jfairladyz

And those dont look like the friendliest cars to work on either (if you're talking about the 3KGT). Atleast when you've gotta replace something on these old Z's it's no problem to get to anything.

Lost Vegaz

That's the truth. It's a standing joke, between me and some of my friends that own a 3000 GT, or Stealth, same car. What's the part # for the 3 foot Asian man with the back wards hands. The one that put the motor in at the factory. Why don't Mitsu have a part # on that sadistic son of a bit*h. Nissan needs to have one too, the Z32's have like 0 room to reach anything, without pulling half the motor. I love the 280's for that room. I can pull anything out that engine bay with out having to do some magical oragami on my hands. You know twist em 90 *, and upside down to get to that bolt that's behind that thingy and under the other thingy

jfairladyz

Yeah, the Z32 is just the same. Just looking at the engine bay of one of those makes me depressed. When my buddy had his we were ripping that thing apart all the time cause he either got a new part or something needed replacing. Everytime we popped that hood we'd just sit there and smoke a couple cigarettes and stare at the engine knowing what we were in for It's not that it's a hard car to work on. It's just tedious having to remove stupid stuff to get to other stupid stuff that needs to be removed. What you would have to roll under his car and remove the under pan and a turbo to get at you can just pop the hood on my ZX and reach in there blind folded and get to His car was funner to drive but my car was funner to work on

But I'll tell you what: Neither car even comes close to my father in laws full size Ford Van (Econoline I guess ). The engine is under the dash and the opening to the engine compartment is just big enough that if you had Rick Moranis' cool machine then you might be able to squeeze in there I popped the hood on that thing and told him hell no. That is one vehicle I would definitely pay someone else to do the work on. It looked like the engine would have to be dropped just to change the plugs and that was just not worth it to save him a few bucks.

Lost Vegaz

Well ladies and gentlemen, project 1980 280 ZX is dead. Seriously dead. Me and that car must part company.


I had a couple burnt out lights in my garage, so today I changed the overhead tubes. Really nice and bright now. I walked along the car and noticed a line running from the middle of my rear side window, down to the wheel well. Never noticed it before. So I grabbed my makita, it still had a green polishing pad on it. And started removing the paint. Got through 1 layer of black primer, 1 layer of white, and hit the pink. Oh NO, knew right away, Bondo. NOT BONDO, I hate bondo. Okay, so I just let the pad sit there, and about a 1/8 inch down. I quit and grabbed a grinding wheel. About another 1/8 inch down I finally hit metal. Someone cut the rear quarter out, and pop riveted another one in. But they never pulled the metal all the way out, or welded it, so once I removed the bondo the seam started to lift up. So I grinded like 6 deep lines down the drivers side rear quarter panel. Yep the whole right rear side is about a quarter inch of bondo. I tried to find the rest of the seams of the patch panel, I didn't find em, but you can see, in the area I grinded away big gouge marks and still rusty crushed metal under neath the bondo. And it goes from about a inch behind the door jam, all the way to the tails, which are actually about a 1/8 lower on that corner, than the other side. So that body is garbage as far as I'm concerned. I'll call the wrecking yard tommorow to come get it out of my garage. So very disappointed. Now that my lights are really bright and I am able to see everything really good. You totally see where it got crushed, and covered in atleast a 1/4 inch of bondo. Good bye my baby 80 Z. Almost brought a tear to my eye.


But have no fear, I may have hit a small set back, but I am no where near done. I am going to go look at a 79 tomorrow. The guy really wants to sell and said he would take $250.00. For it. It sopposedly runs and drives really good, we'll see. From what he said, his ex girl broke out all the windows and beat up his hood. If that's the case, I got all the windows, and a perfect hood. Soposedly she didn't get any of the other panels. I'll keep my fingers crossed. And keep your fingers crossed for me.

jfairladyz

Man that sucks. I hope the new car works out for you. Just keep the old one until you know what parts you'll need off of it. You've already got a whole car pretty much to pick off of. And if the new one runs good then you're already a step up from where you were Good luck.

WildmaN

Man that is a bummer dude. So much for trying to keep you going on your basket-case.[stick out tongue here]LOL Anyway, it does sound like a big mess. And hopefully you get the '79, and it is pretty good shape. For me, my Z should be running by next weekend. I am pretty sure of it, anyway I will talk more about it on my threads not yours. But keep us informed about the other Z. And I agree with J on keeping the '80 around until you don't need anymore parts. Good luck to you brother.[wink here]

Lost Vegaz

Woo Hoo, we are back in business. Got the 79, I bought it as a rollin shell, motor sopposedly runs good, tranny and clutch are sopposedly good, going to start swapping body panels, His woman beat the hell out of it. Every window is smashed, the front end got just beat up. But that is okay, I have the body panels and interior out of my 80, So everything will be good. Going to swap the front fenders and doors and rear hatch and all the glass. And since it has no interior, I can fix my dash, before I put it in. I should get pictures up really soon.

