Project Theseus

[Noll]

Thanks guys! Indeed I am, it's been a long road and I'm still a bit amazed myself that the car is on the road haha. From something that I was told (fairly enough) wasn't worth saving and to find another shell, to where it is now. Now to drive the wheels off and enjoy, it, and tinker/improve as I go (EFI/turbo is still the plan eventually)

Colin - Thanks for the link! My switch is slightly different, but I was able to pull it apart no problem and get it fixed (pic below). So much better than before.

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Worked on the little stuff that needed fixing today.

Wipers weren't wiping, pulled them off and realized the splined mounting surface was gunked up with pot metal from previous slippage. Cleaned them out with a knife, added some loctite to the nut, and tightened both arms up a fair bit.






Next up, turn signals. Pulled the switch apart, cleaned the contacts, and bent the center pivot slightly. Back in action. While I was at it I blasted all the linkage stuff with carb cleaner then some dry graphite lubricant - it is so much freer and smoother now, and returns to center properly.




Lastly, dialed the rear coilovers up 10mm. Should solve the rubbing issue on the left corner when going over bumps.

[Noll]

Went for the first shakedown run today, happily no issues to report at all. I did nearly do a dumb by leaving the headlights on while I got a burger, but after a few attempts it fired the starter instead of just clicking and fired back up. Will probably want a bigger battery eventually, this one is probably too small for the car but it's what I had lying around.

Gas gauge works, which is nice; put 30L into the tank and ended up right at half on the gauge. Car is loud and rattly as you'd expect, but rides really nicely all things considered. Temp gauge never even got up to half, settled in steady at about 1/3 sweep.

[Noll]

Took the Z to its first ever couple of meets/shows today (probably one of the last times this year stuff was running). Car got a lot of interest which was cool, spent a lot of time chatting to people about it.

She's still working perfectly mechanically, only issue I had was the wipers deciding not to work while going down the freeway and sudden rain started, which was an interesting experience. Had my head out the window to be able to see lol. That'll be first on the priority list to fix, I'm not likely to drive this in the rain much but I want to make sure I can safely do so if desired/needed.

Overall, put 150+ km on the car without a hitch and had a great time!

[Danielz]

HI Noll.... once again, totally awesome job! Stand tall and proud my man!

[vvise]

all road legal as of this afternoon! Went and got poutine to celebrate .



someone at the garage messed up pulling off the dealer plate and somehow broke a small chunk out of the right taillight surround, but they were able to find the piece so i've since glued it back in good as new. Stuff happens, could be worse.

Turn signals weren't really playing ball on the way home so need to pull the switch apart in the next day or two and clean/refresh everything. That, raise the rear ~15mm, and adjust the wiper arms, and that's about it for things that need to change right now.

congratulations !!!

[Noll]

Thanks peeps! Super exciting to be driving and enjoying it finally.

Went to another car show this past weekend - ended up being a turnout of 3-400 cars. I barely took any pics unfortunately, but it was a good time. The Z got a ton of attention too which was awesome, people loved to talk about it and for me to explain the work that went into it. They had a videographer at the show too who grabbed a fair bit of footage and pics of my car which was super cool, if/when that vid comes out I'll post it up here.




On the way home I noticed that the car had developed a very slight misfire (only noticeable at idle at red lights, one cylinder misses every few seconds if that) - this was right near the end of the drive after about 160km of highway driving, so I'm wondering if it was just fuel boiling issues or similar as I don't yet have a heatshield below the carbs.

Pulled the plugs today to check, and am pretty happy. Was hard to get a good in-focus pic, but all are tan, with no signs of oil blow-by, flooding, running super lean, etc. I've put 700km on the car since the rebuild at this point, so seems like a decent indicator that all is well. Considering I rebuilt everything myself with basic tools and the help of youtube/forums, and the bottom-end is totally unknown, I am pleased.

[zedfoot]

Welcome to all the attention. I'm amazed at how much more aware the young folk are now than even two years ago. Last weekend a young fellow stopped by wearing a T shirt with a 280ZX on it. He has never owned a Z, but that is his dream car. His GF gave him the shirt and was super supportive of his passion.

[Noll]

Welcome to all the attention. I'm amazed at how much more aware the young folk are now than even two years ago. Last weekend a young fellow stopped by wearing a T shirt with a 280ZX on it. He has never owned a Z, but that is his dream car. His GF gave him the shirt and was super supportive of his passion.

Indeed, it's been rather neat! It's awesome that Zs are gaining more attention in the younger crowd, it how the cars will eventually live on after all.

I meant to update here sooner, but have been too focused on driving the wheels off the 260z as much as possible before the winter. I also went to a few meets, and did a fun-run with a bunch of other S30 guys in my area.










Someone at the car show I was at in my previous post took some nice pics of the car and sent me them which was nice:








With cold weather here and snow likely soon, I parked the Z last week. I have some little stuff planned to do to it over the winter, but nothing major; it's almost a bit odd to not have any massive jobs to do on it at long last.

In no particular order:
-make interior door handles (I'm grabbing the interior doorskin itself to close the door right now lol)
-replace interior right turn signal indicator bulb (it's burnt out, and the car is too loud for me to hear if the turn signal relay is clicking)
-adjust doors to latch better
-get an AFR gauge/o2 sensor - I'm pretty sure the car is getting terrible MPGS (or the fuel gauge is lying, but most likely the former) , and this seems like the best way to get them dialed in nicely and will be handy for future EFI plans
-replace the muffler. I love the sound it makes but good lord it's loud. Would like to drive the car without needing earplugs, and maybe even put a radio in eventually (pointless currently with the noise).

