1982 Datsun 280zx T-tops N/A project (time frame a year or so) need to get or have already

() original text, "" updated

Exhaust header: "mounted, and painted high temp aluminum"

Fuel pressure regulator: (later after the JSK fuel rail is set up) "have one, it is a generic greddy one"

Fuel pressure gauge: "got one from Pallnet"

Struts & Springs all 4 sides: either Tokico, KYB, Eibach

Replace throwout bearing in clutch (transmission) "done with this, and new clutch, with centerforce plate"

bodywork (of course)

headliner (probably homemade with gray material) "Done with 2 sheets of material"

door panels (maybe a swap with Jabo, or redo my originals with carpet) "painted them blue with the dupli-color paint. And they look tight!"

console lid (recovered in a dark gray polyester, and looks sweet)""

gray leather shiftboot (Motorsport Auto) (got it coming next week)"already on, looks cool"

stock 5 speed shift ****, or paint one to match (painted it with Dupli-color blue) "going to repaint it again, better this time"

recover t-top shades in gray material or vinyl (not yet) "actually got a better set of gray ones, will mount them soon"

finish painting interior parts (mostly done, just a couple more parts) "almost done with"

fix crack on newer dash with bondo, sand and repaint it: (sort of, it looks better than it did) "got a new dashcap, just need to repaint it, and glue it over existing cracked dashboard"

take apart and fix needles on speedo and fuel gauge: (check replaced and repainted them) "done in a medium blue, with silver tips"

Put Autobot decals under speedo, tach, and the 3 small cluster of gauges: check

paint the cluster faces aluminum silver: (did it, and it turned out tight!)

paint the 3 gauge bezels (aluminum silver): (did it, and verry nice!) "will redo these better soon"

paint the dash vents " " ": (done, looks great!)

replace rear bushings "not yet, other things to do"

replace a few wheel bolts: (doing that soon) "did all the bad ones, except for 1 front one, will do it soon"

embroider Autobot decals on seats(getting patches soon 2 4" ones) "still contemplating this one"

paint column cover royal blue, or aluminum silver (not sure yet currently royal blue) (staying blue) "painted the dupli-color blue"

fix doors and handles, so they work better (still would like to do that here soon)

fix front and rear bumpers, and get the side pieces on the corner of the front bumper(got the side pieces, and front black piece) (also painted cobalt metallic blue) "put '81 front and rear bumpers, and painting them dupli-color silver, after lighly hitting them with sandpaper"

shave off door trim below the top of the door, then bondo and paint( working on it) "still in the works"

paint and install side trim pillars (flat black with clearcoat) "changed my mind, and keeping the aluminum ones on the Z"

remove current Z hood emblem: check( going to repaint a used one I got a while ago) "going to be a custom look, blue and silverish chrome"

then install the correct one after smoothing out the area to glue it back onto the hood "will happen soon"

new locks all around, so I use 1 key for all "not for a while yet"

re-tint windows "doing the 3 rear ones in limo tint, and the door ones as dark as I legally can"

repaint windshield and rear wipers black and or silver: "silver on the arms and blades, with the arm boots blue" "will happen soon" "ended up painting the blades blue, and the boots silver"

new wiper blades (front and rear) "done, and using stock silver aluminum wiper blades"

cover holes on rear hatch, bondo(fiber resin jelly) (then bondo, primer, and paint with cobalt metallic blue) "put white RTV over them for now, until I get around to patching them up"

new battery (got a brand new Die-Hard weatherhandler)

repaint, and reapply Turbo trim pieces "later on"

blue and silver pedal set: (got them, just have to install them)"and hook them to my headlight switch" "happening soon" "still not yet, but soon hopefully"

clean carpet with carb cleaner "ended up getting brand new blue carpet off e-bay"

