MSA, 30th Anniversary Body Kit, 79-83 280ZX

[Bandit50]

OK, So I was looking around on the web for good 280ZX Body kits, and I found this

 

 

I love the look of it.. It cleans yup the front end of the 280ZX So well with out losing the rounded boxy look of the 80's and its like 700$. SO it sounds good but so fare I can't seem to find a picture of the rear end. I was wondering if someone has a picture of it on there car.. If it has duals exhaust holes, if it single out the back driver, or Passenger side. MSA looks like a very well know company, and it looks like they have been doing Z stuff for a while. From the looks of there other 280 kits, there quality is good.

[AKZX]

I'm hoping to get that kit as well when I catch up on my performance To-Do's, but from what I've seen it might be difficult to make it look that good. Some of the pictures I've seen make it look like the bumper sticks out so far that it looks awkward and also the angle is wrong and it the gap between the headlight housing and the front skirt gets a little bit too obvious. I'm guessing some molding and customization could definitely he'll though. I'll try to find some pictures when I'm on a real computer.

[GOTHALOSISM]

There is also the ZX G-nose for $375 + s/h

 

http://www.zforceproductions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17&Itemid=59

[sticky280zx]

That Gnose is made by Justin Hodges, please read up on him (on this site and others) he was banned because of his "business" dealings. He screwed people on parts, out of alot of waiting time and recieving junk/inferior parts that wouldnt work without being reworked, etc...BUYER BEWARE.

 

Msa has good parts, but the picture looks photoshopped and remember that kits never just "fit." It will need a pro body shop, or alot of time/patience to get it to fit and look good. Good luck and hope that helps.

 

-Jeff

[GOTHALOSISM]

I've bought a few things from justin and have had no issues what so ever. He has a new glass shop doing the work and the parts are a better quality than before.

[ZPete]

OK, So I was looking around on the web for good 280ZX Body kits, and I found this

 

 

I love the look of it.. It cleans yup the front end of the 280ZX So well with out losing the rounded boxy look of the 80's and its like 700$. SO it sounds good but so fare I can't seem to find a picture of the rear end. I was wondering if someone has a picture of it on there car.. If it has duals exhaust holes, if it single out the back driver, or Passenger side. MSA looks like a very well know company, and it looks like they have been doing Z stuff for a while. From the looks of there other 280 kits, there quality is good.

[ZPete]

I too fell in love with this skirt kit. Spoke with the Z-Store who sells it and they sent me install instructions. More on that in a minute. I will be using this kit on my ground up restoration job!! The rear skirt fully covers the rear bumper just like the front does. It has single passenger side exhaust exit, though since it is fiberglass it can be modified for dual exhaust. I am doing that mod on my car as I run true duals out the rear. To properly install this kit all the rubber comes off front and rear stock bumpers. The bumper shocks need to be compressed. Once you take the bumpers off you will find a set screw in the bumper shock...remove screw, compress shock, re-install screw. As well on the front bumper the mounting brackets need to be lowered slightly so when that new gorgeous front skirt is installed the front hood will clear it upon opening of the hood. The side skirts actually fit up along the door jambs a bit and meet the curve of the fender wells for a seamless look.

I am using a professional body shop for my restoration work and the install of this kit among other goodies as well as the paint job. I have had my body guys review all install procedures and they have even spoken with the manufacture...they say it will be no problem for fit and finish...but they are professionals. I would never attempt this work myself...I am better at building motors for my cars.

The rear of this skirt is very similar to the MSA type 2 body kit. That one shows pictures of the rear. Good luck..mine goes into the shop in February 2011 for all the work...if you have not done yours by then I will post pictures upon the finish of my car, probably sometime late March early April. By the way mine is a 1980 280zx.

