View Full Version : Here's my daily Z..
sirkus
08-03-2010, 01:27 PM
Figured I would introduce myself.
It's a 1976 280z 4spd. It is bone stock, other than the headlights and wheels. I believe it has around 220k miles. (reading through the maintenance records).
I recently bought this car from Zakalicous.. and I've been driving it daily since.
The first plans for it is to get the body in perfect condition. It has very minimal rust (a few little surface spots here and there). I am saving right now for the primer/paint/clear and after that maybe a swap. Although I was thinking about keeping the stock engine in it and do a mild build on it.. but a 1jz/2j just seems too sweet.
But anyways.. here's the pics. Hope to see some of you guys around. :goodjob:
(and I'm no pro photographer.. lol It's always point and click)
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun1.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun2.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun3.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun4.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun5.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun6.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun7.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun8.jpg
http://www.x2sirkus.com/imgs/280z/datsun9.jpg
Turbodude06
08-03-2010, 02:24 PM
That thing looks really clean man....
Glides
08-03-2010, 08:19 PM
Super clean car. Good stuff.
I've owned numerous Z's. The most fun i've had was with a small block Chevy. I've had a 306 Ford, 350 stock, 383 Stroker and an RB25. The MOST fun was the 383 Stroker. I would personally leave the L28 in it until it shit the bed. I liked my stock 260 motor in my white one, that's why the car went from that to the 306, then back to the stock one, then to a small block 350, then back to the stock one...then to the RB25. Stock motors can be fun man.
quickdodgeŽ
08-03-2010, 10:14 PM
Beautiful car, man. I love it, but...
. but a 1jz/2j just seems too sweet.
You have a Datsun. Not a Toyota, lolol. Later, QD.
JessAlba452
08-03-2010, 10:59 PM
Niice ride it's really clean and I love the tag haha :)
sirkus
08-03-2010, 11:22 PM
Beautiful car, man. I love it, but...
You have a Datsun. Not a Toyota, lolol. Later, QD.
Thanks man..
I'd much rather have a L28et or a RB25 in it. I'd also like to keep it in the Datsun/Nissan family. It's really a money/power issue when it comes to me and the 1j/2j.
I know I would also enjoy the 350 swap.. but I don't want to slaughter the car. The more original it can look and sound, the better. I can't have a fuel cell hanging from under the car and have people expect to to be in the least bit stock.
NewGen33
08-03-2010, 11:27 PM
I approve :goodjob:
Glides
08-04-2010, 10:21 AM
Lol. My 383 car that I just let go of ran stock tank, 5 speed swap, no butchering. The only difference in mine was that the trans sat a little to the passenger side of the tunnel so that the center console didn't fit quite right. You can drum down the mufflers, run A/C on it if your car came with it and it will be enjoyable specially if you don't go to radical with it.
My advice, RB25 swap. Straightforward swap, you can get the motor and a 20 trans on the cheap, and it makes decent enough power for a car to drive daily. L28T....never put much faith in them for some reason. Plus with the RB, you get the straight 6 howl in the exhaust.
sirkus
08-04-2010, 12:19 PM
Lol. My 383 car that I just let go of ran stock tank, 5 speed swap, no butchering. The only difference in mine was that the trans sat a little to the passenger side of the tunnel so that the center console didn't fit quite right. You can drum down the mufflers, run A/C on it if your car came with it and it will be enjoyable specially if you don't go to radical with it.
My advice, RB25 swap. Straightforward swap, you can get the motor and a 20 trans on the cheap, and it makes decent enough power for a car to drive daily. L28T....never put much faith in them for some reason. Plus with the RB, you get the straight 6 howl in the exhaust.
