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The best things happen early! Sometimes I stay up all night just to be early.

I finally got out to Road Atlanta for the first time since the 2019 Mitty. It was good to be back at the track. The Z car count was down, probably due to Covid and the 100% chance of rain on Saturday. Greg Ira kicked @$$ today in his sprint race over some fast competition in his Dan Parkinson tribute car. Woody Staub, a friend of @Diseazd, went from 11th to 6th in the same race in the #85 car.

Pretty car I dont think I would change a thing

It's late somewhere. There's so much stuff out there.

Fuel tank installed tonight. One step closer to hearing it fire up!

This should screw with their algorithm 😏

Mine was done to match the dealer installed rear spoiler. I changed it back.

A interesting, possible option for you is to contact a member we have in France, I believe he is about 400 to 500km southwest of you. He is Sean Dezart, owner of a very high quality exhaust system supplier as well as other unique parts for our cars. He is very experienced & knowledgeable with S30's and may be able to give you his opinion on the car. Another possibility is the Fairlady Z Car Club of France.

That looks like a fairly average S30 that you'd find in the Southwest US or California. The stock frame rails have definitely been covered with an aftermarket repair rail not unlike the BadDog rails. The floor has been patched on the left side as noted above. The undercarriage could use some attention but that's pretty common - make the top look good, people rarely look underneath. I've seen a lot worse even here in Arizona where we have almost no water... Those pics aren't going to tell you the whole story. You're going to want to look under the hatch at the sill corners, the door bottoms, the rockers, the dog leg in front of the rear wheels, the bottoms of the front fenders, under the cowl, under the carpet and seats in the cockpit and maybe the spare tire well. On a 280Z you might want to check around the windshield frame as well. Look for bulging of the paint in any of these areas.

From what you've posted, It seems to be in fair condition. More inspection will give you more answers. I've definitely seen worse. All Z's need some attention and this one is no different. Some surface rust underneath but it can be managed. Floor board has repairs, that's a good thing. Of course you'll need to see it all up close. Engine sounds great and I'll assume it's drivable. Your decision will depend on what you are able to put into a 40 something year old sports car. It's a journey for sure. If the price is good I would definitely consider it.

Frame rails look standard to me. Need a lot more photos to really get a good sense of the car's condition but from what you've posted it looks fine to me. I do see a patch at the front of the driver's floor, and it does looks like there's a weld seam on the frame rail in that area, but I'm not sure if that's what it is since I only see one weld, and no actual patch. Also looks to be a patch on the passenger side under the seat. Need better photos of that area.

Hard to say without seeing more. What I believe I see is “boxed out” frame rails and at least a patch welded in there at the driver’s foot well and not much else, meaning they just patched those areas and didn’t do a crazy full resto. Could be ok, could be more to do I’m not that familiar with the earlier Zs so I’m sure others will have more Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow! Truly amazing build with such incredible detail. Best of luck with the sale when done, as this will truly pull the market higher! Great work!!

That is a beautiful 280ZX. Wow.

I use meguiars products. They have a selection of sheens available. I prefer the natural look products. I agree no silicone and I avoid armor all now

WOW I have never seen a cleaner one than this.. the only remark i got is.. why do i see a difference in paint between the right door and the rear on pic 14 15 16 ... ?? It's smal but there.. Are those rubbers under this car really as old as the car?? I can't believe it! 40000 dollars and 6 days to go!!! GO Datsun GO!

Just replayed it. I see and wish I hadn't. The 70's...

Jimi fingers

Those shorts,😆

Ron Burgundy's inspiration... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i0DMbCKnAg

Hell I'm thinking I'm older than you but you come up some deep hippie music and I scratch my head, put another stamp on my tongue.

It had a couple of friends join it. My Mitty buddies who aren't racing don't get to the track at 8AM like this nutcase does.

I've seen enough old music videos on You tube now that I get a Depends for men ad before each one. I think they're watching me......😀

This is the Yes I remember.

What a beatiful sight to see a lonely Z, it's not out to pasture, it's resting waiting...

My first music was what my Mom had and it was albums of War, Chicago, and Elvis. Willie Nelson and Atlanta rhythm section. She had a ton of them. I played the cabinet tv/stereo so loud the needle would skip on the War album. I had the house to myself from 3 until 5pm. Oh the good ole days...

