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View Advert 1978 Datsun Nissan 280Z owner's manual/service booklet/dealer case Original 1978 Datsun 280Z owner's manual and service booklet with matching dealer vinyl case from First City Auto Sales in Huntington, WV. Overall excellent vintage condition with no tears or missing pages. $45 obo Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Will be happy to meet locally or have a local member examine these in person prior to purchase. Willing to ship to the lower 48 for $5.00 flat rate; all other locations please contact me to discuss shipping. Advertiser mlaw7 Date 06/22/2020 Price $45.00 Category Parts for Sale

View Advert 240Z/260Z/280Z door handle escutcheon mounts Clearing out the last of my S30 parts. Set of five (5) OEM 1970-78 Datsun 240Z/260Z/280Z door handle escutcheon mounting brackets. Overall very good condition. Three are structurally sound and should hold both tabs of the chrome electroplated escutcheon firmly and securely in place. As shown in the photos, the retaining lips of other two are very worn and will require repair in order to function correctly. Will consider reasonable offers. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Will be happy to meet locally or have a local member examine these in person prior to purchase. Willing to ship to the lower 48 for $2.50 flat rate; all other locations please contact me to discuss shipping. Advertiser mlaw7 Date 06/22/2020 Price Category Parts for Sale

View Advert OEM 240Z/260Z/280Z and miscellaneous radio parts One OEM S30 radio control knob Two matching OEM S30 chrome plated S30 radio knob trim rings Two knobs (unknown make/model) One radio tuning/trim ring (unknown make/model) Will consider reasonable offers. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Will be happy to meet locally or have a local member examine these in person prior to purchase. Willing to ship to the lower 48 for $3.00 flat rate; all other locations please contact me to discuss shipping. Advertiser mlaw7 Date 06/22/2020 Price Category Parts for Sale

View Advert 1977-78 280Z OEM AM/FM radio faceplate w/shielding plate Clearing out the last of my S30 parts. OEM 1977-78 280Z AM/FM stereo radio face plate with matching OEM shielding plate. Some light scuffing but in overall excellent vintage condition as seen in the photos. No cracks! To the best of my knowledge this is designed for 1977-78 280Z series AM/FM radios with the vertical antenna switch. Will consider reasonable offers. Please contact me with any questions. Will be happy to meet locally or have a local member examine these in person prior to purchase. Willing to ship well packaged to the lower 48 for $5.00 flat rate; all other locations please contact me to discuss shipping. Advertiser mlaw7 Date 06/22/2020 Price Category Parts for Sale

Had the alternator checked this morning and the test showed bad diodes. Not sure if it's the original unit but it does look pretty old. The battery, which is about 1 1/2 years old, didn't test very well either. Evidently it experienced a fair amount of power drain due to the alternator going bad. Interestingly, after five minutes on the road on the way to getting this checked, both the brake warning light and charging light on the voltmeter went out. However, I did notice the voltmeter fluctuating as I drove. I replaced the alternator and she's now back to normal. I think I'll give the battery a day or so with the new alternator to see if there's any improvement. If not, I'll get a new battery. As to the brake warning light, evidently the variance in voltage somehow affected the circuit. The brakes are fine. Anyway, problem solved. Thank you for your input!! What a great group of people on this forum!!

As I was driving home this evening, my brake warning light suddenly came on and at the same time the red (charging?) light on my voltmeter came on. The voltmeter reading also had dropped to around 12v, which is considerably lower than its normal level. The car still ran fine, no brake or other mechanical issues. The lights may have been a little dimmer but I can't say for sure. If it makes any difference, this happened as I was slowing to a stop. When I got home, I checked the fuses - all look good. Didn't see any loose or bad connections/wires under the hood. The fusible links also seem to be ok. I also tried restarting the car - no problem but the symptoms still persist. I've had no indications at all of any electrical issues prior to this. Any thoughts on what could be happening? Alternator? Voltage regulator? Battery? This is a 1978 280Z. Thanks!!

