Threehz

Hello! It is summer, as we know best down here in Tucson. Temperature has already exceeded 110 degrees and AC becomes pretty important to most people. My '77 280Z appears to have come with a stock/dealer installed AC system. All the R-12 was long gone when I bought the vehicle, but the system appears to be very intact still. The problem with R-12 is it's availability and price, not to mention environmental effects. I've recently realized how easy and inexpensive it is to convert an R-12 to an r134a system (in fact cheaper than an R-12 charge-up in many cases). Since my dashboard is out of my Z, as well as everything in the engine bay, I decided I have the perfect opportunity to explore the best way to do an r134a conversion. I searched for any well-documented cases of this conversion and couldn't find any (if someone knows one, please share). I plan to find components that can be sourced new, and will fit with as little modification as possible in our Z-cars. To do a proper conversion in our Z-cars we need the following parts: Condenser (parallel flow) r134a expansion valve r134a pressure switch Dryer/Receiver PAG oil I'm not sure about a compressor yet. The original compressor should work fine though (an r134a compressor will however work much better). This also assumes that the car already has an evaporator (if it is in good condition, it will work with either system). We will very likely need an auxiliary electric fan in front of the condenser (this is especially important to keeping the AC working at idle). Now I figure that we can source these parts from later Nissan (or other) models (which had r134a systems stock) such as a 240sx or sentra. I also remember hearing about Honda compressors working for our Z's, but I'm not very clear on the details. Anyhow, first thing I want is to find a list of parts that will fit nicely into our Z-cars for this conversion (or full AC system build). After that I'd like to put together a full guide on how to do the conversion/build. So, if anyone has parts that fit, have already done a conversion, or has any information that will be helpful, please post away! Thanks, Kai

Well that is good to know. Is there any special way to install the cap so that the glovebox/tach/speedo are not hindered or is it pretty common sense?

So I did a bit of searching and found quite a lot of good information, and quite a few unanswered questions. The background story - I did the classic self dash repair process and it turned out great! Then my dad knocked my finished dash off a table, it fell on its face, and sustained some real heartbreaking damage. Nothing horrible, and no cracks re-opened, but the front has some slight crushed in parts. So I want to get a full dash cap rather then repeating the entire repair process over, I figure the cost + my time is about equal to the cost of a cap. I do however have some questions about the caps. Specifically the MSA full dash cap, unless there is a better alternative? How thick is the dash cap material? Is it super-soft and flexible? Semi-flexible? Or hard and well shaped? It is said that the Tach & Speedo cannot be removed with a dash cap installed. I have also heard that the glove box door can become troublesome to open. Are there solutions to either of these issues? The dash is still out of the vehicle and I plan on installed the cap with it out. In my opinion this gives me the opportunity to perform a quality job and make sure it is as fitted and original as possible. Any answers to these questions or comments about dash caps in general are much appreciated, thank you!

Requested to join! Under the name Kai Lepley

Is his name on HybridZ just Dan? It definitely looks like a track car and has had a lot of care and hard work put into it. If nothing else It would be awesome to check it out in person.

Sorry if there is a spotted thread I couldn't find it, but I just woke up and haven't had any coffee so... Anyways, two days ago driving up Oracle spotted a beautiful super clean, solid Z. Looked like a 240, color was a darker blue with maybe a hint of green, actually it looked just like the Datsun engine paint color. Black rear spoiler, looked like possibly BRE, the car definitely had a cage in it. Appeared to be father driving with his son (lucky darn kid), my girlfriend and I were in my red BMW E30, behind you for a little bit then came up on your side and told you your Z was awesome. Yesterday evening we were just coming home and the same Z, with same father and son drive right by us and we waved. Don't know if anyone knows who this is but it would be quite a cool deal to have another Z friend, especially if they live right here in the same neighborhood.

Forgot about carpartsmanual website! So it says #5 is the actual heater core, so in that box down there, guess I'll find a way to dig in and get the sucker!

So removing the vent/temp gauge will probably be necessary? I looked through the AC section but it didn't appear very clear I'll look again, thanks!