280zx silver floormats (Motorsport Auto) "Victoria British, no logos sigh"

install windshield washer bottle: will do verry soon"

remove charcoal cannister, and put better one in, then maybe paint it blue and silver "doing that soon also" painted it metallic blue"

check and or replace vaccum and fuel lines where needed (pretty much did, still iffy on one of them though) "good for now"

clean up engine more, degrease it or whatnot (in the works right now) "cleaned up, and repainted almost completely, with aluminum, and metallic cobalt blue" "and running in current Z"

clean contacts on electrical connectors with dialectric grease, actually electrical contact cleaner "did it pretty much" "replacing them with new ones I recently got"

inspect and or regrease a/c and idler pulleys (also power steering one)"later on that one, not worried right now"

redo middle lower black rubber side trim (I might either strip it off, or paint it silver) "still debating on this one yet"

repaint bottom aluminum trim aluminum silver "will do it soon"

remount stereo and housing(pretty much done, can't remember the original screws though) "mounted, and painted vinyl silver, with a custom metallic blue faceplate"

replace taillights with newer ones "ended up putting '81 taillights, and painting metallic silver in between them"

a taillight panel, or 6 x 9 box from Motorsport Auto(bought a nice box from Pep Boys, 2 10", 2 3 1/2", and 2 tweeters) (also got a silver taillight panel)

replace and or repair wheel housing covers( starting soon) "decided to paint them with the original Dupli-color meduim gray"

trim excess weatherstripping from passenger side rear window "will work on that soon"

take power antennae out of '81 or find another one, or keep current black rubber one(going to take the one out of my '81 eventually) (have one from e-bay) "mounting it soon" "mounted antennae, out of my '81"

repaint and install headlight cases with headlight washers "later on, just cosmetic"

hook up the headlight washers to the bottle " " "

2 10 inch speakers, put in the 2 boxes I currently have(scratch this one)

2 speakers in side panels 5 or 6 inch (no go on this one also)

2 speakers behind the seats " " " "sometime soon"

put new or original speakers inside the dashboard(done and a PITA)

install a new amp "still down the road"

put a 10" subwoofer in back: "I have a 10" subwoofer box I am going to mount in the back hatch area" "probably not now"

put a couple of tweeters in the sides somewhere(inside the side panels behind the seats(changed my mind on this one)

get rid of rust under the battery, and a couple of other small spaces "most of it, still not done yet"

a new paintjob blue and silver (last thing to do)

while replacing the fuel regulator sand and paint the intake, headers, fuel rail, egr valve, and anything else that is brass or gold (in the works)"all done, and looks pretty sweet"

polish current Z 6-spoke rims, maybe later get the swastika Turbo wheels: "going to use steel wool, and clean them up. And then paint the inside of the spokes blue" "getting the 15" Turbo wheels soon, and will paint the black parts a metallic blue" "as soon as I get new tires"

get new tires for my 15" wheels "when I have the money"

blue spark plug wires either Moroso NGk or whoever else has them in that color(NGK when I get around to it) "mounted them, and look great"

get the blue fuel and vaccum lines plastic covers, to dress up under the hood "maybe later on"

cross-drilled front and rear brake rotors "later on"

get the blue metallic caliper paint kit "possibly, not sure though"

pass emissions, tag it, and insure it "passed with flying colors"

Turbo swap in the future (will happen down the road)

Well guys I finally got it to work, thanks to Riz speed. Thanks man, anyway here is my '82 280zx project list. It is rough right now. But will keep it updated as I go. Let me know what you guys think about it.

 

man... I quit reading about 1/4 way down the list. Good luck w/ all that. You'll have to deliver a lot of pizzas to do it all! Back in the day I made a list too... I think I stuck w/ about 5 out of the 50 things I had planned on.

 

same here. Will finish reading it soon, hell If you can take the time to type it, I can take the time to read it. But I want to see a pic of that Aluminum silver finish you did on cluster's.

