well guy's I'am new here!!!! my name Darril . I have a 79 280zx n/a i bought the car back in 1984, it was a week end car till about 1991 then it became a daily driver due to a bad marrage. needless to say though holding on to my home. (on one income) I pretty much ran the car in the ground. but it was still running!!!!!!. just running a little hot in town traffic 100mi. round trip to get my son every weekend. so in 1997 I parked it with 198,000 mi's for something fresher. so my child support is up in 05/08 so the big question is to restore a car that needs everything from body work, frount end, rear end work, all struts, brake, interior carpet/seats/dashcap it's not real bad, just stinks inside from the windshield leaking. I finally got it in the garage in 1999. OR do I find one that someone has already done some of this work already. although I have looked @ two that had clamed to be restored they ran & looked good @ 20ft. but they were sill what call rough. THE hardware and you can see bubbles under the paint. OR I ALSO found one with a v/8 small block http://www.chooseyouritem.com/classi...00/544592.html I hope this link works. thanks hermultra GOT THE Z FEAVER AGAIN

 

Welcome to ZDriver!!!

It comes down to what you want to do and what you have time / money for...

Do you have the time, money, and knowledge to restore it yourself?

Oh... and old school SBC's in 280zx's are weak sauce.

 

what are sbc's & explain weak sauce????

 

SBC= Small Block Chevy. weak sauce refers to the belief that the aforementioned SBC bastardizes a Z car.

 

EDIT... ^^^^ buahhhaa!

SBC = Small Block Chevy

Weak Sauce = lame, stupid, uncool, etc.

Build an L28ET or a nice L28 n/a.

 

Thanks guys on your thoughts, I understand your position on keeping things org. I drove my z for 13 years & have owned it 24 years, i've keep it for a reason. I LOVE THIS CAR I test drove an 82zx today, boy after 10 yrs. of not driving one, it felt good behind the wheel & the feel of driving one again........ but I got to tell ya!! Idon't remember these things being this slow!!!!!!!!! maybe after riding a honda vtx-1800cc motorcycle with 97hp & 115 ft.lbs. of tork between your legs, might have something to do with it. so when i saw this zzzz with a v/8 350+ hp I said wow quick fix. its ready to go... soI just been kicking it around a little!!!! I mean its already been done.. it is still on the street. and not been scraped out for metal!!!!!!!!! I was just looking @ it like. (that would be a cool car to have) that's not much diff. than doing an engine swap 83's in to 81's / 82's in to 79's bottom line your car is not org.........just my 2 cents.. just trying to be a little open minded as I,am getting older. thanks hermultra

 

you could always give a turbo zx a try.

 

yea!! the only one I could find was over 250mi's away....... it looked sweet 89,000 org. miles one owner. $71,00 it said showroom cond. or something to that fact...... the one across town today said restored & it was rough....... I might have to look @ the 300z. dont know to much about them, I here that it cost a lot of $$$$ to keep them going 4th gen. i kinda like the 3rd gen. z's 1986-1988 they have good lines. is there a lot of these sought after?????

 

Hey welcome to Zdriver. But I need to get you in somewhat the right direction man. You know? Educate you a little? And I have an open mind also.

But when you are comparing a SBC to swapping 280zx motors back and forth. It doesn't make sense. What I mean is.... Swapping '79-'83 280zx L6 2.8 liter engines, is not the same as... Putting a Small Block Chevy motor in a Datsun. Swapping the different engines from different years of Datsun's Nissan's. Is called.... Being pure, and keeping it Nissan. Granted they wouldn't be all original, like matching numbers and all. But at least you wont be putting a friggin' common Chevy motor in a Japanese car. Like I have said, time and time again. And as other people have. If you want a Chevy or a muscle car. Go buy one, and leave the Datsun's Nissan's alone. Because when you take out the Nissan innards. All you have is a shell. Because you took the heart of the car out. To me personally... The heart of the Z is the engine, the sound that only a L24-L28 6 cylinder can make. And oh man... there is no sound like it to me. Especially when it is tuned, and running sweet. So what I am getting at is...What is the point of getting a Z. If you take the guts out of it? Just my 2 cents. But don't let all this offend you. It is all opinion, enjoy the site.

