NismoPick

Inspired by Apollo's thread "weekend chore," erbody post any updates on your Z, or recent work on it.

Today, I finished the wiring for the Z31T ecu swap, and swapped back in the original manual a/c & heater systems, as the stupid "auto climate control" sucks ***. I ran out of time today, but will should have it all back together & running by mid-next week.

SHADY280

well i dont have pics yet, but on fathers day im enter my car in the annual fathers day car show, it get about 1500 car every year, and being im the only datsun, i get lots of attention!!! lots of pics of my car go into peoples cameras every year. ill post some pics later, i just finished cleaning the car all day.

nismo619

in pictures 5 and 6 i know how that feelz i have had to take apart my dash a few times first was becuase i had a blub out.. sorry im very picky and next was becuase my heater core hose sprung a leak lol..

apollo

As most of you know, I was able to replace the shity MSA paper manifold gasket with an OEM Nissan metalic one. Took me about 2.5 hours. I started late in the day and took a lunch break in between removal and reinstalling everything. Damn its nice not having an exhuast leak. That **** was driving me nuts.

NismoPick

You're a Speedy Gonzalez! YeHa!

KTM200-280zxt

Nismo.. when is your car going to be running with the Z31T ecu? and what year 300Z is the ecu from? And as for me I got absolutely nothing done on my car.. I no longer have any where to work on my car so I am trying to come up with the money to have some kind of hard floor put in my garage.

NismoPick

Hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday I'll have it back on the street. I got the ecu for $20 on ebay. It's from an 84 Z31T. I also chopped the last foot of a Z31 ecu wiring harness from a junk yard, and got the distributor encoder disc as well (both were freebies). I've had a Z31 MAF sitting around for years (another freebie), so when I started hearing about this ecu swap, I figured I'd do it. It's nothing like Megasquirt, but for about $30 and about 5 hours of my time, hopefully it will be a good deal.

drlew

How's this for progress? Here's what I get for not doing it myself... I was having my springs/struts upgraded on friday. which turned into saturday. When I call to see if its ready, he says he accidentally put my stock springs on when he put everything back together. So he had to tear it all down again so I won't even see my car until monday... but I don't have black stuff under my fingernails...

WildmaN

Well if I am motivated enough today. I am going to change the oil in my Z. Fix the little annoying antifreeze, and oil leak. Then take off the exhaust from the cat back. Remove the driveline, take the other one out of my '81. Because it has fairly new u-joints in it. The clunking drives me nuts sometimes. Gut out the other crappy cat, mainly because all 4 bolt holes are good. If I really feel up to it, I am going to cut a few inches off my header pipe. So I can properly mount my exhaust in the right spots. And also get rid of my exhaust leak. I don't want to risk burning a valve. I may take pics of these little things, or not. Not sure on that one yet.

Now I am going to do a custom faceplate on my stock stereo. Will probably take pics of that, as I go. Okay sorry for the rambling, there is just so much I still want to do. And the ideas just keep flooding in my head. Will keep you all informed.

lww

Just keep ramblin', that way you have everything documented!

NismoPick

Are you a girl???

drlew

nismo - youre lucky I'M not a moderator, or i'd give you a 48 hour ban for that kinda talk...

...when I get my car back, I'm gonna...

man why didn't I do that stuff myself...

apollo

In my book dirty hands, cut up knuckles, crud under your nails and the smell of oil and grime is the odor of success. Its the gratifying scent of a completed day of working on your pride and joy. I love it and I know afterwards I did that. I didn't have to pay someone who only cares about the $ sign at the end of the job. I took care and patience when doing the work and know that when I'm driving it down the road everything has been done right. OK enough ranting.
Not tryin to bag on drlew, just sayin i enjoy workin on my baby

n00blar

Heh, yeah that brings memory...I did the same when my heater valve leaked. Really sucks having to take apart your dashboard, but it gave me the chance to get some new front speakers

