Hi all, looking for info and advice on a potential buy.

Harllequin

Club Member
Hi there guys.

Long time fan of the Japanese cars. I have just finished the better half's Celica soft top which she loves and I'm working my way to finish my Mitso GTO, in the past we have had the pleasure of the FTO, Skyline and Supra but they just didn't keep the grin on our faces that the Celica and GTO do.

I'm new to the Z type of cars but not to Datsun or Nissan having helped my father in years gone by working on his cars, Bluebird, Stanza, Sunny and Laurel.

I've always had a fancy for one of the 2XX models and one has come up that I'm off to see this week I hope.

I look forward to making my way through the posts.

One thing I'm struggling on is web pages that supply repair panels, or am I just looking in the wrong places.

Kind regards and I'll keep you all posted on how I get on.

Cheers
Darren
 

Huw

Club Member
Hi Darren. I can bore the socks off you about 280ZX’s. If you drop me a line we can arrange for a chat and I can walk you through the things to look out for.

But for starters rust is the biggest problem, unsurprisingly. If the car has any signs of rust around the bottom of the windscreen and you are not a capable welder, walk away from that car. Don’t be fooled by anyone saying that is an easy repair, it’s probably the worst you can get on a 280ZX.

Panels are pretty much impossible to get in the UK unless you can find someone with good used or old new stock items.

On the plus side if you can weld and not shy at attempting fabricating stuff, then any body work rot is all pretty straight forward to fix.

They're great cars but suffer badly from rot As all 70‘s jap cars did.
 

Harllequin

Club Member
Hi Darren. I can bore the socks off you about 280ZX’s. If you drop me a line we can arrange for a chat and I can walk you through the things to look out for.

But for starters rust is the biggest problem. If the car has any signs of rust around the bottom of the windscreen and you are not a capable welder, walk away from that car. Don’t be fooled by anyone saying that is an easy repair, it’s probably the worst you can get on a 280ZX.

Panels are pretty much impossible to get in the UK unless you can find someone with good used or old new stock items.

On the plus side if you can weld and not shy at attempting fabricating stuff, then any body work rot is all pretty straight forward to fix.

They're great cars but suffer badly from rot As all 70‘s jap cars did.
Thanks for the info!!!

Not too frightened of tin worm. I've restored a few Fiat Panda's over the years and before than the classic mini. I'll drop you a PM now. Thanks again!!!
 
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Harllequin

Club Member
Well guys just to update you I bought the 280zx :)

It's had some love in the past but by god it needs a lot of love now to bring it back.

Structure is OK. Cosmetic is not so OK.

Looks great from 15 yards away! If you squint, and it's foggy.

Got it back and the next day I set too making the doors fit properly and close nicely.
Re fitted the rear spoiler.
Taken the broken bucket seats out and re fitted the original seats. Temp fixed the rip in the seat of the drivers side.

Bringing it back the first 80 mile was bad due to the twisted seat. The remaining 100 mile were a test of my abs when the seat gave out all together!!!

Fixed the seat belts. 3 threads on an over sized bolt wouldn't really help.

The belts need attention as they are not the best.

Oh and fitted remote central locking.

Mechanics wise the speedo does not work, the heater won't get hot and the rear wiper motor is inoperable. Lastly it has a sponge filter on, no original air box so not knowing how old that is or the quality I've fitted a K&N one.

My eventual plan is to run it while I finish of my Mitsubishi GTO and then put it in the garage and start from there.

The current plan is to just get it looking reasonable, fix the presenting mechanical issues and just run it through the summer.
280zx start.jpg280zx paint issue.jpgseat hole.jpgseat hole trimmed.jpgseat fixed.jpg
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
I'm thinking what others might be thinking - are you sure it's structurally good? Cars tend to be the other way around - tidy interior and poor structurally.

Anyway good luck with it, I hope you have a good one. In the top picture it looks ok and I don't normally like body kits.

The position of that hole in the seat is a bit worrying.
 

Harllequin

Club Member
I had a good play with a hammer and dual lens endoscope camera. It looks like it's had a lot done on it in the past, just need it future proofing now.

What ever I find I find though. My plan is to take out as much as I can / everything and do the whole shell. But for now I'll just enjoy driving it.

 

Neil

Club Member
I also have a gto with my z, do you have any pics of your gto, here is mine.
 

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