Nick P came to Z Car Garage to fix a blown head gasket on his 280zx.  We decided on a full cylinder head rebuild with a revised cam profile from Rebello, otherwise it was built close to factory spec. Teardown pictures below indicate obvious failure:

 

 

The rebuilt cylinder head:

 

We added a new 6-2-1 exhaust header from MSA and finished it off with the ZCG exhaust system:

 

The intake manifold and associated smog/efi plumbing were cleaned up:

 

With the engine freshened we put the Z on the rollers…141hp/142tq to the wheels is healthy!

 

Next we turned to the suspension. Nick wanted us to install his TechnoToyTuning (T3) coilovers, RCA’s and T/C rods:

 

Old struts out and coil-overs in!

 

T3 camber plates up front:

After an alignment and fender roll the Z sits perfectly without rubbing or scraping. We dig the RB-Rs on this!

 

 

Daniel R owns this 280zx with a turbo swap and it developed a leak from the exhaust manifold. We repaired broken studs in the manifold, injector connections, oil feed to the turbo, replaced the oil dipstick and breather hose.

The valve cover was treated to wrinkle coat red finish:

The engine bay in Daniel’s 280ZX looks better and is fully functional!

We have chronicled the build of this 280zx for as long as ZCarBlog has been around and the time finally came to deliver the car to it’s owners last Wednesday in the LA area.  The only reason this car made the delivery deadline is the bullet-proof work ethic that Rob and Fred have.  They had spent countless late nights and weekends to make sure the car was up to ZCG standards in every way.  All Z enthusiasts owe these two men a pat on the back for their commitment to the Z.

Enough sucking up, here are the pictures that our good friend Chad over at PhotoShootMyCar.com took last week.  Chad also owns the R33 GT-R that we covered a little while ago.  Great guy, great car, great photos.  Thanks Chad!

Just when you thought the ZX was starting to fade into the distance…. something like this eBay auction happens!!  Apparently this is number 1 of 3000 “Black Gold” tenth anniversary 280ZXs and it is trying to fetch a pretty penny through the online auction.

The car has just over 1,000 miles on it since new so it isn’t hard to see why the starting bid is $35,000, but I’m sure that will seem like a bargain in the coming years when there are no more of these cars left.  It looks like the owner is quite the Z enthusiast because you can see a quite a few fellow S30 chassis Zs in the garage as well.  Make sure you check out the listing and all the other photos by clicking the eBay link below, and thanks to Autoblog.com for the heads up on the awesome Z news.

Link: eBay auction: “Black Gold” 10th Anniversary 280ZX

Source:  Autoblog.com

Today’s post concerns another meaningful 280zx restoration that we are undertaking right now.  This car started it’s life as a normal ZX but was put under the knife to receive extensive modifications almost immediately.  It is now a collector’s item and a truly special car to the Z faithful.

This car runs a vintage “blow through” turbocharged and intercooled 3.1L engine that breathes through Mikuni 44mm carburetors.  It is truly a unique setup that allowed Jim Cook to make great power even with the limited technology available at the time.

This car is soon to be under attack from the ZCG assembly crew as we have just received a slew of parts from our powder and ceramic facilities.  Expect to see some posts on this project in the next few weeks as things come together.

There are more pictures and more background info on the 280zx Turbo after the “read more.”  The owner was also gracious enough to gather some information on the car and Jim Cook himself and send it in to us here at zcarblog.com

…[read more]