Personally, I was never an Elvis fan. The Beatles were the first big musical impression on my young self other than Palisades Park by Freddy Cannon. It took a while, but I eventually liked The Stones a little bit.

Steve I used Queen City plating in Mukilteo Wa in 2016. We are a shop that do work for customers showing a pebble Beach. I doubt you could get back before August 15. I can dig up my invoice if you are interested. don

I have one of those horizontal spinner machines and find that I can just throw about 20 masks in and wash on gentle cycle. The spin gets them pretty dry, then hang them up. Got some hypoallergenic non-scented detergent.

Washington state is seeing an increase in cases. The restaurants are allowed 50% capacity indoors. I met some relatives over the weekend and made us all leave to find outdoor seating. I think that "capacity" is set by the fire marshal and means how many people can you pack in to a space. A lot. 50% is still a lot. It felt crowded and everybody takes their mask off as soon as they sit down. I felt dumb as soon as I walked in. There's a certain county that might be contributing more to the state numbers. Lots of flags there.

The 280ZX was introduced as a DATSUN 280ZX, by 1980 the badging was still DATSUN 280ZX, but with an added note "By Nissan"

Mounted it to the condenser brackets. Should be fairly hidden once the grille is in and the car on level ground

Usually it's okay, clean them with some brake cleaner and compressed air, some guys have had success with replating them, these days I just replace them all with new copper/nickle hardlines because I can't stand the thought of the possibility of rust inside.

Washed and polished the car in preparation for the Mitty. I might have to leave it at home on Saturday since there's a lot of rain in the forecast for that day. I also took the time to install an old 240Z door striker plate on the passenger side. I replaced the original striker plate a long time ago, but I could never get the aftermarket plate adjusted right. The old striker plate works much better.

Few updates on the Z. Tonight’s progress includes mounting the rebuilt pedal box assembly, brake booster, master cylinders, and last of the hard lines.

Back under the Z, the half shafts were next up for a tear down and rebuild. Not a difficult job to do, but one you need to keep in mind the reassembly order and orientation of hardware.

Few additional pictures of updates made on the Z. We blacked out the core support and grill mounting tabs (thanks to @jfa.series1 for his excellent build for references) and installed the condenser mounting brackets built just for this car. Really like how that turned out. Should all disappear behind the grill and keep the AC system eye sore down to a minimum. The Z Therapy carbs also showed up this week. Another excellent job by Bruce on these. And finally the hand brake and differential strap were installed. Thanks to @grannyknot I can straighten them out even more.

Great idea, I appreciate the tip. That’s one reason why I like having this restoration thread. People can provide ways to improve the build process along the way, and it also keeps me accountable for posting updates. I’ve got a set of vise grips like that I can use. The shot looking down the trans tunnel only had the lines fastened down up to the shifter cutout. The rest of the length was free hanging and in twist. Since then they’re all installed, but have a few irregularities in the lines I can fix. Will be working on that next.

Another round of updates for the Z. This time the engine bay was painted, hard lines routed, and suspension being installed.

A ton of work has been done to the car since the last update. Many, many hours of prep work and paint to get the front clip painted this weekend. Now the reassembly can begin for the drivetrain and suspension.

I hope everyone had a nice and safe holiday break these past few days. During that time we worked on the body in preparation for paint. Passenger quarter and fender received the first round of body work and primer. Driver’s side soon to follow.

Interior of the shell was painted tonight. Next we’ll go back and mask off the areas that need to be blacked out, and begin the reassembly process.

Big jump in progress on the Z this weekend. First round of the 901 silver was sprayed on the body. It's amazing how different this silver looks in photos, and which lighting you have around it. We'll get the engine bay and interior painted next, then on to the exterior.

Back on the body for some final work to the interior before paint. When the shell was blasted we had all of the sound deadening removed so that any rust underneath could be removed and cleaned up. I wanted to maintain the original look of the floors best we could for this rebuild. To do this we replicated the factory sound deadening pads placed throughout the interior with sheets of a 3M material: Sound Deadening This material comes with an adhesive backed side and a top surface that can be painted. It goes on very easy and can be trimmed down to the correct size with scissors or a box cutter. Once ready for paint the entire interior will get a coat of sealer followed by the silver base color and clear.