Zed Head

I felt the same way about the car I was looking at. Too good to be true but the urge to do it anyway was high. Why don't you offer to buy it and see what happens next? I'll bet there's a point where you'll have to give something up, either a signed agreement or bank account numbers or something.

I compiled the last few bids in that thread. The seller, apparently, only wanted $140,000. The reserve was met at around that bid point. I assume that there is some final verification inspection before the money actually changes hands. Plus the fact that the buyer has to actually have the money, and be "real". BaT should have some sort of post-auction followup to show that it's not fake. Somebody just started a thread about 240Z that sold for $21,000 on BaT but now it's for sale again, apparently, for much less than $21,000. Hard to tell if the sales actually get completed. Hopefully, Marc Schiliro will followup. https://msclassiccarsllc.com/VehicleDetails.aspx?vid=751

Somewhere in the transaction I think that you will be required to put up some money, a deposit. For example, when buying a house in the States you have to deposit "earnest money" in an escrow account, typically up to 5% of the sale price. That money stays tied up until you either find that the seller has misrepresented something, and you get your money back, or the seller backs out and you get your money back. That is the risk. So, if you decide to do it, make sure that you have a very detailed list from the seller representing what is being sold. If the ad says "240Z with LS3 engine" but says nothing about the quality of the engine, you could be on the hook for a 240Z with a blown up engine. I would not be surprised if this was a "fishing" type ad. Get the earnest money or deposit from a prospective buyer, then make things so difficult that the buyer gives up and they keep the money. A guy in Helsinki is about as ideal as you could imagine for that scheme.

No offense, but that is ridiculous isn't it? Wow.

Here's some VIN info

I just realized that in my posts on your thread I confused AutoTraders.com with eAutoSmartTraders, LLC. I found the eAutoSmart web site. Now that I see it I remember seeing it in the past. You have to have an inventory number to see what they have. You can't browse on their site. https://eautosmart.com/consignment-centralstore/index.html It says that cars are supposed to sell on "Geebo" or Oodle. https://eautosmart.com/consignment-centralstore/sell_cars.html Overall, the whole thing is just weird. They seem legit but difficult to deal with as you've found. Good luck. I wouldn't buy it, myself. https://eautosmart.com/consignment-centralstore/aboutus.html

New shocks. KYB's are popular. They give a good ride.

Are you being evasive or am I just unclear? Or did I miss it in a previous post? This is Classic Z Cars. Nobody that frequents this site will scoop the V8 modified 240Z out from under you. No offense, but nobody here wants that car. Just post the ad even if it's in Finnish. We'll use Google translate to figure it out. Tell us how you know this car is for sale again.

It's probably disconnected at the transmission. Connect it.

You're right I didn't blow up the pictures. I knew better too. After 78 most, or all, Z's came with a two prong sensor. Look for a wire with a two prong plug on it. T shaped. You're about there... Good luck.

Find something in the vicinity of the thermotime switch with an end that looks like a sender. It's a single terminal, not double like the thermotime. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1983,280zx,2.8l+l6+turbocharged,1209406,cooling+system,temperature+sender+/+sensor,4748 Actually I was wrong about the oil sensor, that looks like the right one. Find the wire that fits that terminal. It must be there somewhere. Download the FSM from the site and the wiring diagram will show the wire color. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1983,280zx,2.8l+l6+turbocharged,1209406,electrical-switch+&+relay,oil+pressure+sender+/+switch,4588 https://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/14-280zx/

Where are the wires? The sensors/senders are in the same spot for both engines. You have a picture of the wrong oil sensor for a ZX engine and a thermotime switch, which is common to many engines but won't tell you coolant temperature. That yellow wire is probably your temperature gauge wire. What is it connected to?

That's a good observation 7tooZ. Should help. He's close. http://www.triumphspitfire.com/images/cranemanual.pdf

Firstly, lay off the toast, boy. It makes for bad writin". Then get a copy of an FSM and see where the gauge senders are. You didn't say which gauges.

