ZR8ED

I haven't been here in a quite a while, though I have been on Hybridz since the late 90's. I did a small stint with Porsches. (Daily drove a 944 and put 140K in three years up here in the Great White North!) Went back to Z's with a very low mileage 280zxt. I got tired of worrying about putting on mileage on it, so I sold it and bought a 370z touring. I've been mildly modding it over the last year. No more crazy turbo swaps into S30 series for me. I did move again and got myself a large detached 2 car garage that I have been upgrading it over the last few years with insulation, heat, lighting, flooring, tv and stereo (obviously lol). No more working on a gravel driveway for me! I actually enjoy having friends come over and wrenching on their cars for fun! I may be doing milder stuff these days, but I still have my hand in custom fabrication and porting/polishing, and generally working on stuff that improves general VE of engines, weight savings and parasitic losses. Stuff I can do on my own without resorting to expensive "bolt on's"

I've walked the walk with this. I have owned 18 early Z's over the years. I got tired of the smell, noise, no a/c etc and moved on to a few Porsches and then newer BMW 3 series coupes and loved all of them! My daily ride is a 3 series coupe with awd and a 6 spd auto. Great for my daily commute, it handles awesome, huge brakes, plenty of power, comfortable to take on long trips with my wife. It gets a bit of attention, but no where near what my Z gets. I am finally back in a Z again this time with some creature comforts (81 zxt) and this time the mods will be mild, where I am more interested in GT cruising than taking the car to the track like "the good ole days" It is more enjoyable to use this way. If you are able, consider modifying your car to be more comfortable. Life happens and our needs change. I spent 20 years making my Z into a track beast, and then stopped enjoying the car for any other use than on a track. Great fun when I was 20, but less so when my life changed direction and the track was no longer my focus and the car was too far modified to make it comfortable enough without spending huge amounts of money redoing the car. Good luck!

Nice car. I saw that listed on Kijiji. I am a long time Z owner, and I just purchased a low mileage 1981 zxt. This makes Z number 18 for me. The car was in NL and I was in ON. 2400km and a 16hr ferry ride to get the car home.

Nope not dead. I still pop in and read from time to time, and I've been around here a longgg time. I got into Porsche's for a while, but am happy to announce I am back in a Datsun. This time a 280zxt. Power steering and A/C and a turbo. I still get to drive a classic Z car, yet have a few more creature comforts.

Well Nissan did manage to make 1200+ hp with them back in their IMSA GTU/GTO/GTP hayday. They are getting a bit long in the tooth by today's standards, but they are still plentiful enough, pretty bullet proof, and make gobs of power over a nice wide rpm range.

Can't test a car, but you could test car "parts". IE mirrors, small fiddlely bits. Certainly models of a car if you fab it accurately enough. For 89 bucks if I was close, I'd buy for the same reason as Tony stated. Geewizz factor. I'm famous for it.

I looked at a sort of "barn find" 240...Thinking of buying it and getting back into Z's

The driveline is now 25+yrs old. There are lots of newer engines available. VQ's for example. Back when I did this swap. There was little to zero info about the swap, lots of custom fabrication required, where as there is a ton of documentation and even "bolt on" kits from standard v8's,to SR's etc! There is still no such kit for a vg30.

I wrote a basic "how to" or better yet "how I did it" to swapping in the vg30et. Over in the v6 forum I think..been a while since I checked in here.

Is it insured? Then invest in some gasoline, and a LONG piece of fuse cord, and light it up, collect the insurance and buy another vehicle..or a lawyer if you caught. Seriously 200.00? does it run? bondo/rustoleum some tools, and some parts to get the car to run well. Used tires if need be etc. If your VERY resourceful and have some connections/contacts in the car world or better yet, the Z car world, you may just get the car running enough to drive it. Goodluck, and make sure your brakes are working..Don't want to pollute the ocean with your car as you fly down a coastal road too fast around a curve!

30 years? That's going to be a short list. I bought my first Z in 1989... 23yrs this summer. It doesn't seem like its been that long though. Time flies when your having fun I guess.

Naw don't think of it that way. This stuff ALWAYS happens eventually. We love the car at first, see the potential for mods, spend many years modding it to the point where you want it, then find out, now you have a good job/wife/family/kids, and realize that you modded the car for the needs you had years ago, and now those needs/wants have changed. I never cared for a/c when I was in my 20's, but 20 years later,I DEMAND air in my car. I also demand to not smell like fuel/exhaust once I reach my destination. If it is not comfortable enough for my wife to enjoy it as well, then the car gets used less and less while you drive something more comfortable. That is why I always encourage people not to do a 10year race car resto on these cars, because by the time you finish, it will not likely be what you want anymore. Drive them, mod them, and keep driving them. Mod them as your life changes, or else you are doomed to sell the car for something that does fit your life better. Cheers!

Ouch! I loved the GeeWizz factor of my VG30ET swap, but for what it cost me, I could have had a nice ls1 with a/c and forgotten about it and just drove it. I may have the opportunity to "do it again", so I'm considering my options, and will not rush into something. For the time being, I'm still playing outside of the Z car realm.

Throw a yellow slip under the wiper, and you may get some free parking with it in which ever city uses those types of locks for folks who neglect to pay their parking fines or move their car! (The parking police may think it is one of theirs!)

Hey no matter what, a brake job will cost a whole lot less than the "blue beauty" at the top! $40K for a full job I think..Darn Ceramics.