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It originally had 240Z emblems on the wings. Probably white Zs with a build date that late and that high of a serial number. No vents, of course, as the hatch is vented. The emblems would have been metal.

It's been just a little less than a year since the last Vintage Z Program Car was on BaT. Here's the link to the latest one: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-127/

I had planned on blacking that lip out also. I can be a "little" compulsive too...

While the picture of the underside of Jim's car is obviously not the kind of paint job the body got, it sure looks like more than over-spray. It has been rewarding to uncover factory paint underneath as I go. As an aside, I'm not a fan of seeing the ragged pinch weld along the bottom of each side, which is typically a little beat up. I've resorted to straightening any "jacked" edges, sanding the outside edge, and then masking and spraying it semigloss black. No, it's not factory but to my eye it really cleans things up when viewing the car in profile.

@RetSarge - Back to your original post about a restoration. Your costs can vary widely depending on your approach. Returning the car to as it rolled out of the factory, i.e. stock, wil be very costly. Many of the Nissan OE parts are NLA and when found they are often "a king's ransom" in price. Another option is a very mild resto-mod where reproduction and aftermarket parts are used for the NLA parts but the ones selected are not readily visible or retain the original appearance of stock. I can send you my build sheet from 10 years ago via PM to give you some idea of the breadth of parts involved in a resto. Jim

It’s fun to take something ugly and make it beautiful. When you pull the pan, everything inside will look great. Soak the top cylinders in penetrant for days, take the crank out and drive the pistons out to the downside. A machine shop can bore the cylinders and make it look like new. I think your biggest problem will be pitting of the outside crankshaft journals. That being said, Zed Head is probably right. Give it away on Craiglist and let someone else do it?.

Here are a couple of before and after dirt removal pics on my one-owner car - please excuse the color tint on the second pic. Always a Dallas area car, no undercoat or other protectant applied. As you can see, body color all the way.

So chaps and chapesses. What started as a small investigation, rapidly descended into taking the entire front end off and starting again with new parts or reconditioning. Suffice it to say that I’ve been propping up the US economy through RockAuto and MSA purchases. I have also purchased what appears to be a totally unused - get this - “RHD” steering column from the US, advertised incorrectly as a 280zx column. It’s being sent on the backs of USPS snails - bought end of May, due 17th July!!!! And $70 for the privilege!!! I fear i’ve been had on postage but got a great deal on the column. Next, I will be robbed by the UK revenue services who add 30% to everything including the postage - oh and a £12 processing fee just to kick you again in the nuts! The abridged version is below but if you want the full version there are pages of it here on my build thread ... https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/from-smoker-to-sssssmokin’.23533/ Found some absolute horrors like wrong grade bolts in the suspension, wrong way up bolts, totally busted brake lines (which explains why they went spongy) made of pure copper, split soft brake pipes dating back to 2003, COMPLETELY seized ball joints, split steering rack gaiters and a failed Tokico blue strut (so far) at the front but we are very slowly getting there. Incidentally that strut was put in new by the PO who did 800 miles and the car has done under 10k in my ownership - so something was definitely wrong there. I made my own gland nut removal tool out of an old bracket that worked a treat for getting the old ones off and getting the Konis tightened up. Also went for the MSA compression rod solution. Not sure if this will make the car too harsh but I’m hoping it will exorcise the steering wobble under hard braking that no amount of wheel alignment has cured yet. Exorcised a tonne of surface rust and coated with POR15 nasty but magic potion!! Threw in some Koyo front bearings while I had the hubs off anyway and installed virtually new brake splash guards but sadly had to cut them to fit my Toyota callipers. Oh and I remade all the front brake lines using cupronickel ... The plan is to finish up the front end this week and get onto the rear. New adjustable Konis going in all round with existing lowering springs(I like the spring rates and ride height). I’m sure the rear will be very straight forward - hmmm, let’s dwell on that for a moment!!! The weather was lashing it down today but I feel I prevailed and remained dry during the monsoon that ensued!!

Zed, There should be 4 on a 75. The fourth is a coolant Temp switch which could be placed on the side of the housing or in the front.

Should have a thermotime switch, with an injector-type plug, and a coolant temperature sensor, also with an injector-type plug, and a temperature sender, with a single wire attachment. Later cars have a fourth switch, for the vacuum advance solenoid.

Actually, heat soak has been a big problem with the 280Z's. We've had some good discussions about it in the past. Although, it's possible that the fuel blends have changed over the last few years and it's not as bad now.

Looks like 1.891" This is the result of the damper and about 5' of pipe welded to it. You can see the pipe under my hand. Although the damper could have already been damaged from the PO

I am saddened that my beloved hobby has gotten this way. When I fell in love with the S30 40 years ago, a huge part of the allure was that they were affordable. I could buy rusty S30's as parts cars and make a pretty nice car for very little money. 11 years ago, I bought a 260Z out of a barn and made a race car out of it. I paid $450 for the car and it was really solid overall. The floors and rails were in very good shape and it just had some rust in the battery tray area and at the bottom of the rear quarters from mouse droppings that had accumulated over the many years it was stored. Within just a few years, I could no longer afford replace that car should it be wrecked on track. A similar condition body today would be nearly 10 times what I paid for my 260. Every time I go on the track I risk writing off my car. If and when that happens, it won't get replaced and I will likely never race another Z. I for one don't like that prices have gone through the roof. I'm happy for those of you that have beautiful Z cars that are increasing in value by the day. Guy's collection, for example, is rightfully worth a ton of money. It's the low end car value increase that I dislike.