I only find one Datsun on AutoTrader. https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/Datsun/Seattle+WA-98101?makeCodeList=DATSUN&searchRadius=200&zip=98101&marketExtension=include&isNewSearch=true&sortBy=relevance&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0

The links I posted were from right-clicking the images. You get a sub-menu with "search for this image" in it. If AutoTrader has the car they are in control. I'm sure that they will pass on questions to the seller. They have a vested interest, literally, in getting buyer and seller together. I wouldn't be surprised if the buyer refused to talk to you even if you find him. There's a reason he chose AutoTrader to help sell his car. Fun to discuss but kind of weak without the original ad you're looking at.

Ignition timing and cam timing are separate. It's a concept that many people have problems with. The fact that the engine starts means that you are very close. One thing you might try, just to see how close you are, is to take the lockdown screw out completely so that you can turn the distributor to get the timing that you want. After you reset the "zero" using what Mark said. At that point you might find that resetting the oil pump drive quill by moving the oil pump one tooth over is the right thing to do to get the distributor back to whee it is in the adjustment range. So, we're back to the oil pump, but it's all about the drive quill. But, it might still be that you could solve your problem with a different distributor base. Hopefully though, since it starts and you've been through the process a few times, you have a feel for how the ignition timing works. You're very close. If it runs well, you might just lock it down at 8 degrees and leave it for a while. 8 degrees is actually in spec for some engines. I think that my 76 has 7 degrees initial as spec.

What type of distributor does it have? Might be that the distributor has been changed but the base was not. Are the engine and distributor the matched set it came with?

We've had some pretty involved discussions on the site about titles. I think that almost all US titles have a "Release of Interest" line on the title itself. Back when i was a kid buying cars, all you needed was a title with that line signed by the person whose name was on the title. After that, how you got a new title depended on which state you were in. In the link I posted from Woody I think he went in to some detail about the paperwork needed to get through customs. I think that's where companies like AutoTrader make their money. They know how to get the car to the buyer. I think getting through customs then having the proper paperwork to get a title in Finland is your biggest concern. Once the seller gets his money, he won't care anymore. The people you know of in SC should know all about this stuff. Seems like you should be talking to them about how to get a new title in Finland. Good luck. I would imagine that once the seller consigns the car to AutoTrader he's pretty much locked in with them. They already have storage costs and they have possession of the car. The owner would probably have to pay a fee to get out of the AutoTrader contract. In essence, they own the car now.

Here's the thread from Woody. It's long but it's similar to what you're planning to do, I think.

I searched eSmart AutoTraders and got three pages of links from forums asking if they are legit. They seem to be an escrow based company. Somebody recently bought a car this way and had it shipped to England. I think his name was "Woody" or something like that. He had a thread about it. The shipping company damaged the car and he found some other problems. Seemed like he had a big budget though and was happy in the end. Personally, I wouldn't go through the hassle without having someone you trust examine it first, wherever it is here in the States. It's not some classic that's value is in its provenance. It's a highly modified 240Z. Shipping to Helsinki is going to be expensive, if that's what your plan is. https://www.google.com/search?q=eAutoSmart+Traders&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS862US862&ei=jC4vXtCiDM_Z-gTjyrGoDg&start=0&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwjQmIuAt6TnAhXPrJ4KHWNlDOU4ChDy0wN6BAgMEC0&biw=1600&bih=757

When I was looking for my car I would mentally plan out how I was going to get the car to my place, and where I would put it while I worked on it, and what I would need to do to get it titled and registered. I had a guy that was going to deliver a car to my driveway for free from 30 miles away but then he said, after I agreed to buy it, that he had lost the title and that we would need to go stand at the DMV together to get it transferred. I passed on that one even after I told him I would take it. I ended up araning my own towing for a car that was all together but would not start when I looked at it but he had title in hand and ready to go. I handed him an envelope full of cash, he gave me the title and my tow guy showed up a half hour later. My short point is, put as much info about the car and part in your ad as you can. you have a list and what looks like a location at the bottom of the page, but it's really not clear where everything is. I just gave away a bunch of furniture and in every ad I described how we would get it out of the house, the fact that my driveway was flat, how close i was to the freeways, etc. I didn't have to answer a bunch of questions because it was all clear from the ad. Is this where the car is, and parts? Maybe CO needs another car? He's just down the coast, I think. @Captain Obvious

If the ad says something about being in the military and unable to meet you in person but they will ship the car to you, it's probably a scam. I almost fell for one way back in 2008 before I bought my car. The ad sounded reasonable but there was no way to verify. Forgot to say, again, post the ad link if you really want some help.