Hooray! After restoring several Z's for other people, I finally purchased my own '78 280. I'm starting to lay out my plans and schedule, organizing a full reconditioning of this one, all for myself.
It turns out it's a black pearl. Paint codes, pinstripes, mirrors, louvers, "air dam", etc. all match up to the records. Here's my question:
What does the Z community think about this situation? Is there any obligation, real or imagined, to restoring this as a Black Pearl?
My understanding is that it means nothing to resale value (though I will never resell this one, it's mine!). But, I don't want to be the automotive equivalent of the guy who strips the finish off of a period piece of furniture, ruining it.
Here's the current condition: As would be expected, the paint has to be redone, and the pinstriping, though good in spots would of course have to be redone as well (starting the nightmare of finding the fragile and now expensive, rare kit). Some body work is already necessary, though rust is extremely minimal (hooray for the Southwest!).
Black, though it looks very nice, is hard to take care of relative to other colors and very hot in my sunny climate (Colorado) even with AC. My first choice is probably some medium metallic blue.
Besides, I really don't like pinstripes or louvers that much. Some PO already put a sunroof in it (any luck fixing that? I've never tried), so it's not like it's truly pristine, anyway.
What's everybody's feeling on this? Am I going to go to Z hell if I un-black-pearl-ize the car? Or, does it not matter, as it was just a trim package anyway? I appreciate any and all input. I just want to be sure I don't destroy a piece of Z heritage. Thanks!
Dave

 

i dont know much about the value or resale value of vehicles when it comes to fixing them up. But i do know i would love to see some pictures!

David K- SoCalZ Prez

 

They are worth more if you can make it 100% original. I got BP too but you know there was no airdam in the front of the car. Louver is stock.

I modified mine because I'm young and stupid. But stock one in low miles could go like $8k!

 

I had an 82 280zx, it had no rust, It had added front air dam, side skirts, and rear spoiler, non turbo, no engine mods, interior was perfect, paint was not the original. but the thing ran like it was new, it had 115,000 and it was apprasied from 10k to 12k ... but I live in Connecticut and prices are higher here, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

Stone

 

Oops, my bad. The air dam was added (nicely, they went to the trouble to match the pinstriping) along with a spoiler that I really don't like. Otherwise it matches all the specs at http://zhome.com/History/BlackP.htm
It's definitely no where near top condition (yet, I'm just getting started!). It seems it was introduced to the rear end of one of the tasteless, useless, lumbering SUV behemoths which are unfortunately so common here. Fortunately, it's easy-repair damage (hood, grill, turn signal replacement) on a car that is mechanically in excellent shape. Thanks for the input!
Dave