RodMoyes

So I've been dicking with this car for a little over two years now. Had such lofty plans for it and it just seems like I get further and further behind on the project as time goes by. When some stupid sonovbitch isn't hitting my car in a parking lot, or when it's not getting mauled by high speed runaway shopping carts and getting dropped off over and over at the body shop, there's always some little mechanical gnome that I have to chase. I have to spend a crap load of money again to pass smog now. Cost me 1200 bucks to pass smog two years ago, now my 2 year old oversized 3 way cat is toast, the EGR uptake tube is broken and it's a PITA to find a new one so I'm having to custom fab it. I buy a new radiator only to have it get whacked out in a month by a runaway drive belt. Now I've got little cancer bubbles coming back through at the base of the windshield... all that was supposed to be gone. I originally was going to do all the work before driving it, but I love driving it so much that I've tried to make it both a project car and a daily driver. It's not working, and everything has cost way more than I planned. I'm at least 15K into this car right now and it's still a turd compared to what I had envisioned for it. All this time, I've been wanting a Z32TT... that's been in my plans all along. I was going to have both but now I'm really starting to wonder how realistic that is. I know the Z32TT is going to cost me way more to customize and maintain than this car has. I'm about ready to just chuck this car all together. I love it, but it's draining me mentally, physically and financially. It still doesn't have the body kit, I need to replace the right front fender now (again) because it's just not right. I'm not finished with the interior, haven't even really started on the motor... ugh! Plus I keep getting conflicting opinions on wether to just build up and turbo my motor or swap it over to a L28ET and then build it... "Don't turbo the N/A motor" "Yes you can turbo it but..." dished pistons VS flat pistons... P90... N47 WTF!? I'm over it. I'm seriously thinking about just unlaoding it and finding some old man who bought a black on black '96 Z32TT brand new... drove it 500 miles and then parked it in his garage and giving him whatever he wants for it. I think the thing slowing my decision is that fact that the 280ZX forum is lively, cool and helpfull while the Z32 forum is like a ghost town. I don't know what to do, but right now I gotta go outside and wax the MFer again before the sun makes it's way around.

Rod.

NismoPick

Ah... you are a TRUE Z'er now! You've seen the light (or darkness). I got so sick of my Z for a time, that I shoved it in the back of the garage & didn't look at it for about 4 months. Take a break if ya need to, and then when ya come back to it, you'll be ready for more!

icice9

just be greatful you never owned a Porsche....

duowing

Rod, I understand exactly how you feel. You just can't get anything to work right. My 300ZX went sorta like this. The car overheated, dropped revs, didn't shift correctly from the start, was leaking brake fluid, had a ticking coming from the timing belt cover, had a grinding on the brakes, and blown struts. Oh, and the body was ****. We pulled it apart, and found we needed to change the Timing Belt, Water Pump, Thermostat, and Radiator. We changed all that, put on a new Cap and Rotor. Everything was running well. I dropped the money to get the exhaust after the cat repiped, and had the front and rear struts as well as mounts replaced. Here I am thinking all was well. I drive it to my friend's house. We wired up the CD Player(which is now in my 280ZX). Finally we get the CD player wired up, speakers sound like garbage, but hey we had music. I pull it out of the driveway, the thing starts missing, the alternator starts failing, it's blowing blue smoke everywhere, it was burning coolant, it could barely even hold a rev. We tried to fix it and got to the point where it wasn't worth it considering the body was complete dump. I drove the car a total of 28 miles and suck about $1200 into it. I was considering buying another 300ZX that was 2 houses over from my Uncle's, but a little ways down the street was the 280ZX that I now own and am glad I bought. But I understand exactly what you mean, you have plans and nothing gets anywhere simply because everything else screws you over.

RubberBerner

wow...wish i didn't just buy one now lol. THANKS A LOT ROD! I think everybody who has a project car that hasn't been running right in a long time feels the same way. I have a 240sx thats I've owned for 5 years...about 4 years its been under construction, and maybe a total of 1 year driving. So i know exactly how you feel. "It's ALWAYS something!" thats how i feel.

RodMoyes

Hey Ice, I DO OWN A PORSCHE. I have an '87 930S that so far has bent me over for about 150K! The difference is, I bought that car brand new exactly 18 years ago today. I expect the 930 to rape my wallet. It's still like new though. It's pretty much just a show car these days. I don't feel the love for the porsche like I have for my Z cars.

