1978 Datusun 280Z

Description for Datsun Z-Series 1978

It's with a heavy heart I'm offering my custom 1978 Datsun 280Z V8 for sale. I never thought I would let it go but I think it's time. The car has never been in an accident. I have owned this car since 1986 and taken it through many iterations, his last one with the goal of building the ultimate streetable V8 Z car. The design paradigm was to build it the way a manufacturer would. Braided lines and AN fitting were only used in locations where it made sense for safety or plumbing expediency.

All systems operate as they should, nyone who can drive a manual shift car can drive this car without thought to special concerns or procedures. Clutch is normal pressure and perfect bite point. Accelerator pedal is smooth with excellent control. Brakes are simply perfect.

At car shows and meets folks often don't even realize this engine didn't come in this car. But those who know are always impressed with how natural it looks under the hood. My car has received top 25 five years in a row and various awards in area shows.

This car is track proven and I have participated in many HPDE events with PCA at Lime Rock Park - every time the car was completely reliable.

Maintenance is normal to any car, list of part numbers and of what application they came from will make long term ownership easy as can be.

Here are detailed descriptions of the car's systems:

Restoration

Complete rotisserie restoration. All rust has been repaired completely with 100% welded in steel. Frame rails have been replaced with custom formed 12Ga steel and slightly longer to join with rear of the floor pan (rear of floor pan is thicker/stronger than the thin floor pan sheet metal). Body was then painted inside and out with rust preventive paint and inside coated with lizard skin sound deadening - then covered completely with lightweight insulation. Hood is lightweight fiberglass from Smooth Line. Body was painted with PPG two stage paint then wet sanded and buffed for a mirror finish.

Driveline

Engine is a 1995 LT1 that had only 12k miles when installed. Engine has GM Hot Cam kit which includes 1.6:1 roller rockers, pecial valve springs, ight weight retainers.

Throttle body is upgraded aftermarket (I forget whose, ot it from Brothers Performance) Mass Airflow Meter is Granatelli.

Exhaust is Hooker block hugger headers with Jet-Hot black ceramic coating. The rest of the exhaust is 2.25" through a pair of custom rebuildable glass packs then Y'd together into single 3" all Jet-Hot silver ceramic coated, nding with a Dynomax Turbo muffler and chrome tip.

Transmission is Borg Warner T56 customized with 2003 Cobra output shaft with 5th and 6th gear ratio change to the performance oriented 0.79:1 and 0.63:1. Syncros replaced with carbon kevlar type and shift fork pads upgraded to custom machined bearing bronze. (FYI some bronze shift fork pads are actually inferior brass, figured the only way to be sure is to purchase the raw bronze and machine them myself) Shifter is short throw Hurst with Mustang short shifter and classic round knob. Skip shift is programmed out.

Differential is a rare R200 viscous limited slip only available in 88 300ZX Turbo with the ultra-rare 3.36 gears from earlier Z. Bearings were replaced with up-rated Koyo bearings (the Nissan specific pinion input bearing was replaced with new Nissan piece). Differential cover is the finned aluminum large capacity unit. Front Diff mount is "Ron Tyler" inspired with urethane mount and rear is customized mustache bar to raise rear of diff 7/8" for better drive line angle. CV Half shafts and Ross Tech adapters complete the drive-train.

Cooling system is high capacity core on stock tanks. Electric fan was adapted to stock fan shroud. Dual speed fan system controlled by the PCM is retained.

Suspension

Complete Ground control coil over kit with camber plates in front. Struts are Tokico 5-way adjustable. All bushings are Energy Suspension Urethane with exception of strut rods which are custom fitted Heim joints. Anti-sway bars are vintage Bob Sharp Racing. Custom built strut tower stiffener. Rear suspension cradle is custom designed for stiffness and clearance of finned diff cover with addition of adjustability for rear toe.

Steering rack is custom valved 15:1 Mustang power unit and has a nice feel with just enough power to make low speed maneuvers effortless. (if you've ever driven a Z with wide tires you know what I mean)

Wheels are ARS 17x8 Cobra replica direct fitment - NO ADAPTORS or SPACERS. Tire size is 225/45R17.

Brakes are Arizona Z Car's Wilwood kit with Wilwood rear proportioning valve mounted discreetly within driver's reach (just below left side odometer reset and dimmer control). These brakes are amazing. Lines are all stainless steel with performance Teflon braided flex lines and AN fittings.

Exterior is stock appearing with subtle tweaks retaining the classic lines of the original Z car. The huge gawking 78 bumpers were replaced with NEW NOS 70 front and rear center section and rear ends are re-chromed. Gas filler door was replaced with a filler from 79 280ZX. Door handles and Z emblem are new. Xenon air dam, ella H4 headlamps with 100w high beam and 90w Hella driving lights, orns are Hella also, urn signal and front marker lenses are clear.

Interior is mostly stock with 95 Camaro seats, uto Power rollbar, nd custom rear harness/strut tower stiffener. Gages are stock with tach recalibrated to 8 cylinder. Speedometer is stock with custom driver and controller reading PCM speed signal. Original seatbelt and defogger indicators are customized to smoked out warning light indicators for oil level, oolant level, ecurity key and seat belt. Original console switches are replaced with 5 Carlin units for Power door locks, riving light mode (on, n with high-beam, ff), azard flasher, ear defogger, nd rear hatch release. The dash does have some minor cracks I never felt they were bad enough to use a cap and thought I would send it off to "Just Dashes" someday.

Electrical systems have been completely integrated-- no cheesy splices or hack jobs. Wiring harnesses from the 280Z and donor Z28 were completely disassembled and brought together eliminating unneeded wiring and integrating systems with absolute minimum of splicing. Then the completed harness was wrapped in non-adhesive tape just like the factory would. All systems have proper connectors, eather tight where they could get wet. Fuse block is custom with ATC fuses. Battery is moved to back into a custom battery box/well.

Sound system is Alpine head unit plays CD and MP3, lpine 5 channel amp with two 8' subs, wo 4.5"mids in stock location and custom floating bullet mounted Infinity dome tweeters configured in tri amp configuration.

Heat and Air Conditioning work great, C is 134a with a combination of Nissan and GM, tock heater valve was removed and relocated to the engine compartment with a Mopar style unit from 4 Seasons.

Terms of sale:

Vehicle is offered as i, here is. All sales are final no returns.

Payment terms are cash or bank check.

The car is for sale locally and I reserve the right to end this listing at anytime

Feel free to contact me with any questions