 

thats a HUGE list you got there.. i did the same thing too when i started working on my car.. but i split it uo in 2 catagories.. 1 Realistic goals and 1 Wishfull thinking goals.. ive pretty much done what was on the realistic list and prolly 20% of my wishful goals.. good luck on finishing that list man...

 

Click on my cardomain page link in my sig. There are pics of the gauges there.

 

sweet gauges, one queston. I have tryed to paint the kind of stuff my dash is made of before. It faild. I was woundering What kind of paint did you use? I don't want to mess up my dash when I get it painted.

 

Well I just used cheap royal blue spray paint. If your dash doesn't require a dashcap. Go with a SEM or vinly paint. Because mine needs a dashcap, so I just painted it to cover the black it was. That should do the trick. And thanks for the compliment on the gauges!

 

well. I could use a dash cap. But the cracks don't seam to bother me to much.

 

Don't clean your electrical connections with dielectric grease. Clean them with electrical contact cleaner from Radio Shack, re-connect them and then use the dielectric grease to seal the exposed ends of the connection.

Dielectric grease is an insulator and is used to prevent moisture and other contaminants from corroding your connectors.

I read the whole thing. That's a good list.

Now, do what Ice recommended and split it up.

After that, I would break it down again into smaller 'phases' so each one is a finite achievable goal, like 'in 3 months a,b,c' '3 months after that x,y,z'...etc.

This way, you're always making progress and you won't get frustrated with the huge amount of work you have ahead of you.

 

I just copy other people and do it better

 

Word Stay a step ahead of em. That's the way to go. Just change it up a little bit so you can still be original.

For example s/c, when you put out 450HP, I'm gonna go over your head and put out 451HP I'll put that one on my wishful thinking list

 

Haha! That's exactly what I did to my father. He just bought a new '05 Pontiac GTO with the new 400hp/400torque LS2 and was bragging to me about it.

I told him that was nice, but my 280 has 410hp and over 400 torque!

Then he tells me his speedometer goes to 200 mph and I showed him my 210 mph speedo! I didn't bother to tell him my car weighs over 500lbs less than his too!

Totally one up'd the old man!

Although, he paid less for his... hmmm...

 

Thanks man, for the info on the contact cleaner. Then I put the grease after I plug in the plugs and sensors?

Yeah I might split it up. I originally wrote it down on a small piece of paper bunched up. So I decided to, type it out, and show other people what I am doing, and it will be checked off as I go.

As for the big list, I am not overwhelmed about it. I know it takes time and money, I am in no rush. Except for the things I need to get him on the road. Mainly running better, and putting my interior back together. If I don't work this Friday, I will try to get the dash put in, and all the gauges plugged in, and the stock stereo mounted. And then I will take some more pics to put on my cardomain page. Will keep you posted! Thanks for all the help and support!

 

Quite a list...Looks like you plan on spending more time than money on this. Cool project, instead of bondo on the dash, does that work?
But if your list is that thorough, im sure your work will be even more...goodluck, keep us informed, and if you do anything cool, post some pics.

 

Yes, a lot of people use bondo to repair a dash. Unfortunately, it's only a temporary repair as the bondo will expand and contract at a different rate than the dash material. This will eventually lead to the cracks returning. Sometimes with a vengence.

If money is no object, you can ship it to a dash board restoration company near Seattle Washington and for the measly sum of $600 + Shipping you'll get your dash back in better than new condition.

If money is an object, get a dash cap for $60 and paint it the color you want. Properly prepped and installed and the cap will last the lifetime of the car.

 

Right on man, I used the fiber resin jelly bondo on the dash. At least it smoothed it out better. I mean most of it is covered by the dashmat anyway. Yeah sometime in the near future I will get a dashcap. Until then, it is pretty decent. I will have pics up sometime soon. When I get it all mounted back into the car. I might start on it tomorrow before work. I found last night, I have to work Friday's at my regular job. Which I was designating to work on my Z, and household projects. Because as of now I am working 7 days a week, until whenever. Oh well, I figured out I should be caught up with my mortgage by next month. Which I am now 3 months behind on. Then I should have my Z going before November, like I predicted a while ago.

