Av8ferg

My limited research drove me away from the rubber. They have value on a daily driver or in populated areas where you have less control of what happens to your car when parked. I live in a small town, so not much traffic (unless it’s tourist season) so the chances for a small bump are less likely. I installed a split system AC in my garage and that thing is awesome. Had it set a 74 today....my old garage was a Chinese Sweat Shop. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay, now we want to see the pics. Cliff is our resident librarian and could find just about anything on the forums. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Cliff. I definitely have the backs to do. I like the idea of painting the inside bright white, do you notice they’re brighter. Obviously not the reflector. Also is there a consensus on changing out from incandescent to LED. There are advantages. Less power draw, brighter appearance, very low heat by output. Disadvantage could also be the change in appearance. LEDs act differently and thus make the lighting look odd sometimes. I plan to keep the normal bulbs but don’t want surging lights either. Older cars can see the lights dimming based on high demand power draws (my high school stereo system did that in my 1975 MGB is had back then) or a low idle Not sure if this happens much in the Z but I’ve had some car that the headlights got brighter as the engine accelerated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s depressing Cliff, I’m sorry. I’ll push this back into the center of the lane. I finished refurbishing the marker lights (45 yrs of dust and grime) and polished the lenses. I know people prefer the 240z front market lights but it think the 280z ones looks just fine. I’m waiting on the lower air dam still. I hate when companies don’t tell you something is back ordered. They take your money and sit on it for weeks and months. Side note I reached out to Vintage Dashes to get a new dash. And they are on a 3+ month back order and the guys wasn’t very outwardly friendly in our chats. Said, if you wait until they come in to buy, we’ll charge you more. Already $925. I wish there was a another options. Here’s the front with the lights fixed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good to know. The guy that owns this place looks like he was a back up cast member for the movie The Deliverance, overalls and all. First person in my life I’ve seen that dips tobacco.and smokes cigarettes at the same time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SteveJ: yep, can’t seem to recall that show. I was a nerd in some regards. I watched the SuperFriends on weekends and during the week I loved Star Trek, Brady Bunch, Happy Days and Lost in Space. TV is so different for my kids. AK260: Automobile Bumper had the rubber option. I think they just drill the holes, they don’t provide the actually rubber from my understanding. I prefer the cleaner look. EuroDat: Thanks again. All your advice made this much easier. So, I have one extra lower grill and will grab two more next week at one of my (secret) yards that has (4) 280z sitting mostly unstripped. Good old boy redneck yard tucked deep in the woods in the south. The place is also infested with snakes and red ants. I feel like Indian Jones when I go there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow...she’s beautiful. You did a great job. It’s perfect Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I really like this color, mine was resprayed at some point on its life but it’s the original color . If you look around today it’s popular again. Reddish/Orange. It’s not a true red as you know. The only color I might like as much is the green but it’s a close call. The Safari Yellow the 240z came is a great one too. My paint is a 20 footer. The body has several dings needs to be done again sometime but for now it’s just fine for me. I fear when I paint the Xenon air dam there might be a noticeable difference in color, and leaving black won’t look right either. First world problems Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ollie might be before my time. I went to High School in the 80’s. Good idea the paint them Black or I could remove them. My state doesn’t have a front license plate law. The go pro mount is a pretty good idea too . The Skillard brackets give a lot of adjustability (3 axis) and are well made. The hardware is plated and I’d prefer SS, that’s my only knock on them. They’re not cheap either, $205 shipped. I’m still waiting on my Xenon 3125 vented air dam. Bought directly from them because everyone else was sold out. That was three weeks ago and still no sign of it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally got my Bumpers in yesterday. These came from Automobile Bumper in Vietnam. I made a video of the unboxing and install and will post later. I used the Skillard brackets and