280z1975

Welcome to the club! There are 240z's and 260z's out there in Europe, you just have to know where to look. If you find one and want some help in the choice we can give advice. All the best....

I agree on the safety changes, but the oversized bumpers being worthless. I have to disagree. When I had a neighbor of mine back up into my car because "I didn't realize your hood was that long" it saved me from having to deal with getting my car repaired. Those '5mph' bumpers are really '5mph' bumpers :lick: That being said ... now that i have the car in the garage I will be replacing them with 240z fiberglass bumpers in the future (eliminating about 100 lbs from the car). The heavy subframe has some advantages (mainly to the V8 upgrade guys over at HybridZ) and the emission control solutions I agree are not good, but then again mine has none on the car so I don't have to worry about that. This is true, but this can be said of ANY car series. The first ones will always be the most sought after. For some the "collector" value is important, but for others, it's the car, their car that is important. The electrical system is a problem for both the 240's and the 280's ... the 280's just have more electrical lines and more room for problems. I don't think the fuel injectors will be that much of an issue in time, but if they do I one can always switch to a carb system. I think we forgot to mention the red-headed step sister of Nicole, the 260'z. It had more power, less weight and was the arguably the best of both worlds (larger carb engine, less weight and no emissions equipment, with the small bumpers).

I made a basic box using left over MDF I had in my garage. Basically you take some measurements of the area you want to make the box in, then cut out a rough draft of the shape (over estimate by a lot) then use cardboard to fine tune your shape, cutting and changing the shape as you go along then using it as a final template for the cuts. I will post a picture later when I get a chance. My 'box' isn't sealed, it's just a vertical board that has a hinge top (yet to be installed) so that i can get to my tail lights in the back. It works well cause you can't see the speakers in the back when you look from the rear of the car (much safer against the thieves). It's not the best box for sound quality, but it's all made out of recycled stuff, so the free price was right.

I have recently decided the name of my car is "Wooo Turbo" after the expression my wife makes every time I do a little big of 'spirited driving'. Couldn't think of a good name till she keep saying "Wooo Turbo, cool down" all the time in the car. I thought it was suiting.

Well after a long trip over seas ... a delay that made it miss it's scheduled boat ... problems with documents at customs ... and figuring out how to get it out of the container while on a truck it finally arrived. To get it out of the container truck I actually hired a truck and driver from another company just half a mile down the road to come and we drove it onto their truck then drove it to their facility where we unloaded it on the lift and then the lift to the ground. Sounded like a lot of work, but it went super easy. The car started on the first turn of the key and ran great. It was nice to drive it again. It's been a long day, so I will leave the post at that. Of course, some photos! more to come ...

Auto Paint shops have great tar and grease removers ... Wal-mart or other auto supply stores have other specialty Tar and Grease removers. I can't remeber what I use to buy from Walmart, but it worked well on the fried and dead bugs on the front of my car.

This is a project for Myth Busters ... of course the last time I saw the Gas Mileage episode Jamie was like "For the love of God, don't' send us any more fuel mileage tests" ... The way they did it, was they hooked up a gauge which read the amount of fuel being used through the fuel lines right before it got burned (it was calibrated to the truck being used) and this way they could accurately see the amount of fuel being used. So if it does work, less fuel will burn for a given speed and the myth busted ... I don't know about Acetone, but I'm running diesel here and plan to make a mini- Bio Diesel factory in my tool room. It's .95 euros a liter (about 4.85USD a gallon!) here for diesel (1.29 euro a liter (over 5.5 dollars a gallon!)for regular petrol) ... Can't wait to run my car with the smell of french fries out the back exhaust!.

If you are SERIOUSLY in credit card debt, then I guess selling it should be a real option for you, but if you aren't, consider what you can do to get things back on track and keep the Z. I can speak from experience. I just made a move overseas, to a job which pays next to nothing (if I told you what i make you would think I am crazy) but I enjoy my job a lot. When I decided to move I had a choice to sell the Z or not. I choose to keep it and I am VERY glad I did. In fact, it will be our "second" car while here and will provide a bit of luxury when my wife is working and I need a car. I miss it very much, but it will be here in just 8 days! Was supposed to come yesterday, but the container was delayed. My suggestion ... gather up all the things you DON'T need, then put them all on eBay ... when I moved I gathered up everything I really didn't need and put it all on eBay ... I made just over 3,500 USD! It can be done .... just some things to think about. If you really enjoy your Z you will not think of selling things you don't need to finance it and keep it.

Here are some photos from HybridZ ... mostly modified, but still good stuff. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=121527

What's up with the porn like music ... I felt like I was watching some old school stuff from back in the day ROFL It's a sweet car though!

Wal-Mart carries them also ... of course I think they carry everything these days ... has some friends from here in Belgium come into a Super Wal-mart cause I needed batteries. You would have thought I brought them to the moon (and Belgium is a developed, industrial country )

Please post photos of the floor pans before you go cutting them out ... we can help determine if they are in so bad of shape that you will need to replace them. Also check out the frame rails on the bottom. They tend to rust to. Any questions, just use the search feature and if you can't find what you need feel free to post. The 280's are great cars to own!

It's a great feeling when you have a crappy hard to diagnos and fix probelm and you are able to fix it! Good job now go have a beer (if you can drink )....

I like the Sport Max 002's ... I have been looking for a European distributor, but can't find one. They are 435 USD shipped to anywhere in the US through a group buy on HybridZ. They also have a limited edition Gold set that would look awesome on your car. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=118865

oh yea, one more thing ... does anyone know how many different harness's were sold by Nissan Parts? I am curious how many variants they provided to the consumers after the fact ... thanks for the help ...