Drum down the exhaust? Lol.. It'll still sound like a salty little pisser. I am leaning more toward the RB swap now. After reading some specs, and actually trying to call around for prices. I can find them for less than a 2j and about the same price as a 1j with a 5spd. Stock they seem to put out a good bit of power. In a car that sits around the 2300lb range, it would be some very fun power. I think something such as a 383 would be a bit of over kill. Looks good, sounds great.. but I would go through back tires like a bulimic fat girl with a wedding cake. :D
So I can still run my stock tank with a v8/rb25 swap? Why do so many people go to fuel cells? Rusted out or something? I dropped the tank about a week ago to see if I could fix my gas gauge and I was surprised to see no rust. I was also surprised to see that someone had wire nuts on the wiring to the sending unit.. which wasn't holding.. apparently. I guess that's the fun part with a car that's 34 years old.
The car originally come with A/C and all of the parts are there.. but several hoses are dry rotted and it won't charge. It will need all new hoses and seals. It just blows my mind that so many people do swaps and don't keep things like A/C if they can. I always assumed that most swaps don't include A/C because of cost, but it seems to be well worth it.
Are there any benefits going with the R34 neo6 RB? Or should I just stick with the blacktop r33 RB? :thinking:
sirkus
08-04-2010, 12:25 PM
That thing looks really clean man....
Thanks man! I sold the Accord to get this.
Niice ride it's really clean and I love the tag haha :)
Thanks :) I didn't know what else to get. I tried to get WTF RLY.. but I got a notice in the mail saying that it was rejected. Figured it wouldn't have made it that far though.
I approve :goodjob:
Thanks man.. you have a pretty sweet Z too.
Glides
08-04-2010, 01:12 PM
Drum down the exhaust? Lol.. It'll still sound like a salty little pisser. I am leaning more toward the RB swap now. After reading some specs, and actually trying to call around for prices. I can find them for less than a 2j and about the same price as a 1j with a 5spd. Stock they seem to put out a good bit of power. In a car that sits around the 2300lb range, it would be some very fun power. I think something such as a 383 would be a bit of over kill. Looks good, sounds great.. but I would go through back tires like a bulimic fat girl with a wedding cake. :D
So I can still run my stock tank with a v8/rb25 swap? Why do so many people go to fuel cells? Rusted out or something? I dropped the tank about a week ago to see if I could fix my gas gauge and I was surprised to see no rust. I was also surprised to see that someone had wire nuts on the wiring to the sending unit.. which wasn't holding.. apparently. I guess that's the fun part with a car that's 34 years old.
The car originally come with A/C and all of the parts are there.. but several hoses are dry rotted and it won't charge. It will need all new hoses and seals. It just blows my mind that so many people do swaps and don't keep things like A/C if they can. I always assumed that most swaps don't include A/C because of cost, but it seems to be well worth it.
Are there any benefits going with the R34 neo6 RB? Or should I just stick with the blacktop r33 RB? :thinking:
Nope, you can make that thing quiet as a mouse if you want, you will sacrifice some power, but you can do it.
A 383 is overkill, but suprisingly, it hooked up pretty decently. You of course could get the rear end loose as a goose, but if you wanted control, you could get it very easily.
I would do the RB25 and i'll tell you why. A. It's Nissan, B. it's decent in stock config (as you said), C. it's pretty common and D. it's mostly stock. You can go with a Neo6, but why? Stick with a 25 with a decent turbo and use the computer. It's balls simple to install and since it's stock, it's plug and play. Install and drive. No tuning, no tweaking...nothing. The hardest thing will be the driveshaft and that is as easy as measuring and taking it to the driveshaft shop.
The A/C is the biggest downfall of most swaps. When I was young, I took A/C off of everything simply because I was stupid and thought that the minute savings I received would somehow translate to blistering speed on the street. Now, I don't want a car without it. The Galant I just got is on it's way to getting the A/C back on it. Rerouting the intercooler piping if need be, whatever it takes to get it back on there, that is if I keep it. So for me, any swap needs to have it. To do a swap on a factory A/C car and not hook it up is fucking stupid. Pay the little bit extra and get it hooked up.
You have a great start.
cVon128
08-04-2010, 01:58 PM
Nice car man! Glad to see people rocking the old school Z's. I plan on getting a 280 soon and building the L28. I also have good resources on rotaries and probably will eventually do a 20b in one. The engine bay in those cars will hold nearly any engine with the right setup. I have seen alot of people doing LS v8's but I'm a fan of sticking to brand (or country lol because a 2j would be nice too). Good luck with your build and post some pics when it's finished!
sirkus
08-05-2010, 01:02 AM
Nope, you can make that thing quiet as a mouse if you want, you will sacrifice some power, but you can do it.