Bleach

I made a couple block-off plates and installed them on Mr. Turbo engine and then started putting on a few little things like the thermostat, power steering pump brackets, water pump pully... and I also worked on my secret project which will be done in a couple days.
Oh, and I went to a park with my daughter and some friends on Sunday. My daughter played Gothom Racing (or something like that) on X-box at a friend's house. anyway, we picked the Acura Integra for her and asked her what color car she wanted... . "black" she's 4 years old
she drives that car like she's on a slalom course

gabrielzzz

this weekend was probably my most productive weekend, lately, ive decided to move on to the electrical of the car (82' 280zx turbo), you know, sensors and wiring, and cleaning of all the connectors...so i started off just doing some loose wires that were starting to fray, and i cound one wire that ran to the VCM that was half way out of the connector, and my car has been backfiring and missing lately, as i put the wire to the contact while the car was running, it completely fixed the problem, runs beautifully now, no miss at all, also took out the ECU and found out the previous owner installed an "84' ECU".....said 280zx turbo on it, but it has 83 crossed out and 84' written on it??? anyways, cleaned all the connectors on it, and fixed my problem with acceleration, before it would hesitate, and pop though the OEM BOV, now when i get into postive boost it takes off like a jet, almost scares me....replaced the cat with a magnaflow, got to us a MIG welder! and then replaced my fan shroud so i get good cooling, filled fluid levels, and replaced as much vacuum hoses as i could find. and then just replaced a couple interior parts, and the last thing i worked on at the end of the weekend was sanding down my rear window louver, im painting it gloss black, and fabricated some brackets for it. as i drove to work today, i couldnt have been more happy to drive that car, runs like a brand spanking new sports car...amazing what a little TLC can do for this car...and how much potencial these cars have locked up inside them waiting to be released...sorry for going on...still have a lot more to do...wait till next weekend, im sanding her down and treating the 2 only rust spots on the car.

gabrielzzz

looks like your raising her up right!

NismoPick

Your car wouldn't be running if it was an 84 ECU. The 280zxt & Z31 ecu's aren't compatible unless some rewiring is done. The Z31 also uses a MAF instead of an AFM... so if you are still using the door flap AFM, you don't have an 84 ecu.

And what color is the ecu cover? If it's black or gray, it's a 280zx ecu... if it's copper, it's a Z31 ecu.

drlew

OK, I finally got the car back... it looks pretty much the way it did last week, but I figure it'll be a few days before it settles and actually looks lowered. But all the new bushings are in as well as the new struts all around, which made a noticeable difference immediately once I got it on the road...

NOW... just for the record, I DO normally work on my car myself (or with help), but when I got the car in the air to swap my springs, I started to see a few things needing work that I knew would take me way too long to tackle...

When it comes down to it, I'd rather be behind the wheel more than under the hood... So hopefully everyone will forgive my transgretions and shortcomings... plus I look pretty damn good on the road!

NismoPick

Smooth cat! New bushings make all the difference! Are they poli-urethane?

drlew

yep, but I only got replacements for everything up front, and I still need to see what needs replacing in the rear. I don't recall there being more than a few pieces

gabrielzzz

exactly! thats what i dont get, it wouldnt be running as well as it is if it was an 84...it has to be an 83, but i dont know why they would cross it out and put 84, and the color of it is an army green...? same color as the ammo cannisters

NismoPick

That's a 280zx ecu. Prolly the same color as the bottom ecu in this pic (bottom is a 280zxt, top is a Z31) https://www.zdriver.com/forums/attac...2&d=1150592971

gabrielzzz

its definately not the top one, but it doesnt look like the bottom one at all...its a lot darker color and there are more connector inlets

NismoPick

There are only 2 kinds of 280zx ecu connections.... One long one for the n/a, and the 3 plugs for the 280zxt. YOU HAVE A 280ZXT ECU... there's no other ecu that will plug right in & go. Post a pic of your ecu.

EDIT.... here's one from ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-...75177964QQrdZ1