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Hi Guys, First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and the very best health ! I am new here but can already appreciate the overall dynamic and supportive mindset of the neighborhood ! End of May 2020, insomnia hitting, I somehow ended up on BaT at 2am and got my hands on a beautiful 280 Z from April 1976 with its original matching number engine + 1981 280zx 5-speed gearbox (the original 4-speed also came in a box). The car is originally from Nebraska I believe, but transferred to Ohio in 2016. Obviously with COVID-19 and loads of excuses from the transporter (CFR Rinkens - DO NOT recommend), the car reached Dubai (UAE) mid September 2020. From the previous owner in Ohio: To Dubai, fresh out of the container, 4 months later. The plan from the beginning was very simple, as the car had already been through some body work and was repainted at least once in 1998 from its original Pacific blue (DAT 307), I wanted to give it backs it's factory glory and color, but with a personal restomod touch under the name Zinta Heritage (Zinta meaning: From early in life, you have asserted your individuality, learning through your own experiences, relying upon your ingenuity and practical creativity to accomplish your objectives with independence and determination). I decided to have it fully dismantled and sandblasted (we can see the dated Pacific Blue remains in the engine bay). This is when surprises knock on the door, a lot of body "repair" badly done, plenty of patches, poor quality welding and so on, especially on both front ends and the floor. Some rust holes showed up as well, but can we blame a 44 yo car from Northern states ? Nop... Then, following my original vision to make her "as new" the work started, removing patches, cutting, hammering, welding... As of now, the body work is 70% completed, the floor kit arrived from Zedd Findings (Big up to Charlie Osborne for his support) and will be replacing the old one. Some other area to be finalized in the next few weeks, cleaning the engine bay from the "useless" pieces, deleting the side markers (front/rear), deleting the unused rear bumper holes, closing the ugly speaker holes made in the toolkit hatch and some overall rear panels hammering for perfect alignment with doors (as they were probably replaced in 1998 as well). I also managed to get some parts in prevision of the rebuilding process: - Jenvey ITBs kit with 480cc injectors, MS3 Pro Evo ECU, DG508 ignition coils, OneSixIndustries CAS, complete engine seals/gaskets kit, timing chain kit, water pump, T3 front/rear strut brace, T3 weld-on coilovedr kit (car came with unmounted KYB Excel G), Prothane bushing kit, full weatherstrip kit. In the meantime I was also keeping myself busy restoring the dashboard and gauges (obviously cracked and hidden under a plastic cover). It will be eventually wrapped in dark black alcantara, but I didn't want to wrap a piece of garbage... Regarding the gauges, I got my hands on some LED rings and bulbs in order to get some decent lighting, and decided to redesign the speedometer (originally imperial and I need metric) and tachometer and have them screen printed), as well as giving a neon orange touch to the needles. The painting should be happening within 2 or 3 weeks, and then the reassembling process will start. Happy New Year to you all !

OK, before this thread gets completely highjacked, would somebody please start a new one to address the, 'My Favorite Accident Story' theme that this is turning into? In the meantime, here's my updated summary of NLA parts: Part Category Suggested by Suggester’s Comments Possible Solutions Diff Front Mount (insulator) – ‘early’ type (PN 55415 E4102) Drivetrain Namerow Required to preserve originality of ‘early’ driveline layout. No easy workarounds, but… In late 2020, Netherlands-based CZCC member Bart (bartsscooterservice) devised a method for re-working the later-style 240Z mount… Hatch Glass Glass S30Driver Getting difficult to find in acceptable to pristine condition. Side Window Glass Glass S30Driver Getting difficult to find in acceptable to pristine condition. Carpet underlay pieces, cut-to-shape from OE-spec jute material Floor Coverings Gav240z Correct material not readily available and not pre-cut Correct jute material might be sourceable from the UK c/o The Roadster Factory (www.trf.zeni.net ) Carpets in correct, loop-style Floor Coverings Gav240z Carpets in correct material not readily available Rear quarter panels Body Panels Gav240z Tabco’s half-length patch panel has traditionally been the only option. Wolf Steel Restorations (www.alfaparts.net ) offer a full-length (dog leg-to-tailight) panel in 280Z format @ Cdn$300. Inner Dogleg panels Body Parts Namerow Previously a make-your-own item 2020-12: Now offered in LHS and RHS formats by KlassicFab Vintage JDM (www.kfvintagejdm.com ) @ $75/side. Roof panel Body Panels Gav240z Required to fix cars cut for sunroof. Re-pop panel not available. Rear valence panel (aka rear ‘apron’ / ‘roll’ panel) Body Panels Gav240z Available re-pops fit OK but are not accurate in certain details. Door Cards (bare, w/o vinyl trim cover) Interior Richard McDonel Often compromised by speaker installations and/or water damage. Available c/w correct vinyl trim from Z Car Depot @ $419/pr (black only) or from Banzai Motorsports @ $500/pr (all colours) 2020/12: CZCC member, 240dkw, suggests these may still be available over-the-counter from Nissan (Canada only?) Center console – ‘early’ type Interior Mike Later-style 240Z console available from Motorsport Auto @ $159 Ashtray Lid – ‘early’ type Interior Gav240z ‘fragile’ (one or both pivot ‘ears’ break off and cannot be reliably glued back in place) www.240zrubberparts.com Ashtray Tub – ‘early’ type Interior Namerow Threaded bosses for Lid hinge pins can crack and break off. Successful repair is difficult. Smoker-used Trays are not pretty. Horn Pad - Locking Ring Interior Siteunseen 2020-12 – Now offered by www.240zrubberparts.com @ $25. ‘Nismo’ fuel pump mounting bracket Body Parts Mike Not an OE part, but… Door Upper Molding – Rubber Squeegee Strip Exterior Namerow Fifty-year old originals are typically rock-hard, chipped and barely function. Requires correct profile in order to mount and function properly. OE rubber has ‘fuzzy’ treatment on face that contacts the window glass. An important component for proper window glass motion and location. Supply seemed to dry up ~ 2015. No one seems to have found a good replacement rubber. Can be had from ZCar Depot as part of their ‘Belt Molding Chrome Door Trim’ piece @ $79/side (molding is straight) or from Motorsport Auto as part of their ‘Reproduction Door Upper Molding Set’ @ $369/pair (moldings are curved like the OE pieces). Not sure if either alternative has the correct ‘fuzzy’ treatment on the glass contact side. Engine Splash Panel (metal) Body Parts Namerow Fibreglass reproduction available from JDM Parts @ $189. Wiper Motor Cover - early-style, hard-plastic ‘clamshell’ Body Parts Namerow Required for accurate restoration of early 240’s

