bmwe30

I dont know if I should go off that because thats a 280zx, should I?
what are the advatages to the N42 manifold?
nissan only had them in the US, because of the government

NismoPick

280Z's & 280ZX's have the same motor... same basic setup. Both are L28E's.


None other than it "looks pretty". Oh... the one advantage: who ever sells it to you will make a lot of $$$.

That doesn't mean you can just yank off all emissions parts and be fine... make sure it's done CORRECTLY. Also... if your local laws require emissions, you can have fun w/ the DMV.

bmwe30

well I ment the bumpers too,
I live in SC no emmisions, and no inspection

plus when I do something to a car I do it right

NismoPick

Z's have bumpers in other countries too....

Fairlady Z:

duowing

You can get the car's down to 2500-ish pretty much just by removing the bumpers. There's a thread over on HybridZ about Z car weights where people post the weight after having the car actually weighed and a lot of them are right down around 2500 by just removing the bumpers. You can keep the interior and A/C although if the A/C doesn't work I'd just dump it. It'll free up a little more weight and be less crap in the engine bay.

The truly lightweight Zs are the 70-71 240Z. The 72-73 240Zs are still really light, but only at about 2300 or so, but mind you the 280Z has more weight because it had a larger suspension setup, rear sway bars, more structural rigidity, a much nicer interior, etc. So you do get the little extra weight but it's worth it for the fact that the 280Z just rides better.

njgheewala

All in all I think it is a great car for the price...I would love to get lucky like that.
Good find man!

bmwe30

I ment the huge ugly ones
I like those in the picture

bmwe30

thanks man

snwbrderphat540

much nicer interior? are you nuts? they are identical lol the only thing is the heater control layouts on the 240z are diff than the rest of the S30's. its mostly just the bumpers and new safety standards for that year and the suspension is a bit more rigid. good coil overs would maybe knock down some weight, and just a real weigh cut down, i've seen alot of them weigh 1700 lbs actually when people really put some work into it. so there is still some weight to be lost if truly sought for. also those big bumpers are what make a 280Z if you want small bumpers buy an early 260 or a 240. i dont get why people try to make a car something its not... be proud of what it is or buy what you want. personally, i have no preference on bumpers each generation of S30 looks sexy how it is, and i loved my 280Z's bumpers for the fact they were perfect to use as a bench and not sit on the pain....

bmwe30

well this is going to be my daily driver, I just want some pick up and go for some racing on the side

snwbrderphat540

then focus on suspension and wheels and body.... just that alone these cars will do great on the track (twisties) and beat alot of other cars out there. most tracks only have one fast straight the rest are turns so power will only get you so far in real track racing, after that its about another 80% driver skill and proper car/suspension setup.

bmwe30

it's not that I want to make this car into something it's not, it's just that I dont like those bumpers, and they are heavy,
I would buy a 240 or a 260, but I wanted fuel injection and on top of that a good 240 or a 260 is very hard to come by

duowing

The interior may not look alot different, but it is a bit nicer in the 280Z, maybe not a whole lot nicer, but it's definitely more carpeted and complete. There was more metal in the chassis itself. Nissan bulked up spots, extended the frame rails to the back of the car. They only go part way on the 240Zs, or maybe it was part way through the 240Zs life. When I drove a guy's 240Z then went into my 280Z 2+2, I noticed a difference. Just that there seemed to be a little bit more finish to the 280Zs interior.

bmwe30

I can understand that, common sence would say that is true because datsun at the time would just improve the interior over time,

NismoPick

I'm lost on this thread... are we debating looks / style / weight between 240z's & 280z's? Because everyone is agreeing......

bmwe30

haha I'm just trying to get the facts down, I know bimmers but not nissans (yet)

duowing

Ha, I guess we did get off topic, he started mentioning about weight of the car and losing it and then it went off in another direction.

I'm not sure where you're from, but at least $2500 for the car if it's in as good of condition as it looks and runs well I'd say is a good deal. Again if you're out East where it's harder to find these then it's a good deal, if you're West near warmer states without road salt then it may not be as good of a deal.

bmwe30

I'm on the boarder of NC and SC, these cars are very rare for my area

snwbrderphat540

i noticed zero interior differences in my early 260 and my 280. thats the only thing im arguing is that the interior designs or w/e are more extensive between the S30 generations. other than that yeah we have agreed on everything. and i had my 280 and 260 at the same time so i hopped into one then the other many many times. only thing i noticed was my 280's door panels were a bit more plush but they were also like new so they werent worn at all then compare them to my dads 280's door panels exactly the same as my 260's same carpeted areas same seats for the most part i tihnk the early 240's had a crappier seat design unless it was just the texture layouts that changed not positive on that one.... one thing i did like about the 280's alot more than the other generations was the way the seats were bolted to the chassis... much easier to remove and place back in in the 280's. also... that was pretty redundant to my comment saying you dont like the bumpers but your not trying to make it something it isnt lol... thats the exact definition haha... but to me thats what makes the 280's apart from the rest (as far as looking at the outside before digging under the the hood etc.) thats why i think you should just leave those. its tradition!!!!

bmwe30

haha forget that, those bumpers are an eye sore. plus they are usless weight to me, sure they are added protection...
it's only US 280z's that have them, the rest have the good looking little bumpers, so I'm not trying to make my 280z into anything else just an non-government-raped 280z,

duowing

Ok I see where you're coming from on the interior's. It was changed and updated for the 260Z. I had the opportunity to buy a 240Z back in the spring that I passed on for other reasons, but yeah it wasn't until the 260Z it changed.

For the car at hand think about it and look at things. I thought the 240Z I looked at was great. The body was super clean, but after I really thought it through and saw it again I noticed alot of things. Valve cover had a bolt missing or broken off. I then noticed the radiator was smashed in on the side looking like the fan had gone into it at some point. Which then led to closer inspection, what I thought was a little bit of rust that started on the fender made sense. It was a crack from body filler. The guy telling me he overadjusted the door hinge and that was why the passenger side door had trouble closing now was clear. The car had been in a wreck and somebody had done a really good job of fixing it. Had things like the radiator been fixed, and the fender better done you really couldn't have known.

So just be sure to keep a good eye out. Although a car that has been in an accident doesn't necessarily mean you should shy away from it.

bmwe30

I know what your saying, I'm taking a friend to look at it with me... you know a 2nd opinion to give me another point of view
he knows quite a bit about Z's so I trust him

SportBikeMike

The 280Z's interior is definitely an improvement over the 240Z's interior. For one thing, they replaced the somewhat tacky quilted vinyl in the 240 with carpeting and also the material on the doors is better quality. By the time the 280 came around, the Z was making the transformation from pure sports car to GT/ cruising car and it was reflected in the more comfortable interior.

RedVonHammer

Mirrors are probably like that because the right side one is easier to look at if its at its normal place.

Probably how I will be placing bullet mirrors on my future z as well, never thought of that until now

Car looks very good! The interior is drooling-able as heck!

bmwe30

I thought the drivers side was the one out of place...
could you explain what you mean?