DatsunZ78

Hey guys, I hope I'm posting this in the right location and that I'm not gonna get a bunch of bashing being a semi-new guy to the Z scene. I've been a fan of the Z's since I was a kid and I got it from my mom, who owned a 82 Datsun 280zx turbo. She was a light red color, with t-tops, and black interior.
Well the thing is when I was a kid our family kind of went through a time of trouble with money. My mother loved her car, like you have no idea. We were doing so bad with money that she had decided to sell her. Every year around the time she sold her she puts up pics of her on FB, talking about how she missed driving that car, with the t-tops down and music blaring.
Now that I am out of the military, and actually have time to do my own thing more often than when I was in. I dreamed of going to school to become a automotive and diesel tech. Which I am currently in the school under Universal Technical Institute out of Phoenix, AZ. Far away from home. I didn't have the money to get down here to use my GI bill for my education. So my mom being the amazing mother she is, forked over almost $5,000 to get me down here, money that was used for food, apartment, plane flight, etc.
Anyways you got the picture up to this point. (Hope I didn't bore you guys)
Well I wanted to do something to thank my mother, to show her how much I love her. Thus the reason for this post and my dream to make something happen for her that I know she'll love. I thought for a long time on how, and what I should do for her. The same idea came to my head. Rebuild her a 280zx, but make it better than she ever remembered it.
Thus is why I'm here posting this. Hoping I don't anger someone, with it not being related to the field I'm posting it in (If so forgive me, I haven't been on a forum in over 5-6 years)
I found a local man who rebuilds 280zx's. He was selling it for $2,000, but I was able to talk him down to $1,200.
The vehicle is in kinda of a rough shape, but she runs, and she's strong.
The current problems I'm focused on is she needs new shocks as the ones on her now are completely blown out. New tires (The dude is actually a really good man, but all his "fixes" are from part cars that he owns, nothing is new. Which is ok, but not what I'm needing) and she needs an alignment.
First thing was first.. To see if she had any seal leaks, so to be an ***. I took her to the nicest car wash in town. The cars that were going through the wash were a brand new Shelby Mustang, and behind me was a New Ford Raptor. You should have seen the sneers I got as I rolled her onto the belt. (They watched their cars get cleaned through the glass) I leaned back looking at the T-tops, and the back hatch, thinking that was where the water was going to come gushing in. To my surprise nothing came through. Needless to say I was shocked. Pulled her out, and just like my 78 Datsun 280Z (with a SBC) as soon as I got her at WOT. She whipped out "drifting" down the road til I got to the light, and the water was off the tires.
Showed her off to a bunch of my friends and current classmates from school. All of which fell in love with her.
I guess now would be the time to talk about the current plans for her.
First off I come from a small town, of only 30,000 people. So auto shops are kinda hard to come by, and no body knows how to work on this Hydraulic based fuel injection that is the 280zx engine, and I may not be around to work on her whenever she's down.
So a engine swap is in the works, depending on $$$ and time. She will either receive a 350 SBC, with a 700R4 trans (Sadly she is a standard, but luckily thats not a biggy when it comes to something this old) Or what I really want to do for fuel economy, and reliability. Is do a 5.3 LS (Silverado truck motor) and a 4l60E trans. I know the precautions of that kinda build skyrocketing in $$
but the only thing that truly makes the ls a harder, and more expensive swap
compared to the SBC is the kit needed to be fabricated (As I can't find one online) as well as the wiring harnesses, and ECU's needed to run them both.
(and from what I hear, the steering shaft angle needs to be modified) The plan is to have the 5.3 bored to a 5.7 and use a LS1 engine rebuild kit, and the LS1 crank. (Still doing the research on all that so don't me)
Anyways, other than that I have the plans to upgrade the audio in the vehicle. One of which I'm doing a head unit that offers satellite radio as I currently have an account that is presently active through Sirius FM.
The interior is maroon color, and needs new, re-upholstered door panels, door handle pockets?, a dash cover, seats, and carpet. All if not most of which will be done after the swap as there is no need to have to tear into the newly replaced carpet and anything else that may need to be modified for the swap.
The total plan for the audio is to take out the cabinets that are behind the seat and have a sub box enclosure built in their place, With a 6 channel amp, feeding two subs, and all four speakers. Hopefully dynomated components that need it as well.
As for the seats. I am hell bent on getting electric 350Z seats, and the wiring needed for them to work. (heated seats as well!) have the seats re-upholstered to match the current interior color. (Another worry is the mounting for the seats, if I have to, while the carpet is out for the engine and trans swap. Have someone weld in the brackets from the 350Z seats in place of the old seat brackets.
Possibly get the "build a dash" from intelletrix (however you spell them)
An aftermarket alarm system, that also allows autostart.
Fix, or figure out why the rear wiper doesn't work.
Aftermarket HID/ or similar headlight kit (I bought the brightest bulbs for my 280z and I still couldn't see crap at night. )
Hopefully a MSA Body Kit (I hope they are any good? ) and a small, small wing.
Repaint her a 370Z red. (factory based colors are the cheapest paint jobs to do)
Going to hit up the junkyards this weekend for parts as ebay sellers want your left nut and then some for their parts. Some of which were spray painted another color to match interiors (Like for real?? )

