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That is a ticking rust bomb, it has been sitting outside for a loooong time. Is that standing water next to the spare tire? Even if it isn't you can see the water mark where it has been, also the pooling marks behind the seats. However, it is fairly complete which is a big plus, if you are prepared to do a bare metal shell on a rotisserie restoration then the car is fixable ... but not at $14k. In USD money maybe $6,000 tops. Unfortunately, cars like this that use to go to the dump are now the affordable way to get into the game. If you do all the work and you're through you can have a safe, dependable and presentable Z for another $20,000, once you start paying others to do the work, well you can imagine what it will cost. But if you take that $26,000 dollars you can buy a very nice 280z that has never seen rust.

Merry christmas to all

SOLEX 44 TYPE 2 , arrived , I am so happy about this set . Jet setting is like this , Main 160 / Air. 200 / pilot 60 / pump 30 . Going to be coupled with Option “ 8L “ camshafts 300 degrees , valve lift 10mm . Also race piston compression ratio 10-11 . I am thinking using these optional parts into my spare S20 , but sometimes I tend to think the other way , going to put these into my Z432’s engine. If I do that , it would not be easy work for me getting it back to normal. Modified car’s value is lowered in most case , will it be applicable to my Z432 if I put these options into its engine ? To Use genuine optional parts , does it make any difference ? ( I would think it would have not hurt it’s value if my Z432 would have installed genuine optional parts at the dealer before the delivery in 1970 , and well documented about those extra ) Kats

Now if only we could add a clause to NAFTA 2.0 that stipulates that all cars restored in Canada shall be purchased at a 40% premium.

Brief follow up: Replaced all of the valve stem seals, the old new ones were brown (didn't find part numbers) and my replacements are black (Ishino Stone). When I held the brown one side by side to the black one, the inner diameter of the top opening was definitely smaller on the black, but it could just be because it hadn't been worn in yet. As I popped the brown ones off, they still snugly rode up the valve and caught the lip of the valve stem. I did notice a under a few of the valve stem seals, small pieces of what appeared to be old carbon build up or sludge were on the valve or guide. I forgot to bring my micrometer to measure the side-to-side play, but it seemed minimal, to the point that I couldn't see it preventing a new stem seal from doing it's job. I understand that concrete numbers and measurements trump how I feel about it, but I can go back in and measure it some other time if I need to. So the new seals are in, still smokes, though it does seem to be a little better at idle...but probably just my imagination. Friday evening I pulled all the plugs and have had ATF soaking on every piston. Today I rotated the crankshaft a couple times, and I'll mess with it after christmas break. I remember when I first opened up the engine, it had a bit more sludge and oil buildup than I care to see. So there's a chance the oil rings have too much buildup to do their jobs, but again, the oil consumption was a recent development so I didn't think rings would be an issue. I also "rebuilt" the lifters as per cygnus's write up. This should be a mandatory service with anyone that has a p90a head; lots of nasty gunk built up inside of there. I had been reading that these lifters can have a tendency to over pump, so to speak, and it made me wonder if that was the reason for the initial intermittent loss of compression while cranking. I'll keep this thread updated, until then, Merry Christmas to you guys!

You can do far, far better than that. I bought a complete, rust-free (ish), almost running '77 for $8500 a couple of years ago. I've attached an "as picked up" photo, and one of the spare tire well. Bone dry, non-rusted and complete. I swapped in a working AFM, new fuel injectors and fixed a couple of vacuum leaks, and it was running. The car you're looking at probably needs a lot of work to arrest the rust, based on what's visible.

Photo from the early 70's in a city near where I live. Similar side decal like yours. Very vintage.

No worries. If more pics would help I can grab some when I get home.

Cheers Flauski, yeah I remember that. Great you have another car. Well a few delays as my order from the Z store got nicely sent to Malta rather than NZ. Close, not! In the meantime got the sump modified, cross member modified and new drive pulley. Heres some pics

Agreed. Repair looks fully functional. Might want to use something to pot that wire into place so you don't bump it or catch it on something and pull more of the PCB trace off the board. Hot glue as mentioned above, or an epoxy blob or two.

I do have another stand that was used by BSR. It needs some legs added to clear the deeper oil pan and the engine mount capture nuts need to be chased but you get the idea.

Work looks great as always!

That car is way over-priced. You could probably find a better one and have it shipped to you for less. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-datsun-280z-67/

Please don’t ever use tyres that old - for your own sake! While they may look great, the rubber will be well past it’s best and likely to throw you off the road at the first hint of damp. My 99.9% of the time garaged Michelins, with 6.5mm left on them went very badly off after 7 years and yes I did fall off the road at low sped and not much right foot action. Over the pond in 14/15” there are Bridgstone Turanza T005, which I can’t say enough about in both wet and dry - not sure if you are able to source them where you? Great feel, incredible grip in the wet and brilliant in the dry.

Owner is on crack. A few grand, tops, if you ask me.

The visible rust is about 10% of what's really there. 90% is hidden. There may be a reason behind the dealer not having enough time to put it on a lift. I wouldn't consider it until I could look it from all angles.

I got nothing technical to add, but wanted to say this thread is awesome.

Because we buy most of our parts from the states. Our dollar is worth 30% less than yours so if we both make $50,000 a year, you actually have 30% greater buying power. Top that with ridiculous shipping fees, taxes, and brokerage and we end up about 40% more cost in restoring a car. That’s life.