I purchased my `81 280ZX on Oct. 2, 2000 with 110,770 miles on the
original engine. It has a 5 speed manual transmission, power windows,
power steering, original hub caps, and blue interior. I bought the car
from local a mechanic, who replaced the distributor, and
put a new battery in.
I'm in the middle of building a L28ET fuel injected engine for my 240Z and
thought I could use this running car as a reference. The L28ET is out of a
turbo car, but there are still similarities.
As far as I know the car has always been located in southern
California. I have little info about the previous owners. I found a note in
the owners manual saying "Oil Change 5/88 35,000 Mi". The previous owner
bought the car in 4/26/98 with 103,056 miles.
First Pictures
Begining of Oct. 2000
On jacks, getting front suspension work done
Nov 25, 2000
Dec. 28, 2000
Trip to Reno, Nevada, drove about 1,000 miles total in a weeks period of time.
Had to replace water pump after the old one started rattling coming back from
Tahoe. Car ran great besides the water pump problem.
90+ 300ZX NA that we drove with along I80 back to Bakersfield.
280ZX Page
Goals
Things need to be replaced and serviced on the car. I need a goal before I
can start replacing parts.
This car will be a daily driver, so it must be reliable, inexpencive to
repair, have a quiet and smooth ride. I would like to obtain these goals
with the least amount of money possible, but I will not cut corners. All records of what is done to the car will be kept
here.
Needed Repair
At 110,770 Miles the car needs:
New Struts
Fix broken wheel studs
Sway bar bushings
Gas filler hose needs to be replaced (leaks when filling tank)
Needs new fluids
- differential
- transmission
- brake
Catalytic converter
Radiator needs to be flushed
Needs a couple new tires
All repairs completed
And so it Starts...
On Oct. 4-5, 2000 and with 110,770 Miles
Fuel filler hose replaced with wire supported fuel hose. 2" diameter, 12"
long
Replaced sway bar end links with Addco urethane kits
Replaced broken/cross threaded wheel studs
Best way I found to do this was to first disconnect the hard brake
line from the caliper (use 10mm flare nut wrench), take off the brake
caliper, then the rotor comes off. I hammered out the old studs while using
a pair of vise grips to hold the thin metal backing (or this will bend).
Inserted the new studs, put a tire on, and then tightened down the lug nuts.
Leverage does help. After the new studs are well seated, take off wheel,
put caliper and brake pads back on. Reconnect the brake line, bleed
brakes, put tire back on, and you're set
Replaced front/rear struts with Gabriel Premium Gas Struts
Painted control arms, and other exposed metal with rust prevetative paint
Flushed brake system and bleed brakes. Used Valvalene Dot 3 brake fluid.
Oct. 6, 2000
Replaced two worn tires with Goodyears
Poured some Preston radiator cleaner in
Oct. 7-8, 2000
Found replacment passenger side seat belt, and cover for rear windshield
wiper motor. Both were out of a car with the same color interior
Oct. 9-10, 2000 and with 111,000 Miles
New custom 2 1/4" exhaust made from the manifold back to the tail pipe.
New catalytic converter. New DynoMax muffler. The chrome tip sticks out
on the passenger side of the car now, like stock.
Smogged and registered car. Passed smog with no problems
Oct. 11, 2000
Flushed out radiator fluid, untill clean, then put a 50/50 mix of Prestone
radiator fluid in, and water.
Worked on getting rid of noises in the rear. Noises in the suspension fixed,
brake noises fixed, found out that 2 tires are out of round, or unbalanced
(will be fixing this shortly). Rear wheel bearings need attention
All vinyl, and plastic panels are pulled out of the back of the car to
pin point noises, to be cleaned, and painted with vinyl paint. All light
colored vinyl/plastic will be painted a light silver blue, all dark blue will
be refreshed with new dark blue. Extra sound deadening material will be used
before I reinstall the panels.
Oct. 15, 2000 At 111,100 miles
Changed differential oil with some Valvaline 75-80 weight gear oil.
Greased and examened U joints. All looks well, not too much play.
R200 Differential
Changed transmission oil with Havolin synthetic.
All needed repairs completed
Oct. 21-22, 2000
Took off master clutch cylinder, and cleaned. Flushed/Bleed clutch system
Picked up a new hatch in a scrap yard.
Old hatch
The previous owner installed luvers, which required holes to be drilled
in the hatch. These holes over time rusted. There is also some
body damage. I thought it'd be easier to find one in better shape, and
repaint it.
New hatch before paint
This is the hatch I found in the bone yard. It only had a minior ding,
which was easy to fix.
New one after paint comming soon
Oct. 29, 2000 At 111,450 miles
New front brake rotors, pads, bearing seal, bearing lube. Painted hub
to prevent corrosion.
Nov. 1, 2000
Replaced heater hoses inside engine compartment
Replaced rubber fuel hoses
Replaced fuel filter with a Fram filter
Nov. 2, 2000
New rear brake rotors, pads. Painted center part of disc to prevent
corrosion.
Nov. 9, 2000
Installed new springs which hold the rear brake pads in place, so they
don't rattle. A couple were missing. Used Nissan part, PN 41080-H1005
The car is getting about 16mpg city driving, which isn't bad for me.
Nov. 21, 2000
My car is used for messurements for a power steering Stainless
Steel bolt kit provided by Ideal-Z.com.
All mounts were painted before reassembly.
Nov 25, 2000 with 111,950 miles
Found two 14" 6 spoke rims that were on a 280ZX in a wrecking yard. They
polished up pretty well.
Mounted some new Goodyear Weather Handlers on the new wheels
Nov 29, 2000
Custom fitted a large K&N Filter that replaced the stock air box.
Consists of a 90 degree 3" mandrel bend steel pipe, a 3" x 4" PVC pipe,
steel hanger.
Dec 17, 2000
Installed Stainless Steel Power Steering bolt kit from Ideal-Z. It
looks great.
Converted power steering fluid to synthetic.
Dec 25, 2000
Fixed some rust under battery tray
Sand blasted valve cover, and then painted with engine paint.
Dec 26, 2000 at 112,480 Miles
Changed oil, and filter.
Found leaking speedo cable, will fix later..
Dec 29, 2000
Replaced water pump after driving from Lake Tahoe to Reno. Old one didn't
leake much, just rattled around a little bit. Was very lucky to have the tools
while I was away from home to get this fixed in Reno so I could drive back.
Most of the radiator fluid was changed out for some new Prestone, even
though the old stuff was still good.
Mar. 5, 2001 at 114,140 miles
Replaced thermostat
At 114,179 miles
Oil change, Pensoil 10W-30W cleaning formula
Apr. 8, 2001 at 115,350 miles
Replaced upper radiator hose
Fixed blinkers... Had a bad flasher unit (Hazard switch)
Apr. 21, 2001
Replaced door intior door panels with better condition black ones.
Condsidering converting the whole interior to black, but may just paint these
to match eventually.
On May 6th, 2001 At 115,590 miles
Rebuilt master clutch cylinder with Raybestos rebuild kit