All aside, I just got my headers yesterday from a fellow user here on Zdriver. I am going to take the intake, and exhaust manifold out. With the fuel rail, egr valve, and such. Probably replace the fuel pressure regulator for a new one. Clean degrease, and paint all the parts I mentioned with a high temp silver paint. (getting rid of the brass gold look) Including the headers, then remount everything, with new gaskets, and such. Also new plugs wires, maybe a new dizzy. Also get a K & N filter for my stock air cleaner. I do not want a gaping hole in the front of my Z. I am so stoked on getting my headers, I just want to start cleaning them up. I wish I had a grinder. I will have to go to my dad's and use his. If I can find the time, working all week. Will keep you guys updated as always!

 

cool man, while you got the EGR and all that stuff off, why don't you clean it out (that is if you've never done it)...it sucks when it gets stuck open, or partially open because of the carbon buildup!

 

I have decided to just get the exhaust manifold off. Get a header gasket from Motorsport, after cleaning up the headers, replace the fuel pressure regulator. Then get a battery, and NGK plugs, and wires. And worry about cleaning and painting the engine parts later. I want to focus more on getting him running for now. And get the interior in better shape. It is not like I am taking my Z to a car show anytime soon. I just want him to be roadworthy, and in decent looking shape. I have started to take apart the '81's dash, and I am labeling bags, and putting the screws in. Like I said before it is a time consuming process, but it will be less hassle. And I can get the dash and gauges, stereo in properly. Will have more pics soon on my cardomain page.

 

No bueno... It's a siamese gasket that is used on the intake and exhaust manifold as well as sharing several studs and nuts.

If your header is anything like the one's I've had, you'll also have to 'modify' the hardware to get the header installed anyway, necessitating the removal of the intake manifold so you can see what you're doing and what needs to be 'modified'.

I had to shorten the rear stud and take off about an 1/8th of an inch of the exhaust manifold washer in order to get it thin enough to be installed.

In short, you have to pull the intake and exhaust manifolds to replace the gasket.

Sorry dude...

 

Yeah I kind of remember that, from having to replace my intake gasket on my '81 before. It took me a whole weekend to replace, mainly because of the headers. They were a PITA to put the bolts back in. But yeah I might as well clean and repaint my fuel rail, and other parts. Since I have to take both manifolds off anyway. Thanks for the recap lww, it has been quite a spell since I did it on my '81. Probably 4 years or so.

 

Well I just about have my '81's dash out of the car. I have been tediously labeling little bags, where the screws, and hardware go. Once I have everything out, it will be a piece of cake to put the dash back into the '82. I also going to repaint the parts, I have already painted. I didn't put it on thick enough. There is no hurry, and I want it to look decent. I recently got interior blue vinyl paint. To try and repaint my shift ****. Hopefully it turns out allright. Will keep you guys posted, and thanks for all the help!

 

Best thing you can do for a big project is label everything. You never know when something going to happen and you won't be able to finish your project right away. Takes longer now but not as long as later when you can't figure out what goes where and you got to test fit every bolt

 

True man so true, I mean I took it apart at the beginning of the this year! I am glad I have another Z to cheat with. It makes it a lot easier for me. I should have the '81's dash out this afternoon. And if it works out right, I will have my dash back into my '82. Will keep you guys posted as always.

 

Whoops, I meant my dash in my '82, should be in this weekend.

 

don't be so sure about the lasting the life of the car part. i got a dash cover last spring and had it in the car for about 2 months before i made the mistake of leaving the car parked out in the sun all day in June. when i got in the car the next morning to go to work the dash cover was all wrinkled up and crooked because it got hot enough in the car during the day that it had started to melt. only in Arizona

i just got a heat gun today so i'll see what i can do about fixing it tomorrow, though i doubt it'll do much