Dash has been out for some time while I've been slowly doing a refinish/crack repair. My heater core was bi-passed when I bought the car, guessing it had issues, and the metal pipes sticking out of the firewall that were bi-passed were rusted quite a bit. I have a new heater-core but I have no clue where the old one is, I removed some stuff but to no avail and the FSM didn't help a bit as usual The radiator visible in center is for the A/C correct? I really hope that is not the heater core as the one I bought looks NOTHING like that besides being a radiator. Anyhow here is what my car looks like, now I read it is somewhere on the passenger side, I'm guessing behind that fan circular looking thing, but I'd rather get confirmation before I just go tearing everything apart again...

Yeah I did the survey months ago, I have never been to the event before though so I left notes on a lot of the questions.

So my Z is still slowly coming along, now that school is out and the holidays are coming to an end I've been able to get some work done on her. Hopefully soon she will breath some fresh air for the first time in years. Anyhow I'm hoping to have her running perfectly before MSA's Z show! I've been checking up on their site every so often to see how progress is coming along and get more information as they said that it would be available near the end of the year. Here we are and same page is still up as the clock continues to count down. Just wondering if anyone has any information on it? Opinions? Who's going? Tips? Anyhow thanks!

I feel your pain my friend. Except my dilemma is a little backwards! I recently found my own little E30 (the 510's classy sister) and there's so much I want to do with her, let alone the little things I NEED to do, it's taking time away from working on Daisy. But you can't complain too much, it's always hard to choose between two beautiful ladies!

Beautiful car, and such a clean example. When I saw the seats I was said hey wait, those are the exact same seats I sit in every day, those are E30 sports seats! They actually go really well, but then again the 510 was based off of the old bimmers anyhow. All I can say is I hope this guy gets top dollar for that amazing car, such a perfect build. Wagon wouldn't be my first choice but that is probably why he wants to sell it.

Thanks man! They are actually realllly dirty in these pictures, well the whole car is, haven't had a chance to clean her yet. They are Compomotive 14" wheels, turns out they are kinda rare actually.

I've been dishing out too much of it lately, and feel awful, even if it is not my fault. Just rose over the middle hump of this semester of college. Working my arse off to keep up on school work and work work. The carport is covered in Z parts, and more Z parts lurking around in the house. (Had a whole room covered in parts before organizing) the engine bay of the Z has had everything out of it for a while now just waiting to be cleaned, scraped and painted. Engine is ready to repaint, boxes full of new parts to install, dash is on the final stretch of restoration... My Z gun is cocked but I don't have a minute to pull the trigger. I sadly haven't done any work on the Z for about two weeks not to mention barely been on the forums.. On top of all this I'm about to put my big SUV for sale as I just bought a new car! By no means is it a 'new' car though, it's actually only a month younger then I am. At twenty years old my new car runs great but needs lots of little things, and is definitely an enthusiast car. So now I'm struggling with all my energy to focus on the Z and not get carried away with my new girl! So let's get to the brighter side! Saturday, Nov. 5th at 3:45am I wake up to pouring rain and freezing temperatures (Tucson was still in the high 80's to 90's until Friday). Get all my bags ready, drink a big mug of coffee and head out into the dark. I arrive at the airport around 5am, still raining and dark as the night. Surprisingly a bag FULL of tools including huge 27mm wrenches is allowed as carry-on, however my little 2-inch knife disqualified it. Anyhow everything goes well, just as 6am comes the plane begins to make it way around the airport for take off. As we rally up speed and prepare to leave the ground, light faintly tries to push through the dark clouds, then we're off, goodbye desert, hello city of angels. I experienced one of the most amazing and longest sunrises of my life as it chased us across the sky towards LA. An hour and a half after departure we arrive exactly on time at LAX. I go straight to the baggage claim number 4, where no one is waiting, is this the right one? Right as I round the corner of the conveyor belt my bag slides up to me. I am a little concerned at this point because everything was on time and my baggage beat me to the claim! I then get a text from the seller (of the car I'm there to check out) saying he is almost the airport. I go outside and in a few minutes I see the unmistakable little red box roll up. The rest as they say, is history. Anyhow after buying the car I made the 600mi trip back to Tucson that same day. Arrived home at almost exactly 10pm. What a crazy adventure it was. Hope you enjoyed my story as much as I did. Now for the most important part, pictures! There she is, 1991 BMW 318is my new DD! Z, you are not forgotten.

