Datsun 280Z

[atlex]

classic shape. love these.

[wannabe]

So much awesome.

[Rickster]

Probably sacrilege but i think these are prettier than E-types and as good looking as a C3 corvette, very nice mate, just as well you are in the States or I'd be popping round to gaze!!

[joeytalent]

Thanks guys! A bit more from a night in with a beer last night, going through some of the documentation.

History

I had a spare evening which I thought spend going through some of the history that came with the car. There was a couple of big folders, so I decided to sort it out by date.

Firstly, there was a cool Datsun brochure from the year the car was purchased:





Sadly I'm not as cool as this guy, so I might have to give up ownership:





I organised the history that I had by year. There was quite a bit of it, but it's all pointing towards the 76k mileage being genuine, which I'm pretty pleased with. Being a Californian car, it had to past a smog test every year, along with a road worthiness test. This has led to a heap of money being spent on oil, spark plugs and the fuel system. The owner around '00 seems to have spent an inordinate amount on replacing pretty much every single thing that could've broke, so he was either very unfortunate, or didn't mind doing some work.



There were a few cool old bits of paper, like this toolkit list:



Then a nice bonus; the original warranty and service booklet:





And it looks like someone was a bit naughty as some point around 1986:



And finally, big thanks to my friend in Edinburgh for the key rings!

[joeytalent]

Little Things

Another afternoon on the car and I got a couple of little bits tidied up. Firstly, the dimmer knob was missing, and there was no handle for the bonnet release. The easiest thing to do was fit a whole new release cable, which was a nice easy task. It was nice to start doing some actual spannering, and I was pleased to find every single bolt came out easily.




I've got some thinking about what to do with the cracked dash. New dashboards are ridiculously rare / expensive, but you can get covers to redo them with. Hmmm.



There were a couple of broken link covers in the engine bay that I swapped out:



The brake fluid appears to be a little low, and maybe it's weeping a little out of the one of the unions. I liked the details on the lids:



I also got the seats out and threw them back in the Jeep, with the intention of recovering them this week when the kit arrives. When starting the car, I also noticed the fuel pump making a weird buzzing noise. It looks easy enough to replace, so a new one is on it's way.

The weather here is getting much nicer, so I'm getting super excited to get it on the road.

[Meerkat]

Shame about that dash. It's a common issue with old Datsuns. Out in South Africa with the hot sun it was virtually impossible to find any that weren't cracked.

[joeytalent]

Mar 20, 2017 14:43:41 GMT Meerkat said:

Shame about that dash. It's a common issue with old Datsuns. Out in South Africa with the hot sun it was virtually impossible to find any that weren't cracked.

Yeah, that's the same with the California cars here - it's great there's no salt, but all the seals are dry and the interior plastics are super brittle.  I'm thinking something like this might be the way forward, I'd really like to see one in person first though:


zcardepot.com/interior/dashboard-parts/dash-cover-cap-full-black-1974-78.html

[trikkisixx]

Goddam I love these things, I'd give my left nut to own one. Looking forward to seeing the progress

[Meerkat]

Mar 20, 2017 15:22:14 GMT joeytalent said:

I'm thinking something like this might be the way forward:
zcardepot.com/interior/dashboard-parts/dash-cover-cap-full-black-1974-78.html

That actually looks surprisingly good! Would be good to see one in-situ as you say.

[minty]

Lovely!!

[atlex]

Mar 20, 2017 17:08:23 GMT Meerkat said:

Mar 20, 2017 15:22:14 GMT joeytalent said:

I'm thinking something like this might be the way forward:
zcardepot.com/interior/dashboard-parts/dash-cover-cap-full-black-1974-78.html

That actually looks surprisingly good! Would be good to see one in-situ as you say.

Price of that item is amazing too.

[joeytalent]

Mar 20, 2017 20:12:27 GMT atlex said:

Mar 20, 2017 17:08:23 GMT Meerkat said:

That actually looks surprisingly good! Would be good to see one in-situ as you say.

Price of that item is amazing too.

Sure beats the $229 I just spent on a new fuel pump for it..

There's actually another company (http://www.americandashcaps.com/) that have some really good feedback.  Definitely something to think about, I'm not bothered about it right now though - there's plenty other stuff to keep me busy.

To make the cost of the fuel pump not seem so bad, I also tacked on a Momo Prototipo to the order... because logic.

[joeytalent]

Fuel pump has arrived. Everything else (seat upholstery, bumpers, steering wheel) is on back order.

I also got a new (old) lockset, as I can't lock the drivers door with a key right now. I'm hoping to get that fitted tomorrow morning, then I'm in Vancouver for a week for week.

I made an interesting discover on Sunday - the car has no windscreen washer. No, not any liquid - no bottle or pump. I went through some of the spare parts, and sure enough, there was a complete bottle and pump. All the wiring is there as well. No idea why it was taken off.

List of things to do before I can really start driving it:
1. Fit washer bottle and washer lines
2. Recover seats
3. Fit steering wheel
4. Fix leaking coolant hose
5. Inspect brakes
6. Fit bumpers
7. Fit fuel pump

Sadly most of that is dependent on bits arriving, and I'm away with work a bit over the next month. Aiming for the end of April to get it all done.

[pewe]

Great looking car and have always loved the sound of a straight six (owned a GT6 in the day) but please, please take that horrible Avus steering wheel cover off.
I know it's a 70's item but it just looks so wrong (from he who marketed them in the UK).
Keep us posted.
Cheers, Pewe.

[joeytalent]

Mar 24, 2017 17:47:33 GMT pewe said:

Great looking car and have always loved the sound of a straight six (owned a GT6 in the day) but please, please take that horrible Avus steering wheel cover off.
I know it's a 70's item but it just looks so wrong (from he who marketed them in the UK).
Keep us posted.
Cheers, Pewe.

I have one of these arriving in two weeks:



.... I actually had no idea what an Avus cover was!  I will do some more exploration next time I am with the car, I wonder if it was put on to hide something.