firstly, i would like to say that i am super pumped about owning this 1982 zx... it is as fun as any car i've ever driven. however, i have a few quetions i couldnt find answered on the thread for first time z owners.

the rails below the floor, (look like subframe, perhaps floor rienforcement, 2"x1" steel tubing) are flared out, perhaps from someone jacking it up from there... is this difficult to replace, and will this affect the performance or reliability of the car?

the pinch welds have been messed up by someone using a floor jack on them. the underbody surrounding them has been dented in about 1 cm in 2 places. is this a common problem, and is it hard to fix?

the body of the car is in questionable shape, but it has the original gold rims, new suspension, bushings and a "new" engine. (car has 240k miles, engine has 80,700) the interior is pretty trashed, but im an upholsterer so im not worried about that. the engine runs strong, transmission is great.

all electrical bits work, but the reminder voice is for some reason super quiet. rust in many places, particularly on the bottom, near the wheels, and underneath all places where there is rubber trim/bumpers. also some general body work in the rear, and missing the front lower valance. the car is primer grey. all in all, it seems to be a 30 year old car that could use some tlc.

my question is, would this body be worth restoring? there is a U pull self service yard with 2 of these ready for picking nearby. i noticed both have the same problem with the floor support tubes and the pinch welds however.

also, we were considering making this a track car. so for a completely different question, whould i have to upgrade anything else to safely run a stage 1, 2 or 3 camshaft in this engine? no other upgrades have been accomplished, but we have been eyeballing a megasquirt as well.

thanks so much for your helpfulness, and patience with me and my wall of text!

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

As with anything, difficulty depends on your current skill level. Are you experienced in welding and auto collision repair? Indeed, crushed frame rails are a common problem for the 280zx. You can treat the rusted metal and weld up new support plates (much easier than ripping out the old rails and starting over from scratch).

The easiest fix is to grab a pair of vice grips, pull down, and then straighten with a pair of duckbilled vice grips.

"Worth" is all up to you. If you are fixing it to keep for a long time, then it may be worth it. Since the 280zx n/a market value is only $1k - $3k in good condition, spending thousands on a resto will only leave your bank account empty. I spent about $9k restoring my 280zx body.

Which type of track? Quarter mile or auto-x (full course) track? 1/4mi isn't even worth the effort on an n/a... a full course track will need a lot of suspension, brake, and motor work.

An upgraded cam is one of many things to consider, and definitely not the first. Since performance cams change the air intake, exhaust out, and valve timing, those things will also need to be modified: Larger intake, 60mm tb, bore intake neck, exhaust header & bigger exhaust pipe, bigger coil and ignition control.

Lots to think about. Search through the forum, we've discussed a lot of upgrades in detail. We're here to help.

 

Thanks a ton for the information Nismo! i absolutely love the car. it is so 1980's cool it's AWESOME! (look up the commercial) i wish i could get my hands on some of the louvres though. that would really cap it off. this is a car that i would like to restore for looks as well as road course racing. it's got all new struts and bushins, just needs some lowered, stiffer springs and some improved sway bars, and it should be good to go as far as suspension. im not a racecar driver, im just allergic to tickets.

 

so i have a problem. the crankshaft pulley/harmonic balancer is bad. the inner diameter is so rolled it almost looks like the inside of a krispy kreme. the key notch is almost completely worn away. im going to go check to see if my engine has a hole in it from rubbing. is this a pretty common issue? 3 junkyards with multiple 280zx's and no harmonic balancers to be found.

 

Yikes...

https://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx-appearance-exterior-interior-80/where-get-louver-mounting-grommets-31594/

Only when the crank pulley bolt is loose.

 

lol the reason is because louvres are 80's cool. they dont make them anymore, but just like those giant wings that were cool in the 90's, louvres and the side window louvre lookalikes were cool in the 80's. it would be better if they made urethane or fiberglass ones that could withstand the beatings those things must take.

so we've talked about it, and decided to wait on the cam. we are thinking of getting a stock 280zxt turbo and retrofitting it on the engine, if that is possible. i read somewhere that we would have to get new injectors and oil lines or something to make it work.

if only i woulda won that 640 million lotto last week. this car would be AMAZING again.

 

find a cheap turbo donor and take what you need. easier to swap the whole engine. you need the afm and the dizzy plus the wiring harness. the engine has the oil lines etc on it.

