I know I posted pics of my car somewhere before I got it running properly, anywho, I just got it on the road in early June, and the hesitating went away after a long drive around the city for a day. Since then, I touched up the bodywork as best as I can for now, mounted on some 240Z bumpers, threw in a steering wheel I had on my wall since I was in Junior high, and switched out my Centerline wannabes for a set of stock ZX N/A wheels. It's lookin' great so far.




Thanks alot, Jim, for all the help and support, and the car, of course. XP

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2008:07:14:19:31:30.

cool color. Definetly stands out.

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78 280z Black Pearl 132K miles? could be 232k miles? who knows...

My Z Pics!

Datsun: We Are Driven

ive seen a 77' pacer with that color combo. purple outside white inside.


haha pacers.

Thats what Im looking for a set of 240z sail bumpers to put on my 77 280z If you run across give me a yell. Nice.

where did u get the bumper and what did u do to get it to fit on your 76 i have one and hate the fat bump love the 240 thin bumper :)

Funny enough, the rear one just bolted right on. there's some smaller mounting points on the rear for that, just drill your own holes for the sides. The front one, on the other hand, I had to have some mounts custom made from steel channel and use the original mounting points for the shock absorbing mounts (Thanks alot, Jim). Recently installed an IMSA fibreglass rear spoiler. Here's some updated pics of the car as it sits now. Please excuse the dirt, I haven't had the chance to wash it since all my pocket change keeps going missing...

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2009:04:12:20:13:26.

lookin' good man!
it just a nice bath now!

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Marietta GA
1983 280 ZX Turbo @ 10 psi
Lone Wolf Performance intake manifold and throttle body
Taylor High Pro Wires
Greddy Type RZ BOV
Tokico Shocks/Lowering Springs/bushings from MSA
2.5 inch straight pipes
248,XXX miles
[www.zcar.com]

1991 240sx (s13) sr20det swap at 12 psi (about to be 20-22 when i get some bigger injectors)
full skunk2 drift suspension
full Megan racing exhaust
Greddy RZ Blow off valve
JDM sport intercooler
Apexi AFC neo controller
top mount exhaust manifold
Turbonetics 65 Trim
TIAL external wastegate
Turbo timer

Near future plans are 240Z tail light/front signal conversion, sunroof delete, hood vent implant, and new paint job, which I've decided will be white with two thin blue stripes on the driver side. Also hunting down a set of 15x7 Enkei 92's to spray the centers gold. Other than that, I'm getting an L28ET and T5 together for the drivetrain, and waiting on ST springs, then maybe some Tokico shocks for the suspension. I gotta say, this is the first car that I did this much to.

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"

Update: Did some of the 'fore mentioned mods to my car recently (i.e. 240Z tail light/front turn signal conversion, first half of sunroof delete, and a new one: installation of hood vents from an '82 turbo). tell me what you think, folks.




Roof isn't finished, but me and my Dad will lay down fiberglass and whatnot to get rid of the gaping hole once and for all.

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"

Huh... I seem to have misplaced the post editing button, causing me to have to multi-post, although it's been over a month since I last posted, but I wanna share some more update-ism. What I have here, today are pictures of the new engine coming together to the point of recognition. It's an L28ET from an '81 turbo. Block bored 0.0020 (0.50mm) oversized (with proper sized pistons), stock rebuilt head, all new Clevite bearings, factory head/manifold gaskets, new timing assembly, new seals, etc. Shown in one of the pics is an N42 non-EGR intake I'll be putting all the turbo goodies on after it's cleaned. Block color is the new Ford Blue.

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"

love the color

Can't beleive I'm already at this stage, but I'm finally in the middle of the turbo swap! Engine and transmission are already in and bolted up. Just need to figure out the wiring harness, which is simple enough, I suppose, but enought of a challenge that I'm praying that I don't fry the ECU, which I also need an alternative mounting method :P. Some of the externals include the '81 turbo wiring harness itself, a Pertronix Flamethrower coil (12V, 15ohm, no resistor) held in by an MSD bracket, a GM HEI ignitor module with an old Xbox heat sink attatched, and the '81 turbo dropping resistor pack. Soon, I'll make a mount for the oil cooler, and intercooler.




I'm supprised I got as far as I did!

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"

Nice to see the turbo swap coming along, if you have any questions feel free to pm me. Also where did you get that datsun emblem on the grill and the valve cover?

