Datsun 280Z

Photos look really good, seems an interesting part of the world.

...more progress on the car

What do you do if you can't work on the car....hoard car parts.

Plans sound good, look forward to seeing more progress when things heat up.

Nice!

I got some good news this week about a potential work space opening up in the Spring - heated, brand new garage at my friend's house.

Still no progress. I've been to start the car a few times, and it looks like it leaks some fuel, but this is a sure fire way to make me stay indoors. Add on another -10°C for the wind chill...



Merry Christmas everyone!

I finally bit the bullet for a new seat. Eventually I'll replace both, but at over $700 a side for mounting plate, slider and the seat, I'll spread it over a couple of months. This is now on it's way to me:



Weather is still cold, but the next couple of days we're actually getting above freezing, so I'll go start up the 280Z again. Took the Jeep in for an oil change recently, and it also needed a new battery. Stupid Jeep. They also offered me a "tune up" for $350. Includes plugs, leads and a dizzy cap and arm. I ordered the parts online for $60, so I'll do that in my apartment garage at some point (and hopefully not get shouted at).

I think it's perfect for the era of the car.  The blurb on the Cobra website said it was based on 1970s Porsche buckets.  Fingers crossed it actually fits in the car nicely with plenty of room - thankfully I'm not tall.  The only area of concern is that the trans tunnel on the 280Z is slightly wider than the 240Z, but it looks like it should still fit with about 1/4" to spare. 

Annoyingly enough, I'm not sure if this image is a 240, 260 or 280 (found on here www.sportseats4u.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=6052), but this is how it should end up.  Sadly the GT3 seats in the picture aren't (easily) available in the US so I had to go for the Classic RS instead, which are exactly the same size, but I think it should still look great.



Edit - I think that's actually a 240Z - it still has the choke lever in the centre console.

On a completely separate yet related topic, after telling myself that 2018 would be the year of the Z's interior refresh, I've just found a programmable ECU solution that will pave the way for ITBs in this car. The ECU is probably going to have to wait until this year's tax refund, but I think this has made me finally decide on the car's future engine plans - stick with the L28, new ECU, add ITBs, profit. Ideally, I will pick up a second L28 to rebuild, as the piston rings on this one are probably the culprit for the missing oil.

This route is basically what I did with my MX5, except I'll be using a lot more off the shelf parts this time. As fun as building a Megasquirt and fitting motorbike ITBs to the MX5 manifold was, I don't really want to attempt that route with the 280Z as it's worth a lot more - both in terms of money and personal value. I learned a lot doing it the hard way, so now I think I'm ready to take the easier, albeit more expensive route.

Have a picture to whet the appetite: