Kevin McSweeney

Good question. Is it necessary? As far as I can see it would be a cut and weld which I'm not thrilled about..

I amaze myself at my own stupidity sometimes. I literally reinstalled this plate 2 days ago and never realized it has the engine number on it also! Thank you. Good news - matching numbers!

I appreciate the response, but I actually knew all of that, I meant more in terms of production date, how likely it is that the motor is original to the car, etc. Thank you though!

Ordered a new driveshaft with replaceable U-Joints as the joint on my old one is bad. Arrived this morning. Everything appears to line up - other than at the rear flange - it looks like there may be some issues with bolt clearance. Can anybody shed some light on this? Ordered from here: https://www.wholesaleimportparts.com/Nissan_280Z_Driveshaft_1978.php

Apologies my posts are incoherent and all out of sequence but I'm trying to post more frequently. Lots going on in the background at the moment, there will be big progress in the next 2-3 weeks. Today I got the motor on a stand and started cleaning. For now, unfortunately, it will just be a basic clean/refresh, and hopefully at a later date - after spending some time actually driving and enjoying the car - I'll do a complete rebuild or swap. For now, I'll be changing out the water pump, oil pump, alternator, timing kit, rear main seal, and all the basic tune up parts. Also received the MSA 6-1 header yesterday. Can anyone tell me more about the engine number?: L28-284789 PS - The Fram oil filter was not me. Previous owner installed must have installed it. I have a genuine Nissan filter ready to install.

I used a dremel with polishing kit and some small stainless steel brushes. I have not clear coated it yet at least. Will it dull quickly if I don't clear it?

I was also planning to go with stainless steel fuel tank straps, but decided to be a bit more creative (and save some money for a change) and make use of the fact that I have access to free plating services. Got my old straps clear zinc plated and mounted some new rubber as an insulator. Fuel tank is also freshly blasted, sealed and painted, ready to go back in the car (Not a good photograph but it looks good in person). Looking for a new sending unit but they seem to be hard to find..

Also finished polishing my new brake master cylinder and bolted it back onto the freshly painted brake booster and adapter plate. Need to clean out the reservoirs next.

Valve cover came back from powder coating today. Very happy with the finished product.

Also decided to give the transmission a degrease, clean and power wash this afternoon. Came out pretty good, some before and after below. I know the trans works well so won't be messing with it too much. It's a 5-speed. Just replacing the shifter bushing and boot, and changing the oil. Also have a new mount insulator coming and I had the mount crossmember zinc plated with new bushings. If anyone can tell me any more about my transmission - what the numbers mean, whether it's original or not, gear ratios, etc. - I would appreciate it. Haven't done much searching on this topic to be honest.

You are correct, it's more like a scratch, nothing to worry about I suspect. The valve cover is now at the powder coater. Will post pics when it comes back.

In other news.... I got them to include extended studs so I can run a strut tower brace aswell as having the camber plates.

Ok, I spent some more time on this valve cover today. Removed as much of the silicone as I could and took out the baffle and power washed the whole thing. Looks ok to sand blast and powder coat in this condition right? Only thing I found of concern (see photo below) is what looks like a small crack above one of the screw holes for the baffle. Is this something to be worried about? It may just be a somewhat deep scratch...

Lots of parts being delivered this week, there will be a lot of progress in the next month. Today I was power washing my valve cover to get it ready for sandblasting and powder coating, and I noticed what looks like silicone residue on the interior. Is that supposed to be there and, if not, why would it be there? Will sandblasting remove it? I don't really want to bake that into the metal at 400 degrees...

Oh, thanks for the info. I may have to go to urethane then!