i was at the local cracker barrel the other day and saw a really rough looking z car pull up. i immediately. got out of my car to go look at his. (due to the fac i have only seen 1 other z car in my county before.) anyway it was an older gentleman driving the car that informed me that it was a 1977 280z and it had over 400k miles on it. i was astonished at this fact. and was wondering if you guys have ever heard of a z engine going that far? and how many miles were the engines designed to go for?

Well, the engines are pretty bullet proof, it's everything around it that either rust's or fails in some way!

Did you ask him if it was still the original engine?

At what point does the engine become not original would be the question I'd be asking?

My L24 has so far had 3 heads, 2 alternators, bottom end refreshed,lost count of plugs, points and leads, numerous radiators, water pumps, filters...the list goes on doesn't it.but it's still the same engine......guess the fact that is was bored out to 2.7 (or thereabouts) in it's early life should,'t matter either....

Interesting question none the less.....

Mike,

That's almost like the guy who said "except for three handles and two heads, I've had that ax for 50 years"......

I've got a 40 something year old pair of Birkenstocks that are nearly that bad.

I would be surprised if valve seats would stay put for 400K.

Edited February 3, 201114 yr by Bruce Palmer
can spell.... can't type

Bruce,

That was exactly my point...

We've repaired, replaced and re-built nearly ever part on these cars, so at what point does the word original no longer describe the vehicle?

sorry for the thread hijack, I'll ask the mods to split it....

Mike

Wasn't there a story about some old guy that had a '77 280Z for a daily driver and it had like 600,000 or 700,000 miles? I believe the story was on this site. Wish I could remember the details.

I have a 1981 280ZX. The engine is in the garage and the car is in the driveway. It had 120K or there abouts when I bought it in 1989. I put over 200K on it after I took possesion. Only one rebuild. It's been fro, Florida to California and back several times and countless trips in the southeastern U.S. Like you said they are bulletproof as long as you don't overheat them. The lower end will be used for my 3.1 stroker for Project 3/72.

I bet that car at the Cracker Barrel belongs to Dan, a member of the Georgia Z Club. He's a good guy who loves to brag on it having 470,000 miles (or there about) to anyone who will listen. Club had an event in Cartersville on the 23rd that he attended - probably when you saw him.

A good car, carefully driven, well maintained, can last quite a long time. My neighbor across the street has a beautiful '68 Camaro with 500k miles. The engine was rebuilt once. The automatic transmission has only had its fluids changed.

My 1977 280Z has 418,625 miles, the engine and transmission have been rebuilt once. :classic:

My question would be, what is the highest mileage from an L engine with NO major overhaul. That is, boring or crank grind, or valve grind. I would think a blown head gasket would be excused from this criteria.

My first Z was a 79 280ZX that I sold around 1994 with 224K on the clock. I saw it around town for several years after that. I tracked down the guy that I sold it to a few years ago in a fruitless attempt to find out what had happened to it only to find out that he had cracked the head on it and sold it to a salvage yard. During all the years I owned it I replaced one alternator, performed regular maintenance and had no other mechanical problems.

Too bad Nissan doesn't do what Saab does....

http://blogs.motortrend.com/saab-offering-new-car-to-owners-of-millionmile-saabs-173.html