New member with a 280Z

peter_s

Club Member
Hi all!

New member here from Sweden.

I've always loved the 240Z cars, and now was the time to do it. It's actually not my first Z, I had a 370Z a few years ago as a daily driver. I loved that car and still miss it, it had tons of character. Drove it year round and even raced it on frozen lakes in the winter. Life caught up with kids etc, so that car was replaced with a Subaru STi. The STi has now done the family duty for 4 years, it's the only car we've had for family duty and it's been great at now 60k miles. I also have driven it a lot on frozen lakes with WRC tyres. Great fun, such a capable car.

Anyway, driving more modern cars in traffic and on track the last few years have made me long for an older car again. I'm also building a 72 MGB GT as a race car, V8, IRS etc etc, so having a classic car is nothing new to me. But a race car is a race car, I need something to drive to work and go get ice cream with in the summer!

So I found a good candidate in the UK in January. I had contact with a few dealers, but Classic car garage in Swainby were really good with information and follow up. They sent me so much information that I dared to buy it sight unseen. They arranged shipping to me and here we are.

These cares are a quite uncommon sight here, I think there were 25 sold or something in 73, then Nissan pulled the plug. So when I found this good example in LHD in the UK I took the plunge. The scarcity also means it's difficult to find parts. So I've very happy you have an active club in the UK.

Didn't really care about it being a 240, 260 or 280. Condition is more important.

It's a 1977 280Z with the 5 speed and AC.

Here is the car, it's in pretty good condition. I haven't found much rust. It's even ok under the battery tray. The car came from Florida, and it can't have seen much rain. The car was resprayed by the dealer in the original color. The floors seem solid but there were two small spots on the sills before the repaint so something needs to be looked at in the future.

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Mr Tenno

Digital Officer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Looking good - that is a monster exhaust though :D

Don't think I've actually seen one in 517 paint before!
 

peter_s

Club Member
Looking good - that is a monster exhaust though :D

Don't think I've actually seen one in 517 paint before!
Thanks!

Maybe it looked OK with the stock bumpers. The bad part is that someone has welded the tip to the muffler, even though there is a clamp there. So it isn't as easy as just removing the tip! I need to get the angle grinder out :D

The whole exhaust has been puzzled together with old parts after the header, so it needs to be changed asap. I will not get it through MOT like this anyway. Here in Sweden the cut off is 50 years, although we only need to do it every other year after 30 years.
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Welcome to the club :thumbs:

I love the colour on that, it suits it really well and is quite unusual... I can sympathise with the whole bought unseen from abroad situation having done the same with my car from the US nearly three years ago now. Scary and exciting process all the same!

Haha the exhaust is erm interesting... Angle gridner first! however if it's all a bit home made and you're looking to replace the whole system then you can speak to Sean Dezart on here or google Zstory. He makes complete stainless systems to bolt on for our cars at very resonable prices. Mine should be arriving this week :)

What are your plans for it?
 

peter_s

Club Member
Peter, pleased you're happy with the car. Colour is really nice. Yes, that exhaust ... needs to be looked at!
Thank you!

However I don't think the pictures do the exhaust justice. It looks way worse in the pictures. :) But it will be sorted!


Welcome to the club :thumbs:

I love the colour on that, it suits it really well and is quite unusual... I can sympathise with the whole bought unseen from abroad situation having done the same with my car from the US nearly three years ago now. Scary and exciting process all the same!

Haha the exhaust is erm interesting... Angle gridner first! however if it's all a bit home made and you're looking to replace the whole system then you can speak to Sean Dezart on here or google Zstory. He makes complete stainless systems to bolt on for our cars at very resonable prices. Mine should be arriving this week :)

What are your plans for it?
Thank you! I really like the color as well, much more than expected.

Exciting indeed! Did you end up satisfied or were there any hidden issues?

Yeah, the whole system needs to go. The ZStory systems look great! The idea is to get a an engine from Datsun Spirit or Rebello. An ITB Jenvey system is in the pipeline too, as well as an ECU from ECU-master. I must say that the 280Z was quite tempting because of the injection system. I like modern systems controlling things, I've had too much issues with carburettors in the past :)

Other than that, I would like bigger brakes. The T3 stuff looks great there. The plan is to have a stock looking car, but better performance underneath. I love track driving, so I would love for the car to be capable tor that when I want. I love the look of the Z as is, I don't want to change anything there.