I want to thank EuroDat for his advice, he spent a lot of time via messaging to help me out. Since I may go with a Skillard grill in the future (that’s if my current plan to use extra lower Z grills to fill the lower gap doesn’t work), I chose not to buy his brackets. He’s will not work with the Skillard grill. So I’m super happy with the fit and quality of these bumpers. You really can’t ask for a better fit on a 45+ year old car and aftermarket bumpers. Here are the before and after pics. Standby for the video another day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You know what they say. If if Flies, Floats or Fxxcks...rent it, it’s cheaper Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dutchzcarguy, I think the 911’s are beautiful and I’d love a mid 80’s air cooled SC. The problem with Porsche is you better have a fat wallet and know a good mechanic because parts are too expensive. No offense but I’ve sworn off European cars. I’ve owned 3 BMWs in my life and all of the were great driving but they are too expensive to fix and the Germans have over-engineered them, honestly this is happening across the board with most manufacturers not just German cars. Cars are needlessly too complex now. I had adaptive headlights on my 330 and when they broke it was $1800 each, electric seat motor went out $2790. And things just started to go on the car at 5 yrs. Once your warranty expires you need to sell. Porsches are the same. It’s a love hate relationship. I’d rather keep my Z than deal with the long term consequences of an older Porsche. Plus, drive a Z and a 911 and see which car attracts more interest by the casual person walking by. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. We were paying $1.63 before and we are at 2.93 now. So not quite double. Gas Buddy tracks fuel by state. Here is the last 12 months for AZ. Looks like $2.20 the first week of Nov and now $3.19 that’s a 50% increase. Of course this is average across the state. Good thing the Z get pretty good mileage. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gents, while surprised at this article when you look at all the forces at play it begins to paint a clear picture. Classic cars are really hot right now and it’s been going on for awhile and it’s moving through various models and makes. The price of Supra’s, RX-7s and so many other cars are in the ludicrous levels. First it was the 240 then 280 and now the ZX. So here’s what I think is happening, because this is happening more than just classic cars. He’s my break down of all the forces at play. 1. COVID made people sitting at home get the desire to start a new hobby….classic cars is a popular one. 2. The massive expansion of the money supply, the Federal Reserve has been on a printing spree. The machines are running 24/7. The US and printed 25% of the dollars in existence in the past 12 months. More dollars chasing less supply. 3. Inflation (partly due to the above). Prices in May climbed to record levels, and the fed has made it clear…printing will continue at rate of 120 billion a month for the foreseeable future and no rise or interest rates until maybe 2023. 4. Classic cars are the number 2 best investment next to rare Whiskey. People want a place to put their money where is will be worth more next year than this year. So people are buying classics. Why leave month in the bank where it gets no interest and is worth much less the next year. I bought my 280z in Dec 2017 for $3700. Had I done nothing to the car I believe I could sell it today within a week for 2x what I paid. 5. New and used cars are crazy expensive right now due to serious supply issues. I bought a new 2021 Suburban last Nov and paid 7k under sticker. When I went to sell in my 2017 Outback then I was offered $17,200 by Carmax. Last week Carmax offered me 22k Two days ago I received and email from the dealership I bought the Suburban from. They said they wanted to buy back my Suburban. I called and they offered me MSRP, unseen . That’s a 7k gain with 8,000 miles and 6 months old, but I’m not selling, In what world we’ve ever seen has that happened, I went online to see what’s happened and read that dealerships ware selling above MSRP. For the Suburban it’s 4K-8k above MSRP. Everything we buy is going up and that’s impacting everything from furniture to classic cars. Gas prices have almost doubled since the election and food and lumber prices are way up Has anyone tried to buy appliances, furniture or a boat recently. Don’t….you won’t find many. I’ve been waiting since Jan for outdoor furniture. So you have to look at it from what the dollars purchasing power is not the actual number. That’s part of the problem, but here’s the really reason……. Class Z’s are awesome cars and the world is finally recognizing it….something we all already knew. So 20% is rising prices all around and 80% but the Z is a beautiful, fantastic car.

