kiwi303

Theres 280ZX tow bars around, theres one on trademe.co.nz right now, but I doubt the bumper would be a solid mounting point on a 240z. I agree with the "get a truck" comment.

eh? you like little kids? are you Micheal Jackson?

the politics can be solved... march on washington with rifles in hand. War of independance II That can only be done before the liberal gun fearing wussies dearm everyone.

280ZX 2x2?

in the car? not much room... just get to the closest motel room FAST!!

Strip clean, ahve a shop do any and all welding, then have the whole chassis hot dip galvanised. followed by a nice paint job.

Thats why it's best to buy popular tyres from large stores that enjoy high turnover... the local garage may have had their puncture replacement ready rack tyres sitting in the racks since noah unloaded them off the ark.

yup, I'll be down sometime on friday with my cousin.. I'm just hoping mine looks better close up than it does in the photos

I think I recognise the top pic as an avatar on zclub.org.nz, is that the one you were going to use the one I ended up buying, as a parts car for?

http://www.300zx.cl/ga/300zx/images/VIN%20NUmber%20Datsun%20Z%20Car.htm found this myself today. H = you have a L28 N/A motor, C in this space would be a turbo G = you have a 2+2, blank in this space would mean the coupe (not 2+2) S130 = you have a 280ZX made before 2/1981 when the new VIN style came in

Can someone out there confirm that this type of rear quarter panel window is the Coupe with no rear seats... If so then mine will likely be a 2x2

Sorry about the the mixup there, by "long stroke" I simply meant they were undersquare, as in having a longer length of stroke than they had a diameter of bore. It's been quite a few years since I had the Laurels, so I can't remember the bore and stroke data exactly, but at the time I went to the library in the city I was in at the time and photocopied parts of the workshop manuals the library stocked. The cars engine data for the L20 version fitted to the laurel medallist was given as 1998cc with a stroke LONGER than the bore diameter. I wish I was still there and could drop by the library and check again. But I'm positive the stroke was more than the bore. which doesn't jibe with the data for the Z cars using the same engines.

Nissan have the L20B, then the L20A and the L20E, one is a 4 cyl, the other pair are 6 cylinders. My old '81 and '83 nissan Laurels (Medallist daily Driver and standard parts car) both had L20 2.0L straight 6 engines. the L20A are long stroke (undersquare), so not very fast revving, but with a load of torque. Ideal for a touring luxury waggon like the Laurel medallist, but hopeless for a sports car. So your L20 would probably be a the L20E, a bored, but shorter stroke version of the L20A revving faster for more power less torque. Early Skylines used the L20E and with a turbo, L20ET.

You have to wonder who was sleeping with the head of the Audi TT design group to be able to steal the blueprints for the 350Z...

Pm replied Hmm... beginners luck It makes a nice bonus to a car then, I won't have to scrape around for matching wheels. Any mods will be under the body, nothing visible or irreversible. I'm not a fan of riced up poser-mobiles, I far prefer sleepers. I've passed on the idea of a VQ30DET, that requires a bit of cutting and reprofiling the inside of the engine bay to make it fit, I want to keep it straight so just by returning a L28 to the bay it's stock again. Stiffer anti-sway bars, I'll have to brace the mounting points, but that will have to be done, stiffer shocks. Probably replace the seats with something snugger. But everything that comes off will be stored to be able to be returned to the car. There will need to be modifications to the mounts to take a SR20DET and gearbox, but I'm hoping the original mounts can be left in place rather than torched off. I've a few plans But most will have to wait till I get it up here to have a good look at it. cheers Rhys

I'm no expert on Z cars beyond the fact that my Greatuncle had a 260Z he bought when he was 85... But following on from what James from Chch said in post 3 on here I went and had a look at the pics on the auction site a bit more and it looks like a ZX body despite the badging saying Z, the rear quarter panel glass spikes down into a point at the rear rather than sweeping up in a rounded curve as the 240 and 260 goes. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Nissan/photos/a-149489101/p-62320150.htm The ownership certificate simply says Fairlady Z. Once I get down there in the weekend of the 17th may with a car trailer I'll be able to check the chassis numbers and option codes etc. but from the pic and a bit of browsing on the net, it looks more to be a ZX than a Z. Still, I was looking for a dead cheap, fair to good condition, challenging restoration of a classic long bonnet sports car. I would have been happy with any of the 2xxZ cars, a 300ZX, porsche 924, 944 or 928, ferrari 308 if one appeared in the price range (wishfull thinking!) or possibly an early Supra. I'm quite happy with what I got for $300

cheap gas... here it's 189.9 cents a litre for 91 octane, about 195 cents for 96 octane and the 98 octane is over $2 a litre. NZD that is

I'm trying to avoid buying a whole new car to pull apart. I may have 700 acres to strew the parts around, but I've very little shed space to put things in that I want to keep dry and rust free. I'm getting the Z from in Chch so not far from you, maybe I could drop by and have a look at your Z when I'm down to pick it up I'll check out the NZ club site Cheers Rhys

Well, my first day on this forum, I bought a '78 280Z rolling body with transmission but no motor last month, now just to get it up from where it was and start restoring it. I'm still not sure what to put in it. L28s are as rare as hens teeth here. A Holden 253 is about the same weight with more power and more torque, and can mount a little further back. Sounds like lots of chev smallblock mounts out there which means it will be easy to plug in the 253 Another option is a SR20DET, which is shorter, far lighter, and produces more power than the L28 with less weight to shift with the power or maybe a worked RB30DET with RB26DETT head and a fast spooling turbo on high boost. I'll be haunting this forum for a while yet so many options, so much fun putting the car together Cheers Rhys from NZ