I've got a question I need answered. Did the early Z cars have a curve going up to the hatch seal or were they all flat with a Taillight cover. I have a 77 280Z and mine is in sad shape. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just can't find any pics that show this area.

I just dismantled the rear end of my 78 (turning it around tonight to take apart the rest for a body restore and paint). I have a couple of pics (still in the camera, old school film). Sheet metal of the unibody where the taillights and finishers mount is vertical with light-shaped holes cut out. The lic. plate holder is riveted on (my rivets were plastic, I'm using metal pop-rivet replacements). There's a foam gasket between the lights/finishers and the unibody, on the outside. The finishers and the license plate light all fastened to the horizontal steel above the light area. As that horizontal piece approaches the hatch opening, it angles up to parallel the plane of the closed hatch. At the opening itself, it's got a lip formed by the metal coming up towards you as you look at it from behind the car. It's about 1 cm or so high, maybe. That's what the hatch rubber seal 'attaches' to. Seal is an ironic name for it, as I think it's biggest achievement is to suck up water that sits on that horizontal deck and hold it against that hatch opening lip, making sure it can rust as quickly as possible. Mine's a Southwest car, and it still has a little bit of rust there! I'll try to get my latest batch of pics as quickly as possible, but in the mean time if you can get a copy of the Fall 2001 issue of Sport Z, there's a good photo in figure 8 on page 21. That whole article, written by a Canadian fella restoring a horrendously rusty 78, is a fantastic reference for 280 refurbishment. Hope this helps, but let me know if I can clarify it a bit further! Does anyone else here have their pics more readily available?
Dave

That part you described, I understand. What I'm reffering to is the spare tire cover. Ithink that on the 78 280Z it is flat with a plastic panel that covers the taillight assemblys. But on the 77 it looks like it curves up toward the rear. This is where I'm stuck. I would like to fabricate a new one and I want to make sure I get it right.

Garry

i have a 77 280z and it has a curve going up to the hatch seal. i also have a 72 240z, but the cover is flat with a taillight cover. i think the newer 1st generation Z's have a curve going up to the hatch seal.

Thank you for the help guys. I know what I need to do now.