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Bringing my 1980 280ZXT out of a 7 year storage

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#1 ·
I joined the USMC in 1991 and parked my 280ZXT on April 19th, 1991 at my fathers business in Houston, Texas. That was the last time it was ever driven or started/stopped. The silver T was in excellent condition with 140,000 miles. The paint has been subject to entense sun and some salt air. The hood was primed in 1994 due to rusting underneath the Z emblem. The rear lift has rusted bubbles at the bottom corners of the glass. Since 1995 it has been stored inside an open garage. The dash of course is cracked as is the front glass. The clutch when pressed goes all the way to the floor and the shifter allows shifting into any gear without pressing the clutch. There is a film which has grown on the soft rubber items of the interior...such as the steering wheel, the shifter and the shifter boot. Other than the rust there is no body damage in anyway whatsoever.

Now..before I spend THOUSANDS of dollars to restore the Z to its 1991 condition, what precautions should I take when preping the engine for start? The tank (assuming) is full of gelled gas, as is the fuel lines. So I know I must start there first.

This will be my first restoration, and I have available to me all the tools necessary to tear out the motor and baby it. (we rebuild Cat© engines onsite all the time, so I do have a place to do the repairs out of the weather. I have a digital camera so I can chronicle the restoration.

Respectfully Submited,

Kevin Paulk
kpaulk@petroleum.org
You may respond via email if you like.
 
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#2 ·
Re: Bringing my 1980 280ZXT out of a 7 year storag

> I joined the USMC in 1991 and parked my
> 280ZXT on April 19th, 1991 at my fathers
> business in Houston, Texas. That was the
> last time it was ever driven or
> started/stopped. The silver T was in
> excellent condition with 140,000 miles. The
> paint has been subject to entense sun and
> some salt air. The hood was primed in 1994
> due to rusting underneath the Z emblem. The
> rear lift has rusted bubbles at the bottom
> corners of the glass. Since 1995 it has been
> stored inside an open garage. The dash of
> course is cracked as is the front glass. The
> clutch when pressed goes all the way to the
> floor and the shifter allows shifting into
> any gear without pressing the clutch. There
> is a film which has grown on the
> soft rubber items of the interior...such as
> the steering wheel, the shifter and the
> shifter boot. Other than the rust there is
> no body damage in anyway whatsoever.

> Now..before I spend THOUSANDS of dollars to
> restore the Z to its 1991 condition, what
> precautions should I take when preping the
> engine for start? The tank (assuming) is
> full of gelled gas, as is the fuel lines. So
> I know I must start there first.

> This will be my first restoration, and I
> have available to me all the tools necessary
> to tear out the motor and baby it. (we
> rebuild Cat© engines onsite all the time, so
> I do have a place to do the repairs out of
> the weather. I have a digital camera so I
> can chronicle the restoration.

> Respectfully Submited,

> Kevin Paulk
> kpaulk@petroleum.org
> You may respond via email if you like.
Kevin, we just got in a 74 260z that had been sitting for 7 years, drained and replaced gas, pulled the spark plugs, cranked it over with plugs out, put them back in, and it fired right up. Other than a few rubber gas lines leaking, it runs perfect.
The way you are going to do it is a much better approach, because damage could definitely happen if anything is frozen up, but on ours we are putting a high performance engine in it anyway, so we didn't want to put much time in it.

good luck, Joe
 
#3 ·
Re: Bringing my 1980 280ZXT out of a 7 year storag

> I joined the USMC in 1991 and parked my
> 280ZXT on April 19th, 1991 at my fathers
> business in Houston, Texas. That was the
> last time it was ever driven or
> started/stopped. The silver T was in
> excellent condition with 140,000 miles. The
> paint has been subject to entense sun and
> some salt air. The hood was primed in 1994
> due to rusting underneath the Z emblem. The
> rear lift has rusted bubbles at the bottom
> corners of the glass. Since 1995 it has been
> stored inside an open garage. The dash of
> course is cracked as is the front glass. The
> clutch when pressed goes all the way to the
> floor and the shifter allows shifting into
> any gear without pressing the clutch. There
> is a film which has grown on the
> soft rubber items of the interior...such as
> the steering wheel, the shifter and the
> shifter boot. Other than the rust there is
> no body damage in anyway whatsoever.