Wow old thread resurfaced! Since originally posting this I have seen a car that used it first hand and it definitely is some good stuff. Sadly I probably won't be using it for a long while. (The faithful day in the future when I decide to completely strip and restore the Z, oh yeah and have the money and time to do so!) Thanks for all the input guys!

What an incredible story, you are a true Z hero sir! She is looking beautiful by the way, I really cannot wait to see how she turns out, as I'm sure we all feel!

Hey again Bojanglez, Soooo, to start I want to at least advise you to get the radiator boiled out, if nothing else, I'd flush it out with water and if rust comes out you probably want it boiled out. Probably more importantly is the gas tank, no gasoline means you have no clue what that tank looks like inside. You definitely want to try and look inside and it being bone dry may very well mean that rust had a party in there while gasoline was out of town. If that is the case you want to at the very least remove the tank and thoroughly clean it. (Lots of different ways to do this, sealing methods are available as well) Definitely cannot wait to see some pictures of her up! Well since I just so happen to have it and you are at this step. I've compiled a list of things to do before ever starting a z car that has sat. It is not totally complete but it covers a lot and hopefully it'll at least be a helpful reminder or guide. Anyhow these were just copy and pasted from two threads I found ages ago, they overlap each other but together I think they cover most of the basics, hope it helps! "Prior To Start-up: 1. As mentioned, I'd drain the gas tank and see what comes out. If it's full of rusty partials - drop the tank and have it boiled out (some radiator repair shops off that service). Plan on replacing the old rubber fuel lines as well as the vapor recovery lines that run into the passenger compartment. You will more than likely have to do this anyway - as the vapor recovery lines leak gasoline vapor into the passenger compartment - and it will give you headaches and drive you out of the car. Do it now and be done with it. It's not fun, takes some time - but you'll be glad you did it all at once.... 2. As mentioned, replace all the fuel lines in the engine compartment. 3. No doubt you need to check the carb's for oper\ation - the vacuum slides get stuck... pull them apart and clean them... The flat tops look odd - but they are pretty much the same as the earlier SU's.. as far a basic operation goes.. 4. Might as well replace the upper and lower radiator hoses - you'll have to do that anyway - do it now before you loose the fresh coolant you put in later. 5. Pull the spark plugs and poor a couple ounces of ATF in the cylinders... let it sit over night.. poor a little more in the next day... then - see if you can rotate the crank pulley by hand... if you have a large Strap Wrench it helps... of course you'll remove the old fan belt first - as you have already bought a new one... (when you bought the new hoses, oil, filter, coolant)... If you can't rock the crank back and forth by hand - put the car in low gear and push the car forward/backward (air the tires up and it's easier to hand push!). The idea here is to break the cylinder rings loose, and get some oil between them and cylinder walls. The ATF is very high detergent and very thin... Once you break the cylinders loose by rocking the car - poor a bit more ATF in the cylinders and see if you can now rock the engine back and forth by hand... 6 - Now drain the old oil - replace with fresh oil and new filter... 8. Install new NGK BP6ES spark plugs 9. Install new starting battery... and make sure that the old battery cables are in good shape and very clean at the terminals.. 10. Remove the valve cover - and poor some clean oil over the cam lobes and rocker arm pads..replace the valve cover - (just check to be sure all the rockers are on/in-place..) 11. pull the wire from the coil - and crank the engine over rapidly - you should at least see the oil pressure gauge move... at least a little to indicate your getting oil pressure... replace the coil wire and crank it over - it will take a few seconds to get fuel though the new lines and into the carb.'s... USE THE CHOKE! (you almost always have to choke the old Z's to get them started when the engine is cold). If it doesn't start - then you can start checking for Fuel at the Carb.'s - and Spark at the plugs etc..." ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD "1. Remove plugs and spray solvent into the cylinders.. fill em up. PB Blaster will work well. Run oil over the valves, remove and clean oiler bar with Throttle body cleaner (careful with gaskets). Drain gas (check for rust). Slosh some Acetone in tank if no rust to clean out gum). Clean all electrical connections. 2. Let it set for a week. 3. Try turning at crank again with a long breaker bar or pipe on the crank nose socket ~2' to 3' 4. If it is still seized, tow the Z behind another truck/car (make sure brakes and clutch work) Go slow ~ 5/10mph and simply keep it in 5th/4th and let the clutch out when moving to grab the wheels. Then push clutch in. Do this a few times and it should work fine. 5. Try turning over at crank again. 6. If it turns drain oil and replace. Oil the came again 7. Turn over at starter with plugs out. Make sure all valves move smoothly under cam lobes. Make sure oil is pumped out of oil bar evenly on all lobes (if not, remove and clean oil bar) 8. Change distributor cap and rotor and plugs (NGK brand) and wires (NGK) 9. Check Rad fluid levels 10 . check for spark and fuel flow 11. Start it up. 12. Replace all fluids, hoses, check brakes, clutch, EFI components, tires, etc."

