Might go for #14, 78 280Z

[tomwas]

Hello to the CZC board. I'm new to this one as i have mainly been on Z31 and Zcar.com in the past. May make the passage to a classic Z tomorrow. I looked at a 78 Z in early Oct at a Zshow in NJ. Sold my 87 2+2 in early summer and have missed it ever since. It was my 13th Zcar. Have had them from 79 thru 88 ZX's. My previous 12 were pictured in SportZ mag a couple years back which was pretty cool. Anyway, the 280 was in the show and i fell in love with it, did not hear it run and have not driven it yet. Tomorrow's the big day, I'm going with cash in hand so if it drives as nice as it appears it will be mine. Current owner bought in in 1980 and has given it xlnt care thru the years, new paint 10 yrs ago that still looks factory, mint interior, sweet from top to bottom and inside out. 5speed with a/c in working order, new clutch, tires, tune, xaust, etc. Car has 80k miles. Just curious and i find it quite odd, how could they make these cars without a right outside rear view mirror. Even my 1970 MGB had both mirrors. I will try to attach a photo i took of it at the show,share your thoughts if any... Thanks, Tom Wasney

[zbane]

Welcome to the site, and good luck with your potential purchase. If you don't get this one, I expect you'll find one sooner or later, since you seem to be terminally addicted to the Z line (not that that is badLOL )

Before you go, search this site for areas to check, areas that rust, and areas of general concern. That way you can go prepared with knowledge that might save you money.

[BD240Z]

From the picture it looks really clean, nice find! I hope it meets your expectations when you test drive her tomorrow.

On the mirrors, my 280Z came with a mirror on both sides. You can pick up a set on Ebay, the OE mirrors are metal, not plastic. My 1970 240Z came with only one mirror but I plan on installing one on the passenger side also. I prefer one on both sides for safety purposes.

Bruce

[hls30.com]

From the picture it looks really clean, nice find! I hope it meets your expectations when you test drive her tomorrow.

On the mirrors, my 280Z came with a mirror on both sides. You can pick up a set on Ebay, the OE mirrors are metal, not plastic. My 1970 240Z came with only one mirror but I plan on installing one on the passenger side also. I prefer one on both sides for safety purposes.

Bruce

Bruce

Unless your 280Z is a '78 Black Pearl Edition, I believe it came from Japan with only a drivers side plastic mirror, either p/N 96302-N3600 or 93602-N4700(the current part number). The black pearl is the only USA version S30 that came from Japan with a pair of metal mirrors from the factory. The 240Z and the early 260Zs came with a single metal mirror(96301-E4600) for the drivers side.

The Black Paerl racing mirrors were available through Nissan Competition Parts, and are occassionally found on ebay, more frequently, an aftermarket copy of those mirrors comes up, and though there are differences in construction and quality, they look quite similar.

Will

[BD240Z]

Will,

Thanks for the clarification and correction. You're right, the 78 was a Black Pearl!!

Bruce

[DatsunZsRule]

Will,

Thanks for the clarification and correction. You're right, the 78 was a Black Pearl!!

Bruce

What will is saying is only the Black Pearl Edition's came with the metal mirrors on both sides. Other 78 280Z's WITHOUT the special Black Pearl Paint Package just had the one mirror on the drivers side just like the others.

To answer the original posters question on why there wasn't a pass. side view mirror standard? Good question A lot of the older cars didn't have passenger side mirrors. I even remember some few early 80's cars that didn't have them either. I think as time went on, all auto companies began installing the side view mirrors on both sides as standard safety equipment.

Anyway, good luck. Hope all goes well with your test drive

[tomwas]

Car looks just about new but ran very poorly, i.e. started right up but misfired at idle, thought i'd let it sit and warm up. Owner had told me at the show when i originally saw it that it had a miss but i didn't expect anything like this. He did not start it at the show.... I pushed the throttle control on the motor and it backfired a bit. Sounded like it was missing on a cylinder or two. Smelled like it was running a bit rich. Now warmed up to operating temp and i took it for a ride. Still missing heavily and backfiring on acceration, definite poor accelaration and lack of full power. The motor itself did sound solid, no smoking, knocks, clangs etc. I'm pretty sure it's problems could/should be something fairly simple. He said vacum lines had never been changed. Car had a full ignition tuneup in 03. All those components looked new, i pulled the cap to check rotor and cap and they looked to be in good shape with no carbon buildup. Fuel filter in engine bay was done also at the time. Could this condition be caused by the air flow/mass unit? Does the 280 have a fuel pressure regulator. I'm heavily into older 2,7 & 940 Volvos and a bad FPR can cause these symptons but accompanied with hard starting and black smoke. Looking for any and all suggestions you folks might have on this one. I went with money in my pocket to grab this baby and this put me off . Went back home with my cash. Also the shifter seemed to have quite a bit of play in gear. Seemed like it could use some susp bushing replacements, didn't really feel too bad just a little loose. Of course i would think almost 30 year old susp could use some freshening up........ But for the money i would expect a good running more solid feeling auto... Let me know your thoughts......... Thanks, Tom Wasney

[zbane]

A few thoughts on the fuel issue-

1. how old was the gas?

