Guernsey 280Z 🇬🇬

Larby

Club Member
Well, I’ve been longing for a Z for about 22 years and this week, the dream finally came true!!

After a bit of uncertainty, I went for the best condition, rust free car I could get - settling on a lovely 280z from the well known club member Chris Vega.

I flew across to Southampton from Guernsey, met a friend who transports vehicles and drove up to Exeter with him to come see the car.
I should point out at this stage, this was only the second time in my whole life I’d ever actually seen a Z, and would be the first ever time I’ve sat in one!

It didn’t go entirely to plan, as there was no way we could get it started and I discovered during the inspection that the passenger floor pan was completely rotted out!!
A bit of panic ensued, I nearly left hugely disappointed. Luckily Chris and I were able to come to an agreement and I left with my new 280Z on the trailer! Phew!

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Larby

Club Member
Fast forward a few days and she made it safely across to Guernsey, arriving at my workshop yesterday afternoon.

I run a cherished vehicle centre in Guernsey. We cater for everything from general mechanical work, to tuning and a whole range of fabrication services including 3D scanning, CAD, 3D printing, CNC Plasma cutting - everything you could wish for when restoring a vehicle or building something special!

Shameless plug - you can check out our work at facebook.com/jlinnovationgsy or www.jl-innovation.co.uk

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Larby

Club Member
So, my plan for the car…

It’s a bit undecided yet, but I don’t ever plan to sell it. I’ve waited this long for one, so now I’m never letting it go!

I plan on having it as a rolling project, as I know from experience that if I totally strip her now, I’ll never get it finished.

Short term (ie, for next summer), I plan to get her looking the way I want, running well and we’ll protected underneath.

After that, bit by bit, I plan to just keep improving her as the years go by.

Doing what I do, I plan to develop a whole bunch of parts as I go, ranging from 3D printed plastic bits (having a 3D scanner and a large format printer, this could include bigger things too!), some carbon parts, as I used to make a lot of carbon bits, fabricated items - basically anything I feel my Z and the rest of the world could benefit from.

So, onto today’s work!
 

Larby

Club Member
First things first, let’s get those hideous 280 spec bumpers off!!

Front was first up, nice and easy.
I dropped the lower cowl off while I was there, as I plan to fit a front lip.
I haven’t yet decided whether to just buy a Type 1 lip, or set about making my own version.
I’ll likely not run a front bumper, so it annoys me when you’ve got the lip, indicators above that which look out of place, then a gap where the bumper should be.
My plan would be to develop one which comes right up to the wing, to fill that gap, as I want to go with a really clean OEM+ look.

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Larby

Club Member
I realised at this stage that I was meant to be checking everything over, so got onto that.

I’m pleased to say that with the exception of the rotten floor, the rear brake flexi pipes and the engine bay rubbers, it’s really bloody good! Like, REALLY good for a 1978 car.

I’ve never owned a Cali car before, so coming from a tiny island in the middle of the sea, I just can’t get my head around the condition of it underneath.

I was pleased to see someone had evidently been through it already, having noticed new front discs, pads & calipers, new rear drums & cylinders, a new starter, alternator and a fuel pump. Nice!6754962E-28DE-4C2D-998E-F195E0E4B575.jpeg00A8D717-11DD-4E96-8DC2-BD56E82FE9B0.jpeg
 

Larby

Club Member
So, time to get that rear bumper off, along with the funny little trim panel above it, which I’ve never really noticed on other cars?

For anyone who doesn’t already know, the fuel tank has to come down to remove the right hand bumper shock thing.

Cue draining the tank and sorting getting that down.

With the bumper removed, I drilled all the spot welds for the trim bit and popped that off too.

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Larby

Club Member
Annoyingly, there’s a bit of damage to the rear balance behind the bumper etc from it having been reversed into something in the past.

Never mind. I suspect I’ll cut that whole panel out and make a new, smooth one, as I need to get rid of all the various holes from the bumper etc too anyway.

For now, I ground it all back to clean up and put some primer on, just in case. No point letting it rust.1D04FAE0-C2EA-48C0-B832-6DF52428FCC2.jpeg
 

Larby

Club Member
While the tank was down, I cleaned everything down in that area and gave most of it a coat of Waxoyl, especially where there was any metal with no underseal on.

I noticed they seem to tape any holes before undersealing at the factory, then with time the bits of tape drop off, leaving little patches which are painted, but not undersealed. No problem in California evidently, but it would fast become an issue in Guernsey!!