A 383 is overkill, but suprisingly, it hooked up pretty decently. You of course could get the rear end loose as a goose, but if you wanted control, you could get it very easily.
I would do the RB25 and i'll tell you why. A. It's Nissan, B. it's decent in stock config (as you said), C. it's pretty common and D. it's mostly stock. You can go with a Neo6, but why? Stick with a 25 with a decent turbo and use the computer. It's balls simple to install and since it's stock, it's plug and play. Install and drive. No tuning, no tweaking...nothing. The hardest thing will be the driveshaft and that is as easy as measuring and taking it to the driveshaft shop.
The A/C is the biggest downfall of most swaps. When I was young, I took A/C off of everything simply because I was stupid and thought that the minute savings I received would somehow translate to blistering speed on the street. Now, I don't want a car without it. The Galant I just got is on it's way to getting the A/C back on it. Rerouting the intercooler piping if need be, whatever it takes to get it back on there, that is if I keep it. So for me, any swap needs to have it. To do a swap on a factory A/C car and not hook it up is fucking stupid. Pay the little bit extra and get it hooked up.
You have a great start.
Thanks man.. A/C will def be in this cars future. I will be going with the rb25 swap. Considering it's support and power specs it seems to be the best candidate for the 280.
I was wondering.. all of the bushings and stuff for the front/rear end are shot is this car. Next time I jack it up I will get a photo to express how I mean "SHOT". I do not understand how this car keeps the steering straight as I'm going down the road. I believe every bit from the shock/springs/bushings and even rear diff oil has NEVER been changed. I'm going to check around for master bushing kits for it.. considering Nissan quoted me 431.81 for just all of the rear bushings (I got a quote when we took the cube for it's exploding fuel tank recall) which I though was ridiculous. I bought a set for an 82 camaro z28 and it run me around the 100$ range about 8 years ago lol. It needs them bad. Has a small clunk in the rear when you push on the throttle. It has lead me to believe it's either tranny mounts or rear mounts.. but after looking at them all.. GOOD GOD they all need to be changed. I might be tackling this issue before paint. :(
I also noticed I have a small coolant leak starting. It's most likely a dry rotted hose.. but I shall further investigate.
sirkus
08-05-2010, 01:19 AM
Nice car man! Glad to see people rocking the old school Z's. I plan on getting a 280 soon and building the L28. I also have good resources on rotaries and probably will eventually do a 20b in one. The engine bay in those cars will hold nearly any engine with the right setup. I have seen alot of people doing LS v8's but I'm a fan of sticking to brand (or country lol because a 2j would be nice too). Good luck with your build and post some pics when it's finished!
The 20b is a beast.. I wish to god I could have put one in my old 90 vert. I've had 3 rx7's and I've loved them all. I would have kept the vert if someone hadn't of offered me a SI with a b18c5 swap. I've had a 85 with a 13b, after I sold it I bought an 87 GXL. After it was totaled I moved on to the supra's and stuff. But a few years ago I picked up the 90 Vert that was 100% stock. Still had the factory BBS's on it. I did a couple mods to it to make it look good (JDM FTP lenses, tinted windows 15%, new tires) and then someone offered me a trade I couldn't refuse. :)
But thanks a lot.. The 2jz is always screaming my name. But after much research that rb25 is the leader of the pack. I will use this as my build thread. Any and all mods that I do will be in this thread from no on.
qwick
08-05-2010, 01:27 AM
I love these cars, but i just dont have what it takes to buy one and maintain it lol.
looks good man.:goodjob:
TheTrott
08-05-2010, 06:53 AM
Haha nice to see my old car has changed hands so many times, also the milage isnt even 100k yet, just letting you know
I still need to check it out dude lmk what day you're not working
integra938
08-05-2010, 08:20 PM
I LOVE IT
TheVengeance
08-05-2010, 09:16 PM
wait.. Glides you ALREADY got rid of the 383 Z?!?
sirkus
08-05-2010, 11:36 PM
I still need to check it out dude lmk what day you're not working
I might be off saturday and sunday.. I will text you with my new number..
