exterior differences?
 

Hey I was just wondering if there was any way to tell the difference between first gen Z's; (i.e. the 240, 260, 280) by their exteriors. I know you can do it by looking under the hood, but my friend and i are in constant conflict whenever we see a first gen. neither of us can tell the difference. are the headlights, or tailights or body different at all from each other? are certain years coupes and 2+2's which designate their names? please help. thanks

I'll put pictures up later on today. It's Z meet day, there are bound to be a couple of each. :)

easiest way is to look at the bumpers. the big thick ones are the 280z, the skinny is the 240z or the 260z. Thats a little help. Also the 77-78 280z's had hood vents.

The tail-lights are different as well.

The 240Z tail-lights are one intergrated (Brake, Turn , Reverse) roughly retanguilar unit.

The 280Z tail-lights have (sort of) a seperate reverse light inboard of the of the roughly retangular Brake/Turn light assembly.

the body of the 280 is a little bigger than the 240, that might help too

slightly off the subject, but why is it that when people make exterior changes to their first gen z's they seem to put older alloys on rather than just getting some near new wheels that, in my opinion, would look better. is it just for the stock look, or cost, or what?? ....

because now its mostly 5 lug wheels. The only 4 lug wheels are for honda/acura and they're like 110mm or somewhere near that.

240zs has front turn signals on the corners below the bumper. 280 has them integrated into the grill.

so where do you find nice z rims that aren't panasports or revos?

You can get wheel spacers (to correct offset) and Honda bolt pattern coverters at Modern Motorsports and fit any wheel made in the Honda bolt pattern (Lots and Lots!).