daddz

Chris, I don't know if I'll make it over to Tampa; I'll shoot you an email and try to make a day trip out of it? This time I'll bring extra batteries for the digital camera! SteveJ, With the program offered by UMUC the online class promotion is pretty strong; I usually prefer the classroom setting but, I'll have to give the online thing a try as well. With gas at $3.00/gallon and the fact that Z cars like premium the commute to College Park will get trimmed in every way possible. I used to own an '88 Supra turbo/ targa and I regret selling it. It was silver with a burgandy interior and except for the sheer mass of the thing it was fun to drive. As you can see my '87 has also been allowed to suffer from sitting outside. I bought it from the original owner last October and he had gotten to a point with the car that he didn't want to take care of some needed maintenance items and let it sit for about two years. Other than the maintenance issues it has been fun to rekindle the Supra thing. If I get rid of mine I'll have some extra Supra parts if you need them.

SteveJ, My sentiments are the same. About 4 or 5 years ago I was mailed a survey from Nissan which entailed alot of questions regarding what the next Z car should be. My response basically stated that a new Z car should have similar proportions to the Jaguar E type, 240Z, Toyota 2000GT, Ferrari 275GTB/4. I was basically drawing a picture of a modern interpretation of the old S30. The 350Z is not what I had in mind but, yet I bought one anyways and I don't regret being a part of the experience and the car is not terrible either. If only someone would undertake a venture similar to the 'heritage body shell' program that was done in England. If you owned a rusty MGB or TR-6 you could simply purchase a brand new bodyshell which was made using the original tooling. This exercise is pricey but, as an S30 owner it would be the next best thing to buying a 'new' S30 Z car. If only the S30 had been kept in production in the same manner that the Porsche 911 has been since 1963.

zwhiz, The wheels are Enkei type 92 and the size is 16x7 (measuring the outer bead of the rim they measure 8 inches) with a zero offset and zero backspace. I was planning to do a separate thread on the upgrade since the wheels were originally produced with a bolt pattern of 4 on 4.25" (Mustang fox chassis bolt pattern) and I had a set of custom wheel adapters made out of 1 inch thick T6061 aluminum. The car drives just fine and the only clearance issue was the lower front valence and that was dealt with by 'rolling' the outer lip of the valence where it meets the wheel arch. The non-ducted front air dam from motorsport will eventually replace the front valence.

I voted for the profile which can be viewed from so many angles and the design holds up. Initially the look of the car is what I remember the most as a kid and then later when I was old enough to understand the mechanical aspect of the S30's it became 'perfect transportation' in my eyes. I should have also voted for wheels since they can augment the look of the car. Enclosed are two recent pics of the '77 280Z with 16 inch wheels:

Steve, I also received a goodly amount of sunburn on the face . It's funny you mention the masters degree because I am returning to school full time this month to finish the bachelor's with an eye towards going straight through to complete the master's as well (hopefully University of Maryland will be kind) and as such the Z cars may have to sit awhile until the education is completed. I should be at the meeting on the 12th as well and then it's off to Florida for a week before the next semester begins. I have enclosed a picture of my '87 Supra which may end up in the classifieds before too long as I have reached the saturation point with 11 cars! The Supra is a great driving car and I will probably regret selling it but Z cars hold my attention for longer periods of time. Do you have any pics of your Toy?

I am also partial to the S30 series but, I also can appreciate the S130 as well as the Z31. I have driven a Z32TT from Atlanta to D.C. and the car was extremely comfortable on that long journey. However, I don't think I would want to own one given the cost of upkeep and the deteriorating parts availability from Nissan. The same problem holds true for the S130 and the Z31. I have driven both of my ZX's to Florida and back on multiple occasions and the Z31 is the more comfortable of the two and is geared better than the '81 280ZX for highway passing and such. Strangely enough the '81 still gets better gas mileage than the '86 even though it is the older of the two. Just to compare I have driven the '77 280Z to Daytona Beach and it was a decent travel companion and even managed to see 26mpg!

I was also in attendance that day and the weather was awesome. I was able to take a few pictures late in the day since I was tapped for judging duty along with Joe B. (the silver 350Z parked next to my car) and I will post those pics as soon as I upload them from my camera. The large roadster turnout was a surprise as well. The owner of the green 260Z was able to get some nice photos of the event and they are here: http://www.green260z.com/nova2005/ Thanks Steve for getting a nice photo of my car. I never made it over to your Z and was interested in finding out about your Z.