Hopefully I've typed up all I have planned for her. I'm planning on having her down by next year Dec time frame. Might be a little longer, depending on jobs (Since I'm using my GI bill, all living expenses are covered, so any money earned would go toward the build) and allotted time to do the build.
I don't plan on falling off this course, nor am I going to try to. I want to get this build done for my mother. For all she's done for me. I can't think of any other better way of showing her how much I appreciate everything she's done for me.
Btw since I obviously forgot to mention.
My names Nathaniel
I'm 26, and originally from Oklahoma.
Did 8 and a half years in the service as a light infantrymen, and not that I care to mention, but someone always asks. I've done three tours. 2 in Iraq, and 1 in Afghanistan. Was stationed at Fort Riley, Fort Grafenwoehr, and Fort Bliss.
If anybody has ideas on how to help me on ideas, and/or knows someone who builds engine mounts and trans brackets. I would appreciate the help.
I hope this build goes over smoothly and that I have every ones support along the way. Thx for reading this far. I plan on putting the photos up of her and her progress as I go. (Also once I figure out how to even put pictures up)
btw if anyone actually knows me or hits me up on FB, or whatever.
Plz don't mention anything about this on there. As I'm keeping this as big of a secret as I can from her. I told her I was buying a Mitsubishi Eclipse as daily trans, and I actually need to get some decoy pics to "prove it". lol
If I can figure out how to post videos up, I will also do so. Just need to know how! lol

zxguy1986

Welcome to ZDriver!

Pick up a freebie factory service manual at XenonS130 - S130 Reference or http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html . Full of great testing and inspection pages, pretty easy to follow.

Still not clear on your model/year/tranny - so if you are going to post here and get good feedback, do us all a favor: Sign in, go to User CP menu (upper left), click Edit Signature and add your Z model, year, shifter, turbo or NA, etc. Saves you having to add it to every post. (Guys here go crazy if you don't lock your Q to your specific Z every time you post...They just ignore questions without enough info) Then click Edit Avatar and add a little Z pic under your nick. Cool. Now you are solid here.

Look forward to seeing your work on that special Z! Be sure to post some pics soon as you can. We all love pics and get to relate.

Thanks and welcome again.

DatsunZ78

Alright thx zxguy1986!
Sorry I've been out of the Forum scene for a long time. Hopefully I got my signature down right? This will technically be a test.
Also how do you put photos up on posts? Do I have to use photobucket or similar?
Thx again man! Glad to be the "newbie" here! lol

borini63

Nice story Nate....I like!
Welcome to the forum.
Let me know if you need anything.
If you need any info on the swap you can ask Sakura Garage in Tempe AZ(sakuragarage.com) also the search will help here and Zcar.com and Hybridz.org
Jamal

DatsunZ78

Thx Borini63! I honestly never heard of Sakura garage, but of course I've heard of the other two! lol
I have an account under Hybrid underneath the same name as well. I'm used to with the world of the Z's and my 620 that I had to have memberships to stores such as Pep boys, Autozone, OReilly's, and a local auto part warehouse just to find parts for my vehicles. So it just comes natural that I'm probably gonna need to do the same when it comes to forums, as well as purchasable parts!







Figured I'd post some pics as I said I plan on getting the build under way soon. I want the pics up of her as I progress through the build so that when I'm done with the build I can present the car to my mother, and then use this page so that she can see what she started as and what she ended up as.

zxguy1986

Man, looks to me like a fun restore! Congrats again.