Also, BC Racing coilovers are already in the garage, but I need the MOT first.

I have also rewired some lights for the Swedish registration. I'm not allowed to have red blinkers in the rear for instance. So I've made connectors to switch the reverse light to indicators just for the MOT. An amber light there, and then back after. I put clear lenses in the front for the DRL, and a switchback LED. Not allowed to have amber DRL here, so a new relay and the LEDS sorted that.

I have a box full of stuff from the US with new coolant hoses, vacuum hoses, etc etc. I will change these on a rolling basis, everytime I need to service something I'll change out parts.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Welcome to the club and wow that is a nice looking car!!!

That exhaust !!! :D

Any major plans for her? And are those semi-slicks I see?
 

peter_s

Club Member
Welcome to the club and wow that is a nice looking car!!!

That exhaust !!! :D

Any major plans for her? And are those semi-slicks I see?
Thanks a lot!

Haha, stop laughing at the pipe! ;)

I answered in the post above about the plans. Basically a street driven car with track potential.

Good eye, but not really semi slicks. They are Yokohama Advan AD08R, so more semi slick than street, should be a good compromise. But I took the car out for a quick spin yesterday and these tires sure suck up pebbles like a R-compound... :( I had to cancel my drive, the new paint got blasted. But they will sweep the streets soon! I really like modern tires and compounds, and I think the Z suspension will handle them great!
 

dotMorse

Club Member
That exhaust just reminds me of this.

Nice wheels though. Are they different on either side? Rota RKR?
 

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peter_s

Club Member
That exhaust just reminds me of this.

Nice wheels though. Are they different on either side? Rota RKR?
Haha, great picture!

Some pictures are from before the new wheels. The car came with those American style billet wheels or whatever you want to call them.

The wheels are 16x8 JR (Japan racing) Wheels. Got them through driftworks. The RKR doesn't exist in 16", not what I've found at least. The center whole is a little too small though, but acceptable. The wheel rests against/around the center hub in the front, it's tight. So I might need to have them lathed.
 

Mr.G

Club Member
Congrats Peter looks like a really nice example...loving the colour, interior and general condition which looks really good from here.
 

peter_s

Club Member
Congrats Peter looks like a really nice example...loving the colour, interior and general condition which looks really good from here.
Thank you very much!

I think this car is a pretty good survivor. It's good for what it is for sure
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Thank you! I really like the color as well, much more than expected.

Exciting indeed! Did you end up satisfied or were there any hidden issues?

Yeah, the whole system needs to go. The ZStory systems look great! The idea is to get a an engine from Datsun Spirit or Rebello. An ITB Jenvey system is in the pipeline too, as well as an ECU from ECU-master. I must say that the 280Z was quite tempting because of the injection system. I like modern systems controlling things, I've had too much issues with carburettors in the past :)

Other than that, I would like bigger brakes. The T3 stuff looks great there. The plan is to have a stock looking car, but better performance underneath. I love track driving, so I would love for the car to be capable tor that when I want. I love the look of the Z as is, I don't want to change anything there.

Also, BC Racing coilovers are already in the garage, but I need the MOT first.

I have also rewired some lights for the Swedish registration. I'm not allowed to have red blinkers in the rear for instance. So I've made connectors to switch the reverse light to indicators just for the MOT. An amber light there, and then back after. I put clear lenses in the front for the DRL, and a switchback LED. Not allowed to have amber DRL here, so a new relay and the LEDS sorted that.

I have a box full of stuff from the US with new coolant hoses, vacuum hoses, etc etc. I will change these on a rolling basis, everytime I need to service something I'll change out parts.

Haha well I ended up very pleased in the end however there's been a fair share of surprises and far more work required than I would have liked! I've effectively replaced all of the running gear over the past couple of years and had some welding done on a car 'that needed for nothing'.

