the_tool_man

It is a huge amount of work. But it is already paying off. You'll end up with a beautiful car that makes you happy. That's all that matters. And don't worry about over-posting. These updates are very informative to those of us who aspire to your skill level.

To clean the tank without blasting, I built a tank rotisserie, and used that to spin the tank while cleaning it out. I used muriatic acid, diluted 50/50 with warm water, twice, followed by a neutralizing wash with baking soda and water, followed by numerous rinses with water until it ran out clean. There are a number of other threads describing the process. For media, I counted out 150 machine nuts (it's what I had on hand), and dumped them in the tank before cleaning. Afterward, I shook the tank around and made sure that 150 nuts came out. 🙂

Well said! Carry on.

You didn't ask...but I have mixed feelings, honestly. I like the idea of adding an image to the underside of the hood. But that particular image, used for the Japanese War flag (Jyūrokujō-Kyokujitsu-ki), would seem to be a bit controversial, given its history in WWII and other conflicts prior. Personally, I'm not bothered by it. But I know some people who probably would be. And I wouldn't want to offend them, not out of fear, but out of respect. As an analogy, I'm from the southeastern US, where the old "Stars and Bars" confederate flag is still flown in some places. But knowing how many people perceive it as a symbol of racism (rightly or wrongly, not looking to stir up a debate here), I'd never consider using it on a car (unless I was recreating the 1969 Dodge Charger, "General Lee" from the "Dukes of Hazzard", lol). It's your car. Do what you want. It's executed beautifully. But be aware of possible negativity at shows.

I've had the fuel tank out for de-rusting and cleaning for some time now. I finally got my son-in-law to come over and help me reinstall if. I could get it mounted by myself. Or, I could get the fill hose on the tank nipple by myself. But I couldn't do both simultaneously without help. Sorry, no pics. Still need to finish chassis-side fuel hoses (with see-through filter), hook up the new fuel pump and replace the ignition switch. Then it's ready to fire up again, and will hopefully run right.

I'm curious to see if this discussion gets anywhere with tangible results. I hope it does. This kind of request comes up on other forums with much larger viewership (Mustangs, for example). But few people dyno test multiple exhaust systems on the same car. And it's pretty common for there to be other, competing priorities, such as cost, fitment and sound. So it's usually "I bought XYZ and I like it" from about a dozen people. Still, I'm looking forward to the results for when I upgrade mine.

I have a later copy that lists more 280Z stuff. Haynes is usually one of the better non-OEM books. But on important specs, I always check against the FSM.

Any particular reason to use S197 Mustang 5-lug brakes? The Fox body SVO Mustangs had rear discs with 4-lug. It's a popular swap to use SVO or T-bird Turbo Coupe rear brakes to retrofit discs to other Fox body Mustangs. These parts are still pretty common (probably available as a kit). Might be worth checking to see if they'll fit.

You can do far, far better than that. I bought a complete, rust-free (ish), almost running '77 for $8500 a couple of years ago. I've attached an "as picked up" photo, and one of the spare tire well. Bone dry, non-rusted and complete. I swapped in a working AFM, new fuel injectors and fixed a couple of vacuum leaks, and it was running. The car you're looking at probably needs a lot of work to arrest the rust, based on what's visible.

As info...my bumpers arrived from Futofab yesterday afternoon. The boxes are printed with big letters that say "MADE IN TAIWAN". So apparently Futofab bumpers are no longer sourced from Vietnam. Or, maybe they get them from multiple sources. Waiting on brackets from Eurodat to test fitment.

Ford has been using flat plane cranks in the 5.2L Mustang GT350 since 2015: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15354688/holy-flat-plane-crankshaft-we-finally-get-an-in-depth-look-at-the-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350gt350rs-5-2-liter-v-8/ A unique sound, for sure. I doubt the DOHC engine would fit in a Z, however.

I use Super Clean (formerly Castrol Super Clean), which I believe is similar to Purple Power, but with sodium metasilicate and sodium hydroxide. I get it by the gallon at Walmart on a regular basis. I do know from experience it is quite alkaline, and will eat your skin at full concentration. I've used it to clean aluminum without ill effect, even when soaked for a day or more. But it usually doesn't take that long to be effective, especially if it's warm. If I'm remembering my college chemistry correctly, the key is to fully immerse the part. If you dip it and leave it exposed to atmospheric oxygen, it can oxidize the aluminum if not rinsed off. Incidentally, it is fantastic for stripping paint from plastic parts without damaging the plastic. Don't try that with regular paint stripper (methylene chloride)!

I went through the same thing with my sending unit. I soaked it in EvapoRust for a couple of days, and it looked and worked like new. Before, pretty crusty: After, working just fine: In the left of the after photos, you can see the homemade soaking "tank" I made. Just scraps of plywood nailed together with a trash bag liner.

As I will upgrade my Z to a 5-speed one day, and likely won't be able to afford a rebuilt unit, I'm glad this thread exists. I've rebuilt a toploader before. So far, this doesn't look significantly more difficult, provided one can find parts.

I just finished reading this whole thread...whew! I ordered a pair of FutoFab bumpers this morning for my 280Z. So I'm down for front and rear mounting brackets. I have two questions that I haven't found answers for: 1: The as-mounted photos don't seem to match up to the holes on my car for the tie-down brackets. Do you need to drill holes for the rear brackets to fit the body? 2: Will the rear bumper fit beneath the extra piece tack welded to the body, used to fill the gap between it and the old 5mph bumper? This might look bad, even if it does fit. But it would be nice to have a rear bumper on the car while I save up for bodywork.