 

is there a way to supercharge this engine? imma have to look that up. turbo lag scares me. especially on these horrible spokane roads.

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=super...=hp&channel=np

Turbo lag? You plan on using a jet plane engine?

 

okay, screw upgrades right now. so we installed the new crankshaft pulley las night. all the belts are back on, and now we have a short in the fusible links box marked "acc" i plugged the battery back in and heard a fssssshshshshs sound and smoke came up, so of course i unplugged it as quick as i could but its still burned out.

last night my buddy crawled on top of the engine to try to work on the pulley and im thinking he may have knocked something loos or kicked something. is there any possibility that someone might know of an accessory that might plug in up there? i can see nothing visually wrong.

 

nevermind. fixed that problem. next problem! the engine wont start. would replacing the crankshaft pulley with the same one (except fixed of course) mess with the timing? the starter works fine, cranks over, but it wont start.

we've checked the coil- good spark
new spark plugs, gapped perfect.
checked fuel lines, flowing freely
new air filter

and yes, it has gas.

does anyone know what else i could check?

 

fried ecu. i put the battery on backwards for a second. awaiting parts now.

 

Hey ZZ glad the pulley got there on time! Also, if you haven't already, you can download an FSM for your car here:

http://www.xenons130.com/reference.html

That'll be a handy reference sorry about your ECU. You should check the FSM and see if there's an inline fuse you may have blown before the ECU that could have possibly saved it. Good luck!

 

too late. looked at the ECU, the cap in the corner exploded. the fuseable link blew too, but it was too slow i guess, and didn't save anything. thanks so much for the pulley! it was almost impossible to install though.

my crank doesn't have a full channel like yours, it has a half-moon shape inset in it about 1/3" into the shaft so we had to jam the woodruff key into the crankshaft, and slip the pulley over the shaft and key. stupid design.

BUUUUT its all installed. just waiting on the ECU now. thanks a ton!

 

Nope I definitely have that same fun-tastic style woodruff key slot :P it took me two nights to get mine on

 

so, i got a 1981 AII-###-600 ecu in. my stock ecu is the 1982 AII-658-800 ecu... should the car run and drive with this different ecu, or should it not start at all?

also, is it easy to burn out an AFM? How would i check to see if i killed it as well?

 

Well if it's from an '82 I'd think you should be able to at LEAST start the car with it. Is the car not starting with the new ECU? I would get the multimeter out, open up the FSM and start checking all relays, fuses, and fusible links. That + ECU seem to make up the bulk of the issues that happen after the battery is connected backwards.

 

i know i burned out a fusible link, and that has been replaced. the fuel pump primes like normal, and the ok light turns on... (not sure if that is useful for much...) the car cranks over, and started for a second, (only once) and turned off after about 2-3 seconds. now im getting the same thing as when the ecu was burned out. im worried that i might have fried the AFM... going to go on a road trip saturday for a new ecu, 6 hours total to pendleton, oregon.

the ecu i got was from a 1981, and my car is a 1982. i was under the impression that mostly everything was interchangeable from 79-83. i guess i was wrong there.


thanks for the tip though! i will go poke around with the multimeter and see if anything else died.

 

now taking a different tack... i keep reading that its not worth upgrading the l28e. is it feasible to make 250 hp with it? cause that is all i really want out of it.

 

You can make 300rwhp with an L28 NA - got lots of money to burn? If not swap in an L28ET...

 

The 81-83 ECUs are the same, the only difference being between N/A and Turbo. Are you positive you got a N/A ECU? I think its unlikely that the backwards battery damaged the AFM.

 

ok, got the new ecu, installed. and it doesnt start. it will fire up and turn off almost immediately, but only if you let it sit for a few minutes between atempts... sound familiar?

 

Well looks like you should start from step one:

Are you getting fuel? air? spark? Let's figure out what you're NOT getting then figure out why.

 

Yup my friend's turbo did that when the AFM connector was loose

 

yeah, i think we got it narrowed down now. we changed the fuel filter, which needed doing since it looked like it might have been the original lol... we replaced the ignition coil, seafoamed the gas, and tried starting it. still no luck.

so on a whim i removed the afm completely, and it will idle all day. i think that might be the culprit. we reconnected it, and it would run, so we took it for a short test drive, and it bogged down when under load. severe loss of power. we will be getting a new one tomorrow.

it will be nice when i have learned enough to help others out on here, i feel like a knowledge mootch right now lol.