Opinions on using a 280z everyday

Faster Behr

Club Member
Blimey, that car didn't come with new seals at that price? Everything else on it looks restored/replaced, so that's a weird one.

I wouldn't apply WaxOyl to it, in case that's what you mean specifically.. its a bit old school and very messy. Best get the underside done with something like Raptor paint these days I gather. If you're talking about the protective waxes for the wheel arches mentioned earlier, you want something light you can spray on (and remove later with a pressure washer if you want!), like Bilt Hamber Dynax UC.

Are the brakes totally standard?

Interested to hear about headlights options. I see a lot of those LED upgrades with the 'angel eye' style halo around the edge, but they're not for me. So would be good to see what else is out there.

Check out Raybrig (Stanley) headlamps. Techno Toy Tuning offer them but RHD Japan were cheaper for my sets.

Dynax UC is really nice for the arches and floors. It dries semi soft and tacky with a yellowish tint. Same as the UB which just has a black tint. Great for overcoating and freshening up old Schutz or bitumen based finishes whereas anything else will eventually flake off (apart from more bitumen of course). But you want the Dynax S50 in cavities that aren’t prone to abrasion or direct contact. It stays softer and creeps everywhere. They can supply ultra long flexible aerosol lances with multi directional tips for spraying through grommet access holes and those hard to get to places. Beware though that the car will ”bleed”. Especially when the weather warms up.
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Check out Raybrig (Stanley) headlamps. Techno Toy Tuning offer them but RHD Japan were cheaper for my sets.

Dynax UC is really nice for the arches and floors. It dries semi soft and tacky with a yellowish tint. Same as the UB which just has a black tint. Great for overcoating and freshening up old Schutz or bitumen based finishes whereas anything else will eventually flake off (apart from more bitumen of course). But you want the Dynax S50 in cavities that aren’t prone to abrasion or direct contact. It stays softer and creeps everywhere. They can supply ultra long flexible aerosol lances with multi directional tips for spraying through grommet access holes and those hard to get to places. Beware though that the car will ”bleed”. Especially when the weather warms up.

Just checked out the Raybrigs - they look nice and OE. But they're still halogen right? So would they be that much better than the old ones?

What about these LED ones from Dapper? They look very nice and classic, but .. with led! So surely a lot more light and less faff and heat than HID?

How well do all these aftermarket lights fit the S30 buckets though? As they seem to get fitted to all sorts of cars, so surely not "plug and play"?
 

Faster Behr

Club Member
The headlamp buckets have a standard three screw layout. I think most 7” still will fit.

Halogens are a great upgrade over sealed beam as it is. There are good and bad halogens too. LED are unnecessary in my view. I seem to recall they are illegal when not fitted with other things such as level sensors, wash system etc. I appreciate this is a small consideration in the real world but I can’t be doing with the faff. I know a few police 😉 and they can be quite unreasonable.

Don’t get me wrong, LEDs are amazing. I’ve got them in my Mustang with auto dip control and the beam is fantastic and bright.

There was a YouTube video with a guy talking about Dapper LEDs and fitting them to his 280. The control gear was quite obtrusive and took some hiding. They looked a bit pricey too.
 

Huw

Club Member
I seem to recall they are illegal when not fitted with other things such as level sensors, wash system etc. I appreciate this is a small consideration in the real world but I can’t be doing with the faff. I know a few police 😉 and they can be quite unreasonable.

Don’t think that’s quite right. I think you need all that stuff for HID coversions. But I believe you can get away with LED bulbs fitted to pre 1986 cars. There was a thread on the forum about it. This is what the old DVLA have to say about them

 
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yellowz

Club Member
That is really badly worded

'Should a vehicle be presented for an MOT test with conversions before 1 April 1986 they must not be failed with immediate effect.'

Should say 'Should a pre 1986 vehicle be presented for an MOT test with conversions it must not be failed with immediate effect.' Would make sense then.
 

Robotsan

Club Member
The headlamp buckets have a standard three screw layout. I think most 7” still will fit.

Halogens are a great upgrade over sealed beam as it is. There are good and bad halogens too. LED are unnecessary in my view. I seem to recall they are illegal when not fitted with other things such as level sensors, wash system etc. I appreciate this is a small consideration in the real world but I can’t be doing with the faff. I know a few police 😉 and they can be quite unreasonable.

Don’t get me wrong, LEDs are amazing. I’ve got them in my Mustang with auto dip control and the beam is fantastic and bright.

There was a YouTube video with a guy talking about Dapper LEDs and fitting them to his 280. The control gear was quite obtrusive and took some hiding. They looked a bit pricey too.

Ahh ok that's good then.

Excuse me ignorance, I wasn't even aware of what a sealed beam light was until now! Didn't realise there was something even older than halogen :)

OK I'll look into the legalities of the LEDs. I know its a similar story with aftermarket HIDs, so not a great surprise that it could be the same with LEDs. I didn't realise there was much control gear with LEDs too. That's always annoying with Xenons.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Just some basic points about a 280Z as a daily driver.