If you have spark while cranking and the engine does not start, then its likely a fuel issue, Heat soak is a big issue, generally show up AFTER shutting off the car during hot days. I generally open the hood after I get to my location (or even just getting gas). Its a good time to look over the engine, check for leaks, check oil, etc... With heat soak the engine will be difficult to start, a work around is to floor the gas pedal. this will cause the ECU to go into more fuel enrichment mode (assuming it all works correctly) and will help with the startup. This is actually stated in the owners manual. Other issues that cause odd flame outs is low fuel and hard left turns, at least in the 1975 versions. get it below 1/4 tank or less and a sharp turn will slosh the fuel enough to starve the pump, does on mine anyway. Assuming its not heat soak (again this would not be a cause while the engine is running as cold fuel is constantly running thru the rail), you need to diagnose the fuel system. New plugs should not turn black, if they do its rich, could be temp sensor,cold start, ECU, fuel pressure, TPS, the FSM covers this. If its choking out (thick black smoke) after warming up the temp sensor should be checked AT THE ECU connector per the FSM. If it will not restart and you have spark you should next look for injector operation. a noid light or just a long stick touching the injector while you listen to the other end (mech stethoscope is the best way, cheap at HF) you should hear clicking noises while cranking. If not clicking the injectors are not working. possible ECU or wiring from coil to ECU or some other fail. a neat tool is those inline spark checkers, just a neon flash to confirm spark energy is getting to the top of the plug. easier to use than the spare plug routine.

The engine bay does have that “post 75” look doesn’t it? If the head is an N47 rather than the expected N42 on a 75, then.... With the many years of history, who knows what parts have been substituted in. The only concern I have is the plastic fuel filter back by the tank, but only if its on the output side of the pump. If its between the tank and the pump inlet, it’s under no pressure (vacuum actually) and should be fine. If its there, then there has to be another proper high pressure EFI filter under the hood between the Body hard line from the tank and fuel rail at the front right of the engine. Heat soak is rarely an issue with EFI engines. I’m leaning on the ignition module failure as the likely cause. Or coil, or distributor pickup heat related failure.

Sorry no.. But there are for sure pic's in a user manual ? I'm just ending (ahumm...) a restore of a 280zx, a car i would normally not put on a painters lift ( also known as a tire lift, cleaning lift.) it takes the car up on the 4 jack-up points that are also seen in the service manual you can get here on the forum.. My 280zx is now 41 years old and has had a dinitrol or other anti rust treatment in his early years and i was confident to put it on those small lifts without any damage. but now it's painted i don't put it on those lifts, just a bit scared i crack the paint.. From now on i take it up on my 4 post lift or under an axle.

There are several things that are not a 75. 1) The 75 only has 2 fuse links and yours has 4, just like the 77 and 78. 2) The AFM for 75 does not have a hose attached to the connecting boot, yours does. 3) All of your gauge fonts are from a 77 and 78. The Quartz clock was only offered in 77 and 78(that could have been change). 4) You have a heat shield that protects the master brake cylinder. Only came with the 77 and 78. 5) The thermostat housing has 4 ports in the front for sensors and you are only using 3 like the 77 and 78. Very odd. I have a 75, 1/75 production date, and it looks nothing like yours. If the PO transplanted everything from a 77-78 to a 75 shell he did a lot of work!

They're expensive and that might not be the problem. It's just a possibility. Some of us have found that any ECU from 75-78 will work on our cars. So if you find a cheap one at a wrecking yard it might be worth a shot. It could also be just a wire to your coolant temperature sensor. Or the sensor itself. If the connection gets open the ECU thinks you're in the Arctic. Working on these EFI systems is a process of understanding a collection of small systems and parts. Everything is old and could be failing. It's fun.

Might be running rich. That's how the ECU's die. Run rich, kill engine. If you have a spare ECU it would be worth a quick swap.

The stumbling and bumbling after letting it sit hot sounds like the heat soak problem. Your problem also sounds like a bad ECU. You should still watch your tachometer needle. It will tell you a lot if you look at it.

I knew I should have looked at that picture closer. Standard Nissan variable reluctor distributor. So, probably the original 1975 ignition module which was the second year of electronic ignition. And maybe a "performance"coil, putting more strain on very old electronics. The module is close to the fuse box, in the cabin. It will have aluminum fins and look very cool and space age. The symptoms sound just like when my 76 ignition module went bad. Rev it up to 3500 RPM, the tach needle starts reading double engine speed, and bouncing all over. Let it die and cool off and it's okay.

Looks like the same distributor as my Z. 1/78.

What is the Build Date? It's on the door jamb plate. I think that 75 only had one fusible link block, not two. Your car might be a 76.

In case anyone missed it. It has a Pertronix under the cap, apparently. Another sign of ignition problems is the tachometer needle behavior. Watch the tach needle when the problem happens and see if it's following engine RPM or if it's acting crazy. If the engine dies and you're in gear the needle should still follow RPM as you coast down in gear. If it does you have spark, but no fuel.

This is a little piece of data , but are you sure this is a 75? It would appear that you have a 77 or 78 280z. Check the drivers door jam for production date. This will make a difference if your looking for data or parts/ location. BTW very nice car.

That pic of the tree growing in the engine compartment is crazy! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk