Beyondsmiles

hi everyone, (didn't see an intro forum, so i apologize if this is in the wrong place)

just got myself an '81 280zx. always liked the look of these cars and came across one for a throw away price so i scooped it up.

according to the po they used it for several years, parked it for one, then drove it across ontario, parked it, and its been sitting for a month... yea, maybe. of course, they indicated the battery was dead so i couldn't here it run.

since its an '81 and who knows hows it been taken care of, i assumed that most; if not all; things on it are broke, rusted out, or in need of some type of repair.

the overall body on it looks pretty good... surface rust in a few places, not a big deal. of course the floors are rotten away, but the rails looked pretty good. may be able to salvage them. won't know until i take a really good look. the engine looks fairly clean, but the oil in it looks like black sludge. lol. yea, drove it a month ago.... the coolant looks really good, maybe recently changed... who knows. all of this doesn't matter since the car was so cheap.

i figured when i bought it, depending on what i find as i fix it up, will leave me with 3 paths to take with respect to the project. in order of how good of a car i'm starting with.

1. restore it from the ground up with original parts and sell it later as a classic restoration - all original, etc, etc

2. fix it up to make it reliable and road worthy... pass safety, emissions, etc and sell it later as a mode of transportation that looks great.

3. part it out. not my most wanted path, but if i find something major that i can't fix or the cost is just too much, then for parts it goes.


sorry for the long winded post... but i'm pretty excited about this thing.

which brings me to my first problem.....

i figured since the battery was dead, i'd start by jumping her and see if she'll even crank... geez, who knows, it may even start... that would be cool as it would be easier to move it around my crowded driveway.

i go to put the jumper cables on it and i get a large spark. what the??? of course i don't force the connection and double check that i've got them right (been working on cars for more than 20 yrs)... yup, its right. i just touch the battery post and a large spark. so i give up on connecting the jumper cables and disconnect the battery cables to see if maybe the battery on the zx is shorted or something. go to put the jumpers on the zx's battery cables and same thing... large spark. so i get out my trusty meter and check the resistance between the two cables and viola... about 10k. aha. something is shorted.

looking at the fsm i dont see anything in the starting circuit other than the starter that could be shorted out. so im thinking a starter rebuild is in order. it may be the ign switch, but i am going to take a whack at the starter.

does this make sense to everyone? anyone else seen such a low resistance between the positive and negative cables before?

thanks a bunch to all that reply.

evandubya

the battery may be shorted, but the starter is a good possibility too.

WanganDevilZ

Check your fusible links?

Mine had the same problem and the battery would drain overnight.

The PO had messed around with the starting wire, and cut one of them on the fusible link, repaired it, is fine now, no sparking, and it holds a charge.

Beyondsmiles

Thanks for the replies folks.

well, i checked the fusible links box and sure enough one of them is corroded away at the blade. ok, after pulling it all the way out and rechecking the resistance between the 2 battery cables, it has now risen to 24k. hmm.

the thing that doesn't make sense is that there are no connections from the positive battery cable to the fusible links. there are no wires. its just not there. the positive battery cable to the starter looks fairly new, so maybe someone replaced and bypassed all the links. hmmm.

the previous owner had a stereo in it as i have found all the wiring in the back. so maybe they shorted something and for whatever reason bypassed the fusible links.

i should see wiring from the positive battery cable to the link box, correct? or at least a separate wire(s) from the positive battery cable going somewhere. there is just one large cable going directly to the starter with nothing else continuing from the starter.

Beyondsmiles

Hi all,

I put an intro in the main forum, but this one seems to be getting all the traffic so...

It looks like the PO removed the wires going from the positive battery connection to the fusible links. Or I'm losing it.

The only wire I see going from the positive battery connection is the main + wire to the starter. Am I missing something? Is there a big 'Duh!' in my future.

Isn't there supposed be some other connections from the positive battery cable that go to the fusible links?

Thanks

p.s. why the heck does this board ask me to log in every time I change a page or try to do something simple like post a msg? And I can't upload a pic of the car.... file is jpg, 520k, 1280wide, 960height

NismoPick

Merged threads... no need for 2 threads with the same problem being discussed.

The sub forums don't have "more or less" traffic, most people view the newest posts by clicking the "New Posts" link up top.

FricFrac

Address the rust first and see if the car is even worth fixing. I think you'll find that depending on how much the body work cost you it would be way cheaper to buy a solid southern car. At this point in time restoring these car isn't going to get your $$ back - in the future possibly but not right now... Importing from the US is cheap and easy to do.

Beyondsmiles

Thanks Nismo!

And I found the post that explained 2 posts before pics.

And it looks like the need to relogin every page has gone as well.

Anyway for those pic hounds, heres a pic of the ZX.

Dream or nightmare? Too soon to tell.

Rereading my first post, I'd like to clarify that 'selling it later' is well after I've had my fun with it.

Beyondsmiles

I see what you mean Fric.

But I'm going to take my time with this thing. Work on it when I can.