So, I leave for Basel on Monday afternoon after a stop in Liege. I already did a 2 day layover in Maastricht. The city is quite amazing. Super clean, people were very friendly. Went for a nice run along the river, the views were incredible. Probably won’t work now because we land in Liege at 12:11 AM (17 June) and then get driven to Brussels where I’m staying at the Airport Crown Plaza until my flight my back to the US at 11:00am The good news is I’ll be doing this exact trip again several times until December, I’m senior enough to win the bid regularly. We normally don’t fly our Memphis based pilots here to do these trips we have a base in Colon, Germany and we have pilots we move there for 4 yrs at a time to fly the Europe cargo. With Covid, Germany has stopped allowing the company to move pilots there, and German law requires the ones living there now to move back to the US before they hit the 4 yr mark. So we have slashed our pilots by 50% in Europe this year. Right now if you land in German from the UK you must quarantine for like 10 days. The UK requires a Covid test every time you remain here more that 36 hrs. I have to self-test and send the results to the Health Services...pain in the butt and I’m fully vaccinated?? The bottom line is Covid has disrupted our operations in Europe and so the company is getting around it by bringing pilots out here for a week or two at a time. I will give you a two week notice before I do this again. It would be great to meet you! Won’t be working too much in July and Aug due to vacation and my recurrent training. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nottingham is a pretty cool town. Lots of pubs and good places to eat. We went out tonight and the town is crawling with young women...the guy I’m flying with said there is a 1-5 male to female ratio in this city. This is the place to be if your a single guy and dangerous if your married and have a weakness for women. Went to the “oldest inn and pub in England” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey thought I toss this out there. I’m in the UK and parts of Europe for the next week+ for work. I know we have some regulars on the forum from the old world and I thought I see if I’m going to be near any of you. I’m currently in Nottingham, UK. Will have about 90 hrs off here for the weekend. Flying to Liege, Belgium (staying in Maastricht, Netherlands) and also have a layover in Basel, Switzerland for about 17 hrs later next week. If anyone is near those areas let me know if you want to get a coffee and meet up. On the Covid front....Good to see the world opening back up. Stores and restaurants are open over here. Sitting in a diner now having a proper English breakfast...they eat baked bean with their eggs? When In Rome...you know the rest! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am about to do my interior so this is a timely thread. I bought a loop carpet kit about 2 yrs ago from MSA. It is basically garbage. Paid around $200 for the whole thing and it’s going into the trash. Fitment was terrible as well as the material quality. I think going custom is a better approach. Do it once right and never look back. I’m going to take mine to be custom done at a local shop with a guy that been doing it for 25 years. Sometimes it better to have someone who does this everyday then have a half arse job on your hands. Sure it’s more $$ probably 3x but then your have something to be proud of. That’s my opinion. I also prefer the loop over the cut pile. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He’s making them out to be super rare. I see a good amount of seats pop up on the web and they’re not $1,000. A lot of people have ditched the old seats because they don’t really hold you in position during hard turns. I personally like the classic seats but I wouldn’t pay $1000 for a pair when I bought mine 1975 seats (both) for $150. New covers and they’re like new now. Just no my opinion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FYI, I’m run the Bosch relay too, seems to work fine . My stock relay was broken and someone on the forum recommend this VW one. Seems like a great less expensive alternative. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Many of us have someone in our family or another family that has made this sacrifice. Take a moment over the day to remember our fallen. Happy Memorial Day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, I’ll reach out to EuroDat about the brackets, I just got a response form Bumper Automobile and the was $470 for the Stainless Steel bumpers. I just need to send them my address to determine shipping, 240zBUILTBYME, yours looks great. While I like the idea of stainless because I live 4 rows back from the Atlantic Ocean. Where I live plastic rusts. The car is garaged and is climate controlled but still over time nature wins. Does anyone know what the group code is for Harrington’s? I just want to compare prices shipped after the code since I don’t know what Bumper Automobile’s shipping cost to the east coast of the US.

Copy all on the required brackets. Still there seems to be many vendors and resellers out there. Just trying to gauge where the most reputable place to get them. My concern about the Vietnam option is what to do if I have a problem. Hard to hold anyone accountable vs if I bought at a US vendor. Prices on everything is soaring (inflation is upon us). I just emailed vintage dashboard and they’ve raised their price from $800 to $925 and the rep specifically said they’re costs are going up and they have to raise prices and they’re going up again very soon. All this stimulus is hurting our dollar buying power so I’m getting my stuff I know I’ll need for the car now.

Hey, I’m looking to buy a set of 240z bumpers for my 280z. Reading this thread there are several places to buy these, I emailed Harrington last night and they responded but said the bumper only fit Japanese and European models. My assumption is because the US version require the special brackets otherwise they should fit fine. Also what is the general consensus as to the best place to buy. Harrington - $990 shipped Whitehead - $995 shipped Datsun Garage - $699 + shipping tbd Bumperautomobile - awaiting quote Zcardepot - $459 for front only + shipping (rear not available)