280z1975

No Anti-theft system is fool proof. If a thief really wants your car, it's his, and that is why we have insurance. All these gadgets and devices are a mute point if the theif brings a tow truck along. Anyone ever see the repo-man TV shows, they work damn fast! Still, there are many things, which we have all discussed which will slow down your average thief enough to make stealing the car not worth his time. Hell, half the time I have a damn hard time starting my car with the key, I am sure a thief is going to have fun getting it going hotwired. Also remember, these cars are not as common as your average Honda Civic, so unloading them isn't as easy. Just store you car inside a locked garage, park in a visible spot in a parking lot and carry good insurance. That's my best advice. EDIT: Oh yea, don't come steal my car - I went out and got a Trunk Monkey! He's chilling in the spare tire well.

I so want a Trunk Monkey now ... Here is link to compilation of all the Trunk Monkey ads ...

My car came with a heat shield which attaches to the manifold. It helps to separate the heat from the engine's fuel lines and fuel injectors. I plan to further add some heat shield padding to it just to make it that much better. I have experienced the same problem with my car when I first put it back together, but after it did it two of three times all was well. I figure it must have been something that was loose (a wire or bad connection) and put it back into place when I was cleaning up things and fixing connections. I'll let you know if the problem comes back any time and what I do to fix it, but I doubt as it was fairly warm all summer and the car ran fairly well.

I asked the same question before I put mine sound deadening material down and the response was why not, cause what difference does it make. Only don't do it if I plan to have a boat load of water in my car I need to drain, which I didn't :classic: . So I kept my rubber drain plugs, but they are sealed with silicone, covered on top by sound material and finally coated on the bottom side with Herculiner bed liner.

I was thinking the same thing. If I remember correctly there is a metal shield (which is a PITA to thread your wiring through) to protect the headlights from the elements. I believe this has to come off. I to have to deal with my headlights soon enough. The high beam wire for my right light is not connected all the way. When the car get's here I have to replace the headlights anyways with a Euro legal version. They are for some reason quite anal-retentive about the pattern and the exact angle of the headlights. In the US it's 'do they work' ... here they have a checkered pattern and make you adjust them so they shine just right. Like E said ... even with a replacement H4 bulb, you are going to have to take the whole back panel off IIFC.

Cerain Wrap (sp?) or clear plastic food wrap works great for keeping the lid from sticking and helps to seal out any moisture from the can. I to learned the same lesson of cleaning the lid, but luckily I was able to pry mine off. And it will STAIN your hands FOR AT LEAST A WEEK ... kinda like having a messed up looking Henna Tattoo on your hands. I had some on my fingernail once for about 5 weeks before it came off ...

SurfSup ... you might want to consider making a "Journal" Page http://www.classiczcars.com/modules.php?name=Journal This will allow you do add photos, do updates, and such to a single page rather than a whole post, but you can then post here when you have updated your Journal page. It will keep it much cleaner and easier to read for those of us who love our Z-porn. Good luck with the project, it looks like a lot of work, but we are here to help.

Hahah, that video is great. gives you a nice feel for the car and isn't just so static as all the others .... ... well if you were to secure it to the bumper (or anywhere else on the front of the car, you would need to make sure it was SUPER secure ... I have the big nasty 280z bumpers on my car. I have been tempted to secure my digital camera to the front with a boat load of duct tape if ever get my car onto the track. I do know the camera wouldn't go anywhere with the amount of tape I would use, but I also don't know how I would get to the buttons ... all these problems are for another day.

I'm not sure what camera you are using, but would it be possible to mount it to the front bumper? I always love watching the videos when the camera is that far to the front, you see so much ... I've also seen where they inset the driver in the frame so you can see them work the shifter and wheel. Love the video and keep them coming.

If you are worried about rust just pain the whole of the interior of your car with Por-15, then lay down the B-quite or other sound deadener. With a proper job of painting with Por-15, you won't have to worry about any rust (at least in your lifetime).

Here is another option for the fusible links ... since I lost my cover the other day, I figure I would put the cost of a new cover toward this ... http://www.hammondsplains.com/s30upgrades/maxifuse/index.htm

Here are two threads on Alternator Upgrades: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22260&highlight=alternator+upgrade http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23449&highlight=alternator+upgrade Also, I bought the 105amp alternator from Z Specialties, it has worked out quite well as I can run my headlights on bright (I have the headlight harness relay upgrade, a VERY good upgrade to do) have the wipers working and the 500watt amp in my car running the stereo with no worries. I will say that of most of the electrical lines in my car, most SUCK and for the major electrical components I have replaced them with new ones. http://www.datsunstore.com/product_info.php/products_id/1?osCsid=0ba4a5df41ed47890e740b2ec25880e0 An example is the original 12+ volt line for the stereo. It had conductivity, but would only put out 6.5 volts of electricity, so I had to run new ones. At some point I am going to replace all the wires in my engine bay with new ones. Electrical Gremlins are the WORST problem I feel of the Z cars. As they are the hardest to diagnose and the fix.

Ramses, When did you try to find your glass? I put my new windshield in about a year ago and the glass company (I can't remember the name, but it's one of the bigger ones and they do all the work for my friends body shop) was able to find one for me in Houston that day. I think it was 125 to 145 dollars. I have been quite happy with my after market windshield. It's not origional, but then again I am not going for an all original car, that is just to much money to drop into a car for me.

