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Call me Pooky. I've been on the site for months now but this is my first post. I am truly indebted to many of you for all of your helpful insights and advice, not to mention encouragement. Back when I was in high school my sister dated a guy that had a silver 280z. I thought it was the coolest car. As I got older and more financially able to take on a restoration I had no doubt what car it would be. This was my '77 280z when I bought it for $4k back in 2011. (I spent too much!) It was drivable, nevertheless I started tearing it apart the very next day. I hit it hard for about two years then bought a cottage at a favorite fishing location and the car fell into an auto cocoon until last fall. I have tons of pictures of the transformation. Thanks to the pandemic I've been laid off for the past month and got it almost road ready. In the original picture it looks pretty good, with the exception of those awful bumpers, but had a lot of cancer in the usual places. With the exception of sand blasting the body, I've done ALL the work myself. Even painted it myself. Thanks Youtube! I'm lousy about keeping track of receipts and bills but I would venture to say that this project has run up to about $15k so far. All I have left to do is get some type of front bumper on it and put in the windshield and hatch glass. I'd also like to get it tuned up by someone who knows these cars. Honestly, I wouldn't know one that runs good from one that runs bad. The second picture is probably in 2012 and the last picture was taken today.

Learn to enjoy the noises(s). As soon as you remove one you'll notice another. Coming up: diff howl, 3rd gear whine, rocker ticking, injector noise, mustache bar clunking.

Grannyknot, just for you. ( and anyone else who's interested!) After sand blasting I found out just how much mud was in the hood. It was hit in the front at some point and the vent holes were also rotted out. Too much work to fix. I got the current hood by putting a wanted ad on Craigslist. Got it for $60 or $90. I wanted one with vents to keep the look of a 77 but took what I could get. The rims, also from from a wanted ad on Craigslist, I got for $50. You can see they were pretty corroded. I first sandblasted them in a harbor freight blasting cabinet that I bought just for the car years ago. Sanded and polished the turbines as best I could and taped them off. Duplicator graphite wheel paint, a coat of clear and 20 hours later, time to order tires.

This is a very odd position to be in. Trump is making it a point to put more focus and pressure in China. Unfortunately we know that he will do anything or tell any lie to blame someone else for whatever goes bad. Therefore I find myself reluctant to trust anything that has been touched by the US at this point. I'd rather hear clear reports from the UK.

I made my own frame rails out of 14ga steel. Made a poster board paper pattern first.

Your white Z looks a lot like the Z we started working on 3 years ago. Only you have a rear hatch installed, ours was only a rolling chassis. This car also has the Rota wheels in dark gray and 16". Nice wheels, no mileage on them also, but they are about 4-5 years old. Holding up nicely in the shop. Ed

Your cam is "bigger" than Jeff G 78's cam. The odds are against you. Jeff G knows his engines. Here's your cam specs. Racing Cam Stage III Intake 36-74 Exhaust 74-36 Valve Lift 0.490 Valve Lash Cold 0.010/.012 Advertised Duration 290 0.050 Duration 242 Here's Jeff G 78"s post. "I tried it - twice. The first time was circa 1997 with a L28 at 9.83:1 CR and a street cam. The engine was fresh and the car ran like crap. It had low power, wouldn't idle and was simply a disaster. Since the engine was new and the EFI a bit untested, I removed the cam and related components and returned the engine to a stock cam. It ran great and I was able to enjoy the car. The performance cam sat on a shelf for a decade or so. My Z was running great and was well-sorted, so I figured that I would try again. I installed the same cam and related parts back into the engine and got the same result. I tried to tune it, but it didn't make enough vacuum to keep the L-Jet happy. I once again pulled the cam springs and rockers and went back to stock. I then installed that cam into my SU carbed L28 racecar and it runs like a dream. It was everything I had hoped for in my street car. Both engines are very similar other than the fuel systems. You can try it, but many have the same results as me. L-Jet simply doesn't like low vacuum. For reference, my cam is a Web Racing Grind 91 with .450 lift and 260 duration"

Yes I bought Rota RK-R's 15x8 (pictures fitted below). I haven't driven on them yet but my comments would be that build quality seems decent, finish seems decent. No fitment issues other than I needed to fit extended wheel studs and open ended long wheel nuts; but I knew that before I bought them. I bought them on Amazon as it happens, they were on sale at the time so got a good deal.

I always used the shotgun approach on transmissions. Along with all new bearings, all new seals, all new synchros and check the prop shaft u-joints while it's out.

Uhhhhhh.... Yeah, that aint right. If it springs back slightly, I'm guessing that it's rusty cruddy and virtually locked up. I was just messing with one similar a few days ago. Weights and springs had rusted to the pins they are supposed to pivot on. Maybe you threw a spring too, but I bet it's just wear and crud. The one I was messing with also had wear marks on the sliding components. So now it moves easy, but it's still notch because of the wear.

That be funny as hell to see. A car in a museum on jack stands. Do it!

Remove the breaker plate and look at the weights and springs. Sounds like the springs are gone or broken. Found a good video. You don't want to lock yours but he shows how to take one apart. 4 and 6 minutes show the critical parts.

yes, that should get you in the right area. As zedhead says, best to set it with a timing light, once it's running. having watched your video, I don't think that movement is right. it's normal to have some movement again as ZH says, but the mechanical advance is sprung so it should return when you release it. is there more resistance in one direction than the other?

No, mine is a L28 with MSA 6-2-1 headers.

Well, there seems to be interest for a small batch of my reproduction ribbed footrest part, see group buys if interested.