Good morning, got a question, but a little background info first. I'm the 3rd owner of a 1983 280zx 2+2. It has 89K on it; has been garage parked for the past 5yrs; until a week ago it hadn't been started in 9 months or so.
Had it towed to a mechanic friends and he let me dump the tank, replace fuel hoses & filter. Oil change & radiator flush. He looked the car over, said it's sound, but will need stuff done- which I knew when I signed on. I am not a mechanic, but am mechanically inclined.
Knowing it's a clutch problem, I've searched the forum, perused the FSM.
Now for the question- in replacing the master and slave, are there any specialty tools that are required. And how difficult is it to do? I will not be at the garage with a mess of tools, so it would be helpful to know what I'm getting myself into.
Thanks in advance...

 

It is really a very simple process of replacing the slave and master on your Z. To get to the master a few pieces like the windshield washer tank will need to be unbolted and set aside. Remove the dust cover on the linkage to get to the clip, I replaced the rubber hose next to the slave when I did my s30, change yours if it looks worn or cracked. When you get it all back together its a bit like bleeding brakes. Print out the few pages in the FSM in the clutch section that cover the process and have them on hand,( I have a binder with clear protective sleeves and I fill it up with pages from my FSM that have all the good stuff, then I don't get my printed version all greasy) it will be a quick process, so just take your time, be careful that the hose doesn't get near hot exhaust.

Specialty tools the only thing I had was a special opened end wrench made for brake fittings. Flare Nut Wrenches, they slip over the hose so you get a little more contact on the nut(east to strip outside)

 

Thanks much. Went and picked up the parts, will let you know how it goes. Printed FSM pages and watched a few tutorials on boobTube -I mean YouTube- it does look pretty straight forward. I figure, if I reconnected the fuel system correctly, bleeding this thing shouldn't be too hairy...

 

And don't get any brake fluid on anything you don't want taken to the bare metal


( I don't know what the guy in the post below me is talking about :P)

 

..and by oil you mean brake fluid

Also you need to take the retaining pin out of the clutch pedal to remove the clutch master... just held in with a cotter pin.

 

Is it the 'Thrill of Victory' or the 'Agony of Defeat' you ask? How often do you pick up a set of wrenches, and they're not cut right?
Tomorrow is another day....

 

Better post picture, because they should be cut wierd.. did you look at the pics I posted ?

 

Ya, I did look. And yes, it was a defective wrench. Rare and weird. They swapped the set for me- had no problems after that.
BTW, the inside of the master cylinder looked like mud, not to mention the dried gasket/sealer goop someone put on the mounted end.

 

Sounds like it was long over due for a good service, it's always fun to discover PO's handy work. So was it harder or easier than you expected ? Like most wrenching you can do on a Z it is just getting in there and doing it, everything is relatively strait forward.

 

At least 10 yrs overdue. As for harder/easier than I thought, I think it's more daunting- I don't want to mess something up, or get in over my head and be stuck. Still have to do the slave, being new to this, I didn't realize that its got to be jacked for that... Sooo, other than stuck bolts that need WD40 and left handed wrenching, not to mention the contortionistic moves to get under the dash- I'd say it was easy. Thanks

 

If you stretch and use feel instead of see you can do it from the top. Its not too awful that way. I did mine that way when mine froze and broke the seal this winter. Its down below the starter. Good luck.

 

Well, I got the clutch slave done. Jacked it up- could not reach from above. Next will be the squealing belts and the thermostat.