I went to go look at her on Sunday, and deciding her a good car, I picked her up last night. I know, I was supposed to get rid of the CBR first, but as you can see, I couldn't help myself. Whoops.
The car is a 1978 280Z, with the 5 speed manual. The body is clean, with a few small dings, slightly faded paint (part of the car has been repainted), and rust in the hatch area. The interior is a mixed bag. Some of it was removed when the rear tweeter speakers were stolen (the deck was stolen too, but the owner gave me a brand new Kenwood deck to sweeten the deal. The passenger seat is clean, but the driver's is ripped up. The dash has some cracks but looks decent. All the gauges work, and some of the carpet looks pretty good. Some damage to the center console, the shift boot is coming loose, and the aftermarket Grant steering wheel blocks the view of the speedo and tach.
The motor runs pretty strong, the only problem with it is a slight hesitation around 1500-2000, then it pulls strongly from there. It's not a fast car, but it has lots of torque and feels sporty with the big hood stretching out in front of you and a seating position that puts you right over the rear wheel. New radiator, new clutch, new MAF, K&N cold air filter. Handling is heavy, which I read is common with these cars. The problem lies in the heavy front and rear bumpers, the (relatively) big 205/60/15 front tires, and the tiny ass steering wheel. I may switch to a bigger wheel.
Here is a list of things I want to do with the car, sorted by tier:
Tier 1 (fix immediately)
- There seems to be a vacuum leak in the brake master cylinder, which is causing the brake assist to be half-assed and a "BRAKE" warning light to pop up on my dash. No, thanks I think I'll keep going forward. Might be related to the motor hesitation.
- I discovered that the HEATER CONTROLS don't work on my way home from Santa Rosa in the middle of the night. Froze my ass off.
- There is a weird machine gun noise coming from the right rear brake drum, which may be related to the brake related howl elsewhere
Tier 2 (fix soon)
- Dash cap to cover the cracks. 47 bucks + shipping from MSA
- seats. I'm trying to find some cool leather buckets...maybe from a miata?
- new tires. the current ones are dry rotted and bald
- wash and wax
- patch the damage on the passenger door
Tier 3 (future plans)
- turbo L28et engine
- transmission has a crappy 2nd gear synchro...but this will probably be swapped out in the turbo swap
- hatch rust
- maybe 240Z bumper conversion??
What do I have in mind for this car? Exterior has to be good. Not necessarily perfect, but enough that you can't tell there's imperfections without looking. The biggest concern is paint at this point, and the damage on the passenger door. Interior has to be really good. I want it to be comfortable and quiet enough that my dad would think it a good, clean, "complete" interior. No more stripping the shit out of the interior. Suspension should be noiseless and comfortable, but doesn't have to be that quick in the corners...more of a cruiser, this one. A cruiser that goes like stink.
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