I'm sure it can be done and we had a member (RIDDLER) who used his 260Z a lot more than most without any issues. It's good to see and after all they weren't sold as 'Sunday' cars.

However just like any car it will deteriorate with use especially in bad weather and it will do that faster than a modern well protected car so you have to decide what is your priority driving/condition/value.

Also driving these cars is an adventure but in winter the demisting/heating will be a challenge, the fuel consumption will be higher than a modern car and other things like lighting (even with good units) and heavy steering are 'downsides'.

So you will feel a sense of achievement and 'kicking against the norm' but you will be living in the 70s. I have fond memories of the 70s but things have moved on in the automotive world and what we thought was good e.g. performance, braking and suspension (not to mention reliability and safety) is mediocre now. Also with increased mileage comes increased risk of accident damage and body panels are not easy to source.

I've always enjoyed driving my Zs but getting back into a modern car for daily driving is so much easier.

How brave are you?
 

AgingGeek

Club Member
Just some basic points about a 280Z as a daily driver.

I'm sure it can be done and we had a member (RIDDLER) who used his 260Z a lot more than most without any issues. It's good to see and after all they weren't sold as 'Sunday' cars.

However just like any car it will deteriorate with use especially in bad weather and it will do that faster than a modern well protected car so you have to decide what is your priority driving/condition/value.

Also driving these cars is an adventure but in winter the demisting/heating will be a challenge, the fuel consumption will be higher than a modern car and other things like lighting (even with good units) and heavy steering are 'downsides'.

So you will feel a sense of achievement and 'kicking against the norm' but you will be living in the 70s. I have fond memories of the 70s but things have moved on in the automotive world and what we thought was good e.g. performance, braking and suspension (not to mention reliability and safety) is mediocre now. Also with increased mileage comes increased risk of accident damage and body panels are not easy to source.

I've always enjoyed driving my Zs but getting back into a modern car for daily driving is so much easier.

How brave are you?
Thanks Rob, all these are very valid points. It wasn't a cheap purchase, that's for sure and I do want to protect my investment for sure. However, I did spend decades dreaming of owning one, and now I have it, all I want to do is drive it :D
I have a 600+ bhp SL55 AMG, and it's effectively dead to me now :p
 

status

Well-Known Forum User
All mentioned before and Rob is right,I have the best of both worlds as I got into wot people call modern day classics ie my two scoobies and z4 m coupe,great fun cars and very quick and all have the creature comforts we get use to and prefer as we or wot Rob mentioned get older,
 

MCBladeRun

Club Member
LED's are fine except you shouldn't put H4 LED's in a reflector case. It makes the lights brighter, but they're less concentrated. You end up just blinding other road users and you don't get any usable light benefit over Halogens.

If you want LED, you'd be better getting a 7" LED unit such as what the newer Jeep's have or something similar.

I'm pretty sure HID have been made illegal due to the dangerous discharge from them.
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Thanks Rob, all these are very valid points. It wasn't a cheap purchase, that's for sure and I do want to protect my investment for sure. However, I did spend decades dreaming of owning one, and now I have it, all I want to do is drive it :D
I have a 600+ bhp SL55 AMG, and it's effectively dead to me now :p

I'm sure you'll find time to enjoy both! 600bhp though, blimey. It's similar for me - I have an '05 e46 M3, which only gets used in the summer, and mostly for any trips out of the city / anything long distance. Then we have a little '03 supercharged Mini Cooper S which is what gets used around town and all through winter. The 280 will be used even less than the M3, but it will be fun to take to trips into the peak district and things :)
 

Robotsan

Club Member
LED's are fine except you shouldn't put H4 LED's in a reflector case. It makes the lights brighter, but they're less concentrated. You end up just blinding other road users and you don't get any usable light benefit over Halogens.

If you want LED, you'd be better getting a 7" LED unit such as what the newer Jeep's have or something similar.

I'm pretty sure HID have been made illegal due to the dangerous discharge from them.

Yeah that makes sense. Same with Xenons - have to go in a proper projector for the job.

ahh I've seen the Jeep ones mentioned. Will have a look at them too.

Aren't HIDs just Xenons?
 

MCBladeRun

Club Member
Yeah that makes sense. Same with Xenons - have to go in a proper projector for the job.

ahh I've seen the Jeep ones mentioned. Will have a look at them too.

Aren't HIDs just Xenons?
HID's or High Intensity Discharge is the technology or, method to create the light, while Xenon is the gas used inside the light bulb itself, but there are many other gases used, such as Neon for this effect.
 

Robotsan

Club Member
HID's or High Intensity Discharge is the technology or, method to create the light, while Xenon is the gas used inside the light bulb itself, but there are many other gases used, such as Neon for this effect.

Aha, that makes sense. Are Neon bulbs the Betamax to Xenon's VHS then? :)
 
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