While you're talking to 'junkyards' you may as well hit the best of them. Whenever you are looking for a part, check out car-part.com. Huge number of recyclers use it. Go there, enter your data, USA only, pick the part you need and sort your search results by distance from your zip code. This will locate the recyclers who are nearest to you and have the part you want. Most of them have 1-800 phones to call and discuss. If you are lucky, you can drive there yourself, check out the Z body right on their lot - and negotiate for all the parts you want. You will save big bucks if you can do that. For parts that no recycler has, you are stuck with Ebay and other on-line searches. Bigger bucks, of course.

Keep us up on your progress. Thanks for the photos! Hot Z

borini63

Nice Z and a lot of potentials.
Sakra Garage is a michanic and they know Z's.
Also we have a local Datsun club from 1985 and down called desertdatsuns.com
Let me know if you need anything or help on any work on your Z.
Jamal

borini63

desertdatsuns.com • Index page

DatsunZ78

Alright the plains are changing a little bit, due to the fact that I'm only wanting to make about 350 hp to the wheels. After some research and talking to fellow engine builders. I've decided to just stick with the borderline stock 5.3, with the exceptions of putting a ls6 intake manifold on it. The 4l60E trans will still be the choice for helping that power get to the ground. The main concerns with this swap is the LS conversion kit for a 280ZX do not exist, but from some research. I have found a possible alternative. There are kits out there made to convert the mounts for a SBC, into the LS mounts. It's just a simple metal plate that the stock SBC mounts bolt to. Which in turn bolts to the LS. Only three concerns I have at that point is that it will raise the engine a small amount. So unsure on the angle that the driveshaft will be sitting at. (It's not much of a lifted angle, just a concern that is still evident.) As well as all these SBC to LS swap kits mount the LS at different locations. Such as pushing the LS forward, or backward. (Measurements will be needed, and the knowledge of the actual spacings will be needed, as most kits don't seem to give that much of an estimate on how far forward or backward it mounts to the LS)
The other concern is that people who have done the LS1 swaps, have also cut their oil pans to help fit the LS without modifications to the ZX body. I had an idea to get a 5 quart oil pan from "GM Performance". Which is made to clear their tighter spaced muscle cars of the older models. Going to do some measurements, and hope all will work out fine.

DatsunZ78

Thx man! I will dif look into that. I have a handful of junkyards I plan on looking into this weekend. One of which has pictures of every vehicle in their lot, as well as the year and model. The main thing I need to replace is possibly the rear driver side panel, the passenger front panel (exterior wise, passenger side will probably hurt me the most) and the maroon interior door panels (driver and passenger), and the door handle pockets?. Reason I'm checking the junkyards, with the knowledge I'll probably be leaving empty handed for what I need. Is cause the door panels I need. I found on ebay, looking brand new, but the guy wants $200 for the set!!
Major ouch!
Also possibly looking for the steel trim that goes around the passenger T-top, as well as the actual T-Top that has the steel trim on it. (Somebody tried painting the trim on the passenger side, or it's a stock black, possibly?)
Other than that I know I need a Dash cover that matches the dash color, center console, and buying new carpet after the swap.
Oh and wanting to put 350Z seats in it still. Still working on that idea, and how they will mount to the current vehicle seat locations.

zxguy1986

OK two recyclers here have told me that they review every car on their lot every year and list any car over 25 years old for the crusher. Crushed to the size of a refrigerator and sold by the pound. They say it's because the market for parts drops off quickly after 25 years and it costs them to keep the corpse on a limited-space lot. Better for them to buy newer models on the cheap and store them in the cleared space. If they have space, they will remove the tranny, motor (maybe), alt, radio, ECU and other items easy to store and list. Everything else (doors, seats, wheels, interior, electrical, gets crushed. If I owned a 280, I would be contacting every recycler within 500 miles of me to see what they have today.

I believe in recyclers because I have literally kept two Z31s on the road and running perfectly with their help. Nissan not only drops OEM parts from their inventory but they charge an arm and two legs for the parts they have. Plus you can usually show up at the lot, be nice and get to inspect the Z corpse in person. I bring a yellow marker and show them what parts I want. Great prices and same or next-day service. As for your 280, her brothers and sisters are being crushed out of existence daily. I wouldn't wait too long.

zxguy1986

The End.

DatsunZ78

Ya man I know what you mean. When I said Junkyards. I'm also talking about recycler's. I never heard or knew a difference until you said something on it.
Two of the ones I'm going to this weekend have a picture inventory of all the vehicles they have in their lot. One of which has 4-5 280zx models
The other one I went to before and they had 2-3 280zx, one of which looked like it went through many rollovers, before catching ablaze. (no bio-hazard sign so no one died in it I hope)

Now for the updates! Went and picked up my shocks today!