2. How were the spark plugs/wires? All connected and fresh, or a little tired?

3. The gas tanks on our cars have a propensity to rust. If enough rust accumulates in there, the fuel sending unit can get all crudded up, thus blocking fuel delivery.

There are other possible causes, of course, but these seem to me to be the easiest (and more likely) causes to check, although I expect others to chime in with other suggestions, all with equal merit and worth your consideration.

[hls30.com]

SOunds to me like you have at the very least, a problem with the intke plumbing(an air leak) that has been worked on the wrong way, resulting in the car running rich. Pull the plugs and see what they tell, clean them and put them back. start the car up and spray WD40 around the intake plumbing, if your idle improves, you have a leak in the intake tubing.

Once that is taken care of, if my thoughts are correct the car will definitely run rich. Look for a resistor placed on the Air temp sensor(could be a single resisitro or a 10K pot,) if you find a resistor, jumper across it and see if the richness goes away.

If you don't find a resistor, have a look at the black cup on the afm, chances are it will show signs of being opened and reglued. Many times the arm that moves across the coil within the cover is bent to provide enrichment in the system. If you are lucky, and the cover shows evidence of being opened, the arm will also show evidence of being bent and the original position will be evident so you can gently bend it pack to its original position.

At that point the car should be running right as rain!

I could well be wrong, but these are easy things to verify and repair, and this is what it took to straighten out '76 whenI bought it with the same symptoms.

Will

Will

[DatsunZsRule]

Well what is he asking for it? Sounds like she just needs a good tune up. I remember way back when I purchased mine she ran similar to those symptoms but it didn't stop me from purchasing it because I loved it so much and the body was spotless. After I first got mine I looked everything over thoroughly and started to make my "To Do" list First I found that the previous owner used Bosch Spark Plugs so New NGK plugs/wires went on the list including new Nissan Cap and rotor, fuel filter ect. Also noticed rubber fuel hoses under the hood showing cracks, so new high pressure Nissan 5/16 fuel hose and clamps went on the list, Noticed AFM Boots were severely cracked and unmetered air was entering which was fauling up the air/fuel mixture so new Nissan AFM boots went on the list. Then I noticed when on the highway she rode like I was driving on rail road ties Tires were WAY out of balance and the rims looked pretty rough so new tires and wheels went on the list too ect. ect. I've done plenty more as the yrs. went on. I've had to install a new Nissan Starter, New reverse lamp switch in the transmission that was leaking, this summer I just I had to redo all the ball joints and tie rod ends with new Nissan parts because those were all original and worn out. Made a HUGE difference. The point is (depending on how much he is asking) It's kinda part of the hobby. I enjoyed every second of working on my beauty and getting it all fixed up. You just have to pick away at the list- one project at a time. Now today my baby runs as good as she looks

I guess depending on what he is asking, I wouldn't let those issues stop you IF your good at working on them. The biggest thing is that the body is super clean and it looks like you have a winner in that category.

Do they have FPR's? Yes. If you got a Fuel pressure test guage, hook it up after the filter and see what reading you get. These cars should maintain a fuel pressure of 36.3 at idle.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

[tomwas]

He is firm at $5k for the car, and yes it is super clean body wise. It does have a bosch cap on it. Tuneup is fresh, not many miles on it, not really sure of the gas freshness. He said the car sits for 6 months sometimes.. Has a trickle charger plugged in for it... tomwas

[DatsunZsRule]

Yeah, there ya go probably has bosch plugs in it too. The Z's do not like Bosch plugs, cap, rotor for some reason. Ask any Classic Z nut that has tried them. They just run poorly on them. NGK plugs are what came in these cars new and work the best. that alone will make a huge difference.

If you want my opinion, 5,000.00 seems fair if its as good as she looks in that photo. I guess it's up to you wheather or not you want to work out all the bugs or keep looking for another one that already is in good running shape.