean to say that Z motors aren't in a way performance. I've never owned a Z or any sports car what so ever. My other car, that I just gave to my big brother, was a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee that has 260k on it. (yup that's right 260k and still all original). So if I say dumb things by all means set me right.:stupid: Now I do shift at 3k or above unless the car is cold. But my question is more of my question has to do with what you do when you actually reach cruising speed. (say 35). Do you keep it in 3rd @~3,000 or do you shift to fourth and let it down to about 2k? (I have a 5 speed out of a 78) Jan

Actually that was exactly what I was looking for. I usually try to keep the RPM between 2k and 3k. I haven't been driving the car that much but I have found that below 2k it tends to loose a lot of its ump. As for the article. I was pretty skeptical of what it said. I'm not exactly a car guru but I've been around enough race cars and performance engines to know that what the Z has is not really a "performance" engines. Thank Jan

Hello all I've been a proud owner of a 1976 280z for all of three months. In that time I've done a lot of work to get the car in better mechanical shape as it had some "issues". Anyhow I've been doing some short driving around town, (mainly to school and back) and was wondering how you guys drive your Z's? Where do you shift on the RPM range and sorts..basic driving habits. This question come about due to http://www.zspecialties.com/. Read their "driving tips" section and though...oh that's something new. I usually try to shift to fourth gear as soon as possible to keep the RPM's low while cruising. Any advise would be great Jan

Actually had the same problem on my 280z. First check the radiator cap and the water pump like advised above. Secondly check the lower radiator hose where it meets the water inlet(outlet) above the radiator. On my Z this is prone to leak if the hose isn't really on there tight. Also check the hoses at the radiator as they can leak also if they are not on there very tightly. Jan

sblake01 I took my A/C belt off months ago as I don't use it at all. It was most definitely the water pump as I took it off and found the bearing burned. (I disassembled the pump...had some free time). There was also a stream of coolant coming from the weep hole on the old pump. Had a nice adventure putting the new one in. Jan

Issues I would like to discuss Ok so last weekend I replaced the waterpump on the Z. (read story above) Today I drove the car up to the store. On the way there I happen to be stuck behind an older gentleman in an Z06 (corvette) going 30 in a 45. Rather annoyed I downshifted to 3rd and pasted him. Upon releasing the throttle (~3k 45mph) I get a wiff of unburned gasoline. I've had this problem in the past but never really noticed it till today. Got to the store and went in. Was in there about ten minutes to grab some oil for my brothers ZJ. Came out, put stuff in car got in and started. The Z is having a hard time keeping steady idle. Give her gas and she somewhat recovers but when I let it go back down to idle it seems to struggle. I've had this before but worse as it would backfire or miss (not sure exactly) and took it to the mech. They replaced the temp sensor (the one that tell the ECU what the engine temp is) as it was bad. So what exactly is the problem here? Do I need to do a full tune up (rotor, cap wires and plugs) or is there something other than that? Has anyone had similar issues before. I run 91 Chevron gasoline if that give any help. Thanks Jan

Well I have no real reasoning behind it. I was just thinking that the heavier grade oil would be beneficial to the engine. The Z isn't burning any oil to my knowledge as the exhaust is clear and smells of fuel. I most likely leak about a quart or so of oil from the bad oil pan gasket I have. I really would like to start using VR1 as I'm thinking it would be nice for the motor. For what I can tell the car's been abused for the past couple of years by the PO. Jan