dhomuth

Work in progress at the tijme

I bought it in Minneapolis, MN late in '78 before the snow fell and the salt hit the roads. It did get in the salt a couple of times in the early 80's, but when I re-did it in 1987, got all that fixed properly. As for buying it, there was nothing particularly unusual that I can recall. The dealer figured it was an orphan, and many of his previous customers were waiting for the now-unlamented 280ZX. So he was willing to sell it essentially for cost. If memory serves, I paid about $8500 for it -- which was a small fortune at the time, but I simply liked the way it was put together. I thought it was a tad overdone in some ways -- the striping package, for example, along with the Dealer Added stripes down the side of the car, the added vinyl strip along the crease line, and I never did really care for the sunroof or the rear window slats. I did like the a/c and the 5-speed, and the rims were always pretty. It just spoke to me, somehow, and I gladly sold my '75 to a friend to get this one. It's been really good! I told friends at the time that I intended to own it for twenty years, and it's coming up on 27 or so. I'm still pleased, and still grin when I drive it. Thanks!

I haven't seen many of these around for years, though I see them every now and again on eBay Motors. Whether those are real or not, I can't say. When I got mine it had a full striping package on it in 1978, but I never really cared for it all that much. So of a winter's evening, I took a hair dryer to it and took it all off. When I did the refurb in 1987, I also had them take off the hood, rear deck and side emblems. There was always something about just the plain lines of the car that attracted me, and with the air dam and headlight covers -- which actually do have some over-the-road benefit, just fwiw -- the car became a Mild Custom. So I'm not all that concerned with putting the original pinstripe on it again. Others can focus on the Box Stock approach to restoration, but I'll just stick with a plainer, less decorated look. Through the last 17 years, I've had folks ask me if it was a Ferrari, for example. (Not the most clueful folks in the world, I'll grant you, but it's still sorta fun anyway.) There is one thing I'd like to find -- a rear deck spoiler of the design I had on my previous '75 280Z. It was a one-piece fiberglass unit that extended outward to the top line of the rear fender at the rear of the car. Its angle was somewhat less severe than the usual BRE-type spoiler or the 3-piece unit that I find every now and then online. I have some pictures of the '75 that perhaps I'll put in a gallery, if I can dig them up. They come from a time when my first wife and I had matching copper-colored Z's -- mine a mild custom '75 and hers a straight stock '76. Other than the mild custom, I've kept this one pretty nice! For example, I may well have one of the very few uncracked original dashboards! Comes from carefully covering the dash on sunny days, and keeping it mostly garaged during the hot clear days of summer. But I swear it's true! I even have the original shop manual I bought from the dealer when I got it as well. It's never had a flat tire, so all of that stuff is intact and unused too. I saw a Z for sale with the 2-hole sunroof on eBay. I figure to sell mine when it's repainted. It was dealer-installed. I figure to replace all the suspension bushings over the winter, when I'm not driving it. After 26+ years, they've pretty well worn out. Just tending to the details, here and there. Picked up a power antenna just yesterday from eBay for a reasonable price, so things keep moving right along! It's driven regularly. I don't plan to make it into a Garage Queen. If all goes well, I'll get it repainted next Spring, and perhaps enter it into a show or two, if it's convenient. Thanks for the compliment.

The rims are really nice, though it's too bad they were never made in a 15" size to take advantage of the newer performance tires. Over the years, I've found several sets for friends -- the best was 4 at a garage sale for $50 a few years back. But I note they're scarcer now. And none of the aftermarket wheels look anywhere near as good. As to the current renovation, replaced 20 yr-old exhaust system with a new Monza system just Tuesday, and put in a new gearshift lever inner boot. Got some of the seals to start to deal with the Dread Exhaust Fume problem as well, along with a new light switch for the overhead light. I plan to take out the sunroof -- noise and it leaks, and with any sun just makes it hotter -- and put in a standard steel roof once again when I get it repainted. But before that, I want to get all the mechanical and other stuff handled properly. I plan to keep this thing for a while yet. It's still a blast to drive!