Thanks Andrew! Perhaps, though, I should have been clearer. I wasn't asking about repairing or replating door panels or other plastic interior parts. The vacuum plating on my door panels and handle trim covers is miraculously still almost 100% intact. What I am asking about is any ideas or techniques on how to keep them that way - ideally for another 30 years or so! I'm scared to even polish them since they seem so fragile. Especially the strips on the door panels. PWD 's idea of a high-quality urethane clear coat is intriguiging. Thoughts?

Any ideas on how to preserve and protect the chrome vacuum plating on plastic parts and door panels? It seems to be so fragile after 30-40 years.

What kind of injectors did you use? After trying aftermarket and rebuilt injectors, I've found new OEM Nissan injectors by far to be the best as far as performance and reliability. They're kind of hard to find and a bit pricey but I have them in both of my '78 coupes and couldn't be happier. Both cars run like new.

Season's Greetings to everyone! I know this issue has already been discussed ad naseum in other threads. However, I don't think I've ever seen this particular angle, so I'm posting it in the hopes that it might help those of us who are still experiencing fumes in their cabin. Prior to the restoration of my burgundy '78 coupe, I was experiencing bad exhaust fumes in the cabin. I replaced all the seals, weatherstripping, gaskets, grommets, etc. I could find (well, almost all). Redid some body seams as well. That almost 100% fixed the problem. However, I still noticed an occasional slight whiff of fumes with the window down when I would pull to a stop. Nothing major but still pretty annoying. I could not figure out where it could be coming from - until this afternoon. Today while I was doing some engine compartment detailing, I noticed a small hole in the firewall near the hood latch mechanism. After looking around the compartment, I realized that I was missing one of the plastic holders for that part of the wire harness. This was one of the white ones that are used throughout the engine compartment and attach to the body by means of a rivet. When installed they effectively plug the hole. I quickly grabbed one of my spares and installed it. Then took a drive to see if that made any difference and YES! Fumes 100% gone!! Moral of the story: check your engine compartment and look for any small round holes near wires, especially on your firewall. Replace any missing holders and you've just eliminated another point of entry for those nasty fumes in your cabin.

Sarah, FWIW, my personal preference is for the engine compartment paint to match the rest of the car. While a black engine compartment certainly looks much better than one with original paint that doesn't match the rest of the car, I believe 100% matching paint is the way to go on a classic Z car.

Correct. So is this a plumbing term too?

Just in case anyone has ever wondered where Datsun came up with the term "escutcheon" for the plastic inner door handle trim covers. I thought it was kind of pretentious sounding until I discovered it actually is a real word. Here's the definition from Webster's Dictionary. 1: a defined area on which armorial bearings are displayed and which usually consists of a shield 2: a protective or ornamental plate or flange (as around a keyhole) 3: the part of a ship's stern on which the name is displayed More trivia for all of us Z-heads!

Just had NTB check the alignment this afternoon on my '78. The front looks great, only required a minor adjustment to the passenger side toe. However, the rear wheels are a bit out of spec. I know there's no factory adjustment for the rear, and from what I understand the only adjustment possible is a camber kit. Following are the specs on my rear wheels. Can any of you tire/suspension gurus interpret and/or comment on them? Rear left: Camber: -0.3 Specified Range: -0.1 to 1.5 Toe: 0.44 Specified Range: -0.22 to 0.22 Rear right: Camber: -0.4 Specified Range: -0.1 to 1.5 Toe: 0.24 Specified Range: -0.22 to 0.22 Cross camber: 0.1 Total toe: 0.68 Specified Range: -0.44 to 0.44 Thrust angle: 0.10 Thanks!

Can't say for sure but judging by the large number of fins, this looks like its for a 280ZX. If so, it will not fit your car. Another thing to be careful about: the rear louvres from a 2+2 model 260Z or 280Z won't fit either as the size of the hatch window is different from the coupe.

That is way cool!!

Jan, Congrats on a successful job! Glad to hear you've got your heater back! How long did it take?

Thank you everyone for the great information. I changed the air filter and oil this afternoon. Used a Fram air filter, K&N performance oil filter and Pennzoil 10-30W oil. I'll probably go with synthetic oil next time as I'm still driving her almost daily. It was just over 4k miles since my last oil change, and almost 15k on the air filter. The old air filter wasn't too bad but the oil was starting to get dirty. I immediately noticed a difference afterward. She really sounds and feels, well, happy. Very smooth and extremely responsive! Thanks again!

