My summer project was rejuvenating a 1977 Datsun 280z 2+2. It came home on a trailer on non-operational status after having been stored for many years.
Every rubber seal was leaking, half the bulbs were blown, and 1/4 of the bolts were missing, but the body was straight and the rust was slight – a good mechanical project car to learn on.
First thing was to evaluate the motor and get it smogged and street legal. Check out these spark plugs.
After changing all the fluids and filters and lots of adjusting of valves and timing and tweeking the emissions controls, it officially was ready to go down to the smog check. Passed on the second try!
Now onto the rest of the challenges…
Someone said that 70% of the challenges with this car would be electrical and they were correct. I spent many hours playing “trace that wire” trying to find the shorts. The turn signals had a worn mechanism and was not a replaceable part so I pulled it out and cleaned and refurbished all the parts, the clock needed all the electronic components replaced, the horn wires were shorting so had been disconnected, most of the indicator lamps were out – bulb or bad connection- fun, fun.
At the same time, I tackled the non-operational driver’s door latch and the all-important radio (must have tunes to work by).
Now onto something creative – creating a custom wooden steering wheel to replace the one wrapped in plumbing insulation and duct tape and turning new wooden door lock pulls to replace missing ones.
Of course there was also the issue of the 20 year old tires locked on with obsolete locking nuts with no key. I had to pay a tire store to break them all off before I could tackle overhauling the brakes and replacing all the suspension bushings.
Finally, it was time to deal with all the leaking engine seals. Much as I tried to tighten and replace various bolts, all the seals kept leaking and I ended up pulling the motor to replace the main oil seal, front seal, oil pan gasket, etc.
I got it all back together, started it up, and… there was still a leak from the front of the head gasket. Sigh, off came the head the next day.
Back together again…no leaks, yay, but there was an awful noise coming from the valve cover.
Exhaust leak or valve problem? More trouble shooting. Found several exhaust leaks from old weld repairs and replaced the exhaust manifold, but the valves were still noisy. Off came the valve cover, again….. Found a broken valve guide. Yay, that I can handle. Replaced the little part and no noise!!!!
Now to drive and enjoy!!! (Until the next challenge – this car is almost 40 – challenges come with the territory.)
Of course, it didn’t take long for the next challenge. Yes, it was an electrical gremlin that kept me trouble shooting for a while. The car kept refusing to start after being parked for a couple of days. The battery tested fine. It appeared to be charging, but it wasn’t. Finally, I out pulled the alternator and it tested a bad. It took two different replacements to find a good one, but now it is off and charging again.
While I enjoy the challenges, I would like to just drive for a while…