> Now..before I spend THOUSANDS of dollars to
> restore the Z to its 1991 condition, what
> precautions should I take when preping the
> engine for start? The tank (assuming) is
> full of gelled gas, as is the fuel lines. So
> I know I must start there first.

> This will be my first restoration, and I
> have available to me all the tools necessary
> to tear out the motor and baby it. (we
> rebuild Cat© engines onsite all the time, so
> I do have a place to do the repairs out of
> the weather. I have a digital camera so I
> can chronicle the restoration.

> Respectfully Submited,

> Kevin Paulk
> kpaulk@petroleum.org
> You may respond via email if you like.
Well for one thing, I bet those tires are now dry rotted. You may want to try to bleed
out the clutch cylinder and see if it holds, although, from my experience any rubber seals in a car sitting that long are gonna be bad. You may also wanna try cheating a
little and put a fuel filter between the tank and the fuel pump . I did this with a car that sat for about five years and was eventually able to get the tank clean, just by driving the car, and I didn't screw up my injectors or fuel pump. Oh, and by the way, what year Turbo is that?
 
#4 ·
Re: Bringing my 1980 280ZXT out of a 7 year storag

The same question came to my mind when I saw your post. As far as I know, Nissan did not offer a turbo in the ZX until late '81. But hey, I've been wrong before.

I recently brought a '75 280 back to life after it had been sitting at least 5 years. Gas in the tank was complete varnish, so the first order of business was to have the tank steam cleaned. Couldn't get the fuel pump to work, so I got one out of a same-year car at a junkyard. While the tank was being cleaned, I put in new plugs, wires, rotor, etc. I also squirted a little Marvel Mystery Oil (auto trans fluid is also good, I've heard) into each cylinders, then turned the engine over via the crank bolt while the plugs were out.

I put the fuel tank back in, hooked everything up in the back and then detached the fuel line at the filter (under the hood) I hooked up the battery and had my wife turn the key until the fuel pump came on and fresh fuel flowed out the line (into a container under the car). Then I buttoned everthing up, crossed my fingers, turned the key and on about the fifth revolution the motor fired -- and ran great.

I should mention that I got this car for $100, so I really had nothing to lose. But if your car ran before you put it away, there's no reason it shouldn't run again with a few precautions.
 
#5 ·
Re: Bringing my 1980 280ZX out of a 7 year storage

> I joined the USMC in 1991 and parked my
> 280ZXT on April 19th, 1991 at my fathers
> business in Houston, Texas. That was the
> last time it was ever driven or
> started/stopped. The silver T was in
> excellent condition with 140,000 miles. The
> paint has been subject to entense sun and
> some salt air. The hood was primed in 1994
> due to rusting underneath the Z emblem. The
> rear lift has rusted bubbles at the bottom
> corners of the glass. Since 1995 it has been
> stored inside an open garage. The dash of
> course is cracked as is the front glass. The
> clutch when pressed goes all the way to the
> floor and the shifter allows shifting into
> any gear without pressing the clutch. There
> is a film which has grown on the
> soft rubber items of the interior...such as
> the steering wheel, the shifter and the
> shifter boot. Other than the rust there is
> no body damage in anyway whatsoever.

> Now..before I spend THOUSANDS of dollars to
> restore the Z to its 1991 condition, what
> precautions should I take when preping the
> engine for start? The tank (assuming) is
> full of gelled gas, as is the fuel lines. So
> I know I must start there first.

> This will be my first restoration, and I
> have available to me all the tools necessary
> to tear out the motor and baby it. (we
> rebuild Cat© engines onsite all the time, so
> I do have a place to do the repairs out of
> the weather. I have a digital camera so I
> can chronicle the restoration.

> Respectfully Submited,

> Kevin Paulk
> kpaulk@petroleum.org
> You may respond via email if you like.

*Correction* I must say that I was wrong by putting the T after the 280ZX, I was refering to t-tops. I am supposing that it is an actual 1980-81 model. Its kinda dusty right now. Really nice shade of earth brown. It does have Nissan parts and Datsun parts on it. Which makes me think it must of been the year that Nissan bought Datsun. (Correct me if I am wrong) Guess since the inception of the internet I need to learn all the terminology related to my vehicle... oh well... wasn't a jarhead for nothing.. =)
 
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