By the way... just determined that my air regulator isn't working. That explains the rough idle and running like ****. Also explains why it won't idle at all when it's cold. Now I just need to go figure out why it isn't working.

Rod.

NismoPick

LoL... Yep, trying to get rid of my 924 turbo now.

pete8717

Rod that is a BADASS Porsche

007max

hah i was about to drop $1800 on a stripped down 944 with a roll cage when i found my 280zx for $1300 less. figured what the heck and bought the 280. 9k miles, and one new radiator later (the old one blew the day that i picked up the car) i'm quite glad i went with the Z. i drove it from AZ to NY in 2 days without anything breaking (though the hood emblem did bail on me somewhere in the middle of Texas ). i don't think i would have had such luck had i bought the Porsche. i say don't loose hope and stick it out with your ZX, it is a great car and pretty fun to work on, something i can't say about my daily driven '95 maxima. putting headers on that car required dropping the motor and 3 days in the garage. i figure it would take me about an hour to throw a header on the Z . including all the mods i've done (the new wheels cost me more than the car), i still have less than 2.5k invested in the ZX, and i like driving it a lot more than my maxima on which i've easily spent 3x as much.

i say keep the Z!

RubberBerner

Oh rod will keep the Z...he's just frustrated right now. By the way, beautiful slant nose 930s! I had one for about 2 or 3 years, but it just wasn't my thing plus the oil filter was 19.99 lol.

jfairladyz

Don't be a ***** Rod It's bad enough you've given up on the Chargers. Don't give up on your Z too. Besides, who else is going to keep us in check when we start making **** up? lww can't be here 24/7 you know Stick it out for another 2 years and if doesn't work out then give it another 2 years

Carl's Z

I'd do what Nismo suggested, and take a break from it for awhile. Frustration isn't going to do you or your Z any good. Park and cover it for a spell, eat up the streets with that AWESOME Porsche, and come back to her later. You'll get back in the mood after awhile. I really wouldn't want to see ya leave the 280ZX forum. Your too valuable here, and your Z is WAY better looking than mine, and I'm sure in better shape as well...

icice9

thats one sweet slant nose 930 Rod.... i had a 928 that at first i thought had a blown head gasket.. after getting into the engine a bit more i found i had a cracked head.. so i replaced it and evertyhing else i needed.. stratred the car and it ran fine... for about 30 min.. then it started smoking again.. turned out i also had a cracked clynder block. called the dealer to see how much a short block would cost me.. $20,000 yes thats twenty thousand dollars.. dude thats more than the cars worth.. i musta dropped over $4,000 into just replacing the head and radiator. all the lil gaskets.. and i still needed a paint job and tires and interior work.. so i said screw that.. collect my losses and put it all into my 280..lol keep the Z man.. dont lose faith..

s/cL3.0

How much?? IM me I want one..

RodMoyes

364 Day's after I bought my Porsche, I threw the timining chain at about 9000 RPMs. That was a seventeen thousand dollar exhibition of speed. After crying and cursing to pay for the rebuild, I decided I would become a "Kinder Gentler" Porsche driver.

Rod.

lww

You guys are too funny!

I know how you feel Rod. I had similar issues with my '82 280ZX. Constantly fighting the maintenance bogies, dodging the shopping carts and having the salty roads rot it from the inside out.

I finally came to the conclusion that it was better to find a new good chassis and just transfer all the good parts into the new car and scrap the old body.

I've finally come to the realization that the car I WANT to drive is NOT the one I should drive every day. The Honda gets daily driver duties, the Durango is the parts carrier and trailer hauler, the Subaru is the family grocery getter and the Z's get weekend duties, periodic track duty and every once in awhile I'll drive one to work during the week just for giggles. Of course, I've only driven the 280ZXT twice since Jan. 12th...

I don't know who did the body work on your car Rod, but Rust is an evil bastard that will come back to haunt you unless it's completely eradicated. That damn window ledge is a PITA to get completely cleaned up.

Take a break and let it sit under a cover for a few months. Catch your breath and you'll be back in the saddle again.

I've found any long term project can make you a mental basket case if you don't have something to take your mind off it before you go into the looney bin.

