Shift boots

Upon driving my car for the first time on a hot day, I noticed a consistent flow of hot air around the shift lever.  I had removed the center console previously (to repair a loose arm rest and replace the shift bushings) and noted that the shift boots were in poor shape; tonight I replaced those shift boots on the 280z.

As you can see, the lower and upper shift boots were in poor shape.

The shift boots are still available from Nissan, although I had ordered mine from ZCarDepot.

Lower Shift Boot/Seal

Upper Shift Boot/Seal

After removing the rubber that was left behind from the degrading seal, the new boots went on quickly and fit perfectly.  Note the rag was placed around the shift bushings to keep dirt and old rubber from entering the area.

Scraping out the old rubber and goo

Lower shift boot installed

Upper shift boot installed.

Making mounting tabs

While recently pulling the glove box to access the clock, I noticed that the lower trim just over the passenger floor pan was missing a mounting tab on the left side.  I tend to be somewhat anal retentive and decided that this could not do, so I made a new one.

I started by removing the panel and cleaning thoroughly.

You can see where the mounting tab had broken off just under the vent knob cutout.

Some time ago my wife decided she wanted to try her hand at motorcycle riding.  I quickly learned that repairing the plastic fairings on her scooter was far cheaper than replacement, so I invested in an airless plastic welding kit.  That kit often comes in handy in situations like this.

I started by attaching a stainless mesh backing where I want the new tab to be located.  The mesh is attached by simply melting the stainless into the existing substrate.

I then used Uniflex Fiber repair rods to build up a tab on top of the mesh.  I put down one layer first, then another over the existing layer.

Once cooled the resulting tab was quite strong.  Since it was going to be out of site, I wasn't too concerned with a perfect finish, although it would have been easily achievable by texturing the plastic while still cooling.  The black color of the rods was spot-on.

You can see in the below photo how the plastic rods engulf the stainless mesh.  I also added some of the Uniflex rod on the top of the mesh to give a solid mounting to the existing panel.  Once cooled I simply marked and drilled a mounting hole and reattached the panel.

Center dash work

I focused some of my attention on the center dash today.  After removing the section to gain access to the clock (so that I can get it working again), I noticed a couple of issues that I wanted to address:

• Cracks in the trim (see this post)
• A map light that doesn't work
• Faded trim around the vents

The faded trim was easy to address.  To start, I disassembled the center dash entirely.  I cleaned all parts as best I could.  The vents definitely needed it!  I then used Testors Bright Silver acrylic model paint and carefully painted the trim ring.  I am quite happy with the results.

Before

After

As for the malfunctioning map light, I verified that I wasn't lucky enough for the issue to simply be a burned out bulb.  When I disassembled the unit, I found much corrosion on all copper contacts, so I cleaned them well.

The map light switch is interesting in that there are contacts on either side of the lens.  When the lens is angled downward, the two contacts in the lens close  a circuit with two contacts in the base.  A jumper wire bridges the contacts in the lens, as you can barely see in the top of the below photo (you can see the jumper wire where it is soldered onto the contact.

After cleaning all contacts and reassembling, the light still did not work.  After some tracing with a VOM, I found that there was no continuity between the lens contacts.  Since the contacts would be risky to remove without damaging the lens, I was trying to come up with a creative solution.  I first tried to solder another jumper on top of the existing, although I was unable to get a solid connection.  I then had the idea to quickly heat the contacts to the point of melting the solder connection of the existing jumper.  After making a solder "bridge" to the old solder, I successfully melted each jumper contact point.  Upon inspection, I found that this did the trick!  I now have a working map light.

JB Weld - Is there anything it can't do?

JB Weld is like duct tape, there's just nothing that cannot be fixed with it.  In my case, there was a lot of plastic on the 280z that had become brittle and broken, such as the center dash console, the post on the hatch emblem, and a screw post on the steering column cover.  JB Weld to the rescue!

Steering column cover
In the below picture of the upper steering column cover you can see that the screw post had broken upon removal.  

Add a little JB Weld and presto!   In this case I still had the missing piece, so I used it to ensure that the mounting post was still at the correct height.  I will have to drill out the screw hole to clear out any JB Weld that entered the hole.

Hatch Emblem

In a previous post I outlined the method I used to restore the hatch emblems.  On one of the emblems, a mounting post was broken.  Since I was able to recover the broken piece, I decided to reattach the post using, you guessed it, JB Weld!

I started by grinding a cross into the mounting base.  This would give the epoxy something to bite.

I then placed a blob of JB Weld over the base and positioned the post appropriately.  We'll see how well it holds once I reattach it to the car...

Center Dash Console

When removing my center dash in order to remove the clock, I found two cracks as you can see in the below picture.