Ok, a little update ... So after some searching, a lot of reading and some serious thinking about this project I am going to make this happen ... how is the real question. One great read if your interested is this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10416&highlight=harness The thread is by ZHadMan, Keith Hadley. He to seems to have attempted this, but it never went through all the way. If you have his e-mail please PM me. I sent him a PM, but his last activity here was well over a month ago. I've contacted Victor Laury who has been nice enough to help me identify the connections for the wiring harness. As per the other thread the connections are Fastin-Faston connectors used by Nissan in either the 6.35 [.250] or 2.79 [.110] series (spade terminal width). The engine bay harness is the one I will focus on at the moment. I will be making a template for the stock 280z and then going over to the stock 240z. It will take some time to figure out everything, but I am sure it will all come in time. The engine bay harness is much simpler when it comes to connectors than the rest of the system, so this is why it is my first focus. If there are connectors we can't find I am looking at reproducing them using silicone molds (or metal molds if we need a lot of them). I have already sourced the distributors of the products i need to do this and have even found a local shop that does lots of plastic mold work only a couple of miles down the road. (I am sure there are others, it's very popular area for factories and manufacturing in this region). After you are able to find connectors making a new blade style fuse box will be much easier for all model years of the S30's ... another project in my mind, but to come later ... back to the focus ... engine bay harness ... At the moment I am going to bid on a wiring harness for a 1978 280z (so if you see it on Ebay, please don't bid against me :laugh: ) and get that shipped here as my guinea-pig. If I loose the auction I will need a source for a 280z harness as I don't want to take mine out of my car when it comes. If someone would be so kind as to lend me a engine wiring harness (and any other electrical harness from a 75 280z) I would gladly repay them with a free harness when all is said and done. Right now i have the time (this will be a nice part-time work for me) to do this project and be able to see it through. I plan to sell these at a reasonable price and hopefully contribute a great thing to to the Z community to help keep our great cars on the road. It's time this project is completed ....

YES ... to answer simply ... but I will say that finding a wiring harness that is in good shape can be a problem sometimes. You can try Awesome Z in Houston, he is the best Z mechanic in town. (I use to live in Katy :squareeye ) They will be able to sort you out I bet ... If you need a good general mechanic (they aren't going to be able to sort this out for you) go to P & B Auto on Hwy 6 and Clay (they are just south of there next to the hotel). VERY reliable and honest and always reasonable with their cost. I never left there with the "I just got ripped off" feeling for the work they did. Went to them for over 8 years! Call up Awesome Z, they may have an engine bay harness that is in decent shape for you. If not start calling around. I know there is a NOS on Ebay for 409 right now (the seller paid 256 btw, cause I bid on it ... there is also one for a 1978 but I am planning on bidding on it so I can try and reproduce the 280Z wiring harness, then move onto the 240's)

Had a somewhat similar issue ... you will need to check the wires going from the coil to the distributor, then also the coil to the ignition module ... check conductivity first, but then also borrow a scope (from an auto parts store) or go to a mechanic and check the lines. Mine were getting conductivity, but were internally messed up and corroded and it wouldn't send the correct signal to the parts needed ... a lot of pain in the rear stuff to diagnose ... and only do after looking at the much simpler points of trouble ... I wish you the best of luck ...

You can do this set up on a 240z, just follow the same basic concept but use a wiring diagram to adapt it for your needs.

After I reading these stories this is why I like to carry a bit of string, duct tape, zip ties, a small tube of super glue and JB weld in my emergency kit in my car ... add in a paper clip to the mix and Macgyver can build you a Z

It's been discussed over at HybridZ recently .... http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=120696

I understand you there ... my last car, a Nissan Sentra was absolutely great. Owned it for 10 years, drove it over 135,000 miles and had to change the alternator, the valve gasket and the brakes( of the non-interval replacement things). That was it! Bought for 9,000 in 1996 and being sold this weekend for 1,500 ... if my wife and I weren't in a position where it needed to be sold, I think I could have easily gotten 2,250 for it. Still, it's had an operating cost of around 900 bucks a year or about 5.5 cents a mile. Not to bad in my books for a reliable car. The car I just bought here is a 5 door station wagon type car. Big enough to carry me and my bikes for a weekend of racing and only cost me 900 euros in total cost to get in on the road ... if it lasts me 3 years I will be thrilled ... of course it's got a fun little habit of turning on the lights randomly (developed over the last two weeks of a month of ownership) and drained my battery twice this week! ... going to install a cut off switch to the lights or the battery to keep it from being drained. I prefer to spend my money on my Z ....

I to would own just about any of them because I have my Z, which is the car I like to keep clean, scratch free, baby and all those great things about owning a car. My daily driver .... I keep it maintained and clean, but don't stress over food being spilled, grease on the seats, scratches on the car or those other things ... it's a simple machine to get me from point A to point B ... but my Z, that's my real car ...

So I checked my e-mail and there was a search result for "280z Wiring Harness" http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3ASS%3AUS%3A1&viewitem=&item=160108192912 The guy selling it, for 409 USD, is the same guy who out bid me and got the harness for 256USD ... at a cost of 409 USD I am SURE I can figure out a way to reproduce the wiring harness.

You can go here: http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/electrical.htm and download a wiring diagram for your year in PDF. You can print it larger than just a simple 8 x 10 in several pages then cut and tape together to make them easier to follow. good luck with it all ... as far as your headlights, you might consider upgrading to the headlight harness relay offered by member Zs-ondabrain: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20365 Good luck with it all.