[Bandit50]

Thanks pete, for filling me in on the installation. Sounds like this kit was well though out in how it gets installed on the car. Replacing the flat black rubber and chrome. After doing some more research this kit is available with 3 different rear ends (probably the same one with pre-cut holes) sections for the exhaust. You can order the rear panel with dual, right or left holes for your exhaust. I'm thinking of going with duals, not only to match body lines but In case I decide to ever drop in that 355 small block. After driving my car for the amount of years I have, that idea keeps getting pushed aside. As much as I would love to here that roar, and have the power right there in my hand. I can't get over the unique sound of L28E with p79 head on Monza headers.

 

Sadly, I love this car as much the way it is, as I would blowing the doors off cars with the same engine, that are heavier..\

 

Ps.. I want to show everyone. 3 pictures of my car, I am not proud of what happened, but in 2007 I got te-boned bad. The good news is this end with a happy ending..

 

 

This was 2007

 

This was 1 year later

 

This is the finished result, Fresh out of the booth 2 days after paint.

 

The miller migmatic was set to slot 3, for welding 1/8-1/4 plate, and the welds are double penetrated like a spot weld from both side of the sheet metal. Using a another 280zx side panel and door from a car that was worse off then mine. A part of the rear quarter was cut away to inspect the rear structure of the car which proved to match angles from side to side. The front pillar was pulled out and inspected form the inside of the car "thru" the fuse box hole. To insure no spot weld had been cracked from the pull.

 

This kind of work is not new to me either. Between me and my dad. A mechanical engineering student, and a licensed mechanic, that has smashed more Camaros, Firebirds, Corvettes and Big Blocked Vegas then I can count when he was a teenager. We managed to save this car from near death.. To this day I still can't thank him and his hot roding ways enough for saving this one from the grave. Before you ask, no this is not driven in the winter.

Edited April 14, 2012 by Bandit50

[Bandit50]

I got this body kit about a weeks ago!!! The only thing I am not impressed with is the side skirts. Not only do they simply screw into the the rocker. They don't cover the pinch weld at the bottom like I had hoped.

 

A major modification is required on the 280zx fenders. Or the kit to make it blend seamlessly into the side of the car like the stock one. The rear bumper kit is very simple and it goes great with the over all kit!!! Its basically brings the body lines of the car and kit together. To blend them ! It cleans up the rear of the car very very nice. I would recommend to anyone thinking of dual exhaust, or fake duel exhaust. To order the kit, with both exhaust holes. They have a molded lip that is hard to remake for someone that doesn't normally do body work. I deem, modifying the rear to fit a dual exhaust set up is another major modification if you order it with only one exhaust hole.

 

Other then that, I am overall pleased with this kit. It will take time, but heck all body work takes time As ZPete said he is using body guys to install his.. I am considering the same to make it look right.

 

To anyone ordering from Z store they where great!!! They didn't charge me until I called them to verify the shipping. The shipping was about 283$ and the parts came in bubble wrap in 2 boxes. To ensure the bumpers didn't crush the Side skirts.

 

All and all great service, Happy I got this before it went discontinued.

[GOTHALOSISM]

They discontinued it?

[Brewski*]

Any updates on this installation? I am considering this kit.

[Bandit50]

Oh Brewski, I am glad you did ask that question. I have begun to mock up this kit for final installation.

 

If you have this kit and have looked at the installation instructions. Laugh with me, because we are going to do it my way, not MSA's way. Note this will be more work and require minor fabrication work, but the end result will be cleaner and allow you to save valued 280ZX parts that others may want for a replacement for their car which can save you some money.

 

Let’s begin with what I have right now as a whole. I have an engine swap I will want to do by the end of the project and it will require me to have duals. So at some point between fabrication and installation. I will need to get my hands on the dual molded rear for this kit. Which I have become even luckier as the kit was brought back more recently in the spring of 2014 by popular demand. Which is great news for everyone out there. As back then, after the kit had arrived to months later it was discontinued.  