How do you take off the trim from around the wind shield?? Oh it is also a 79 hard top 2 seater, just like my 80 only straight. We are back in the game.

WildmaN

Right on man, that is great to hear. Good that you are back in action. As for the windhield trim. You are probably asking about the weatherstripping to take it off. I have no clue on that one bro'. That is one of the few things, I haven't done to my Z as of yet. But if you need any more tips, and such. Especially about the interior. I am pretty sure I can help you out there. Anyway good luck to you, and post pics ASAP.

Lost Vegaz

Took out the right front fender and the head lamp bucket, Did the same to the 80 and swapped em. I have some alignment issues and now I have to get the door off, and do the alignment. That woman beat the hell out of the doors and the fenders. But the good news is my 80's are perfect. I can't believe how light the fenders are. They are just stamped steel. Really light and easy to remove. I like that. Just aligning is a pain in the a$$. Just have to take the fender off again and swap doors. Then I need to find a person to do the windshield. I took the rear side windows out and got the hatch off the 80. Now the hard part is putting em on the 79 straight

Lost Vegaz

We are making progress. I got the trim from the windshield off and the rear glass is all out of the 80. Tonight I aligned the doors and fenders with a thin strip of steel. Using it like a go/no go gauge. So my door and fender gaps are good. Door closes smoothly. Swapped my hatch and got that all ligned up. Now I am onto the side windows. I am having a bitch of a time cleaning up what is left of the old windows, so I can install my 80's windows in the 79. Then get some one to help install the front wind shield. After I get what is left out of there. Some thing funny though, I found a piece of rebar in the car that might have been used in the attack. And when I took the front seats out, I found a box of condoms, with the reciept dated 2 weeks before I bought the car, and in the storage bins behind the seat was a matching set of bra and thong. Really nasty but still funny. Luckily I had rubber gloves on at the time so I threw it away. Along with all the other junk in the car, the carpet is trashed and so is everything else. So the 79 is starting to look pretty decent, good thing too. The neighbor that I all ready had a problem with called the home owners assc. on me today, complaining about how I have a wrecked car in my drive way. So they called me and gave me a warning, no biggie, but a annoyance. So I need to get the windows in asap. Screw the interior for now, don't need anymore crap from that neighbor.

Oh, has any one fiber glassed there dash? I was toying with the idea as mine is all cracked and faded. And the over lays from MSA or Victoria all look cheesy to me. Oh that is all for now. More to come, so stay tuned

jfairladyz

So I guess now you know why and with what the ex bashed the car up for. I mean if the car was the scene of the crime then that would explain why so much aggression went toward it.


And if you're going to fiberglass your dash be ready to put in a lot of work. You'll be doing a lot of sanding to get it perfect. But it can turn out really nice if done right.

WildmaN

[ The neighbor that I all ready had a problem with called the home owners assc. on me today, complaining about how I have a wrecked car in my drive way. So they called me and gave me a warning, no biggie, but a annoyance. So I need to get the windows in asap. Screw the interior for now, don't need anymore crap from the neighbor.

Tell that neighbor, to mind his own friggin' business. I really can't stand people like that. That is one big reason, why I would never own a nice home. I can't stand the homeowner's association. They can suck my you know what. And I just can't stand stickly bitchy people. Anyway just throwing out my opinion, those kind of people get under my skin.

jfairladyz

Yup being from SoCal I know all about home owners associations. Especially after living in Temecula where there isn't a neighborhood in that city that doesn't have homeowners. It blows. I mean it's good in that it keeps the neighborhoods nice but at the same time they get a little ahead of themselves too. I mean I got a warning once cause my GARAGE was too cluttered? WTF I've gotten warnings about having too many cars parked in my OWN driveway (3). If I was so much as spotted with a tool in my hand while near my car I could guarantee there'd be a letter from the association in the mail soon. I think homw owners associations are a good idea, but man do they need to reform their rules. If someones dumping their trash in their lawn then thats when they should step in. But some of the stuff they intervene with is just ridiculous. If it's YOUR house then these people should NOT be able to tell you what you can and can not do with it (except not to dump your trash in the lawn )

Lost Vegaz

The neighbor that called is the one that I had the problem with. I guess it makes him feel better to call and complain. But that is okay, so I put a tarp over it, which the H.O.A. said was fine. And there meaning of a wrecked car is no windows and flat tires, so once I put the windows in, no more problem. But yeah, screw the home owners association.