I vote this as the most informative and entertaining thread this month ... personally would love to own the car (BRE or not) as a 510 would go nicely next to my 280z ... ah but that is just a dream for the moment ...

I hate to post this in the regular forum, but it didn't seem appropriate to post my Nissan Sentra in the "Cars for Sale" section of the classifieds, plus I REALLY need it gone. I recently got a job offer to race bicycles in Europe and my wife and I decided to move to Europe permanently. I'm taking the Z with me, but my 1996 Nissan Sentra is going to be sold. It's a solid Texas car with no rust and has always been the reliable counterbalance to my 280z. I hate to sell her, but my wife leaves on the 25th of April and it needs to be sold before then. You can read all about the car and see a ton of photos here: http://www.gregggermer.com/car.htm Please pass this add on to anyone who might be interested. I have it listed at $1,500 which is well below it's Blue Book value. If I don't have an offer by the 4th of April I will list it on Ebay. On a happier note, my Z will finally arrive here in Europe on the 26th or 27th of April shortly after my wife.. I really miss my Z(ed) ... I am having withdrawals, is there a cure? The photo gallery of the site just doesn't seem to do it for me these days ...

If you want to make your own, just measure the width of the spare tire well (go from the edge of the slight indent to the furtherest edge of the slight indent as this is where your spare tire cover went. I made my own out of fiberboard from Home Depot ... if you only posted this a month and a half ago I could have sent you mine (be it from Canada) or had it been a year ago, you could have driven to my Katy area home and picked it up. Just measure twice, cut once and if need be, make it bigger than needed and keep trimming.

Dave can build them for a 280z (you just have to find spare plugs or cut your harness) in order for him to build it. It can be done and is a good upgrade to save your wiring system.

Here is what mine looked like when done I got around to it: http://gregggermer.com/photos/280z/album/During/slides/during_repairs_02_26_2006%20002.html It was in bad shape ... I replaced the foam with some foam hobby pads I found at Wal-Mart. They were 88cents each and you will need 4 of them, they are a little thin compared to the original. I remember they were a pain in the arse to glue on ... I used POR-15 (por-15.com) to treat the underside so this problem should never rear it's ugly head again. The foam deterioration was also the reason my panel didn't sit right on the car. That and my cousin use to let her friends sit on the car when she owned it. :devious:

25 years old ... in a country the size of the state of Maryland that produces over 500 different beers :lick: :lick: cheers ...

If you can get it to Antwerp or Rotterdam it will cost you less than 2k USD to ship it to the East Coast, a bit more for the west coast. My wife and I just sold our apartment in Canada and are looking for a car to buy here in Europe .... wonder if she will kill me for buying it... wait, she would kill me for thinking of of buying, so I should just stop there. It's a super cool car ... would love to see one in person.

I wouldn't say I know a lot ... I just read a lot on this site and Hybrid Z, ask questions when I don't know and can't find an answer. I also know it's going to take me about 4 times to do it right the first time, but the next time it will only take me 1 time. Personally, I know NOTHING of the RB26eTT engine other than what few things I have read on HybridZ. I like the engine, but want to stick with my in line 6, I like it. BTW, that car is being discussed over at HybridZ (one of the members who posts there owns it) and it's been done well from what others have said, just unfinished.

The RB26Dett is a popular engine that people drop into Z cars and has twin turbos. It's not a different car or type, just a normal 240z changed, updated, improved in performance. You can read a lot more about the RB26Dett upgrade over at HybridZ.org So with 4 Z cars you are looking for one more! If I even thought of bringing home another Z car my wife would kill me.

LegendZ, It really depends on what you want out of your Z car and what you are willing to pay. If you are looking for something to refresh/do some moding to you can find some really nice half-done projects out there which give you a nice blank canvas to work on. You will end up spending in the 3 to 8k range for the car depending on what comes with it and another 8 to 15k on making it 'perfect'. Another option is waiting for a ready to drive car to come around. There is a member from Houston who is selling his because of a divorce. It's a super nice car and you could be getting a good deal with the car. I looked for the post, but couldn't find it. Someone who remembers please link. If you enjoy working on cars and want this to be a project, have the space, time, an understanding wife you can find a car which is cheap and go from there. In the end the car to be 'really nice' is going to cost some $$$, but on the other hand we drop 20k on new cars all the time which depreciate in value every day we own them. These cars will keep their value at the VERY LEAST, and most will appreciate. One reason I didn't have a problem spending the money on my car.

Mine cost me all of $1, (basically free as it was my Uncles), but it was most expensive free thing ever. I took the money I saved for second car and put it into my Z. Went over budget with "while I am at it" and "for a little more I can have it right the first time". Like Z-Onthebrain I also put in a crap load of labor time. I made the choice one day to take that stack of receipts of everything from injectors, to paint to beer to help pay for friends to help. Total is just a shade over 6,000 USD. About double what I wanted to spend, but I have a great, solid ready to rock car. Oh there are still things to do, but they can all come with time. If you start to add up all the things my Uncle did to the car, Full rebuild of the engine, mechanical work, etc. the numbers would make ones head spin. These are defiantly not cheap toys, but we only live once and we aren't taking the money with us when we are 6 feet under!

Depends on which side you are coming from, buying (bad) or selling (good)