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I don't see any other threads like this on here, so I hope this is not inappropriate. Honestly I don't care for the HybridZ website, so I don't feel inclined to post there much. This is my long term plan for the 280Z. A neighbor who is also an old car buff stopped by about a month ago, he told me his wife's uncle had an '06 350Z that wouldn't pass inspection in RI ( I had told him earlier that I was considering a drivetrain conversion at some point in the future). The car is mechanically sound, so having the entire vehicle for the cost of an used engine & CD009 trans of unknown pedigree made sense to me. My personal experience with buying JDM drivetrains has not been pleasant. I'm going to look into adding ABS as well. I always forgot I have to manually modulate the brakes in my Fiat, and with a large increase in HP, it is more of a concern. I may transfer the seats also, not a fan of the flat 280Z seats.

The issue with the gibberish in the manual... The manuals were scanned to PDF on a flat bed scanner and OCRed (Optical Character Recognition). Not sure why, but the OCR process for the 75 manual (and only the 75 manual) didn't do so well. If you look at the same page FA-2 in the 76 manual everything makes sense. One last thing I think I see on your pics is that there should be a smaller flat washer on both outside ends of the larger washers. Doesn't look like you have one of those on the forward side of your car. Looks like you have the big domed washer right up against the shoulder on the T/C rod. Good luck with the covid. I don't think I'm ever going to be the same. I think I'll be OK, but different.

Bingo! Had an old pice of angle iron and lucked into an odd shape that worked perfectly. I thought I'd be bending for 20 mins but only second attempt. First attempt was an L and there just wasn't enough clearance for the wingnut. This must have been an extra father's day gift cause I never expected it to be so easy lol. Finished work.

It was fine on mine but I have a European ‘77 260z with different vinyl to the 240 so I can’t say it will be fine for yours. Best to measure the MLV you use (I.e. 5mm thick or 3mm) then use something of the same thickness like say cardboard and try to put your vinyl over it to see if it causes issues. If you don’t do the strut towers it’s bit the end of the world. I don’t carry a spare wheel, just a can of puff and a pump and use the space for things like spares, jump leads etc. So for me it did resonate but your point is valid. Also my spare used to fit so tight that I’m not sure it would fit now without delating it.

Those really aren't frame rails in my mind. I mean they are, but they aren't. They're really more like floor reinforcements or floor braces. The frame rails in my mind run from the firewall to the radiator support. Depends what's rotted... Floor supports dont scare me too much. I have driven some Zs with no floor boards pretty hard I mean real Flintstone cars! Rotted front frame rails is totally different. Your front steering rack, suspension, motor all bolts to that! Especially the section that tends to rust first. I personally prefer to choose the direction of my car versus the rust choosing it for me 😉

I was in the same boat as you a few years ago. I found a 6/70 that was in fair condition. Complete, etc. I got the car restored by a POS body guy. He made the car worse than it was when I got it. They had to redo all of the POS guy's work and he damaged good sheet metal. I had a choice between scraping the body and selling the parts or fixing it. I am fixing it. They second body shop has had the car now for about 6 months. I am pretty picky about the level of detail and the guys I found are doing a fantastic job. I dont think I could have found a better body shop. The replacement KF panels really helped too. I can send you pictures if you want. I google mapped and you are about 3 hours from their shop. I think I will have the car back in about 30 days. Maybe less. You are welcome to stop by and take a look if you want. I am near Columbia City. I bet my car was in better shape than yours when I bought it but I bet your car is in better shape than mine was when I took it to the second body shop. I would get it fixed in a heartbeat. Best of luck.