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Larby

Club Member
The tank itself is great on the outside, but not so great inside.

That’s not a job for today though, that’s a job for the winter, once I’ve had it running.

For now, I cleaned it up and put it back, along with a quick coat of satin black on the underside.

Over the winter, I’ll take it back off, remove all the rust inside, pop it in our chemical dip to remove the paint, then powdercoat the whole thing satin black. It’ll be better than OEM.

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Larby

Club Member
I was on a roll at this stage, so figured I was feeling brave enough to dig into that passenger footwell.

A fellow club member Robotsan pointed out that this was almost certainly caused by a leaky heater matrix and I’m pretty confident he’s right. It’s the only way I can imagine this bit being so totally shot, while the rest is so immaculate.

So, seat out, carpet out, pick up about $3 in small change and we’ve got a rusty mess fully exposed for analysis.

The analysis? Yeah, that’s f*#ked!

Luckily, I’ve already ordered a new Whole floorpan, so once that arrives I’ll get it replaced.

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On the bright side, the plugs in the floor did their job and despite the numerous holes in the floorpan, none had leaked into the chassis legs! Result!

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Larby

Club Member
There wasn’t much else I could do with the floor, so I figured I’d take a look at the engine situation, to see if it’s worth getting the standard injection system running.

Ultimately I’m planning to swap it out to ITB’s, but it would be great to get it running in the meanwhile.
Another option is to just pop it on twin SU’s for now. Haven’t decided yet.

I think it’s safe to say it’s not going to run right (or at all) with this massive split in the intake hose!
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There’s also a couple of vacuum lines off.
Can anyone help me with what goes where?

There’s a line off the inlet manifold, which I’m guessing should be going to what I believe to be the fuel pressure regulator above it?

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There’s also a nipple with no hose on this part, which looks like a throttle jacker?
Any ideas if this should have a hose on and if so, where from?!

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The AFM is also missing its cover, which is a bummer. If it works, I’ll 3D print it a new one.

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Larby

Club Member
During the stripping of various areas, I’ve also found a couple of bits unplugged that maybe someone could shed some light on?

Firstly, in the boot, I found this plug unplugged, right in the centre at the back…
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One end comes from the loom, as you can see, then the other end is connected to this dude in the left hand side of the boot.
Any ideas on what this is?
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Larby

Club Member
Under the passenger seat (bearing in mind it’s LHD) I found these two relays, the outer one of which was unplugged.

Any idea what these do and why this one would have been unplugged?! It seems significant!
 

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Larby

Club Member
Well, there ends this afternoon’s shenanigans. I was quite pleased with myself for a few hour’s work!

Hopefully the floorpan will turn up this week and I’m hopeful people may be able to shed light on the unplugged bits, helping me get it running. I need to find myself a new intake rubber too!

So far, I’m absolutely loving it!! 😬
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Bloody hell! I know you said you were going to get cracking quickly but this is ridiculous -
you've done more in a day than I've managed in a month! 😂

Your car looks in very similar condition to mine too - just with much better paint! Funny seeing the same things wrong with it too - split intake boot, etc. It is mental how well preserved they are in California isn't it? My Mini (yes that one) is a 2003 and it looks awful underneath next to the Z.

Have you got your hands on the FSM and the EFI Bible already? Those plugs and relays will be in the FSM.. or someone will tell you what they are soon I imagine.
 

Larby

Club Member
Ha ha, yeah I don’t mess about!

I am cheating a bit - I’m doing it in a fully equipped workshop. You wait till I get into the proper stuff!

I have read through the EFI Bible, all seems logical enough.
I’ve just downloaded the FSM, I’ll go hunting through that next!

Cheers!
 
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yellowz

Club Member
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The set up is different on mine (77 280Z) but the Fuel regulator on the fuel rail had a pipe connection that goes to the inlet manifold. In the second pic it is the darker pipe towards the top left.
Mine does not have the connector sticking up as yours does.
Can't help with wiggly amps questions as I 'Phone a Friend who knows the Dark Arts' for anything other than fuses!
 

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MCBladeRun

Club Member
Ha ha, yeah I don’t mess about!

I am cheating a bit - I’m doing it in a fully equipped workshop. You wait till I get into the proper stuff!

I have read through the EFI Bible, all seems logical enough.
I’ve just downloaded the FSM, I’ll go hunting through that next!

Cheers!

👍

Never mind, looks like you found it then edited your comment 😅
 
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