Video doesn't really get the sheer volume across, but does show what it sounds like. Keep in mind the camera is inside the car and the noise is still blowing the mic out a bit lol.

My current plan is this magnaflow muffler and some 3" stainless for a tip, although if anyone has other options I'm all ears. Goal is same good sound but much quieter so I can do a roadtrip without hating life.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000COVAAI/

[Ont240]

Good sound and quiet are not in the same dictionary! For what its worth, from my experience. I have a 3 " system with a resonator mid way and a Magnaflow 3" offset at the back. It too is straight thru with a bend in the middle to make it an offset. I would say its LOUD. Once you go over 2-1/2 in it seems to be the norm. For years I ran 2.5" system with a Dynamax Super turbo 2.5" which was pleasant .
Iv'e even tried a chambered Magnaflow which didn't reduce the loudness by much and sounded a bit tinny.
So i have taken some long trips (Branson Missouri) but had ear plugs along. The harshest sound is at the speed limit and below.

[Noll]

Good sound and quiet are not in the same dictionary! For what its worth, from my experience. I have a 3 " system with a resonator mid way and a Magnaflow 3" offset at the back. It too is straight thru with a bend in the middle to make it an offset. I would say its LOUD. Once you go over 2-1/2 in it seems to be the norm. For years I ran 2.5" system with a Dynamax Super turbo 2.5" which was pleasant .
Iv'e even tried a chambered Magnaflow which didn't reduce the loudness by much and sounded a bit tinny.
So i have taken some long trips (Branson Missouri) but had ear plugs along. The harshest sound is at the speed limit and below.

Fair! In my case it's 2.5" > resonator >2.5" >necks up to 3" > muffler currently.

Good sound is important and I'll be content with something that's still a fair bit more than 'quiet', the goal is just to reduce it by a chunk compared to what it is now, which is essentially straight-piped. Earplugs for long drives is fine, but as it is now I have to wear them even if I'm only going 5 minutes down the road haha.

It's the loudest Z of anyone I've met in person thus far, which is fun but the novelty wares off after a bit - I'd like to just hop in and go places without worrying that I'm being too loud and annoying people (an early morning drive through my small town a month-ish ago on the way to a car show was a good example of this, I was basically idling along in 4th gear in a 50 zone to try to keep the noise down at 7am).

Pic from when I built the exhaust:




Would you happen to have a sound clip of your car?

[zedfoot]

I just switched from the Vibrant, which sounded great, to a Corvair Monza turbo muffler. It still drones somewhat below 100 kph, but with the extensive sound proofing I've done, it's quite feasible to carry on a conversation. The best part is I can enjoy the killer sound system my son set up for me this summer.
I did add a resonator. It mellowed the tone slightly, but didnt reduce the volume noticeably.
The Corvair muffler isn't pretty. If anyone knows of a SS equivalent, I'd be interested.

[Ont240]

Fair! In my case it's 2.5" > resonator >2.5" >necks up to 3" > muffler currently.

Good sound is important and I'll be content with something that's still a fair bit more than 'quiet', the goal is just to reduce it by a chunk compared to what it is now, which is essentially straight-piped. Earplugs for long drives is fine, but as it is now I have to wear them even if I'm only going 5 minutes down the road haha.

It's the loudest Z of anyone I've met in person thus far, which is fun but the novelty wares off after a bit - I'd like to just hop in and go places without worrying that I'm being too loud and annoying people (an early morning drive through my small town a month-ish ago on the way to a car show was a good example of this, I was basically idling along in 4th gear in a 50 zone to try to keep the noise down at 7am).

Pic from when I built the exhaust:




Would you happen to have a sound clip of your car?

Sorry no sound clip.

This is the chambered Magnaflow that i have hanging in the rafters.

[vvise]

Pic from when I built the exhaust:




Would you happen to have a sound clip of your car?

This makes me want to build an all new exhaust... We seem to be about the same ride height, but judging from this photo:



your exhaust is like 1-2 inches from the ground... How much is it scraping? The only reason I haven't gone to a 2.5 or 3 inch exhaust is because it won't fit over the rear driver side cross member and it looks too low going under with a lowered ride.

[Ont240]

Mine is tucked up very well. i trimmed the tab on the r200 diff so it had room. Ive never had any scraping issues. i'll get yo some measurements. wondering if you are thinking of a different red 240/280?
Used fixed mounting with a flex at the back of the header.
would oval pipe work in your situation for certain areas?

[Noll]

This makes me want to build an all new exhaust... We seem to be about the same ride height, but judging from this photo:



your exhaust is like 1-2 inches from the ground... How much is it scraping? The only reason I haven't gone to a 2.5 or 3 inch exhaust is because it won't fit over the rear driver side cross member and it looks too low going under with a lowered ride.

Happily, pretty much zero scraping, only have done so a couple times on massive dips in the road.. About the only thing that hits anything is the d/s rear tire sidewall on heavy compression as I'm pretty sure the subframe is shifted over towards the driver's side a bit lol (aligned perfectly straight though).

Here's a good pic of how it sits: