Threehz

Yeah the black one sounds like a legitimate deal and it is priced pretty accordingly, did you happen to get the mileage on the black one? I too have to wonder why the green one is going that cheap. Definitely is quite a distance from you though haha, for your sake I hope something nice pops up closer to you!

I have one more questions, hopefully the last heh, when apply the sem bumper repair what did you use to smooth it out? I was thinking just a paintbrush?

Nice find sir and congratulations! Great looking car and I'm glad to hear that everyone runs well. I think the 260's are underrated, I definitely would not mind owning one.

You can definitely replace those with the 240 bumpers and in fact I think the 240 bumpers looks even better on 280s haha! However you will have to find 240 bumpers! Since I got my 280 I have been debating replacing the bumpers with 240 bumpers or at least something to make it not so obvious that it's missing the old bumpers (There is a little indent in the side of the fender where the bumper ends bolt on, in fact you can see it in the first photo of the ad you posted, not easy to see though). I think the best place to find 240 bumpers is a junkyard or on sites like this one. Other then 240 bumpers I don't know what other replacements there are for the stock 280 bumpers but I'm sure there are some, and you can always make something. That Z also looks like a good deal, sounds like he did some good work on the interior/exterior and if the insides are running well it'd be very nice to start with a fresh clean Z. Of course you don't know anything until you get there. Along those lines I just read this in another thread yesterday and it's a great idea when checking out a Z or any old car. Feel the engine of the Z before the owner turns it on or you drive it. If it's already warm or hot then it is likely that the driver started it up before hand to make sure it ran and started smoothly, cold starts can show a lot of problems, but once it's warmed up a lot of that is masked.

I think it's wicked, I mean, I wouldn't have done such shoddy work on the exterior (specifically the flares). If people hate the fact that he "ruined" a classic car, come on. For all the 240's out there in this world at least he really put his heart into it and is driving that car to the bone. I'd like to pick up another 280 shell and throw an RB25DET under the hood. If you plan on doing a lot of modding, tuning and styling that really opens up your range of cars to look for because keeping things stock isn't your highest priority. I would go for something like this http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/2626077564.html

The more opinions I hear about this car the more I wonder.. If you read the description it says that it was owned by a mechanic who worked on TONS of Z's, this car seems like it could very possibly have been put together with spare parts from any number of other Z's no?

Slight, about how much rust is too much.. How much rust is a matter of your opinion and your commitment to the car both time-wise, energy-wise and financially. Maybe someone who has been through a rust-bucket ordeal (definitely some people on this forum have lived that nightmare) can tell you more about how much is too much. It's hard to give any solid definition but understanding rust is a good start. Surface rust - if you can scratch the rusted area with a key or screwdriver lightly and see metal then that can be easily taken care of and is called surface rust. Paint bubbling - if you see an area that is painted but has little bubbles in the paint or warping then it is very likely that rust is eating the metal underneath. This can be a LOT worse underneath that paint. If you see a lot of this on a car this could mean that somewhere along the road someone gave the Z poorly executed paint job, OR painted the Z to hide things (like rust...) Rust spots - when there are actual rust spots that have come through the paint these can be just as they appear and may not be too bad, OR they can mean a lot more rust underneath or on the other side of this area. Rust holes - when there are actual holes that have rusted through this is obviously pretty bad in that area and can definitely mean more rust around the area. Severe rust is pretty obvious when you see it and usually if there is severe rusting anywhere on the body you want to be pretty damn cautious and probably walk away unless you plan on committing a lot of money and time to repairing the body (before you ever think about driving the car or doing other work). Anyhow many other people on here have more experience then me but that is some basic rust info, the idea of rust on a car should instantly make you cringe in my opinion.

Yeee haw for 77's! Put up some pictures man, always exciting to see another Z! http://www.xenonzcar.com/s30.html That site has a LOAD of information including scanned copies of the FSM if you don't have one which is a big help. Great community here so many nice people and some of the wisest of Z folks. So what's the background story of the car? Or at least since you've owned it?

Thanks guys, looked around and found the right stuff at a few different places!

Wow in my tired morning daze I somehow missed your title and then saw an extra digit when I saw the vin making me think it was close to my vin, sorry bout that. Sounds good, I was going to just use Great Stuff insulating foam as previous people had long lasting results with it combined with the other SEM products. Did you do any special prep to the actual old foam backing of the dash inside the cracks to make the urethane fill stick or bond better?

So I removed the dashboard and sadly the "tube" connecting to the driver side vent tore. It is made of what seems like woven something wrapped around a wire frame and whatever composes the tube is now hard, don't know if it always was or not? Anyhow a whole section torn apart the wire frame is still holding it. It seems like it COULD be fixed? Any ideas about what to use to fix this? I was thinking of simply using duct-tape or something similar, my fear with duct tape is one it might smell, especially with air rushing past it in that vent and also when I use the heater it may smell worse and even melt the adhesive on it. I was thinking using some type of air-tight woven heat resistant material similar to what the original is to repair it but I have no clue what that would be or where I'd find it. Anyhow any ideas, suggestions are very much appreciated, also I couldn't even find anywhere that sold this item but I'm sure there is similar generic tubing available so I could find that cheap I would go for that as well. I can get pics too if that helps, thanks guys!

The dash looks fantastic man! I literally just ordered all those SEM products yesterday as I am about to do the exact same thing! One question, you said you cut the cracks to taper them? I have some pretty big cracks on my dash and this is mainly for the big ones, but where they are split the edges of the cracks flare upwards. I'm wondering did you flatten these flares down (is that what you cut with the razor)? Because it seems that I'll have to cut a pretty good piece out of them to make the dash flat when it's finished. Anyhow the car looks fantastic, glad to see another white Z looking great! (Yours is a 280 correct?)

Reading up on their website sounds like the two guys doing it are a bit goofy, but I think it's a great idea for a great cause AND we couldn't have asked for a better car for the job! Go Z Go! Good find Dave!

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, running, seems to be in pretty good condition. If those rust spots were the only ones on the whole vehicle that would be pretty awesome however rust spots like that might mean more underneath or around that area. Also I'd definitely want to thoroughly investigate that rust down by the frame rail. It's all about what you want man, then when you find what you want it's about making damn sure the body is in good shape and there's nothing seriously wrong.

http://www.zcca.org/zhistory.htm is a good little history and documents changes in model years. The 240Z is very popular for a lot of reasons, one big one being that it is the lightest weight wise and has the least extra "stuff" on it, making it ideal for race modding. Of course another big reason is that it is the original Z. I'm no expert but I believe if you want a 240 the 69-72 are the best years, one big factor being the SU Carbs (this is off the top of my head but I think that is right) and some other body features I think. 260 obviously has a bigger engine stock but I can't say much about other performance gains, only because I don't know but it might? The 280 sees the introduction of fuel injection which can be seen as a very nice pro. There is also the fact that 77 and later 280's have the possibility of the 5 speed transmission (however this is not a super sporty transmission). The large bumpers are a downside performance wise but some like the looks and they definitely do provide a little extra protection. I'm no expert though, I'll be the first to admit that. One thing you might want to keep in mind is that finding a 240 in good condition will be a lot harder AND pricier then finding a 280 in good condition. You know actual body style may also be one thing to keep in mind, because you can always engine swap a larger engine into a 240 if you love the original look. Anyhow hope the search is going well my friend!

I have no experience with these covers but would like to get some in the future. Just to make sure, is there a lip around the edge of them? At first I was imagining you mounting the magnets on the outside so that there would be air-space between the cover and the car but now I see that there is probably a lip that you are mounting the magnets inside on? Also, I used this same idea for my louvers. One of those little damned plastic locks was broken and I said forget these, glued those little magnets on each side of the louver in the bottom corners and then on the corresponding spot on the window, holds like hell, yet still removable. Incredible little things those magnets are!

That makes a lot of sense FastWoman, good to know information! I'm pretty sure I am going with the dark blue. Healey that color does look good and very close to the original color, I'm thinking of going with Por-15's Dark Cadillac Blue though and whatever color I do I will definitely post some pictures!

Even with the whole family of cars, looking at the entire range of Z's I believe every one is perfect in it's own way however no matter which Z I owned I would change certain aspects about it. My perfect Z is the 77 or 78 280Z, the one thing that I would have liked to have seen changed stock is the bumpers, if it had the 240 bumpers stock it would have been perfect.