Cheers,
lww

WildmaN

Hey Rod I know how you feel about the Z. But don't give up on it, it has potential. I mean look at me, I have had my '82 for about 2 years now. And I have not got to see what he can actually do! He just sits there with his sad face. And it depresses me, like you wouldn't believe. But the way I have always been, is I am stubborn and determined. To give my Z the glory he deserves. After all the crap the previous owner put him through. He will get the ultimate treatment from me. And I am damn determined to bring him back, the way he should be. And taking out ricers, and such.LOL

By the way I think your Porsche is tight as hell man. You could paint it white with the Martini decals, and call it Jazz! LOL But seriously though, keep the faith man. If I can do it so can you. And you are verry helpful on this forum. It would suck if you left, don't go man. Keep the Z! Keep the Z!

RodMoyes

I wouldn't leave the forum even if I did dump the car... This place is too cool.
It's funny because like lww was saying. this 280ZX isn't the first one I bought with lofty intentions. The first one (81) just kind of unravelled as I went along. Rust was a huge problem with that one. This one only had a tiny bit of rust and was over all in good shape. I'm just frustrated with it right now. I'll get over it. Thanks for keeping me in check. I'm still buying a Z32TT though no matter what.

Rod.

jfairladyz

With the Z32 atleast then you'll be able to put the 280 in the garage to work on it full time instead of trying to drive it at the same time.

RodMoyes

The only problem with that J is that the Z32TT has it's own maintenance Demons... Just ask any of the guys in the Z32 forum (When they aren't too busy fixing their cars) and they'll tell ya

Not sure I would want a Z32TT as a daily driver either. I just want one. I was thinking about maybe picking up a '04 Sentra SE-R Spec V for a daily driver or something.

That rust at the base of the windshiled... I'd say they killed about 95% of it when they did the body work. The area that came back (Very small area) is my fault. I knew the windshield seal was leaking and I didn't replace it. I got trapped in that whole "If it doesn't make my car go any faster or look any cooler... I'm not spending the time and money on it right now" kinda thing. I guess that bit me in the ***.

It will be going back to body shop soon anyway. I'll just have them knock out the rust then and replace the windshield and seal while they are at it. It's time for a new windshield anyway... mine has the usual rock chips and 25 years worth of scratches in it.

I do think that it's time to take it off the road for a while though so I can catch up with some of its needs.

Rod.

lww

Did the body shop do the windshield installation the first time? If so, I can almost guarantee they didn't use gloves when they re-installed the windshield. This probably left body oil on the edge of the window and prevented the sealer from properly bonding to the glass resulting in the leak... It's also a safety issue in modern windshields as the sealer is an integral part of the crash worthiness of the windshield.

Everytime I see one of the 'resto' shows on Speed channel and they're handling the edge of the glass with bare hands I cringe!

RodMoyes

I'm sure they removed the windshield, but they didn't put in a new one. You're probably right tough (as usual).

Rod.

lww

Those things have to be absolutely clean when you install them.

See if you can watch 'em do the install next time and give them a rash of **** if they don't clean the edge of the glass and use gloves while handling it!

RodMoyes

Getting dropped off next week at the body shop again. Going to have them kill the rust spot, replace the windshield, fix the left front fender (see previous post about lame beeyotch throwing the door of her truck into it), fix right front fender (still has some iffy spots from repairs done after car was stolen last year), re-shoot all affected areas of car and wet sand/polish... again. From there, it's time to fix all the smog related BS. Replace EGR uptake pipe, rewire injectors, CSV and all other connectors in that area (I.E. TPS plug etc...), figure out why air regulator no worky, figure out why CVS no shooty, replace CAT (again), replace cap rotor, plugs and wires (again cuz it's cheap, easy and beneficial to passing smog), Figure out what weird sound is coming from the rear end (Only hear it when coasting at slow speeds... sounds like a freewheeling ten speed bycicle if you put a pillow over your ears), then hopefully... smog the damn thing and not worry about it until 02/07. Then, I'm hiding it in an underground bunker unitl 12 hours before the 2006 MSA show next May. Otherwise, I don't know if I can control myself when another runaway shopping cart or car door makes another booboo on one of my fenders or doors.

Rod.

ZedZilla

Stop that Rod. You're looking at the top of the mountain and at all the obstacles in the way to the top. She's a looker already! That's one step accomplished......and you know what you got to work with to make her what you want her to be. No surprises.

Baby steps baby!