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I have been using this site as a resource for a few weeks now, I figure I would introduce myself. I just picked up this 1978 280Z from the original owner. I have ALL of the original paperwork that went with the car when it was new. He let his grandson borrow it for a few years back in 2006 and he trashed it. The owner started a restoration on it and lost interest so he sold it to me with all of the new parts and pieces to finish the job. It had sat for about 5 years with bad gas. I had the gas tank washed and replaced the injectors and fuel filter. After that and a minor tune up, she is running like new! The sanding was about 75% complete so I just started to finish that today. I am filling the small holes used to mount the dealer installed siding. I am still on the fence whether or not to paint it the original color (306 Silver) or do a custom color. Only other modification I want to do it a 240Z bumper conversion but I will keep the original parts. So far all of my questions have been answered by other threads. Can't wait til she is ready to cruise!

Introducing myself... Tom in Indianapolis. I’ve lived Z cars since high school, when one of my classmates, whose dad was a Datsun dealer, drove one. I’ve been a car collector for over 20 years, with varying tastes: Jaguar, Aston, Corvette, Porsche, McLaren, and a wide variety of Indy 500 pace cars.

Ok, Got one of those Diablo blades for the sawzal, and it was off in 10 minutes. I spent way to much time hammering and soaking..... Thanks for the advice. Now I can proceed.......

Oh my...So much bondo, and even the carb looks like it came off a still. Definitely a challenge for the future owner.

True enough, but I think we all recognize the political reason for that action. At least under the current administration, I think pigs would fly at orbital speed before money would be transferred from the military budget to any humanitarian function.

This looks good, to me. https://scranton.craigslist.org/cto/d/chinchilla-1971-datsun-240z/7117771383.html $17,500

@ETI4K When I did mine, I ended up pressing the joint right through the bottom cup. I agree with @wheee! ... get aggressive .

Have you given thought to installing the mechanical pump without the spacer - just to see if that makes a difference?

2 hours of driving today.

Now, on top of it all, we have the "Wuhan" hornet... C'mon! https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/02/murder-hornets-washington-state-bees-twitter

Wow, that's a steal. Worth the price for the steel rims alone even with shipping. Hubcaps are easy to find, the steelies seem to be quite rare.

The resonator is a 24" Magnaflow; https://www.magnaflow.com/products/10426-performance-muffler-magnaflow-4-round-centercenter-straight-through-performance-muffler And this is the muffler, also Magnaflow; https://www.magnaflow.com/products/13216-performance-muffler-magnaflow-4-x-9-oval-centeroffset-xl-multi-chamber-performance-muffler

8” ET 0 will fit nicely with a 225x50 tire but that’s about as wide as it gets without massaging the fenders. Small world as usually ; ) Im in a small town called Ödeshög (next to lake Vättern) about 250KM south of Kista. Summertime here are often great and as you say days are bright but winters are the opposite, not much daylight for many month. Dark when you wake up and dark when you get home from work.

Got around to doing a few things today. Found the right collar to get me to the 92mm sweet spot. Replaced the rear main seal, installed the new pilot bushing, cleaned up and painted the transmission plate and installed the flywheel.

Yes you have a lot more rainy days per year in Britain then here in Sweden, not so fun when the weather change so quickly. Im changing my mind regarding the wheels but my mind is now set on a set of equip 03s in 15X8.

I did the MSA 6 to 1 Ceramic and 2.5 all the way back. Did both resonator and muffler. See;

Sounds like the bolt has rusted solid to the inner sleeve. They generally do, but your case is extreme. Reading your post, sounds like you have tried most things possible. Heat could help release it, but you can't get enough heat into the sleeve section. It will just dissipate into the control arm and burn the rubber in the process. I think your bolt is a gonna. You have a new bolt and rubber bush. I think your best option is cut through the bolt and sleeve on both sides of the control arm with a saw. Once it is out, heat the control arm and remove the rubber section with the remaing inner sleeve and bolt. Tip: I see a lot of people litterally burn out the rubber section. This creates a lot of toxic fumes and smoke. I heat the outside section until the heat penetrates through to the rubber and the rubber release. Grab the bushing with a pair of pliers or vice grips and keep trying to turn the bush while heating the outside. When it's hot enough it will release and slide out with a minimum of smoke and fumes. You can then push out or cut through the outer sleeve.

Honestly, I see more cars at shows north of $50,000 in restoration costs WITHOUT labour factored in, I'm not surprised anymore. It will always be cheaper to buy someone else's finished product than to do it yourself....

If you just want to drive a nice restored classic, don't restore it yourself, just buy a good restored car. If you have to pay someone to do it you will have to pay 10's of 1000 dollars/euro's whatever.. I'm in the last let's say half a year of my 280zx 1979 slick-top sort of restauration ( engine and so was perfect because of low mileage (kilometers in my case) and i'm after a perfect paintjob that will take place in a month or so i'll be going over 15000 dollar and then i'm NOT COUNTING THE MANY, MANY HOURS I GOT IN IT MYSELF.. Yes it is... and should be a labour of love. otherwise you don't have to go through all the trouble. And if you think you can do it yourself, you need to be a handy man.. otherwise forget it.. (i have seen some people who started it but it never came to an end.. it ends like a bad dream and a big moneypitt.

Not to dissuade you, but are you looking for a good reason to not do it?? If you are expecting the finished "restoration" to look, drive and feel "as new" you should be prepared to spend what a new car would cost. Probably more.

Thanks! Mine is actually not the MSA Premium exhaust system, just the coated headers are from MSA. The pipe and resonator/muffler were custom fit and installed. The resonator tucked into the tunnel extremely well.