Please meet my "new" 280z - a 1977 renovation project. She is my second, my first was a 1978 2+2 that was my first car - it was the original Champaign Gold with white interior. Honestly, that car was a blast to drive. The way it cornered... I once went from Huntington, WV to Lewisburg, WV over the mountains on Rt. 60 (normally a 3+ hour trip) in about 2:15 FLYING the whole way switchbacks up the mountainsides and all.

My new baby came to me in Ohio from the Pacific Northwest. She's never seen salt, so rust is minimal. The rails are straight and mostly solid. My problem is that it was stolen, 'totaled' and recovered, so I don't have a history on the vehicle. So I'm kind of winging it - any advice that you can post my message book would be most welcome.

The exterior is rust free and the lines are clean. There are some minor dings and dents that were dealt with in my paint job - page 13.

The interior showed where they cobbed together elements to make it whole. The door skins didn't match the pulls, the seats were covered and underneath are a horrible white vinyl with a blue striped carpet center (surely these weren't original, are they?), the center console armrest matched the blue striped center of the seats. You can see she needed new carpet - I ended up getting a pre-cut kit. I replaced the headliner and the interior vinyl. As with any Z this age, it needed complete weatherstripping kit (which I did) and all the windows, doors and hatches redone.

The center console had the original 8-track. It was replaced at one time by another stereo - and the speakers in the door attest to this - but it was back in there when I got it. It wasn't really working, but the power antenna still rolled up and down. I did replace it along the way. Aside from a nice dashcap covering god knows what and some gummy decay at the top of the steering wheel, the console and dash were in decent shape and one of the few things I haven't replaced on the interior yet.

As you can see, the engine compartment is clean and the engine is mostly solid. The engine is stock and standard. All of the engine resotoration is listed on page 14.

That's it for now - I'll post restoration pics as I move along. Thanks for checking her out.

By the way, don't forget about the parts suppliers out there! I have used:

Zcarsource.com - Betsey is awesome - the best shop going!
zcarparts.com - very responsive - quick delivery
Banzai motorworks - he knows his stuff

Index

Page 1 - Introduction
Page 2 - Fusable Links - Shifter Fix
Page 3 - Doors
Page 4 - Floor Pans I
Page 5 - Floor Pans II
Page 6 - Battery Area
Page 7 - Cowl & Cover
Page 8 - Seat Recovering
Page 9 - Wheels
Page 10 - K&N Filter - Mirrors
Page 11 - Carpet/Sound Deadening
Page 12 - Stereo
Page 13 - Paint
Page 14 - Engine