I used JB Weld to reattach these broken areas as well.

Restoring the hatch emblems

The hatch emblems were looking a little worse for wear, so I decided to freshen them up.  

To minimize the chances of breaking any of the remaining pins, I removed the interior panel and pushed the emblem out from the rear.  After scraping off some previous paint over the "280" as well as removing the cracked and chipped white fill in the "Z", I cleaned the emblem with alcohol and scuffed the surrounding black areas with 600 grit sandpaper.  I then masked the lettering and carefully trimmed the excess with an Exacto knife.



At this point I hit the emblems with 3 coats of Krylon satin black.  Once dry, I carefully removed the masking tape.  Finally, I used one light and one thick coat of Rustoleum White Protective Enamel to fill in the "Z".  I am quite happy with the results.

 

Since the 280Z emblem has only one pin on the back, I will attach another before putting it back on the car.  I'll share the details of that in another post.

Clutch boot

I replaced the missing clutch arm boot tonight.  A whopping 95 cents from Black Dragon Auto!  Too bad they are going out of business.  I've been ordering most everything they still have in stock that fits my car and now have amassed three boxes of parts (mostly rubber) awaiting installation.

The boot wasn't too hard to install.  While I originally thought I could install the boot without removing the slave cylinder, I did end up loosening it up to give enough clearance to slip the boot past.

Shift bushings

The shift bushings were shot on this car, making it difficult to shift.  In fact, when I pulled the shift lever, I found that the upper bushings had completely disintegrated and were missing.  I ordered a set of brass bushings from a seller on eBay and installed them. While the fit was not perfect and I had to file down the outsides a bit to make them fit, the result is worthwhile.  I decided to pull the clock while I had the console apart, so it will be a week or two before I can drive it with the new bushings installed.

 

More piddling

I found a set of plug wire guides from zcardepot and properly routed the wires.  No more zip ties!

Piddling with a few little things

I've been searching for the parts that I feel need to be replaced on the 280z.  While I find these sources, I began "piddling" with a few things.

The trouble light is one of those small things that for some reason is a memorable item in the engine compartment of a 280z.  The unit in my Z worked sporadically and looked quite corroded.  I pulled it out in order to clean it up and the lens instantly cracked and disintegrated.  I also found that the toggle switch had broken.  I pulled the unit apart and fixed the switch (JB Weld to the rescue) as well as polished up the housing.  It now works and looks much better.  The lens is impossible to find, so I'll hunt for a creative solution.

Before:
 

After:

Getting a good look

Now that the car is home I can get it on the lift and get a good look at it.



As expected, most of the rubber is cracked and brittle, along with much of the plastic.  The bits that count still look good though!

The passenger door has a few little spots that might indicate rust, but they still feel solid.  I'll find out just what lies under those little bubbles when I grind off the paint later this year.

The trek home

On October 4th, I found myself once again in Florida.  Not having a vehicle of my own that would be capable of pulling a loaded car hauler, I convinced my father to come with me in his 2016 Pathfinder and its 5000 pound towing package.  I had the reservation set with U-Haul and, despite hurricane Matthew looming-in on us, we were set to bring my 280z home.  Of course, I took her out for a Sunday drive before loading up on the hauler for the trip home.



The nightly storms of the southern Gulf Coast were closing-in, so we loaded the car onto the hauler and backed it into the garage to keep it nice and dry for departure early the next morning.



The trip home was long, but uneventful.  The Pathfinder pulled the trailer with ease and, other than awesome Atlanta traffic, we kept up a good pace.  



14+ hours later, we unloaded the car and pulled it into my garage!

Found my car!

It all started with a simple URL sent to me by my father.  He knew I was looking for a 280z and noticed a listing that might be of interest to me.  Upon reading the article, several things got my attention:

• It was a 1976 (I specifically wanted a 76).
• There was no apparent rust.  Anyone who knows the s30's knows that rust is the #1 enemy.
• The engine and transmission were swapped with a newer model, including a 5 speed transmission (numbers-matching isn't so important to me).
• While the car had been sitting for about 10 years before the seller acquired it, much work had been put into the car to make it a reliable and safe driver.
• It ran and drove really well.
• It still needs work, but nothing major.
• The car was located about 30 minutes from my father's house in south Florida, which gave me an easy way to view it and even store it if I decided to purchase.

After talking to the seller (Hi Bob!) I was definitely interested.  I scheduled a trip as soon as my calendar allowed.  On the weekend of September 10th my son and I made the trip to view the car.  The car drove well and everything was as described.  Later that night, the car was parked in the garage of my grandfather's old house...

Unfortunately the car did not come back with us to Tennessee on this trip.  It killed me to leave the car, but I knew it was safe and I'd be back for it soon after properly planning for transport.