Probably should include the seat mount crossmembers in the list of blacked-out items over body colour. Here's an example of factory black-out on the inside of a quarter panel vent:

Grateful to see your involvement and support, thank you all, that's fantastic ! Today I will be sharing the story of the seats I have for my project. The original seats of the car were remade a couple of times from the original black, then white, then black and red (the version I got when purchase it), but needed to be fixed again, so I started a hunt for something a bit different. To my mind, racing, comfort and vintage look means Recaro, and I decided to go directly to the source: Germany. I knew I had to travel to Austria for work in September, and took the opportunity to check https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/ and I luckily found these 2 original pieces in the Black Forest region (close to the French/Swiss border). The "Made in W. Germany" molded on the recline adjustment side cover is just too good ! I had an original flight from Vienna (Austria) to Paris (France) to see some friends while in Europe before returning to Dubai, but it got cancelled by the airline, so I decided to take the journey by train/car, with all the Covid lock down happening in Europe, that was a journey and a half. Took the train from Salzburg (Austria) to Munich (Germany) then a Bus to Zurich (Switzerland) another train to Basel (Switzerland), another one to Mulhouse (France) to finally rent a car and drive 1h deep into the Germany Black Forest to a beautiful town called Zell im Wiesental (https://goo.gl/maps/JyQkPe9DYV24LBXp9). Brought back the seats by car to Paris, and then flew them as my checked-in luggage to Dubai. The restoration work has already started and I should get them finished by mid January. Below is the selected fabric and leather - question: gold or black rivet ? The inspiration for the seat is from Robert Downey Junior BMW E9:

A fellow student had this happen in Geology lab in university. He went sideways into the side of a car that pulled out in front of him. I used to work in the hospital when in university, you could tell some seasons by the injuries...spring has many leg and hip bike injuries, fall had shootings and hypothermia (hunting), winter was fall on ice injuries.

Wow Site.....didn’t know that you were ever wrong LOL......wouldn’t admit it anyway. One point that people tend to miss. The fenders were bolted on when under the hood was painted....therefore the bolts along the top of the inner fenders were painted. The bolts on shock towers weren’t.

I pick up a holley fuel pressure regulator 12-804 and was wondering where to install it, is it better on the supply line or the return line for 4 bolt su carbs. I installed it originally on the supply line but have been reading it might be better on the return line as it might help in cooling the fuel , does it really matter ? thanks

They are amazing, but their fame turned them quite thirsty I feel 😁 I checked them out for the seats, dashboard, console, door panels work and almost had to take a loan !

....and don’t forget about Carbon Signal, one of the best bespoke manufacturers of custom parts for Z cars right there in Dubai!

IMPORTANT! You will need to remove the catalytic converter hump on the driver side floor pan in order to fit these seats. I left mine in and spent wayyyy too much time building that hump back into the floor only to realize I could no longer fit aftermarket seats in the drivers side.... Charlie’s floor pan does not have the hump built in for the catalytic converter.

