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Well I got about half of my pictures to load. Haven't been sharing much because I have been truly frustrated with posting on the site. Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky but I can't seem to get around on the new format as easily as the old CZCC. I am glad Mike makes all his efforts and glad go have the site available. Most of the time I can't get the I-phone to load pics and even off of my laptop I have issues. As you can see I have been full tilt on this project the last week. We considered powder coating all this stuff, but the weather was really good for painting and I had the time to get it done. The other important factor is that stuff was mostly just dirty-very dirty. The rust was negligible , so a good cleaning, sanding, por-15 and paint at it all looks pretty again. Another reason to spend more $$ and buy a car out west and have it shipped if you are considering a project. Even the hardware cleaned up on this car to the point that you would swear I replaced it. I had the oil pan and valve cover tanked at a local machine shop so they are spotless. Now I feel comfortable running some high detergents and it will all drain out. The engine was brushed on Por-15 . I think the engine kit is well worth it when you see how well the paint covers. They give you too much color - a pint is enough for 3 engines. I tried some rattle can Por-15 chassis paint it is also $$, but it covers great and the chassis coat looks superb! I have thousands of dollars worth of new parts to install--- now that the dirty work is done. This will be much more enjoyable. Damper Doc refurbished the balancer and its ready to go on. The crossmember went on with new Nissan motor mounts and soon will have a refurbished rack attached. I need to press in the control arm bushings and assemble the front end. I removed the strut inserts to find some Monroe inserts , so obviously some one updated this. The inserts seem to be in working order and we will run with that for now. New ball joints, tie rod ends, bushings, tension rod rubber bushings, new calipers and rotors should make her stop and go much better.

Vacuum advance was the problem. I took the distributor apart and found that the vacuum spring needed a little TLC. Cleaned everything up, lubricated and it runs like a charm. I think me tach/dwell meter may not be accurate so I went with the feeler gauge. Ain't it cool when they run good?

The truth hurts so here goes, trade Red-Bird for a Camry or Accord unless your husband left a little insurance policy so you can buy one. I paid $2,000 for my '00 eight years ago and have 279,000 on it now. I could get in it right now and drive to drink coffee with Zed Head on the west cost in a day or two. I love Zs but they're toys after 40 years.

So, I went through the same search for center caps for my dad's Black Pearl 280z and figured out that the caps for a later ZX wheel not only look better (my opinion) but they fit better and are available new (at least through the ebay seller below). Yes, they are pretty expensive and not original but for me, I decided it was the best option. 280 ZX Wheel Caps on Ebay I have several original caps that need to be restored and may restore them one day. For now though, I like the zx caps better. Best of luck...

Here's a pretty neat 280. SAP package but no Zap stickers. It's kind of priced high on ebay but if it doesn't sale you could get the owner's info off the tag and call them direct. You have any police friends? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Datsun-Z-Series-SAP-Package/272289890846?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3D80ac838784bb402788357badd44c9749%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D15%26rkt%3D23%26sd%3D122030280863

If you look at the various pictures on Carl's page, there are two different wheel configurations. From what I can gather the "base" black pearl came with the options package that included wheel covers (hubcaps) in the dealer sheet photo. However the advertisement picture "* years..." shows the optional road wheel.