I'm doing it more for the challenge and joy of accomplishment as opposed to any immediate gain. I plan to take as many pics as I can so that I can have a complete journal of the things I run into.

I expect this to take at least a year or two. Maybe less, maybe more. Maybe a lot more.

And then as long as I don't need to take option 3, I plan to enjoy the car for a while.

I plan on doing all of the work myself. I have some bodywork and mechanical experience, so I'm hoping that most of the expense will just be the materials.

Besides its a great reason to visit the garage.

NismoPick

There should be at least 1 positive wire going from the battery to the fusible link box. Maybe pull up the box to see if there are wires chopped? And you've never had this car running then?

As for the project, it's all up to you. I bought my 81 280zx for $500 when I was 17. It was a complete rust bucket, and I spent several years restoring it.

13 years later... it's still not done.

Beyondsmiles

Thanks Nismo.

I guess I need to look at this thing from the FSM point of view and ignore the stuff I see. Check all the wiring etc. and not assume any portion of any system has not been touched in some way or another by someone.

The po had it for about 8 years and there were 7 individual owners before that so anything and everything could be missing, hacked, hidden, etc. There is extensive stereo and alarm wiring in it as well which I'll end up ripping all out so that I can start from a known base.

Yea, I've never heard it run. Engine could be toast. Block could be cracked, rings gone, who knows. When I bought it I told the po I'll assume the engine will need to be rebuilt and used that to shave another $100 off the price. I got it for $300. I figure the local auto scrappers will give me a couple hundred bucks for it just for the metal if it is that bad. Or I could sell parts off of it over the next few years to make up the difference.

This is my first tow away so it'll either be a 'live and learn' or 'what a great idea' experience.

You've been working on yours for 13 years huh? Definitely a labor of love then.

These things can make great hobbies and I'm sure you must be beaming with pride over yours.

Can't wait till mine looks that good.

NismoPick

Actually I hate mine... but it sure is fun to drive.

WanganDevilZ

If you do plan on parting it I'd like to have first spot on your sparco seats.

Your electrical problem isn't the end of your car. If you had the wherewithal and time you could re-wire the entire car with a painless kit (only looks intimidating) and replace 30 year old wiring. My fusible links made me rage face too, PO cut the wire and fed it to the starter or some crap, not 100% sure, but it drained my battery alot.

Don't give up. These cars turn heads and are a blastie to drive. First day I had mine (without a front bumper or aid dam, and with paint coming off) I got a few positive comments on it.

Stay in thur!

Beyondsmiles

just an update...

didn't get a chance to look at anything else on the 280...

other family vehicles had problems so the 280 got moved out of the garage over to the far end of the driveway...

it will more than likely sit until spring...

winter sucks.

WildmaN

Well one thing I do know is, that Z's are harder to come by in Canada. According to Shady280. So if you got that Z for that cheap. You are already ahead of the game. It looks to me, to be in pretty good shape. Share some more pictures. So we can see more of the car. And good luck with your project. I have quite a few myself. lol

SHADY280

hehehe, yeah getting good datsuns up here costs money. you guys in the states are lucky that way. mr. smiles, that spark indicates a large draw, could be a the starter or alternator stuck in one spot. try disconnecting them one at a time, no spark means you found it. sometimes its just a screwed up battery. try pulling the batt and bench charging it. or swap one of your many cars batteries. try starting it, youll be happy you did. i bought my rust bucket 10 years ago when i was 17/18 and now look what i got.

Beyondsmiles

... more pics of my 280 can be found in the 'Photo Gallery' under my prof name.

any comments, ideas, etc appreciated.

WildmaN

Just checked them out. Nice 280zx man! It is the same color my '81 slicktop was. Minus the silver on the fenders, hood, and tops of the doors. It looks really clean, should be a fun project. You got a good deal. If you need help, tips, or advice. Feel free to ask us. Good luck man.

lww

Post pics of the rusty spots and we can tell you how hard they'll be to fix.

The battery tray looks like it's in bad shape. That's not really the bad part, that's under the battery tray where the dirt, leaves, water accumulate and the rust migrates into the firewall and the inner fender. That's when the real work starts...

Beyondsmiles

Thanks Wildman, looking forward to getting started on it in the spring...

lww, can't really take any good pics of the rust now, since its parked over in what roughly looks like a mini snowbank until spring... however, when I originally looked at it, I had gone to this forum and found the links to 'what to look for' when buying one and had noticed that the battery tray was shot. The floors under both seats are shot, but I had given the rails a good kick when I was looking at it, and they seemed really solid... won't know for sure until I get it apart in the spring. Theres also quite a bit of surface rust in the back hatch area on the passenger side... so I suspect it had leaks at one time or still. But everything else on the car (doors, hood, fenders, etc) seem to be in really good shape for its age. The po (for about 8 years) said he never drove it in the winter, but I'm sure the ppo's did.

Once some decent weather arrives, I'll be doing a lot more to it and I'll keep the forum updated on my progress.

And yes, I'll be asking a ton questions here.