And a few more of the louvres on my '78 coupe, before and after restoration. It seems that there was (is) quite a difference in the styles of louvres for the S30. My personal preference is the aluminum style with rounded edges that install underneath the hatch window seal rather than having to drill holes in the hatch. I think some of them could even be locked with a key. Sometimes they were painted the same color as the car, as you can see from the photos of my '78 when I first got her. I believe this was a popular dealer option in the 70's but I personally prefer the contrast of black louvres against the car's paint color. Also complements the black color of the OEM door mirrors on the 260 and 280 models. (I could be wrong but I believe that the 240Z came with chrome door mirrors.) Sarah, I agree with you about how the rear window louvres beautifully complement the lines of the S30. In addition to reducing glare and helping keep the cabin cooler in the heat, they also make it harder to see what's in the hatch area. Period correct and totally retro!

I've heard all kinds of horror stories about bad things happening to car engines after having the oil changed at a place like Jiffy Lube, such as installing the wrong oil filter, etc. I've never had my Z's oil changed at one of these places although I have used them with other cars due to the hassle of recycling the old oil. I used to change my own oil all the time years ago but have had my mechanic do it on the Z using OEM Nissan oil filters. However, I just discovered that AutoZone will recycle the old oil so now that I'm due for an oil change, I'm thinking about just doing it myself this weekend using Castrol 10-30W oil. I know they're available on ebay, etc but was hoping to be able to purchase an OEM oil filter this morning from a Nissan dealership. No luck though. So here's my question: I've heard that the OEM filter is best because it has an internal check valve that helps it function properly. However, I asked the guy at the Nissan parts counter about this and he told this wasn't started till sometime in the 90's. Is this true? Can I safely use an aftermarket oil filter such as K&N or Fram? I'd love to hear your thoughts on which oil filters you use and why. This would also be a good time to ask which viscosity oil you like to use and why. I know the climate, season and engine condition are factors. Also whether there are any things to be on the lookout for when changing the oil that are unique to the Z. Thanks!

Wow, I didn't even know about these. I looked around the hatch hinges on my '78 and didn't see anything like them at all. I've never had a problem with water leaking into the hatch area or through the dome light finisher. Should they be pretty easy to see when the hatch is open? It looks like these fit in the recessed areas behind the hinges and secured to the body by the two mounting bolts on each side. Is that correct? I assume the hatch has to removed to install these. Even though it looks like they would fit pretty snugly, do they need to be further secured with any type of adhesive? Other than the hinges and cutout/recessed areas of the roof, do they protect any other areas from water, etc?

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'd like to ask your thoughts on the best way to lubricate the mast of a stock S30 power antenna to keep it functioning smoothly and eliminate unnecessary wear on the electric motor. I've considered white lithium grease but it seems that it would leave a noticeable residue when the mast is retracted and extended. I've also considered WD-40 but thought I'd ask what you use and why. Thanks!

Hey everyone, Just had pinstripes put on my burgundy '78 coupe and thought I'd post a few photos.

It's a great feeling, enjoy the ride!!! And it will be so sweet when she's done! It's now been almost one year since the restoration of my burgundy '78 coupe was completed, and the thrill is still there. Every day. Driving her to work this morning with the windows down, heater cranked and radio rockin' was awesome. Can't think of a better way to start the day. It was worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears - not to mention every cent. Something to look forward to. Keep those pictures coming!

Arne, Thank you for all the excellent information! This raises another set of questions, perhaps more of academic interest, but I think the kind of stuff we Z lovers thrive on. Can anyone comment on the differences in performance, handling, etc. between a stock 240Z with original 175/14 tires back in, say 1972, and the same car now with 195/R70-14 tires? Would it feel much like the same car as far as stability, steering and handling? Would braking be affected? How about driving on wet roads or at high speed? Would the overall ride be different, say smoother? Would a passenger notice any difference? Thanks again Arne, Enrique, Gary, Jim and Mike!