My first classic (part-refurb) '78 280z, LHD, auto, Ex-California

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Folks

Newly cleaned petrol tank, new filter, the machine is purring - what an incredible (an obvious) difference that has made

The stuff that came out of the tank, the lines and the old fuel filter was disgusting - amazed the poor car was able to generate a spark at all
 
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Faster Behr

Club Member
Folks

Newly cleaned petrol tank, new filter, the machine is purring - what an incredible (an obvious) difference that has made

The stuff that came out of the tank, the lines and the old fuel filter was disgusting - amazed the poor car was able to generate a spark at all

It's truly amazing how much junk ends up forming in the tank. It's not a nice job to tackle either so kudos to you for taking it on. Did you manage to clean your level sender up okay?
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
It's truly amazing how much junk ends up forming in the tank. It's not a nice job to tackle either so kudos to you for taking it on. Did you manage to clean your level sender up okay?
I did a bit of a cleanup but was very cautious
Mostly put quite a bit of all-in-one oil and did a gentle scrubbing with a green M3 pad

BUT....
I have a question that must be so noob it'll make you laugh
what direction does that damned sender go into the tank ?! for one reason or another I keep putting it in to tank so that it is grinding against the tank sides or it is lying/stuck under the pipes that go straight through the middle of the tank

is there some mark on the sender top that aligns with something on the tank/car ?
I have tried to put it in running right->left along the back of the tank (nearest you if you are at the back of the tank)

Any guidance ?

Forget that - found the attached (DOH !)
 

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Jason McIvor

Club Member
That doesnt work

I think the ball is flooding ?! Will have to test that at the weekend
Ohms are good with full range
Fuel gauge in the car moves when it is empty/full

But when I put the sender in the tank, oriented correctly, it stays mostly at empty

grrrrrr :banghead:
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Exhaust manifold

The last big piece of the Jigsaw arrived today
Fitting next week
 

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Russell

Club Member
That doesnt work

I think the ball is flooding ?! Will have to test that at the weekend
Ohms are good with full range
Fuel gauge in the car moves when it is empty/full

But when I put the sender in the tank, oriented correctly, it stays mostly at empty

grrrrrr :banghead:
Hi Jason,

I made 1 good sender out of 2 bad ones and you are welcome to the bits as was going to bin them anyway. The arm and float are about the only part that's perfect on it so may be of use to you?
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Hi Jason,

I made 1 good sender out of 2 bad ones and you are welcome to the bits as was going to bin them anyway. The arm and float are about the only part that's perfect on it so may be of use to you?
Russell
I *think* it might be ok but I would be very interested if not
Will be out in it this weekend, will fill it up to check and let you know
Thanks
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Thought you would like to see just how bad my old manifold was - it's in bits, cracks everywhere
Explains the putt, putt, putt and the exhaust smell :oops:

And a bonus pic of the steering universal joint to rack - held on by an arse hair :rofl:
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Jason McIvor

Club Member
Hey folks

Manifold is on and holy cow what a difference that makes !? Sound, power, driving experience
I can now declare that phase 1 is 99% complete and I'm looking forward to meeting up with you folks when the opportunity arises
I have tickets for Combe but I'm supposed to be seeing Pearl Jam in Hyde Park and my sister and family have decided to visit on the same weekend - so I'll likely dump the Combe and Pearl Jam tickets to spend time with my sister 😫

Now thinking about Phase 2 and #1 could well be a five speed - if anyone has one available (for a novice) please let me know as I need all the accessories as well

Planning to enjoy driving the thing for a while first - see you all soon
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Hey folks

Manifold is on and holy cow what a difference that makes !? Sound, power, driving experience
I can now declare that phase 1 is 99% complete and I'm looking forward to meeting up with you folks when the opportunity arises
I have tickets for Combe but I'm supposed to be seeing Pearl Jam in Hyde Park and my sister and family have decided to visit on the same weekend - so I'll likely dump the Combe and Pearl Jam tickets to spend time with my sister 😫

Now thinking about Phase 2 and #1 could well be a five speed - if anyone has one available (for a novice) please let me know as I need all the accessories as well

Planning to enjoy driving the thing for a while first - see you all soon

Nice! Was your old manifold blowing or did you just want to upgrade? And which one did you go for?
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Nice! Was your old manifold blowing or did you just want to upgrade? And which one did you go for?
Hey
Old manifold was a complete mess - pics above

There was a hole (one of many) that you could put your finger into it :confused:
I got the MSA performance manifold from ZStore - absolute horror show to install, broken bolts etc

But from downpipes to muffler is Z-story and sounds amazing
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Hey
Old manifold was a complete mess - pics above

There was a hole (one of many) that you could put your finger into it :confused:
I got the MSA performance manifold from ZStore - absolute horror show to install, broken bolts etc

But from downpipes to muffler is Z-story and sounds amazing

Oh god, I see! Yeah that would affect performance a bit!

You mean the Zstore manifold came with broken bolts and didn't fit properly? Or you broke bolts trying to fit it? (Which is what I like to do!).

Any reason you didn't go full zstory out of interest?
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Oh god, I see! Yeah that would affect performance a bit!

You mean the Zstore manifold came with broken bolts and didn't fit properly? Or you broke bolts trying to fit it? (Which is what I like to do!).

Any reason you didn't go full zstory out of interest?
Sorry,
No, we broke the original bolts and had to drill them out (best practice to replace them anyway but could've done without the panic and work ;) )

I have a 280z auto and Sean's Z-Story manifold wouldn't fit that configuration (...in the timeframes - he is creating some prototypes for auto boxes which should be ready next month or so) that's the only reason I went MSA
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Sorry,
No, we broke the original bolts and had to drill them out (best practice to replace them anyway but could've done without the panic and work ;) )

I have a 280z auto and Sean's Z-Story manifold wouldn't fit that configuration (...in the timeframes - he is creating some prototypes for auto boxes which should be ready next month or so) that's the only reason I went MSA

ahh ok gotcha. So will you need to swap the manifold for another one if you convert to manual later?
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
ahh ok gotcha. So will you need to swap the manifold for another one if you convert to manual later?

I dont think so/hope not actually

My understanding is that the auto box has a some fluid reservoir that means it needs to be a little wider where the manifold meets the downpipes (I think)
So the manual gearbox *should* fit without changing the manifold
But I stand to be corrected on all of the above musings 🤪
 

Robotsan

Club Member
I dont think so/hope not actually

My understanding is that the auto box has a some fluid reservoir that means it needs to be a little wider where the manifold meets the downpipes (I think)
So the manual gearbox *should* fit without changing the manifold
But I stand to be corrected on all of the above musings 🤪

Makes sense, hopefully you won't have to change then! :)
 
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