 

Ok, if you don't know what the instructions have stated for step one, as fellow Z owners out there let me inform you that it does say to Collapse the Front bumper shocks/pistons but 6 inches to make up for the difference of Screwing the Fiberglass front end over top of the rubberized factory facia.

Yeah, when I read this the first time I was stunned. I proceeded with tossing out the instructions because that is something I refuse to do period. I then decided to examine another front bumper off my second donor car.  I noticed that the rubberized facia can be removed from the front and rear bumper frames. Although if your car has seen salt or has been sitting for a while, or you grabbed a replacement off a junked car. You might find that these bolts and Nissan body screws are rotten thru, and the frame itself will have almost nothing left like my rear frame.

 So at which point you will have a few more options. You can fabricate your own frame out of 20 gauge steel. Which isn’t hard once you examine the frames forms and spot welds and figure out what piece, or piece you need to replace.

You can hunt a local junk yard and find a bumper that already had trashed rubberized facia. Or you can make your own out of tubing from scratch which might be cheaper depending on what you already have to fabricate with.

For me I will be doing the first option and forming my own out of 20-16 gauge steel as the folds are not overly complex, and replace what has rotten away. I will also post pictures of that project so other can make their own calls.

As for the front bumper I got really lucky. Seeing as how the car is Cali Emissions Car, from Washington State. The Body bolts rusted and locked in place there this is only two ways to get them free. A hammer, WD40 or another penetrating oil and a Saws-all. I felt a Torch could melt the rubber so I didn’t take the chances however with a mini torch you might be able to heat the screws from the back and not damage the rubber.

  
I remove both facia with no damage at all to either piece and with the right TLC prior, there in great shape.I then preceded to see if my idea would work. Which was, would the frames fit into the moldings for the kits. Of course they are molded to fit over the original facia, so I don’t see why not.

 

Not to my surprise, they both fit in almost perfectly, consider the fiber glass is thicker than the rubber slightly. The only thing I need to do, and I know it wouldn’t have been extra work for MSA, is to fabricate small brackets so I can bolt the kit’s facia directly to the frames. I will need to do some drilling and chamfer a hole and mar glass / resin with mat, so that I can use the factory corner mounts of the frames.
 

 

As you can see from this picture the bummer is sitting 1 inch lower than it should be, this is because it is merely resting on the frame and not bolted into place. It is also sitting one inch forward which when I do get this fully bolted in, the ears of the front mold, should line up with the wheels well perfectly sitting on the front bumper shocks without being compressed at all. The rear facia fits loosely on the rear frame, there is lots of room for you to create a small bracket and virtually mount it to almost any height you want within 2 inches. of the stock hieght ( 1", +/-)

I will get more pictures on this in the spring. As the weather in Canada has placed this project on hold. The car currently sits with a popped crank gear or sheared distributer shaft. I don’t have the funds to move it to my dad’s heated shop for the winter, or for a weekend for that matter drop the block out and use the second one I have there. I am currently trying to picking up another engine stand. So I can build the other motor at his place myself over the weekends. While he works on his 86 chev side step.

PS. I love those sticker that say my project “wasn’t funded by mom and dad.”

I know mine wasn’t, I have busted my but to get what I have needed done on this car and been burned welding under the car, heck, last year I had the intake off 6 times trying to find a leak that ended up coming from the head gasket. Turns out my N47 series head was porous from factory and was literally folding the seals around the piston.it would just blow out. So I swapped it for P79.

 

 

My father refuses to work on anything Jap, he does like to watch me work on it though and laugh with a few pints, it's good encouragement : /.

 

 

However, I will tell you. The tools I did get to use, well you don’t realize them until they’re gone. Considering I was working out of Tool box that was 10K alone and I took care of those things as good as my pop himself. Heck anything he isn’t using for his truck I can borrow, just waiting on the jack stands for the spring XD. Or buy my own since I am more likely to be in more jams like these and gas isn't cheap. when you live almost an hour away.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Bandit50