Just as another source, www.rockauto.com has a variety of fuel injectors including Standard, which are usually 25$ an injector, they also have another brand for around the same price, then a bunch of other brands that go up from there. FWIW Good luck getting her running!

Wow five&dime that is one powerful Bimmer you have there! Both your cars are beautiful! Actually CW I think you were the one who reminded of my passion for E30's in my other thread haha! The 510 is like the super simplistic sister of the E30, which makes it great for turning into whatever you like, where-as the E30 is a great car by itself (not saying the 510 isn't and definitely not saying you can't beef up the E30).

You guys are hilarious, love your cars, and I have to admit, five&dime, your 510 is my dream car, it's literally what made me go crazy for 510's. I so badly want to get a 510 and make it my DD, but sadly being in college and having no time or money as it is means getting the next best thing, an E30. Hope that dime works out for you CW, keep us informed!

Yep I try haha That one is definitely pretty sweet, and surprisingly I don't think those wheels look half bad on it. I would definitely want to know more about the mileage and engine but overall looks great. Actually I even like that car in red and I'm not a big fan of red cars in most cases.

If it's mechanically sounds, not wicked high mileage, rust is a minimum to nil, for coupe like the one pictured... I would definitely drop 2500-3000 for it. I can't say what the actual worth is. Round here one guy is selling a 68 coupe, 69 4dr, and a LOAD of parts for em including wildwood disc brakes, an l16, l20, 4speed and 5speed, plus lots more for 2500. I haven't gone and checked them out because I would be powerless not to buy them however my dad would kill me if I tried to bring another car home Then there is a guy selling a completely primed body ready for paint, comes with all the parts, extras, an L20, 5speed and and a bunch of new chrome pieces as well, he wants 1200. Anyway that's about as much info as I have, I think like the Z's it's all about demand. I'm sure you can get one for less if it's on craigslist compared to ebay or anywhere that gets less exposure. Beautiful, great little cars, if one in that condition came up and the owner was willing to let it go for the right price I would be all over it.

I think that Z looks pretty good as long as that rust along the bottom sides isn't too bad and isn't eating at the rails. I don't know if interior color would be my first change but if it's that important to you if you go look in the interior section on these forums I saw a post about painting/dying vinyl and such and there seemed to be a good product for doing a restore/dye of all kinds of different materials and that seems like it would be an easy way to change the color. FWIW

Make it your own man, I'm sure some people won't like it, but I bet twice as many will, and more importantly you'll love it. It's hard to choose what path to take exactly, I personally am taking my current Z one direction, but I plan on getting a second one someday to go all out with. Throw the RB25 in an early Z body, tune it to a pin and turn it into one mean as hell road monster. Personally I like how the dirty aggressive Z style you're going for looks but I wouldn't do my Z like that. I like a car that looks hella clean, but packs a punch with a fist of nails. You definitely want to get a pretty solid idea of how you want your Z to be, then lay it out in steps. Let's assume you get a Z in good shape, running, needs little body work and is relatively stock. All the flaring and body work will add up pretty fast. Engine swap is easy from an L to an L, but if you want to throw an RB in there, that's a much bigger overhall, and not cheap either. Another thing to consider is, if you find a stock Z, don't just rush in and mod it out to all hell right away. Take some time, enjoy the original Z for what it is while you have it that way. Originally when I got my Z I wanted to throw all kinds of mods on it but then I realized, how can I ever get a real feel for my Z if I don't let it show me what it can do stock and how it acts. Then each upgrade and change you'll really feel and appreciate that much more. Just my opinion but I think many will agree.