charliekwin

Like the others said, $4300 is a good price for that car if you're planning on spending 3x that to restore it or fix it up. If you have $7300 to spend to get something that runs and can be enjoyed, you should probably look elsewhere. Truthfully, there doesn't seem to be as many Zs on Craigslist as there once were (I still have the same alert set up from when I got mine 4+ years ago), so you might need to be patient. This might be the best/only candidate in the LA area on CL right now: https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/tujunga-1975-datsun-280z-280-clean/7015067719.html

I offered to pick up the fees and got no pushback from the seller at all about using PayPal, so the order's placed and the waiting begins.

Bumping (heh) this thread a bit... I didn't end up placing the order -- the original price quote was barely cheaper than waiting for the Z store to get theirs back in stock where I can pick them up locally. Then I got sidetracked by other things and didn't order from Z store either. Fast forward to a week ago and Rooney emailed me asking if I was still interested. A couple emails later, the new price is $650 shipped. I'm about to jump on that, except they want a bank transfer because of the lower fees compared to PayPal. Makes me a little nervous. But before I make an offer to to cover some of the fees (really, another $25 or so isn't gonna kill me), does anyone want to tell me I'm being overly cautious?

"If so, would anyone in this narrow class of dedicated self-abusers, care to share the secrets of their success?" Oh! Hi there! Yup, I've done exactly this a few years back. Fiberglass mat and ABS cement will do what you need. I glopped on the cement (it's just ABS plastic melted in MEK) on the screw studs that were blown out and glued back the ones that were broken. Bottom pictures are of my steering column clamshell that had all the screw pockets broken off. Turns out we had some corporate pens at the office that were perfectly sized to be glued in place. Same approach would work on the arm rest lid.

That's the carpet finisher for the passenger footwell. Bolts holes go on the bottom. Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

I had flashbacks, Jeff! Flocking is a lot harder than all the other YouTube videos make it look (three tries for me until the results were "good enough"). Sorry to hear that you'll need to sell the Z to fund the other projects.

If you don't care much about originality (like me) and/or are cheap (also like me!), bicycle tire tubes are a good source for thin rubber. That's what I used.

Media blasting is probably the most effective because the parts are all oddly shaped and have lots of surfaces that are hard for tools to reach into. I bodged together a very-makeshift setup out of a Rubbermaid tub. It made a fantastic mess, but did get the job done. Otherwise, a wire wheel and/or scuff pad works too.

I blasted and painted all my suspension components. A lot of work, and mostly just for looks (here in California, at least), but I'm happy with it and would do it again. I spent a bunch of money on Eastwood's chassis black paint that wasn't worth it. If I had a do-over, I'd just spend $10 on a quart of black Rustoleum.

Thanks guys. I didn't think welding would work either, so I'll probably leave it for the time being, at least until I get new bumpers. The rest of the pin is still in there and doesn't want to move, and the thought of taking off everything to get that hinge out is rather unappealing. Fortunately, it's the passenger side, so it matters less [emoji3] Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

This guy popped off yesterday. As far as I can tell, the detent roller pins are NLA, and there are no aftermarket replacements either. Is there any hope in trying to weld it back together? Or other/better options I don't know about? Thanks! Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

I'm always nervous about being small and hard to see when driving the Z (more so even than when I'm on my bicycle); so sorry to see this happened. Fixable or not, it's a shame about the car, but at least everyone walked away.

Echo what Patcon said. My hood had a similar dent, but not as bad. Stud welder got it into decent-enough shape for body filler, but the vertical face on mine is now slightly diamond shaped instead of a consistent height all across. I was fine with that choice, but I know others might not be. Stud welder and relief cuts might work, too.

I love cars and driving, but honestly, I think in a couple hundred years or so, humanity will probably look back and see them as a "what in the world were they thinking back then?!" kind of folly: expensive, dangerous, polluting machinery that consumes a ton of resources for the benefit of (usually) just one person, and that sits idle for 99% of the time.

That's probably fair...I have a filter too, and it is for peace of mind...dropping and cleaning the tank is a fix. Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

If you're seeing rust in the filter, there's likely a lot more in the tank. Many of us (myself included) have removed a surprising amount of rust from our tanks. I recommend dropping it and cleaning it properly. Short version is to rinse with muriatic acid then coat with RedKote, Por-15 or something similar. Not a hard project, just a bit of a pain, but worth the peace of mind.

Given CL's long-standing history of eschewing profits in favor of their users' experience, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that's a key factor here. Another plus, fewer spammers. I'm in favor of it.

I just put the jack right under the diff. Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

So many unknowns to make a guess on what it's worth, but the difference between 75 and 76 in CA is significant. A 75 won't need to be smogged; a 76 will. That's worth a fair amount of money to the right person.

I'm not dead, just been too busy with other things to get much else done on the car, especially since I can drive it again. But, at least my new plates came... Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

I would say go for it. If it craps out, it would probably happen early when you'll be in LA, with plenty of services around. Take it easy over the Grapevine, and it's all downhill from there. Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

Just popped up in my inbox: https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant/cto/d/lancaster-1977-datsun-280z/6829781792.html Looks straight, but there's not much to glean from the photos. Best looking cheap car I've seen posted on CL around here in a while.

Shout out to the AMG that kept up, too.

I just installed mirrors on mine in January. With a combination of extensions and U-joints, contorted fingers, choice curse words, and eventually some band-aids, I installed them without removing the window frame or glass. It can be done, but I don't know if I'd recommend it.

The ostensible reason is probably to collect tax dollars for roads, which in this application, the truckers are using but farmers aren't. The real reason is probably that agriculture has better lobbyists.