Virto

Good sheet metal, looks like. Decent parts car. No title means no restoration, in many cases.

Man, this one is being done RIGHT. I wish I had all those fun toys in a shop like that!

Sadly, it's pretty common. The entire floor pans will need to be replaced. You'll also want to check the rest of the underside, the fenders, the doglegs, and such. If they're also in similar shape (bet they are) then this would probably best be considered a parts car. Not economical to salvage or repair - spend more upfront for better metal, it'll still be cheaper in the long run.

Don't sweat the color - buy the BEST and most rust-free example that you can, and then get it repainted down the road. You'll be a lot happier getting a car painted than you will be having all the panels cut out and replaced.

I wonder what the use of rubber hangers was for in the first place. Maybe to make up for the lack of a flex pipe in the exhaust? A lot of places just seem to use round stock welded hangers.

Try flipping the switch back and forth quickly a few times. It may be really dirty and preventing a contact. When I got my 280, I had that problem, and after flipping the switch a few times they did come back on, but it convinced me to clean the combo switch.

Looks amazing - I'm jealous of your ability. Are you planning to keep running the old metal fan?

Is this a 1st gen (S30) Z car? If it has the stock mechanical fan and clutch setup, the fan will spin ALWAYS as it's driven by the water pump, which is in turn driven by the V belt. Maybe a missing or split belt? Fell off due to improper tension? If the belt is in place and spinning, then the water pump may have seized, which would explain the overheat - you need to see if that pump is spinning before you run the car anymore.

I'll try and find an appropriate sized box. Do you need the horn pad with it? - if not it'll become a desktop decoration. Just shoot me an offer - if you'd rather do it in PM that's fine. The wheel prices on eBay are absurd, regardless of condition and I'm not too absurd, .

Out with the old...in with the new. Feels so much better than that crumbling foam rubber - and the wheel only 13 2/4 versus the stock 14 3/4 and even with the adapter there's about two inches less dish. It gives me a little bit more room for the legs. Can't beat 40 bucks brand new off eBay.

Hard to make out the source of the high-pitched squeal. Might be easier to pinpoint the area it comes from via ear versus the mic on the camera. If it's a metal on metal squeal, it could be the water pump or something else that turns with engine rotation. I *THINK* the early 280Z were equipped with a resistor or relay or something that was designed to keep the electronic noise from being picked up by the radio - I'd have to look into it to be sure.

Lucky! The only thing I ever see are rusted out hulks that people think are good for the street - and always four digit prices. Part of living in the rust belt, I guess.

I'd assume that it's just worn out - my terrible side mirrors would droop when the car was running. I haven't looked at it, but I assume the inside mirror uses a similar tension-fit to hold position.

Wow...the FSM makes the hangers look really, really complex - overly so.

I haven't had my exhaust done yet on the 280, but I guess I didn't even think about the factory hangers - I just assumed they'd tack weld a hanger in place where needed, like when I had my LTD and Accord done.

Picked up some new vac lines and set to work this morning. It's amazing just how well the car ran with so many hoses dry rotted or split. I found 3 that were falling apart - and that's just in one area. The three-way connector (or t fitting, if you're normal, ) up front was connected to the vac advance and the throttle body, but left open on the 3rd side, so I ran a new hose and reconnected it to the carbon canister. Reinstalled the battery hold down after I saw it hanging on the wall - apparently I'm stupid and overlook things often. Started her up and took her out for a shakedown. When the transmission shifted into second, it was so smooth that I didn't even notice. The car is rusty, dented, filthy inside and out - but the smile on my face while poking it around town makes up for all of it. Had her out for about half an hour in stop and go stuff. Good idle, no hesitation, oil pressure good, temp good - mood: better than good. I'm sure I'm not done running into problems, but thanks to all of you, I've gotten through some and if it comes to it, I'm sure I can get through more. Thank you all, so, so much.

Gah, wasps are no joke when you find them in a car. I've been there, done that and had the welts to show for it. That may very well be an original tire. At least you got some decent stuff for your time out there.

Same thing happened to me a few years ago - haven't bothered to replace it yet. No spare here, but 40 bucks seems to be the going rate. Just make sure if it's from eBay that they mounting posts are still intact.

They have little plastic tabs that like to break off, if I recall correctly. I'm not sure if they're year-specific for the 280. I'm jealous, I can't find any parts cars in the midwest. I could really use a steering wheel that isn't rotting away.

Hehe, I didn't realize this was a zombie thread.

I recently tore those things off my car after the glass in the driver's side unit broke. The PO added them and I found them mostly useless, although they did look pretty good. I ended up tossing them since the finish was ruined from the sun - if I'd seen this post a couple weeks ago I could have sent you one just to see if you liked how it looked on the car. Nils - If they're genuine Nissan Racing, they were still dealer added, as far as I'm aware, so they weren't a "factory" item, so to speak. I also prefer the chrome flag mirrors - I need to get out and find a set, since I don't have any side mirrors at the moment.

Send a PM to zKars. He mentioned that he might have one he can sell.

Blah, you're right. Since it's technically Z Car Source of Arizona, I've always associated the two. My error.

Zcarsource is Arizona Z Car. I've bought parts from them with no issues, but nothing as big as a dash.

I assume there's a metal hard line that runs back from the engine bay to the vapor tank in the rear. I'll have to see if I can find anything that's just sitting open and re-connect it. It could explain some of the gassy smell the car has always had. The car ran immeasurably better once the fuel pump was changed - if the vac advance and other lines are just hanging open, I wonder what it could really feel like to get on the gas. Fuel pressure tester arrived today. Always fun to get a box in the mail, like a mini-christmas.