I would install them tonight, but I got a test tomorrow that I need to study for. So hopefully I'll have time tomorrow evening if it doesn't rain (Weather channel says we will have rain)
When I got my shocks into my car I noticed something that isn't common, but I own one myself, thus caught my eye fast.



The man rode into the Autozone parking lot with this beautiful piece. Same year model, engine as mine, but mine is a king cab, and no where as nice!



Guy just got it back from the paint shop today! Prior to that it was at a shop getting re-upholstered!



Man was she a beautiful sight! Made me miss mine a whole lot more! Can't wait to be able to start the work on her again!
Well I checked his vehicle out, and came to find out he doesn't know to much about vehicles. So being a car fan, and a Datsun obsessed freak. I looked it over while I was drooling over it. Noticed that he was completely empty on his fluid for his clutch! So I told him he most likely has air in his system now, and that it would need to be refilled and bled in order to get the air out of the system. Also he was asking about seat belts, since he has bench seats I figured he could use the same seat belts for a standard bench seat equipped vehicle (like a S10?) His brackets for his normal seat belts that go into the B pillar were gone. (Probably bondo'd out for the paint job?)
Anyways he had a complaint about how he only gets 65 mph out of it and it's a 4 speed. Told him to get the 5 speed trans out of a 82? Datsun 280zx non-turbo and you'd get a higher mph out of it. Should be a direct swap, minus idk about the slip yoke on the trans side? I figured you maybe able to get one there Jamal.
Told him I'd give him your info if you know anything about the 620's or if you just an expert on the 280zx. Either way if you can find out if you have that trans and a $$ amount for one I'd appreciate it! With the LS swap I plan on doing on my 280zx I'm re-using the 5 speed for my own 620 back at home! lol

borini63

Nice truck....

Let me know if you need any help.

DatsunZ78

Just if you have any spare 5 speed manual trans from a non-turbo 280zx. He said he'd buy it off you if they do indeed bolt right up to the L20B (Same series as the L28E. As far as I'm tracking everything was interchangeable between the I4 and the I6 minus the obvious)
Idk if you pull any engines out yourself, but if you do helping him with a install would def get you more customers if you do. He had like 2-3 of these, and had just sold one the other night. A green model one in fact.
Anyways thx man appreciate any help!

DatsunZ78

Sorry anyone who has looked into, or is on this now. Been busy since last weekend with school. (finals were coming up) and last Saturday. Spent all day changing the shocks/struts out, and got her new tags on her (naturally I went with historic vehicle tags lol)

(Video of her on the dyno for emission inspection, Dude loved her after he actually got her rolling! He tried to check the gas cap for the checks also. They didn't have a cap that was able to fit it! So she was just passed on that! lol)
(Hopefully the videos I post up work, not sure what else I need to do to get them to run)


Had forgotten to get the coils for the rear (and couldn't get the fronts anytime soon)


(Sun's up)
She's up, and having her struts removed with the grateful help of Jamal


Buddy Jamal showing me how to get the hubs off.


Had to step on them while pulling the "hats" off cause the shock wanted to spin with the tool.


Shocks were stuck inward. Poor girl has been neglected for a long time

(hope I posted that right for the video?)


Shocks were made in Venezuela lol


New shock is in. Just needs the boot, and the coil spring!


(Sun down!)
Doing the rear shocks! These were Hell of a lot faster! lol

(Video of the rear shocks. They were stuck extended)


I'm dirty and exhausted as a mf!

borini63

NICE!
My body was sore for couple of days.Lol
Good luck with the rest of your resto!

DatsunZ78

Hey everyone! Sorry again about posting on here, currently waiting on car parts I've purchased!
I have got black under dash kickers (converting the interior to be black with a twist)
Brand new black door panels, plus handles, armrests, and switch trim.
Dash tach trim (black)
Black glove box.
Black A/C location
Black steering column cover
I am going to be getting the headliner, and trunk black trim from Jamal (Borini63)
as well as the manual air, and side dash vents.
Now for the twist!
Just purchased firethorn red
kicker panels/passenger side fuse box trim, door trim, arm rest, t-top trim, hood latch release!
Just need the Black/Red Nismo 350Z seats, Carpet, center console, dash, and the lower part of the dash!
Getting car audio installed today as well!





(NEED!!!)

borini63

Nice seats,you need to modify the brackets little bit....I love the color compo.