daddz

Be careful with the Celica purchase as they can be expensive to insure. I used to own an '87 Celica GT-S back in the early '90's between Z car number one and number two but the surprising thing was when I traded the Celica GT-S for a Supra the insurance went down! The reason according to my agent was that back then Supras were bought by older people and tended to have less claims filed versus the Celicas which were bought by young people who tended to file more claims. You might want to call your agent and ask them for some idea of what the cheapest car to insure would be and let that help you decide where to start your search for a daily driver.

Just to update on the 86.1: I had a new exhaust system installed today. The catalytic converter all the way back. A universal 2.25" high flow catalytic converter and 2.25" mid-pipe and a reducing cone to 2" for the Bosal oem style muffler. After this early morning excursion I added up the receipts and not including the wheels (you can always remove those and re-assign) the total comes to : $14,300 since December 2001! The monthly average works out to about $224 over a 64 month period and the per mile from 165,000 to 224,000 works out to about 24 cents per mile. On a long highway trip it will see just a bit over 500 miles on one tank so it makes a good long road trip partner. Anyone who thinks Z31 ownership is cheap might want to pick up that used BMW instead? Keep in mind this is with mostly Nissan parts and aftermarket upgrades when it made sense (i.e. the KVR slotted / drilled rotors, stainless brake hoses, etc..).

Here are some pics of both of my '86 hardtop twins. In short I bought this car almost six years ago and haven't stopped spending yet! It had 165k on it when I bought it and it now has 224k on it and I have a receipts file that totals in excess of $12,000! My advice: stay away from the Z31 unless you want to be frustrated by parts that Nissan no longer supplies. If it's been on the East Coast it may also have rust. Luckily both of mine were not subjected to salt. This one is from Atlanta, Ga. and the other one is from Sherman Oaks, Ca. For the price range you are speaking about you will end up with a car that comes with a bunch of deferred maintenance. I would suggest a Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra (the 91 to 94 may have had a timing chain motor), or a Honda Civic. BTW, How is that gray car a Turbo? It looks like any average '86 NA to me. The Turbo's had black mirrors and not body colored. They also had black out window moldings. FWIW, the white one cannot be an '85 as the hardtops were available only in '84, '86, and '87; the other years were t-top only. I think I saw that white one on ebay awhile back and the dealer was asking almost 6k for that car! If I recall it was an '84 with about 78k on it. '86.1: '86.2:

Here's another one that looks pretty nice: http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/datsun/280zx/450944.html

kats, Words cannot express my amazement at that Z432. What a beautiful example of how these cars should be preserved and presented. Is there any chance you will bring either or both of these cars to Daytona later this year? If not Hosomi-san may need some help as he is planning to drive two cars to the convention. Thanks again for the soundtrack. Is there any explanation as to how the Showa date is in a slightly different format for the tachomoeter versus the typical format as on the back of the dashboard? BTW, I have been meaning to communiccate my latest Showa date finding in a late S30 or S31 chassis as you would refer to it in Japan. I removed the carpeting recently from my '78 280Z and on the back of the carpet was a Showa date stamped and clearly legible. The question is would this date also be found on the back of the carpeting in a 240Z?

The 1975 and 1976 280Z's would have had those late 240Z style hubcaps or if you're 280Z centric "early 280Z hubcaps" installed from the factory. The 1977 and 1978 280Z's had a design change to the hubcaps and became more of a "mag" style appearance. The hubcaps for 1979 through 1981 280ZX's are pretty awful looking. It is comcial to see various hubcaps on differing generations of Z cars.

Two votes for the mesh wheels!! Hayashi mesh wheels are like fine jewelry. It's a shame that style is not more popular. Next time I would go for a bit bigger tire like a 225/50/15. I think you would like the larger footprint. Even with a 1" drop my '78 280Z doesn't rub or complain--with 15x7 ARE mesh wheels.

Not sure if there is a site specific to your question but I have experience with the following; P225/50/15 on a 15x7 wheel with zero offset--no rubbing front or rear. I run this size on a '78 280Z that is lowered by one inch and still there are no problems. You could run this size tire on the factory 15x6 turbo wheel (81.5 honeycomb or 4 spoke from '82 and '83). P225/60/14 on both a set of 14x6 *factory six spoke from a 280ZX) and a 14x7 (Enkei 92 zero offset) wheel with no problems. P235/60/14 on a 14x7 wheel (the turbine wheel by Appliance). These were on a '77 280Z and there were no problems other than when couple to a 14" steering wheel the parking was a good workout. P225/50/16 on a 16x7 wheel (Enkei 92 zero offset). This is just about the limit with stock suspension and whengoing over highway bumps at speed there was an occasional rub with the rear wheel well arch. Now if we were talking 280ZX my personal favorite is the 225/50/16 on a 16x7up front and a 245/45/16 on a 16x8 outback. Even with a 1" drop the wheel and tire package is perfect.