I LOVE IT
Thanks :) Trade ya z's :)
Haha nice to see my old car has changed hands so many times, also the milage isnt even 100k yet, just letting you know
Did you ever register it in GA? I had the lady at the tag office check past owners and she said there was 3.. I become the 4th, but it was last registered in Tennessee. I had to have the cops come and check vin#'s to verify it wasn't stolen. I know the guy I got it from never registered it. So I'm not sure whats going on there. You do anything to it? :)
wait.. Glides you ALREADY got rid of the 383 Z?!?
Lol same thing I said..
Glides
08-06-2010, 03:41 PM
wait.. Glides you ALREADY got rid of the 383 Z?!?
Lol yeap....gone baby gone. I move fast on shit brother. :)
TheVengeance
08-06-2010, 08:24 PM
you really are outta your coconut my man.. you really are gone..
zakkkaliscious
08-06-2010, 10:26 PM
glad you are enjoying it, i miss that car. no i never registered it. sorry if that caused you any issues.
Glides
08-06-2010, 10:50 PM
you really are outta your coconut my man.. you really are gone..
Haha I know it,....but only on Thursdays man.
TheTrott
08-07-2010, 03:02 PM
Yeah i registered it for an entire year with a tag and everything, the only mods were the headlights and wheels, the seats cost a small fortune, the car runs perfect plus it was always maintained, great dd wish i didnt have to have sold it
nasser92eg6
08-08-2010, 02:32 PM
pretty clean car to be old..nice
I agree with Glides, enjoy the L28. I converted mine to carb because I was having issue with fuel/vapor lock during the winter. Get MSA header, 2.5 pipe to a free flowing muffler with no cat. That thing fucking roar! The L28 open up sounds fucking addicting as hell. I'm the bastard that screamed down I-75 around midnight on the weekend, waking up everybody. I will drive that motor till it blows up then start thinking about motor swap. Really glad to see people putting love into the S30 again. I'm only 26 so the people I tend to see with that car are double my age hahah. Would be glad to see your ride.
rb25detZ
11-23-2010, 10:19 PM
Z cars represent!!!
Seven
12-06-2010, 05:45 PM
I was wondering who was going to finally buy that thing, little rough but has major class and poten. I have the GUN Metal carbon fiber 240z with RB25det big turbo 5**hp, If anyone is to tell you the in's and out's of the rb swap I think I would be of some help. I may have some parts you could use if you were interested then pm me. Im an OverKill guy so I say pull that old motor out and place it in a bubble...put a newer heartplant in and beat the hell out of some pavement. The Power to Weight Ratio alone is far above any Super Car you could buy for 100K. The old motor is for history buff's that wanna put the car in the old folks retirement home and bring it out for parades....Brotha when driving a Z with 400 - 5plus Viagra would be candy compared to the fun you will have.
chaseamundo
01-13-2011, 11:32 AM
i love these cars !
Rocking out in straight pickup status lol
dilbeckskate
04-20-2011, 01:57 AM
great looking Z man, allways loved those things
Rotorypolo
04-20-2011, 09:25 AM
hi, beautiful car, minus the 1jz part =) If anything, stick with the RB series and stay Nissan all the way.
If you want a good paint job, a great guy, and an experienced person who has done many old school vehicles, and relatively inexpensive, then I have the right person for you. My good friend Chris Allen has been in his business for over 15 years and a few of my friends had used him as well and have been very happy with his work. He just recently finished my 1973 RX-3 and did a fantastic job, and is currently working on my friends 1975 bmw 2002!
Here is a picture of my car @ Import Alliance. If you have further questions or want to know more about paint and what not, please email me @
[email protected]
Regards,
Marco
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/arcpolo1/My%2073%20RX-3%20Coupe/rx3-IA3.jpg
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.2 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.