Paint code error on all original barn find 280Z?

[Tool Junky]

I just watched a video of a 1976 280Z barn find that has just 350 miles on it. My daughter recently bought a 1976 280Z project car that is the same color (light blue). We’ve been working on her car and it will be getting paint this month. She wants to keep it the same factory color so I had checked a few different internet sites and all indicated that her car is painted Light Blue Metallic #305.

In the barn find video they are taking about how pristine all the factory markings are and they showed the paint code decal. It says the paint code is #304. When I saw that, I went back to some of the sites I had previously looked at for paint codes and all of them indicate that #304 is Gold Metallic.

The barn find car seems truly legitimate, so I’m confused. Maybe the factory worker applying the decal  simply applied the wrong number? That seems weird, but it obviously could happen. Is the car color in that video really #304 as it’s decal indicates or is it actually #305?

The video can be found by doing a Google search of “350 mile 280Z barn find”. In the video, they show the paint code decal at 4:33/19:77 (the picture above is a screen grab from the video). Even if you’re not interested in paint codes, it’s a cool video and a truly amazing car. It may very well be the best preserved 280Z in the world.

[Zed Head]

Interesting.  @brunodoggy ?

 

 

[brunodoggy]

yes that is my car with the miss-matched paint code. More info at www.350Mile280z.com 🙂

Edited November 8, 2020 by brunodoggy

[Tool Junky]

Thanks for the response Zed Head. I had searched on paint code numbers before posting, but only searched the Body and Paint topic. I should have done a more complete search.

In the topic that you referenced, I noticed that you commented on that car having a diagonal Datsun emblem on the hatch while your 1/76 build car has it horizontal. For what it's worth, the emblem on my daughters car is also diagonal and her car had a build date of 10/75 even though it was sold as 1976 model year. Maybe there was a transition between diagonal and horizontal during that time and there was a mix of the two for a while.  

[mgood]

My car 11/75 - is a 76 model year as well has a diagonal Datsun emblem.  I am the original owner and still have the car.

[siteunseen]

Does your daughter's car have the #304 sticker too? I apologize if you've stated that already but I can't seem to see/read it.

I have a 9/'76 #305 original paint. It's differently the light blue.

[Tool Junky]

Thanks everyone for your responses. That definitely answers my question... the paint code for my daughter's car is #305 as I originally thought.

2 hours ago, siteunseen said:

Does your daughter's car have the #304 sticker too? I apologize if you've stated that already but I can't seem to see/read it.

I have a 9/'76 #305 original paint. It's differently the light blue.

Siteunseen - No, the paint code decal is missing from her car.

15 hours ago, brunodoggy said:

yes that is my car with the miss-matched paint code. More info at www.350Mile280z.com 🙂

Brunodoggy - Thanks for confirming that the paint code decal on your car is in error. I guess maybe the factory worker in charge of the paint decals was hung over from too much Sake the day it went on your car 🤣 And BTW, that is an amazing car you acquired. It should be worth a small fortune to the right collector. 

    

[EuroDat]

Someone probably replaced the decal and order the wrong code.

304 is a metalic gold colour.

https://www.zzxdatsun.com/catDecals.php

[brunodoggy]

38 minutes ago, EuroDat said:

Someone probably replaced the decal and order the wrong code

My car came from the factory with the wrong code. The original owner noticed it when the car was new. 

[w3wilkes]

On 11/8/2020 at 12:49 PM, EuroDat said:

Is this chart complete? It doesn't show the #905 color (a tomato red with a slight orange tint). When I painted my car back in 1991 I contacted the Nissan regional office in Colorado and #905 was the number I was given.

[240260280]

It seems like some contiguous serial numbers were painted the same colour. Perhaps yours was the first of a batch or last of a batch that was out of  step.

[brunodoggy]

1 hour ago, 240260280 said:

It seems like some contiguous serial numbers were painted the same colour. Perhaps yours was the first of a batch or last of a batch that was out of  step.

I like to think it's like a miss-printed coin. Making it even more rare 🙂