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LAS VEGAS NEVADA

1976 280ZT, MegaSquirt, Type 3 kit, Miata Seats, FMIC, MBC, 81 turbo rims, corvette tail light mod INW.
"Tony D is like a high school girl, innocent in front of authorities, but naughty with sheep"

HEI Ignitor swap info [www.zcar.com]
my own little local forum [zclv.forumotion.net]

Well, I got the emblems I got off an '82 hard-body truck. I have the ones from the sides on the fenders too. As for the valve cover, that EFI plate came off the intake pipe from a Suzuki Sidekick, believe it or not. I just stripped the paint off and re-sprayed the stripes (formerly turqoise and blue-green) red and blue, and hand painted the letters. The spoiler now has a repainted '280Z' fender emblem with 'TURBO Electronic fuel injection' below it. I dunno about anybody else, but I like it. Adds character. I also pulled a Red Green on the boost gauge.

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"

Well, it's been a bit, so I figured I'd update what little has been done over the past few months. First, awhile back, before the turbo swap, I changed out my diff, since one of its bearings spun on me. During this, one of the forward cross member bolts snapped off inside the chassis, so recently, I drilled this out and replaced it. Second, from the L28ET's initial start up onward, I've been having problems with the ignition system: first it was the coil being defective, then it was the CAS not triggering the coil due to a few damaged teeth on the chopper wheel (please note that this is an '81 CAS, meaning that it's the external magnetic type) causing the car to misfire on cylinders 3 & 4, then I moved on to using the CAS for the fuel injection only and installing a tired old e12-80 distributor to run the ignition -> That was screwing up on me since the reluctor's magnet was cracked in 3 places, so it still misfired. and now, I finally got my hands on an optical dizzy from an '83, which is now installed and timed properly. So now the car runs 10 times better than it did before. Third, I also replaced the restrictive Dynomax muffler with freer flowing 'Race Magnum' glass pack. Fourth, and finally, I salvaged these gauges from a '77 Jaguar XJ12 sedan, and was thinking of retrofitting them to work with my car.


I think I figured it out, but we'll see.

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"

Wow very nice indead, You have the same boost gauge I have. I like what you did with mounting it on the steering wheel console, is that duct tape holding it there?

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LAS VEGAS NEVADA

1976 280ZT, MegaSquirt, Type 3 kit, Miata Seats, FMIC, MBC, 81 turbo rims, corvette tail light mod INW.
"Tony D is like a high school girl, innocent in front of authorities, but naughty with sheep"

HEI Ignitor swap info [www.zcar.com]
my own little local forum [zclv.forumotion.net]

Yup, just duct tape for now. Kind of a tight fit (just barely clears the steering wheel). I haven't any pics yet, but I'm making progress with retrofitting the two big Jag gauges into my dash. I removed the big resistor from the tach's board and soldered a 10k ohm range knob pot in its place, making the tach work accurately, but the needle, unfortunately, dies off at around 3500 RPM, so I'm sure it's just a wiring issue at this point. As for mounting, I'm going to cut the mounts, and some of the sheet metal from the stock gauge cans (I know I'm butchering parts, but for me, sheet metal bending equipment is scarce), and weld them to the Jag cans, as they're about 3/4" smaller than the stockers. However, the outer bezel of the Jags are nearly the exact same size as the stock faces, meaning they will fit perfectly with the stock bezels. I'm not after the most accurate, most expensive gauges for my car, I just want something that works, and looks different than the stock gauges. That, and I also finally re-installed my right side hatch strut. Also, is it just me, or could the 'Power Fist' brand possibly become target for somebody who wants to do another 'Power Thirst' ad?

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"

i like. i like the murkur i was given a 85 used it as a winter beater for a little while then sold it

Well folks, not much of an update, but I got pics n' progress regarding what my Mom calls 'the Grape'.
Jaguar gauges installed



And these new wheels!

Which I'm in the process of removing the paint from. Seems they may be a Shmidt TH series wheel - 15x8, +16mm offset, will be polished as soon as the paint's removed (which may take awhile if I don't find a basting brush soon).

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'76 280Z - Daily Driver - L28ET - bored 0.50mm over, N42 non-EGR intake, Mazda 626 intercooler, Rx-7 TII "BOV", MSA 2.5" downpipe/Cherry Bomb glasspack/Race Magnum muffler, Toyota 4 pot brakes, MSA urethane air dam, 14x6 ZX 6 spoke mag wheels, 240Z bumper/tail light/turn signal conversion, 240Z steering wheel, MSA street rollbar, IMSA 3 piece rear spoiler, Jaguar tach/speedo - Still in tweeking stage!
'87 Merkur XR4Ti - Winter Beater- 2.25/2.5" straight pipe, Mustang turbine wheels, otherwise stock.
"How does all this rare German stuff fall into my lap!?"