Stephen, I looked at that link and I had to chuckle as it stated that the fusible links were "problematic"?? I have owned some of the worst and most offensive '77 and '78 280Z's and with the exception of one that was bought a s aparts car and already had some butchering done to the fusible links I have never had any problems with the fusible links at all. As you stated if you simply clean the contacts with a little emory paper and replace the links themselves along with the covers you should never have any problems. Last time I bought a set from Banzai Motorworks (too lazy to deal with the ignorant parts counter at the local Nissan dealer) which included the covers it was less than $20.00! Besides as a friend of mine likes to say "I have never lost money when it came to leaving a car essentially stock". I would not want to have to explain to a potential buyer how and why the wiring harness was "modified".

That AMCO wood shift knob would be a keeper! When is the last time you saw one of those for sale either new or used? Although Banzai Motorworks does sell a really faithful reproduction AMCO wood shift knob. Those OWL Goodyear Eagle GT's are definitely period correct! I tried to find a brand new set back in 1989 and they were scarce back then! That poor Z probably hasn't seen the road since the 1980's?

Just like Carl stated you could not "build" an equivalent car for that amount of money. It's a shame about that respray because it's only original once. As a brief aside there is an original owner '78 silver 280Z with only 60k original (or thereabouts) in our local Z club and his clearcoat is showing some problems so that might be why it was repainted as stated above. His engine bay also has a fair amount of cosmoline just like this one on ebay.

I would swap my 350Z for a BMW Z4 M Coupe or a 1993 Mazda RX7 silver with red leather interior. I would like to swap one of my '86 300ZX hardtops for a Mazda RX7 GSL-SE. May have to wait to make that happen.

I was ready to buy my first Z car at the age of 19 back in the fall of 1989. I had been delivering pizzas for about a year and had made a mental note of where all the good Z cars were in my area. I had made a contact with one of the owners who had bought her '78 280Z brand new. It was burgandy and looked like the one my father had bought new in 1978. She ended up trading the car in at a local dealer. By January 1990 I ended up buying a one owner 1983 Datsun 280ZX 2+2 that was gold with a 5 speed and cloth seats and t-tops. It only had 62k on it and it was a garage potato and I kept it for a year and traded it in on an '87 Supra. By the summer of '91 I had to have another Z car and I haven't been without one ever since.

David, I only like the maroon if it was painted that way from the factory. Now if only the 240ZG was offered in the U.S.? That's the only way I could ever justify having a maroon 240Z. On another note I was in the junkyard(s) today and the second yard I was at there were two maroon S130's. One was an '81.5 Turbo and the other was an '81 2+2. The hood on the 2+2 was very nice. The Turbo had a real clean set of gold Turbo snowflake rims. Not Z related but that same yard had 2 Karmann Ghia's and a Volvo P1800! On the way out '240ztt' spotted a 9/74 PL620 with its original L20B under the hood. The truck was ugly but not very much rust.

I could have sworn the number stamped in the firewall was HLS30-08285? I noticed that mine is only 38 units behind that one. Ebay car: HLS30-08285 Mine: HLS30-08323

I think he needs to practice his launching skills. The 350Z should be able to perform a bit better than that.

The only crappy thing about being shown on CMT is that all of the really good cuss words are removed.

I like the part where Cledus loses a bar fight and then drives over the motorcycles in the parking lot while the gas station attendant days" far out". There are so many great one liners in that movie and Jackie Gleason is defninitely at this prime.

The old Cobra II with a V8 only made 139hp and the torque value was I about 180 lb/ft. which is similar to the 280Z at 149bhp and 170lb/ft. The Trans Am with "the standard (RPO L78) Pontiac 400 (engine code XA ) was mostly carryover from '76, producing 180hp @ 3600 rpm and 325 lb/ft of torque at 1600 rpm". Pretty interesting when you think about it. This might explain why there were alot of wild stories from the '70's concerning instances when Z cars were able to win stop light grand prixs against Corvettes and the like. I heard alot of these urban myths while growing up and now I know why. Here's a good link to the Trans Am specs. http://www.iwaynet.net/~gl&lisk/1977ta.html

Victor, That's a very good question that you have posed.

Just to be fair here is the Trans Am: In comparing the Mustang and the T/A you could guess what was happening? A lot of tape stripes to cover up the lack of HP under the hood.

As a sidebar there ar eplans to have a Smokey and the Bandit run this May which will end at Year One's facility in Ga. Burt Reynolds has signed on to consult with regard to amking Trans Am copies if you can believe that. BTW, There was a third installment and it was released to an unsuspecting public in 1983. Here's a link to the event: http://www.motortopia.com/groups/view/id/210/i/bandit_run The Star Wars stuff actually relates to this thread because both films are nearing their 30th anniversaries. For all of us old enough to remember the questions is: What were you doing in May of 1977 when these films came out? Driving or owning a Z? I was not old enough to drive so I was driven to the movie theater by my dad in the black and gold '76 Mustang Cobra II. The 280Z wouldn't arrive in the driveway until February of 1978. Here's a pic of that horrible Mustang (at least his had the 302 and a 4 speed) for anyone that remembers these cars:

Will, I sort of understand what you are saying but just take a look at what Mercedes Benz is doing with its Classic Center: http://www.mercedes-benz-oldtimerservice.com/content/classic/retailer/classiccenter/en/home/home.html BMW is attempting to put together something similar. From a business plan viewpoint this type of model can be made to work. If the Datsun enthusiast wouldn't have such a problem separating him or herself from a few extra dollars every now and then maybe something like this could work. Toyota is a company with an enormous amount of cash in its coffers and this 50th celebration won't matter to them in a traditional business case model and they won't even miss the money being spent. Their museum in Torrance, Ca. is only open by appointment and yet they seem to find a way to actively display the companys heritage. The allowance for goodwill must be a healthy account over at Toyota. And yet there is no sportscar in the current lineup. The customers are very brand loyal though. In Japan Nissan seems to be more involved with the old car folks and even welcome the old Fairlady's to take a tour at the proving grounds as well other events. It would be nice if this idea was imported to the U.S.?

No. To answer your question a 2+2 automatic with leather and digital is the LEAST desirable Z31 there is. If you are thinking of making a profit you would be better off buying some stock and taking a chance in the stock market. If you have the $1000 potentially to put into this car then spend it on your first generation Z car. A Z31 has the potential to become a money trap. There are assloads more things taking place under the hood of that car than you can imagine. All of those electronics especially the digital dash can be a big pain in the a** to sort out especially if the car has been sitting for what looks to be along time. It looks like the top of the radiator core support has been bent as well from whatever. I also notice that the driver's side hood stay (strut) is missing. Even at NAPA those are $40 each. I bought some from Nissan for 86.2 and they were $102 each. The top of the dash looks like the sun has had its way with it. No matter what anyone says you would have to figure on changing the timing belt and all of the companion pieces while you are in there. I went Nissan all the way on mine and the parts alone were more than $300. You would be better off buying this car (if you must) and parting it out. This 300ZX is too far down the foodchain to be brought back. Then there's the injectors. has the recall been done at Nissan? If so, how many miles and years ago was that? Would they start leaking again once the car is up and running everyday. The automatic transmission: does it work properly. Does it slip. How about the infamous rear crossmember bushings? When they go bad they are not so expensive but they are one hell of a job to change. Does this car come with any service records? How well was it taken care of? If it was such a great car why is it sitting in a field? Ask yourself these questions as you look at it again. How much rust is under the car that you can't see yet? Check under the toolkit on the left side of the luggage area. Check under the spare tire in the right side of the luggage area. How long has that emergency brake been pulled up? Are the brakes frozen? Why is the steering column trim been removed? Any problems with the ignition switch? The Z31's can be fun cars to own and drive otherwise I wouldn't have two of them but, if I had to do over again I would try something else. It's like a friend of mine used to say why would you want to eat vanilla ice cream everyday. I have had fun with my two Z31's and the fact that they are "twins" is kind of fun but if I knew that they would cost this much to be brought to where I like to have a Z car I would have bought something else. The funny thing both of mine were well maintained one and two owner cars and there was still alot of deferred maintenance that became my job once the keys were handed over. Alot of the rest is just because the cars we are dealing with have twenty year old components on them and that stuff just wears out. Good luck in your decision but I would politely walk away unless you want to pursue the parts car route.

Victor, Let's get your great Datsun variety in there! It's not just the Z cars that make up Datsun's history. Stephen, I was also happy to see your Datsun 810 hardtop coupe at the website as well. Thanks to the large format I was able to make out the Datsun dealer license plate frames. Those are very nice. Talk about a tough to find collectible.