Stephen and Vicky, Just thought I had to chime in on this topic although it has been beaten like an old horse. For some people who enjoy the look of the European 260Z's like myself which in my opinion combine the best of both worlds (240Z purity of line and 280Z dashboard and better sound insulation) I can appreciate the idea. Further, when I first discovered how much Nissan would love to sell a replacement bumper some years ago (rear bumper for $600+) I took notice of how inexpensive the 240Z bumpers were and it was a no-brainer. Besides, who wouldn't want to shave about 70lbs. off of a 280Z and clean up the styling in the process. Having said all of that I still enjoy the way my 280Z looks with its "gross" bumpers.

c sama, Greetings from the Washington area as well! I too have tried to make her one of the happiest cars in the world and I think the you will find the same sentiment here. I would also like to park a 240ZG in GP Maroon in my driveway someday and ideally a Toyota 2000GT would sit beside her!

If we can get 240ztt to post a pic of a 2/2 he came across in Okinawa about ten years ago you would be stunned. The driver's side door was hanging from its hinges because most of the B-pillar was missing. The gas door lid looked like a sign on a glass window because you could see all the way through to the other side of the interior much like a cutway drawing!

st0878, I have just about finished with a very similar engine swap as yours. In my case the engine from my old '82 280ZX was transplanted into a '78 280Z. The first thing you'll have to do is remove the old intake manifold as it will not work in a '76 280Z. In my case the intake manifold from a '75 280Z (no EGR fitting) was used however, you can use the the fuel rail from the ZX engine with its injectors on your '76 intake manifold. I ended up installing new Nissan injectors and the o-rings for the injectors were replaced. Once you remove the fuel rail you should at least replace the O-rings since re-using the old ones would not be a smart thing especially since they are this old. In one of your pictures the water temp sensor/ thermo. time switch shows two fittings for vacuum lines. I will have to check mine and report back to you. I noticed the distributor is not on the engine? Not a problem but, in my case when the '78 280Z distributor was installed it was one or two teeth off from the oil pump and the spark plug wires had to re-routed (I have to drop the sway bar and remove the oil pump and reposition it to match the distributor and check the timing before all is said and done). Also, do not be alarmed when you look at the side of the block where the spark plugs are located and notice the fitting just below cylinders 5 and 6. On the 280ZX's I believe that was the cylinder head temp sensor and you won't be hooking anything up to it in your '76 280Z. Another item you can remove is the injector cooling fan and duct work that snakes over the valve cover. If you have a chance post the engine block serial number and this may help to determine what year ZX the block was installed. I hope that helps and in the meantime I will try to get some pics uploaded of my engine swap.

This car is an extraordinary find and I hope that it is restored/rescued etc...Hopefully Nissan in its newfound prosperity recognizes this oppurtunity to save an historically significant S30.

kats, I was re-reading this post and a recurring thought about one aspect of production of the S30 cars is left unanswered. Over a long period of time I have been sort of keeping a mental note of chassis numbers and various color combinations and it has occurred to me that the S30's might have been painted in batches (i.e. 10 #901 cars and so on..) and was wondering if and when you have a chance to make an inquiry regarding Nissan-Shatai's assembly methods you might be able to confirm this theory and better yet discover a finite answer such as the idea that there were 100 #901's and then 100 #306 etc.. To back up this theory there is an S30 listed on ebay at the moment with the chassis number HLS30-366053 and I own HLS30-366531 (12/76) and both are painted Wine Red Metallic #611. Further, another of mine is HLS30-437667 (11/77) and I tracked down HLS30-437661 and both were paint code #611. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=6187&item=4563458379 Even though as Carl proposed with the modular manufacturing method being employed perhaps the chassis' were given a number and painted and then final assembled?

Bill, Welcome to the club. A 280ZX is not a bad car at all. I recently drove my '81 back from Port St. Lucie, Fl. to D.C. in one sitting (950 miles) and I left with a full tank of gas and only had to stop twice on the way home. The only problem is in locating soft trim pieces from Nissan nowadays as they have decided not to support the model anymore (same can be said of the Z31). Having just parted out my '82 280ZX hardtop I can say that if left unchecked these Z cars will rust in places you can't imagine and watch out if you have rust where the rear suspension bolts to the unibody (behind the seats) as that usually sounds the death knell. Here are some pics of my '81:

Wayne, I just realized that we have a couple not far from each other: 1977 280Z 12/76 HLS30-366531 1977 280Z 02/77 HLS30-375108----this is my father's 280Z and ours are only 24 apart! The color code is 611; what's yours for HLS30-375132?