Lost Vegaz

Didn't get much done this weekend. Just messed with little stuff. Since the old owner stripped parts off it, either to sell or use for his other ZX. I went and replaced some engine parts. I had a 6 ft section of stainless braided fuel line and like 10 clamps, so since my car didn't have the section of fuel line that goes from the hard line to the filter, and the rail. I also had a fuel pressure gauge and new inline filter. I made that line with the gauge and filter, and connected it all. Made a little bracket for the filter, so it mounts in the stock location. I then ran the new braided return line back to the hardline. Looks pretty nice, removed my fuel rail from the 80, painted it black and reinstalled my injectors, and installed it on the 79. I still need to pull the dizzy and other stuff from the 80 and put em in the 79. Tell you more later as more stuff gets done

lww

Way to go! For someone who's 'Lost' you sure seem to be findin' your way pretty well!

HOA's are a good idea in concept. Unfortunately, the only people that want to run for HOA office, have no life and a desperate need to make themselves feel important by imposing their feeble will on someone else in a meager attempt to make their own pathetic lives have some semblance of meaning before they f*&(ing die...

jfairladyz

Poetry, Sweet Poetry

Lost Vegaz

LWW, thank you. By the way, I still have that mani, the one that goes to the carbs, did you want it still. I completly forgot about it.

At least I am not alone in my hatred of the H.O.A. That makes me feel better.

I am leaving the body alone for now, I decided to see if the motor actually runs and if the tranny actually shifts. I guess I should have done that first, but oh well. I guess I forgot a step. So putting everything back together. And since the 79 has no dash, I'll have to figure out how to start it without a ignition switch. I totally went backwards on this car. I started on the body before the engine!! Woops, who needs a engine anyways. So putting everything missing back on the engine, to atleast see if it will start. I hope it is a good engine, I really do hate pulling motors.

lww

Yes, I'll take it! Also, I just sent you a note on another thread about the Euro mirrors that were on my ZXT. I didn't have any of the boxes you sent the other stuff in, so I don't have a return address.

I'll just use the one off the intake manifold when it gets here if you still want them.

Cheers,
LWW

Lost Vegaz

LWW, sweet, hell yes I'll take the mirrors, and thank you. I'll send that mani out tommorow.

Lost Vegaz

Crack heads should not own cars. Doing more stuff on the Z today. And found the injector harness cut off by the body grommet, and the remaining wires just laying there and no ecu. Luckily, I have the parts in the 80. But such a aggrevation. Why would you do that?? I don't know if the previous owner was trying to restore it after the attack, and got lazy. Or after the car was attacked it got stripped, but then cutting the harness makes no sense.. And the tail light harness got cut out too. So I am kinda stumped on this. All I can say is there should be a law against stupid people doing stupid things to cars. If this car was not a 79 hardtop, I would take it to the junk yard myself. But even though it is not the rarest Z, it is still a first year ZX hard top. And the body is in great shape. End rant

Lost Vegaz

HAHAHA, I took out the remaining carpet from the 79, and what do I find?? 2 of those glass crack pipes, or meth pipes, I can't tell the difference, and a needle. I got the neighbor from down the street, who is a metro cop. I explained the situation and he came with and picked em up, after I gave him some rubber gloves, and threw em one of those disposable needle bags and threw it in the trash. I was not about to touch that stuff. After all, he has been trained to deal with this crap, so he can deal with it. Guess I really did buy a car from a crack head. LOL. That explains the shape that this car is in. So besides the stripped car, the broken windows, the cut to hell harnessess, the bra and thong, and the crack pipes. Funny thing is the guy I bought the car from still has the dash and all the interior and trim. But now I don't want to even try to go pick that stuff up from him. I have his #, but I think I'll just keep sswapping everything from the 80 to the 79 and leave that guy alone. I guess it is better to just say screw it, then to go near this person. After everything I learned from this car, this person seems to be really screw up, and probably avoided.

Lost Vegaz

Got my engine harness swapped over, throttle body is off and ready to go on, then have to put in the cold start valve and all the other stuff on the mani. Got the fusible link thingy in and a drivers seat. Have to wait to get the windshield in before I can finish putting all the door trim and seals in. I am doing a rush job, so it sucks because once I hear it run, I can start all over. You know polishing parts and getting all new parts, and making it look really pretty. I know I am making twice the work but to hell with it. I have never driven a 280ZX, so the suspense is killing me. Besides then I get to feel the changes, rootty suspension, bone stock motor, ragged *** appearence. Then the fun work, UPGRADES, I love upgrades

Lost Vegaz

Getting the windshield in tommorow. WooHoo. Just having a hard time working on the Z. I think I'm over welmed with how much work is still left. Will I ever get to drive a 280 ZX??? Who knows, we shall Z

EatmyDust

In the future if you want to do an engine swap I came up with a good idea, just put a hampster on a wheel under the hood and tell me how that turns out. get it tell me how it turns out