Arne

Chris, are you sure about the 8/70 cutoff date for the seat mounted hooks? Or was there more than one style of seat mounted hook? Because the seats in my 10/70 car have hooks on the seat backs too.

If I'm orienting the picture correctly, you should be able to fabricate some brackets that use those mounting points, yes.

Correct. The '79-80 280ZX all had the N42 block with dished pistons. The '81-83 280ZX all had the F54 block, dished pistons on the turbo, and flat topped pistons on the non-turbo.When I talked about the price seeming high to me, yes, you do have to take into account the supply in your locale. Obviously you don't want to pay to ship one, and if that's a good price where you are, go for it.

That sounds a bit high for what is essentially a core, at least compared to the prices I see around these parts. (And then there's the issue of it sitting unused for 6-7 years. Is it rusty inside?) I've seen several fairly complete ZX mills around here (Oregon) for $45-75 each. Might not be quite as good in some ways, but if you're just going to rebuild it any way...??

Yup. See below, but that doesn't affect the headrests. http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19989

No emissions testing at all in my part of Oregon, but I will retain my evap tank unless it fails catastrophically. If Nissan could make them vapor-tight when they were new, I can do it now (with new hoses, clamps, etc.).

Wimp. I will drive mine down when I do it. Probably about 9:00 AM Saturday morning. If I just idle it around it won't be too loud.

Since shipping wheels is expensive, you want to find someone local. I know that there are several polishers in the Eugene area, probably several near Salem as well. Talk to the wheel people at a local tire shop - they'll know who does it in your area.

I'd just start walking through parking lots, car lots and wrecking yards until you see what you like. Going flush will likely require cutting and/or welding, but there's got to be something that will look right to you out there.

Oh, you're talking about the side markers, not turn signals. Your terminology had me confused.

Only reason to replace the flywheel would be if it is bad, or if you want a lighter one. Otherwise I'd just have it resurfaced. If you want a lighter flywheel, try to find a used one from a 810/Maxima. It's about 6 pounds lighter, I've heard. http://www.automedic.org/smzcc/tech_tips.htm#Flywheel

While I have no idea what it takes to do it, the attached picture proves that no light or valance changes are needed.

At first glance it looked to me as if they had re-machined the lip, not simply polished it. After another look, I'm not so sure. If the lip is the machine finish, $110 per doesn't sound bad. But as you noted Ron, if it's simply polished that seems a bit steep.

Sounds reasonable, as long as you weren't into the wheels themselves very deep (as you indicated). Because they look like new. Anyone recall if original Libres were available in 15x6? (For TR6, most likely.) Because I'd love to have Libres, but would prefer to run a more modern tire size.

I haven't worked on this part of my car yet. Is the receiver plate captive? Does it move at all?

And here in the US, it's different, yes. The Dept. of Transportation (DOT) specifies that the front parking lights and turn signals can be either white or amber lighting. The amber lighting can be provided by either amber lenses, or clear lenses with an amber bulb. Therefore the parking and turn signal function can be provided by a single dual filament bulb, unlike pretty much the entire rest of the world. The rear turn signals can be either red or amber. In the case of amber, again amber bulbs/clear lenses are approved, but for red only red lenses can be used, not red bulbs. Individual states can have stricter rules, but not less restrictive.

I'm impressed! How much per wheel did it cost for that first class restoration?

Odd. That sure sounds like my setup, which works fine. I guess it might be time to swap in the later tach. Wish I could help on that.

I had understood that all new emblems from Nissan these days were plastic.

Some more questions, Rick. 1.) I assume that the car is running OK, just no tach? 2.) On the ZX coil - you should have a wire from each terminal of the coil going to the twin terminal connector on the distributor box, and the other black/white wire connected to the + terminal of the coil. So two wires on the + and only one on the - terminal. All sound right?

I'm a little perplexed on this, Rick. I have the same '83 ignition on my 10/70 240Z with 4 wire tach, and it works fine. How do you have the coil wired?

I'd love to, but at this point we have reached the limits of my knowledge on this. Anything I could offer from here would be pure speculation on my part, so I'd rather wait and hope that someone who has done this weighs in instead.I do think that the front can be installed without changing the valance and turn signals, however. At least, I'm certain that I have seen cars with the small bumpers on them with the later valances.

Not so much bodywork, but there are no brackets that are pre-made for bumper retro-fitting. You will have to custom fabricate the brackets. It can be done, it's just more work.

Well, thanks for the compliments! Although I must say that judging from the pictures in your gallery, your car's body is in much better shape than mine is. Anyway, I'm glad you've enjoyed my car's story so far.

Hmm, all bets are off for cars originally delivered in Europe. I don't know for sure, but I was under the impression that Europe (along with the UK, Oz and Japan) never got the later 280Z body. They did have the signals in the grill, but other than that I think they had the earlier shell. On the other hand, if it was originally a US car that was imported later, the above post is correct, and the same issues apply to the 240Z bumpers as well.