280 z(x) Purchase decision
 

I am looking at purchasing a 280z or 280zx. Mostly I want something that can teach all those Honda guys a lesson. So, when looking a prospects what are things i need to look for. It will be my daily driver, and only car, but I'd be happy to do some work on it for about 2 months, before i started driving it. Please offer any tips, info etc. I don't know to much about Z's, so inform me, what should i look for, what's fast, 0-60 times... anything, thanks!

If you're on a tight budget and want something right out of the box, in my opinion just go with a turbo 280zx. Fast enough to beat some FF cars stock, and gives a good base to do mods with. Stock my ZX turbo ran 15.3 @89. However, if you have time to work on the car, you might want to get an earlier Z and swap in a turbo motor.
John 82ZXT

By FF do you mean fast and furious style? Civics are what piss me off the most. Is it possible to take any first gen. Z's and drop a 280zx motor in? Are there front end kits made for the first gen. cars? a big gaping mouth and low look would be desirable.

There's every kind of kit you could want for a 1st Gen. Turbo swap is a bolt-in.

Best,

Phil

PS: ZX engines featured a DROP in HP.

so a turbo can be added to a Z engine? or does it have to be a zx engine to accept the turbo? And the cars i'm looking at are around $1000 to $2000, is that cheap or average? it seems dirt cheap.

zx's are the black eye of Z,s
 

I own a 75 280z my father-in-law owns a 79 zx. i smoke him all day long and twice on tuesday and my car looks cooler! the best bang for the buck is a 240 or 280 with a L28 engine, with a 4 barrel carbuerator conversion, the honda guys will scury away in shame:)

Yes, a turbo can be added to your naturally aspirated motor, but for the hassle, it's well worth it to just swap in the turbo ZX motor. 1000-2000 is about average, just depends on rust and engine condition. Turbo ZX's are in the 2K range, and the n/a ones are even cheaper, they don't have as much hp as the earlier ones due to smog equipment, but that can easily be removed if you're in an area where emissions aren't checked. If you're stuck in Cali like me where smog Nazis are everywhere, heh, better off finding a turbo or early Z if straight line is what you're going for.
82ZXT

dont forget
 

Hey guys dont forget that much loved and much hated V8 swap. You can do this somewhat cheaply. Just dont get drug into restoring the whole damn thing or your v8 z wont be finished for a couple of years much like mine. (Est completion time = 2005 :D ) But yeah I gots a straight 6 and tranny from my 73 s40z for sale if anyone is willing to pay feight or pick it up.

FF
 

ff means front wheel drive, or that is what I learned from Initial D, at least

FF means front mounted engine, front wheel drive. Front end kits won't make you faster than hondas though.

looks
 

yea, i know the air dam won't make me any faster, but i do care what it looks like. ON the original topic, there is a 280z for $700 in my local paper, and the ad says it runs. Because it's so inexpensive and runs, i assume it is messed up in some other manner. It's a '76, so i think smogg might be involved, dam california laws... so anyways, i know i can buy a high flo cat for around $100, so besides that and rust, which we don't really have in CA, what do i need to look for, or should i just jump on this before someone else snatches it up?

check out this link, it'll help you with what to look for in a 1st gen Z:

http://www.zhome.com/Buying/1stGenWhatToWatch.html

unfortunately, the car will have to be smogged since it's a 76. California law is definitely 73 and older don't require smog, I *think* it includes 74 now (260z). For 700, I'd assume it's been in an accident, or it doesn't run as well as it should. The airdam is actually helpful on our cars, since the 240z made 80lbs of lift at 100mph in the front. Just make sure if you get an airdam out of urethane, you reinforce it like I did. Or get a fiberglass, but be weary of hitting things with it as it easily cracks.

Not that it is relavant, but the ZX engine did not have a drop in HP. The smog equipment hardly effected it from 1975-83. The 79-80 280ZX has the same engine as the 75-78 but the plate in the engine compartment states net hp at 135 which is the same as the previous years. The 1981-83 n/a engine changed to a closed chambered head and flat top pistons. (145hp) They have a better quench and slightly higher compression. You can use those engines with your older '76 fuel injection for some better performance. The only downfall of the later ZX engines is they had round exhaust ports like the 77-78 280Z.

You could take that '76 280Z, do some work to the head, intake, exahust, and drop in a lower geared rearend. You'll have a much faster car and easily be able to beat those Hondas. Or just a tune-up and the lower rear will help with your stoplight racing.

I would go with a 240z and a L28et swap.
The light and nimble 240z 0-60 in 7.3 sec STOCK(without turbo and w/L24) make it a winner. You'll find the 280z and zx with 0-60 8-10sec, except for the turbo(or maybe not).
I would personally get the 280z between the zx and z, because it looks cooler and
the turbo or V8 swaps are fairly common.

so if I'm driving around with an original engine, prolly quite a few miles on it, and a performance exhaust, and a tune up, possibly some sort of intake... how fast am i gonna be? is that really gonna be a honda smoker?

Well, I've put a big whopping ~600 into my engine in total parts and I'm running 14.7's which is enough to smoke most Hondas w/o swaps/turbos/nitrous. I haven't timed my car since upping the boost, but anyway, if you get a turbo ZXT you'll be fine with just a filter and exhaust. Don't forget a blowoff valve so you don't have lag between shifts, not to mention the surge is bad for the compressor. Just depends on how much wrenching you want to do before going out and driving. Personally if I had time and more money I'd swap my motor into a 240Z since they don't get smogged here, but I'm happy with 280ZX.
list of things: (89000 miles original motor)
msd coil-$30, HKS popoff valve-$51, K&N filter-$47, Greddy Profec B-$300, HKS blowoff-$200. I know that's a little over 600, but it's great bang for buck. My HKS muffler came with the car, but if you add that in, it'd be about 350 or so.
John 82ZXT