Picking up a 1977 280z today, what to look out for?

[Mitchel0407]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum and today I'll be picking up my very first Z. It's a silver 1977 280z coupe with a 5 speed manual gearbox. Any recommendations of what I should be looking for?

 

I bought the car site unseen at an auction. Yeah I know, not the greatest idea but I got a good deal on the car. I do know from a dealer I saw the car at a while back that the frame rails might have some rust spots but the seller listed the car as "free from rust and structural damage". Luckily the seller won't get his money until we bother agree the car is as advertised so I can still low-ball the shit out of hem. (The seller was bragging to the dealer how he would make a massive payday trough the auctions the dealer told me. But guess what, he lost money on it)

 

My plans for the car are to just get it road worthy for now and then upgrading it over time. I was thinking about rear disk brakes, ITB's with new engine management and some carbon fiber body parts like the hood, fender flares, spoiler and aero bumper. After the cosmetic upgrades I'll be painting the car Nissan Midnight Blue as I just love the color. And yes the car is loosely inspired by the anime Wangan Midnight I saw when I was a kid. Call me a week but it was my first interaction with the S30 chassis and I loved them ever since.

 

[jhm]

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new purchase.  She looks like a beauty...the late-model 280 with a 5 speed is a desirable combination for a street car that gets driven often.  While not as functional as the usual heavy 5mph bumpers, the thin bumpers are much nicer looking IMHO.  I'd be interested to know what differential the car has (an R200 would be nice, but certainly not necessary).

 

Unless you're planning to upgrade the front brakes and get a larger master cylinder (and track the car), rear disc brakes are really not necessary.  The stock aluminum drum brakes on the rear are more than adequate for any street driving...and even the occasional auto-x or time trial event.  There are several good discussions here on how to maximize performance from the stock rear drums.

 

Lots of good forums and groups on social media for the S30; but another forum I like is ClassicZCars.com, especially for information on original restorations.

 

Good luck with your planned mods & upgrades, and please keep the updates coming!!  👍

[calZ]

I'm sure I'm far too late, but taking a magnet with to check for structural bondo is a good thing to do. You never know what someone has hidden behind paint. 

[Mitchel0407]

Just got home with the car and finally took it a good run around the block as the registration is suspended at the moment. The seller told me it didn't pass inspection as the car was running rich. I did notice there was a wideband sensor and a crank angle sensor installed but not connected to anything. Maybe it was used to tune the engine?

 

The car isn't perfect but I did get it for a pretty good price. The bodywork isn't all straight, I suspect it had some damage to the rear at some point in time. The hood latch cable has popped out of place so the hood won't open anymore (why did I close it all the way). The passenger door isn't lined up properly, it only closes with force and the bottom rear part of the door sticks out a bit. And the car sweats some oil (pretty much everywhere).

 

But all in all I'm happy at the moment as it has new wheels and tires (got the original wheels with almost new tires with the car) and it drives pretty good even though it's running rich. Clutch and brakes work very good and even all the electrical works. I did notice some nice goodies too. The car has some kind of aftermarket suspension I think and a brand new wooden steering wheel with NRG adapter. It is indeed a 5 speed and has the R200 rear end.

 

I'll look some more into the forum and will probably start a build series documenting the car as I have no documentation what so ever.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Mitchel0407