'77 280Z LS1 Storage Unit Build

[bmxer11]

Well i've been dreaming of owning an s30 since i was about 13, but since my dad is the ultimate old school hot-rod muscle car or die type I ended up with an '89 mustang as my first car. I fell in love with foxbody mustangs and owned it for about three years. I ended up selling it and buying a gorgeous '76 280 from down in South Carolina, and finally my little dream came true.





As you can see the car was insanely clean, and that was my issue with it. Never been the type to drive someone else's beautiful creation and present it as my own, so after about 7 months of enjoying the car i sold it for a reasonable profit. And with the neat little life story out of the way, we come to what this thread is really about. My 1977 280z:




I drove about 4 hours to Savannah, GA to pick the car up. It had been sitting for about 10 years according to the previous owner, The floorpans were in real nice shape, but it definitely had some Z car rust going on. It still had the chrome grandpa spec bumper on the rear, but the interior is really what sold me on the car. It had been fully restored somewhat recently, and it really does look immaculate inside. I havent been very good at snapping pictures as i work, but now that im starting a build thread ill try to keep it up.

The paint was sun rotted like you wouldnt believe, so i figured id go ahead and knock the bodywork out first, even though i cant stand doing it. So off to harbor freight i went, got me an orbital sander and as many 100 grit sandpaper packs i could find. You may have also noticed that the title of my thread says "storage unit build", which is because ive got my s13 in the garage next to dad's fire breathing america or die '55 chevy, so off i was, searching until i found the cute little 11x15' metal box that this car will be created in.







Sorry for the picture quality, my buddy comes and hangs out with his Dslr pretty often so ive got more pictures on his fancy camera. But I spent about three or four days sanding the car to get it where i wanted, and after i removed the tacky black and chrome trim running down the sides of the car i was left with a bunch of pinholes in my bodypanels. I decided to borrow my friend's little mig welder and see what i could come up with as far as sealing them all up. Currently going to school for my associate's in welding, so someday ill actually know what the hell im doing.








After a bit of grinder work, I ended up with all my holes patched and i finally had a Z without the tacky side trim. If you look closely you can see all the deep splits in the paint where the sun did its thing, in every possible place on this car.






After the panels were all buttoned up, i set about cutting two rusty spots out, treating all the surfaces and welding in new .20g sheetmetal.



Stayed away from filler at every possible chance, but it was unavoidable in a couple places like the rear end.









Like i said before, I havent been good with taking pictures so far, but bear with me. But after a few weeks of incredibly tedious cutting, welding, grinding, patching bodywork shenanigans, Ive got all the bodylines flawless and rust-free. All thats left to do is finish up some light layers of filler where i removed the rear bumper and up front where the hood has a considerable dent put in it. I gave it a good wash, and this is how it sits currently, in all its 15 colored glory.



If you've managed to make it this far through my text heavy boring bodywork filled thread, i promise it's about to get good. Ill be working on it tomorrow, finishing the bodywork for good and starting to remove the old Drive/Powertrain. Once the driveshaft is out i can measure my flange and put the order in for the swap kit, the last vital piece of the puzzle.

That being said, we've reached the powerplant phase.

Motor: 1998 Firebird/TA LS1-5.7
Trans: T-56 6-speed
Swap kit: John's Cars Inc.
Wiring: Factory harness+ECU

At the moment i'm working on getting the powerplant in the car and have it running reliably, but obviously i plan on changing things like the suspension setup, Hp numbers, and just about everything else. Im starting to run low on cash; committed myself to two months working construction solely to build my dream car. (Never Again.)

The good old L28, which is up for grabs or parts if needed, im near Charlotte, NC. No clue if the motor runs but its 100% complete, l28+ factory 4 speed. Previous owner said it ran good before but who can say.






And the wonderful hunk of metal that will eventually send my tiny metal japanese contraption into space.




And that's all ive got for the time being. I work on the car almost every day so ill keep the thread updated as much as possible. Sorry for making it so text heavy, but i kind of like to read through builds that tell a little bit of a story. That said, heres some fun facts about how i acquired my pile of parts that will make this thing awesome.

-4 hours one way to Savannah for the car.
-4 hours one way to Hilton Head, SC for the motor.
-8 hours one way to Florida for the 6 speed and supporting parts.

And the trusty parts getter/ temp daily:



Currently in the trunk of that poor Honda Fit:
-T56
-Datsun gas tank
-Pressure plate/flywheel
-all of my tools.

My parents hate me.