 

I believe it was Nismopick that had said realistically an old school SBC is really not all that great compared to the L28ET. If I remember correctly, for the cost of getting the SBC and swapping it all into the car, you could put that money into the Turbo engine and have a car that would do pretty well against an SBC if not be faster. Although I do hear throwing a 8 into these cars is a positive for the fact that the engine is shorter and will give the car a better center of gravity.

 

i wish i could find a v8 powered zed that cheap. there is always the nissan v8 too. but agree l series turbo would be the best way to go. welcome to zdriver

 

wow, you've had that car a long time. Welcome.

and I can't believe you dont' know what weak sauce is!

 

 

Oh double snap! I'd lick that too!

 

hey guys..... how many of you have high milage cars (motors) that is!!!! or have most of ya'll rebult you motors. I mean seeing how mine has 198,000 mi's and has been sitting for 10yrs, I guess it's worth trying to get it running so it will be mobil to get other things worked on easier!!!! how many mi's can you get out of the z motors.... also where do I start???? I guess the gas tank?????? will it have to be droped and treated with something. the last time I tryed starting the motor,about 18 months after I first parked it was not pumping gas so i know its got a fuel pump issue that was over 8 years ago. I think there is about a 1/4 of a tank of bad gas!!!!!!!!!!! also what should I squart in the cylinders and how much. and that brings me to just drain the oil and put new oil in to start off with right?????? I know thats a lot of questions but I have never tiied to get a motor thats sat a long time running again...............thanks herultra

 

Alot from what I have heard over the years. Dropping the tank would be a good start. I heard on here, somebody using C.L.R. And it seemed to work pretty good. But definately drain all the fluids, and put fresh ones in. And squirt lucas, or moreso. Whatever that stuff is called, in the cylinders if you want. Change the fuel filter, check all your conections. Make sure they are making contact. Check every sensor of the fuel injection system and such. Making sure everything is plugged in, and making good contact. Also clean them with a brush and WD40. It has worked great for me. Also check all your vaccum lines, and such, real thoroughly. Making sure they are where they need to be. And there are no vaccum leaks of any kind. Plus there are no brittle or cracked lines too. Flush your cooling system. If it is possible, flush your engine block also. I am am not sure, if you specified, if you have a atomatic, or a standard. Either way, drain the gear oil or tranny fluid. Depending on what transmission you have. If you do have an automatic. I would check the tranny filter also.

Also giving your Z, a fresh tuneup, after you do all the other things. Will be most beneficial also. Also make sure your timing is where it needs to be. I think you said you have an N/A. So you would need the timing to be 8 degress before top dead center.

I am not really an expert at this kind of stuff. But I know some things. I am sure there will be some more experienced members. To chime in here, and give you more useful tips and advice. There are so many other things to do. But I am tired, and need to crash. Hopefully this will get you started for now. Good luck to you.

 

check your gaskets and change out all fluids---oil gets acidic with standing....change your timing belt----standing 10 years is a long time to get old out of the mess......the rubber stuff will crack and blow away, so take attention to that, and ..............good luck.....welcome.......what they sed.....^^^^^

 

From what I've seen and read, your engine still sounds like it could go for a while, as long as it was generally maintained, you should be able to at least get 250k out of it, I think it was Rod who has over 250k on his, and I thought one other member said his engine finally kicked the bucket somewhere over 300k.

As for your original question of getting one in better condition or restoring, it's up to you. If the car isn't in terrible shape, it might be great to restore it seeing as you've had it for so long, but it would certainly be cheaper to find one in better shape. It just depends on how much that original ZX means to you.

 

Yup. 251K and strong as the day it left the factory. No noteable compression loss... Nothin' but raw L28 Gonads!!!


Rod.