Here Comes My Z

This afternoon I drove my 1975 Datsun 280z. I got to shift gears, got to roll the windows down, got to take Cruz for a drive along the St. Joseph River. I got to remember what it felt like to just drive for the fun of it, for pure enjoyment, to smile ear to ear while smelling exhaust and cruising past corn fields. 

I had not driven her since 2013. When I started working at La Casa the combination of my pay cut and crazy schedule meant no time to race, no time to work on the car and no money to spend on her either. 

My last post on this blog, "There Goes My Z" was posted on May 3, 2018. For a few years I would push her out of the garage, washed her, and put her back (Winter Nap). It was a sad ritual. After years of collecting dust, I finally got her towed away. 

My friend Jim over at EurAsia Import Specialists offered to take her and start slow to figure out all that was wrong, and make a plan to get her done. I owned her since 2010 (first post) and she never ran great. I did a lot of little mechanical things to keep her moving, but I mostly did a lot of cosmetic stuff. She wasn't a super looker but I got her looking good, but she wasn't running as well as she looked. I kept chasing fuel pressure issues, injection issues, electrical bugs... so I needed an expert. 

In just over a year we did a lot to her... Jim lead the charge, I tracked down 40+ year old parts, some modern updates, but mostly keeping it originalish, if thats a word. We did:

new injectors

new fuel pump

new battery

new fuel lines

new fuel sender

nearly all new sensors

new cold start valve

new front bearings

new sway bars (front and rear)

new alternator

new battery

new plugs

new front brakes

rebuilt fuel tank

rewired fusible links

So much I can't even remember... 

I want to thank Jim and EurAsia for their time and flexibility. Jim's knowledge of the car, and the attention to detail was second to none. From the tire shine when I picked up her up, to the detailed and cleaned up engine bay, to the help putting the grill back together and pulling the old 280z bumper shocks, and even tips on where to get the best gas. 

It was fun to drive today, looking forward to enjoying her this summer and here is to whatever the future brings for her... paint job, motor rebuild, race track visit... who knows. Either way, here comes my Z... 

There Goes My Z

I finally got to drive my Z... after 4 YEARS of sitting in the garage today I drove her... unfortunately it was just a glide the driveway so the flat bed could pick her up from the front... Tear, tear, tear...

I got the Z in 2010 and had a ton of fun with her. I got to drive her for two seasons in autocross with my club. On this blog you can read about my seat restoration, picking out parts, driving around the state to get used Datsun stuff, and work that I got to do on her. I love just time getting my hands dirty.

I won my autocross class (Street Touring R - STR) in 2010, but didn't get back to the trophy range cause the car started to struggle. She had fuel pressure issues, and try as I might things just got worse. New fuel pump, nothing. Dropped and cleaned the fuel tank, nothing. Took it to a local mechanic, nothing. At that point it was over my head what was wrong so she sat waiting for help.

Then I changed jobs, got too busy to work on her, and then she got put under a cover and sat... each year I thought, this year I will have time (and $) to get her running... well as you can see from the time stamp on the posts... neither happened. I work in non-profit world and have three kids, its hard to save money to get her the work she probably needs. So fingers crossed that we can get her back on the street.

Well so today she got towed, Tony's came and got her for me and hauled her off to EurAsia Import Specialists. They have a Datsun Master Mechanic there who will finally get to the bottom of my baby's issues. Hopefully I can afford to get her fixed...

So for now the garage has a big empty hole, where my Z used to be. Well now a major cleaning and organizing of the garage can happen. So lets do that while I take my mind off my baby being gone...

Long Winters Nap

The Z got dusty... she sat all summer. I popped the hood once and started to mess with her but never really got into it before I got side tracked again. So she sat and got dusty, VERY dusty.

Well just before the cold really set in we rolled her out of the garage, gave her a good bath, and then put a cover on her. She has settled in for a long winters nap... and hopefully this spring we can finally make some things happen and get her rolling again. I hope so, I didn't do a single race this year... obviously not in the Z, but even worse I never even went to an event to run a borrowed car.

So here are some pictures, washing her reminded me how much I wish I had time to work on her, and how I look forward to teaching the kids more about cars. Novali likes being handy, and hopefully Cruz will as well... and this spring they can help me get her on the road.

The Z looks nice all washed up huh... now if I can just get her running, and then teach Novali how to drive her...