Finally got a 280z, and now I’m looking for some advice! Engine hesitation, car pulls, and suspension work

[Speedymaru]

Hello, I’ve owned 3 620s, and recently finally got my hands on a 280z. It’s a 1978, and has virtually no rust (PNW car). Got the car home, put in a fresh battery and it fired right up. I paid 5500. 
 

I am definitely going to overhaul the brakes, and I’m wondering if there’s any common knowledge I should be aware of. Is replacing with stock components a good idea, or should I upgrade? I’m trying to keep my costs to a minimum. 
 

As the title says, the cars pulls decently hard to the left. I’m not going to mess with anything until after doing the brakes, as there’s a good chance that’s what’s causing the pulling. 
 

Another thing I noticed on my first test drive was that the engine seems to hesitate a bit at lower RPMs. Once you get above 2.5k, it seems to open up and you can feel a lot more power. I plan to test/replace the injectors, but is there anything else I should look at? I’m pretty inexperienced when it comes to fuel injection. 
 

Lastly, the shocks are blown. Obviously running coilovers would be ideal, but I can’t afford them at the moment. The car came with 2 brand new KYB shocks, should I just replace those? I wouldn’t mind lowering the car a few inches, but I don’t want to slam it, and I don’t want to cut the springs (I’d rather stay at stock height than cut springs). Im also fairly new to the coilovers design of the 280z, I’m used to the 620 torsion bars/leaf springs. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[datzenmike]

Pulls hard to the left when braking.... it's the brakes.

Pulls hard to the left all the time... it's alignment.

 

Use stock easily sourced and cheap brake parts.

 

The maf uses a flapper gate. The more air passing through the more the door opens. This is attached to an arm that moves over a  resistive surface varying the voltage in response to how much air passes through the 'door'. With this info the ECU can generate a fuel mixture for the injectors. The surface wears most where the engine normally runs... idle to mid range. The worn area gives faulty info to the ECU and it doesn't run well. There was a you tube on moving the wiper arm so it is now running on a clean unused part of the resistive surface but I can't find it now.

 

Below in NOT a 280z MAF but it is similar and shows where the problem can be. The little wiper arm can wear a track in the resistive coating. The video showed how to move it so the arm rubs on an unworn area.

 

 

If the oil bathe dampers on the front are still on the car, just empty out and replace with 20w motorcycle fork oil to firm them up. About $15 for a liter at most bike shops, enough for 3 struts.

[Speedymaru]

Thanks for all the info!

 

Would you say that a chain tire shop (les Schwab, Firestone) could do the alignment, or should I look for something better?

 

How do I tell if the oil bath dampers are still on? And I believe the rear shocks are also blown. Do you have any suggestions on where to buy suspension components? 

[datzenmike]

Good enough for an alignment. Does it pull all the time when driving?

 

You won't know till you take apart to put the inserts in.  The insert length has to fit the strut tube depth so measure and make up the difference with washers in the bottom. You can definitely do this to the rears, I suspect they are also oil filled.

[yenpit]

Budget....just buy something like the KYB Excel's, cuz cheap & decent quality.  1978 should have replaceable strut INSERTS all four corners 😁

[Speedymaru]

Yes, it pulls all the time when driving. Thanks for the info! I’m going to start digging into it.