Didnt see a build log section or anything so I guess I will drop this here for now. hope no one minds.

So I got my 77' 280z on March 3rd, 2011 and I am now a happy owner of a great datsun.

Sadly I had to sell my 1986 Corolla GTS in favor of my new car. (9 years older, albiet)

The car has good looks, still sporty and so far its reliable and doesnt leak oil.
My Corolla had quite a bit of trouble and it was all unlucky stuff for me.

The outside of the car is alittle rough on the paint, alittle worse than the Corolla was.




There is of course some rust, after all its 30years old so thats expected. But its to a minimal. You can see the extent of it in the last photo above, in the rear fender arch.
Suprisingly there arnt really any dings, just minor sratches and stuff. The body is damn straight, just how I like it!




Car came from storage in Texas and looks nice for its age. The car was $2700. which is kinda expensive but it will be reliable and its simple to work on and I can actually find parts for it around here (The one thing Kansas is good for really).

Here is the better part!

The Interior Baby!
Much better than the corolla by a longshot. The 280z still retains its youth and smells like a classic car even! imagine that!




All black leather interior thats pretty clean still and has very little baggage from previous owners. Amazingly the dash is still fine after all the years of the sun beating down on it.




I think the only downside is that crappy shift **** that came with the car. it lost its threading and wouldnt tighten up. So replaced it with a **** from an automatic Lexus ES300 or something. fits good.

Im hopping to get some work in this week and see what my options are for a 5speed trans and maybe remove the bumpers. What do you think?

 

w00t! It's in very good shape!!!

So wait... you bought this in 2001 or 2011?

The bumpers were the first thing to go on my 280z. I had a set of MSA 240z fiberglass bumpers, but never got around to installing them.

 

Did I put 2001? lol
yeah typo
got it in 2011 my bad.
yeah shes really nice and drives like a champ. Best car Ive ever owned by far.

I want to see what I can do with the bumpers to give it a more agressive look maybe.

 

Yeah, lose the bumpers! That's a real good deal considering the dash, interior and very good panel alignment you are about $2500 ahead already on a restoration.

 

Thats a very good way to look at it haha.
Yeah I was shocked when I saw ther interior! The owner explained it had been in storage for about 10 years so thats a good deal to me.
So comfortable too, great seat design I think.

 

Congrats on the new Z! It looks really sharp man. Oh, and I agree with the bumpers. When I ever do get a 280z, I am getting 240z bumpers for it. I will search for them high and low if I have to. lol Anyway good luck on fixing the Z up, and keep us posted.

 

So the rain and hail cleaned my car a bit and now it looks super gooder better.

I tested all of the instruments the other day I posted and I saw that the Headlights/gauges/tail lights/side markers didnt come on when switched.

So today I went about sorting through electric work and gremlins.
Hate this kind of stuff.

Started by tracking down a FSM online to get wiring diagrams so I could look on where to start. If anyone has an S30 here on the forums:
http://www.xenons30.com/
Has a FSM for all years of early model Z car. Big Help



After doing some simple light tests and bending my torso in strange angles to get my head under the dash to find any misplaced connections, I came to the conclusion that my problem all along was with the Headlight switch itself.

I then went on to rebuild it.

Took the switch off and grabbed some sand paper.


This is the switch box
It has 2 tabs that make contact to turn lights on from off - parking - headlamps.
These tabs buildup carbon deposits over the years and makes them finicky.


Using a small philips head I took off the 3 screws that hold this little box together.


Make sure not to lose the little plastic washer on one of the screws in case your following these directions!

Taking the box off now. There are 4 small tabs on the top of this brass case that keeps the dust and stuff out.
Using a small flat head or something I pryed them up and took off the brass.




With the brass off you can see the little tabs that make contact. These have already been cleaned by me and placed back in reverse. That way if any of these tabs have pitting then by reversing where you put them there will be fresh metal and a fresh connection!

 

This picture shows the pitting and a cleaned surface.


Also installed my signature NERV parking permit.

Yeah thats all I did really, the lights all work now and shes a real beauty!



Hoping also to get my Kansas antique plate on soon.

 

Ah very nice! Sounds like this will be great project.

 

Good job bro'! Kudos to figuring that electrical gremlin out. Yeah they can be a headache, but once you fix something it is a huge accomplishment. Keep up the good work.

 

Wow Ive been busy but I havent done much it seems.

I ordered AUTOPAL H4 headlamps and LEDs for my interior lights.
The thing is, when replacing the bulbs for the dash lights you get frustrated because the designer was an ***.


yes Im stupid

To easily replace the dash lights you need to remove the entire dash and steering column suport the push or pull the gauges out as you pull forward the dash.


This dash weighs about 30lbs as compared to the 86 dash which is like 15lbs or less.

Total pain in the ***. Makes me regret how easy I had it.

 

Also did the usual crap with repainting my wheels, well one for today.





Before:

After:


Look nice, its the little things in my opinion.