I put the Liftmaster 8500W in my new garage. They’re great. I love the motion sensor on the wall mount openers that turns on the overhead lights when you walk by them and the garage locking mechanism. I had my floor professionally coated. It was a 4 day process. I had done the DYI floor on my last house (rust oleum) from Lowe’s, had failure spots within a year. This is 10x better. Guy gave me a 25 yr warranty. Cost me $4.25 a sqft. Everyone compliments it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I haven't studied the wiring diagram really thoroughly, but it looks like the one side of the shunt (the white wire side) only goes to the fusible link that goes to battery (+), and the voltage regulator. I'm thinking that because of the way things are wired, with the VR out of the circuit, most of the current will find another path instead. Basically, the wires to the ammeter are self-contained. Those two wires originate in the shunt and go to one place and one place only... The ammeter. They do not make connection to anything else anywhere in the car. So one of three things is going on... 1) The shunt goes open and all the current tries to go through the ammeter instead of the shunt. 2) You really DO have 60A flowing through something. Since you didn't see smoke and everything seems to be working correctly, I doubt this one. 3) One of the two wires leading to the ammeter coil are shorting out to something else. Since the polarity seems to flip, I doubt this one too. Of course troubleshooting is always difficult from a distance, and that goes double for electrical issues, but that's what I got.

Perfect, amazon is full of these and I will feel great not spending hundreds of bucks ! Thank you !

Hi @wheee! any chance you remember the backup camera brand/reference ? The flush mounting partially hidden from sight under the rear bumper is exactly what I had in mind. The SWM stereo is superb as well, with a somehow retro vibes.

It used to be listed for USD 50k in May, but it's shown as Not For Sale at the moment, they might be waiting for the value to increase, or they are doing some work on it.

You got a great thread for your restoration, 135 pages will be inspiring and motivating to finish mine. I'll definitely reach out to you or him if I bump into issues, thank you !

Thanks buddy, I'll take and share some pictures once installed back in the car.

Found it ! The previous owner was cool and provided many pictures of the car as it was displayed on BaT. The body repair invoices from 1998/1999 were also provided but not so clear, and not done during his ownership and I guess he never stripped the car down to check what was done already. Anyway, I got lucky to not have much rust for a car staying 40+ years in Nebraska / Ohio, with matching number engine, all the original ID plates, lot of spare parts (extra gearbox, extra diff., 4 shocks, historic from 1998 onward, original airbox +1 extra etc...) and a cool story to tell ! I am still looking for the original owner from 1976 and already managed to get in touch with the one from 19998-2006, who kindly made a request to the DMV in Nebraska.

Yes, it was trucked to the Port of Montreal then loaded on a cargo ship to Dubai, any Idea what they are asking for it? I'm sure it will be twice what they paid me.

Y'all are getting in the "no helment" debate for motorcycle riders. I don't want an iron in the fire but I wouldn't through my leg over a bike without a full face helmet on. Me, my personal choice. I still have shards of glass that work their way to the top of my eyebrow from a wreck in 2001 and that was a crash with Ray Bans on.

The black-out of the radiator bulkhead and grill mount tabs is commonly overlooked with many repaints.

Good luck with the floor pans.... they aren't a "drop in" kind of repair at all!

Which is all well and good, but I would not advise anyone to use photos of a pre-production test chassis as reference for how the cars came off the production line en masse... OP: The advice of *everything painted body colour* is good, but somewhere along the assembly line a guy was assigned to put his head into the front end of the car and - equipped with a pot of satin black paint and a suitable brush - his job was to 'black out' two thirds of the front half of the radiator support panel so that it was a little less visible through the front grille. He and his friends also walked around the car blacking out body colour anywhere it was deemed unwanted, like around the insides of the door apertures and where it could be seen through trim gaps and behind grilles and vents. Being hand-applied, there was inevitably some variation at play on a case-by-case basis with this 'blacking out'.

Very cool restoration of a sister car to mine! Love the attention to detail, and the custom touches. Yours started off in better condition than mine though! I have the OneSix CAS as well in my 3.1 L stroker. Let me know if you have any questions, even thoughtTim Heilbloom at OneSix is awesome with tech support.

The orange needle really makes the gauge pop, possible to get a photo of the lights on?

Welcome to the group! I salute you for taking on such an extensive restoration on a 280Z. It is a bit disheartening that so much was paid for a vehicle, to hadve it shipped across the ocean only to discover such shoddy collision and rust repair work was performed on it. Hopefully the seller was totally upfront with you on the true condition of the vehicle during the sales transaction. That said, the car is now in good hands, and will be given a better life. Looking forward to seeing pictures of the rebirth 😊

I love the fact that your restoring your dash on the 60th floor of an office tower, the shell looks to be in great shape. Looking forward to the next set pics. Would you mind posting where you found those LED rings for your gauges? I sold my 77/280z to a dealer in Dubai last year, I think they still have it on the floor, https://www.tominiclassics.com/featcar/datsun-280z/

Thanks all for your responses! His health has improved and it'll be a while yet - and I couldn't be happier!

This is the best I've seen without spending a ton of $$$. I used his method and it looks great. The clear matte does the trick. @CanTechZ thanks again and have a happy new year.

BTW - if you don't use an air pump, you want to cap #4 and avoid unfiltered air into the carbs. A 1" chair leg cap from a big box store is a perfect fit.