You have a cousin in Phx this whole time! I watch the Phoenix craigslist pretty consistently for Z's along with 240sx's and other cars and let me tell you, some of the most rust-free Z cars are from down here. FSM is Factory Service Manual which you can download for free from Xenon's site (I don't know the link but it is all over), it is Nissan's factory manual for every aspect of the Z. It is by no means a perfect step by step guide, but very helpful. I also bought How to Restore Your Datsun Z Car along with How to Rebuild Your Nissan L-Series Engine. Those were both pretty invaluable when I removed my engine (and everything in the engine bay) and in doing that I learned what every single item and line under my hood is for the most part. I'm thinking that if you were to get a 240sx you would like it, probably love it, but forever crave a Z. Just my 2 cents

Thanks guys that is definitely something to consider, I could see it beginning to look pretty nasty after a while and the yellowing would not be very nice at all. Do you think the darker colors may hold up better? I'm thinking a darker blue like Por 15's dark cadillac blue would change less then the ligher blue like Dave's above.

Yes mine has two screws as well I have it taken off it just didn't look like it was a plug but I guess I can pull. It'll either rip or work haha Thanks!

Alright guys so I'm finally going to paint my L28! So my 77 is 216 White, original paint job and when I get her repainted I'm going to keep her the same color. However I might add one sky-blue racing stripe most likely down the center, possibly a little off center. Now originally I was thinking either painting the engine stock blue, or maybe a lighter more sky blue to match the stripe. I'm also going to repaint my engine bay very soon and of course keep it the stock white. Then I got the idea of painting my engine white. I looked around the web and saw some very scary L-series engine paint jobs and of course some good ones however not a single white one. I think it will look very clean and look good alongside the fresh white engine-bay. Of course anything white in an engine bay, let alone the engine itself is going to get very dirty, but I think as long as the engine is running how it should it won't get excessively dirty really fast, not to mention it will give me extra incentive to keep it clean! SO, Anyone ever seen a white L28 or related engine? AND, What are some of your guys opinions? (keep in mind only the block is being painted, just repainting the fading stock paint-job. The head and cover will be polished. I hate when people paint the entire engine, IMHO.)

I want to say that the under the hood of a 240sx is more complicated then an old Z car in fact. The old Z's are REALLY simple. My 280Z with EFI is about the most complicated of the classics and it really is a piece of cake to work on. Like I said, four months ago when I got my Z I really honestly was ashamed of how little car knowledge I had. ALSO, I don't know how much easier it would be to find a "clean" 240sx. 240sx's are one of the most modded, abused and just all around messed with cars there are. Now I love 240sx's they are great little cars but I've been looking for a clean one for about two months now and have only found one that was even close to stock and not "ruined". (and the price tag was marked up VERY accordingly) Let me ask you, what kind of mechanical knowledge do you have? (I don't know if I've made it clear enough how little I knew mechanically when I got my Z. I had never done an oil change in my life. Now I feel 100% confident to rebuild my Z's L28 by myself.) I say find the right Z, there is information EVERYWHERE and it is very easy to learn how to work on these cars, there are a number of manuals, an FSM will be very helpful, and ANYTHING you need help with, the great people on this forum can help you (not to mention endless numbers of threads on this and other Z sites about how to do certain things) Plus when you smoke your 240sx bud with your Z it'll feel that much better haha EDIT. I wanna add this in aswell early Z's 1969-1978 240sx debuted in 1989, eleven years later. Mechanical Complexity of Vehicals Graph 1969--------------------------------------------------Now =============================================> Simpler---------------------------------------More Complex Hope that helps out too ha

Well I don't have a 240 nor have I ever done a full dash cover install, however I read a thread where someone had installed one and while they were putting their speedo back in it popped back and was stuck between the original dash face and the dash cover... I honestly don't have a clue how the dash covers work but you might want to think about that if you have to remove and replace the gauges.

My 280's Alternator is very similar however it is bigger and then that one, I'm not sure if the 240 and 260's had smaller alternators but I am pretty certain that my Alternator is stock so that one is not from a 280.