Hello everyone. I recently inherited my former father-in-law's 1981 280ZX. It's in pretty good shape with a few body dings and dents and very minor rust. I asked my wife what she wants to do to the car and of course she Google searched some pictures and found a few 280Zs and fell in love with that picture. The biggest holdup I see right now is the early 80s bumpers on the ZX. If I can find one, could I put a 280Z bumper onto the ZX? I have no experience in doing a lot of work with cars so in a perfect world, I would love to find something that is easy to swap or bolt on.

Also, are there any other shared body parts between the Z and the ZX? I may need to replace some mirrors and some interior door panels, etc..

I don't believe it will be an easy swap. I have not heard of anyone doing it. Noyt saying it's not possable, but I doubt it will be an easy modification.

Which version of the 280Z did you have in mind. They came with two variants. 1975 to 1976 and 1977 to 1978.

The most common bumper swap is the 240Z bumpers on a 280Z. That is a relative easy swap because both the 240Z and the 280Z are both S30 chassis variants. The 280ZX is the S130 chassis

 

17 hours ago, jstamps said:

are there any other shared body parts between the Z and the ZX?

As the 240/260/280z is a s30 and a 280zx is a s130 chassis, very little (bolts and other small things) are the same..

As Chas said: those bumpers are not interchangeable i think as the s130 is wider..  i think..?  Also they will not fit into the indentations of the body..

@borini63 Do you still have a good collection of ZX parts?

these guys make custom fab parts for S30 and S130. Spendy but good.  You have a Z, so you will get used to buying expensive parts haha.  I have their rear diffuser on my ZX with stock bumpers. 

https://skillard.com/product/datsun-280zx-front-bumper/?doing_wp_cron=1666443077.2546410560607910156250

https://skillard.com/product/datsun-280zx-aluminum-rear-bumper/?doing_wp_cron=1666443542.6582000255584716796875

 

21 hours ago, jstamps said:

Hello everyone. I recently inherited my former father-in-law's 1981 280ZX. It's in pretty good shape with a few body dings and dents and very minor rust. I asked my wife what she wants to do to the car and of course she Google searched some pictures and found a few 280Zs and fell in love with that picture. The biggest holdup I see right now is the early 80s bumpers on the ZX. If I can find one, could I put a 280Z bumper onto the ZX? I have no experience in doing a lot of work with cars so in a perfect world, I would love to find something that is easy to swap or bolt on.

Also, are there any other shared body parts between the Z and the ZX? I may need to replace some mirrors and some interior door panels, etc..

As mentioned, the ZX is a completely different animal, body wise. Nothing will interchange from the earlier series Z. Add to that most owners of the 280Z don’t care for the look of the 5mph crash bumpers on the 280Z and remove them, sometimes doing the conversion to the smaller, more aesthetically pleasing bumpers from the 240Z.

Also mentioned is the offering from Skillard.

The ZX does share similar parts, the rear axle half shafts and differential, transmission and engine, and wheels. The ZX versions are updated, and can be used, in some cases requiring a bit of fettling about.

I used earlier 280Z halfshafts on my 79 280ZX, bolted right up.

 280ZX rear calipers are swapped to earlier Z cars to convert the rear drums to disc brakes.

I believe the clutch master and slave cylinders are the same too.

 

2 hours ago, Reptoid Overlords said:

these guys make custom fab parts for S30 and S130. Spendy but good.  You have a Z, so you will get used to buying expensive parts haha.  I have their rear diffuser on my ZX with stock bumpers. 

https://skillard.com/product/datsun-280zx-front-bumper/?doing_wp_cron=1666443077.2546410560607910156250

https://skillard.com/product/datsun-280zx-aluminum-rear-bumper/?doing_wp_cron=1666443542.6582000255584716796875

 

This is an awesome site! I feel like I can get into some serious trouble here 😂

41 minutes ago, jstamps said:

This is an awesome site! I feel like I can get into some serious trouble here 😂

Well, at least we can point you to the resources that will.

20 hours ago, Racer X said:

280ZX rear calipers are swapped to earlier Z cars to convert the rear drums to disc brakes.

I can ad here that there are 2 kinds of calipers type 1 is 1978 - 1980  and type 2 is around  1981 - 1983.  first one has more square pads and the later one is more modern like a fat banana ..  They also have different rear axle constructions.. they don't mix!  Even the disc of the rear brake is different!

This guy on Facebook was selling a lot of ZX parts. Looked like reasonable prices too. I do not know him or have I delt with him. I just have seen his ad's popping up recently.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/327981873903624/user/100000244220750