This all sounds incredibly familiar, lots of very similar idea's and end goal in mind to me! An engine build and setup like that will be very exciting.... Are you thinking 3.1 stroker?

I've gone down the resto mod route building a fast road car that appears almost completely stock. Same idea using BC coilovers, T3 Suspension, LSD, S14 5 speed conversion, exhaust next and bigger brakes to follow to name a few bits. Here's a link to my project thread, I think you'll quite enjoy it:

https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/just-bought-our-first-z-240z.21463/page-4

Lighting sounds very similar to the UK, and it sounds like you've got some smart solutions. All very sensible ideas, lots of consumables and rubbers really benifit from being replaced now.

Great to hear about the tyres, when I've got the money I'm really keen to get AD08R's on mine aswell, they're a fantastic tyre!

Looking forward to watching this one progress :)
 

SacCyclone

Club Member
Congrats Peter on your 280Z purchase.

Florida is a fairly humid state with a good amount of rainfall, for the US anyway. Very happy to hear that your Zed is mostly rust free.

T3 is just down the road from me and have been there many times over the past years. Many of their suspension parts on my Zed so I can vouch for their offerings and customer service.

I have visited Rebello as well, they are about 90 minutes from my house.

As others have commented on, that color looks great on your car and in very nice nic too.

Looking forward to your progress.

Mike
 

peter_s

Club Member
Haha well I ended up very pleased in the end however there's been a fair share of surprises and far more work required than I would have liked! I've effectively replaced all of the running gear over the past couple of years and had some welding done on a car 'that needed for nothing'.

This all sounds incredibly familiar, lots of very similar idea's and end goal in mind to me! An engine build and setup like that will be very exciting.... Are you thinking 3.1 stroker?

I've gone down the resto mod route building a fast road car that appears almost completely stock. Same idea using BC coilovers, T3 Suspension, LSD, S14 5 speed conversion, exhaust next and bigger brakes to follow to name a few bits. Here's a link to my project thread, I think you'll quite enjoy it:

https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/just-bought-our-first-z-240z.21463/page-4

Lighting sounds very similar to the UK, and it sounds like you've got some smart solutions. All very sensible ideas, lots of consumables and rubbers really benifit from being replaced now.

Great to hear about the tyres, when I've got the money I'm really keen to get AD08R's on mine aswell, they're a fantastic tyre!

Looking forward to watching this one progress :)

There you go, I know there are no "rust free" cars. I wonder what lurking underneath mine :D

You have a VERY nice car I must say. I'll read more later, but it seems like you have done more or less what I want to with mine. Congrats to that fine fine car!

Regarding engine, I'm thinking a stage three Datun spirit engine with ITB injection. I have a friend in the US who are racing a 280ZX, and the Datsun spirit engines are very well regarded over there. Coming from more modern cars I feel the L28 in stock form is really slow. This needs taken care of, although it's very important for me to keep the L-series. It's one of the best sounding engines I know, and to me it's important to keep it. A lot of the character in these cars come from the L series.

I'm keeping this car long term, no doubt about that. The plan is to use the car as much as I can this year and then improve it a little every winter as things are needed.
 

peter_s

Club Member
Congrats Peter on your 280Z purchase.

Florida is a fairly humid state with a good amount of rainfall, for the US anyway. Very happy to hear that your Zed is mostly rust free.

T3 is just down the road from me and have been there many times over the past years. Many of their suspension parts on my Zed so I can vouch for their offerings and customer service.

I have visited Rebello as well, they are about 90 minutes from my house.

As others have commented on, that color looks great on your car and in very nice nic too.

Looking forward to your progress.

Mike
Thank you Mike!

I might suspect it haven't lived all it's life in Florida. But we can speculate for a long time about that. It was bone dry when it came to the UK so it's been cared for somehow.

Glad to hear about the T3 stuff, I have looked at their site many times now.

Thanks again for your positive reply. I'll start a proper project thread later.
 

peter_s

Club Member
Here are some pics from the dealer. As you can see there are something in the sill. But in general I haven't found any rust poking around the normal problem areas. The floor is solid as are the frame rails. I can enjoy the car for a few years until this needs to be looked at.

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