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hi! my name is Zoe and i'm a 20 year old girl living in Melbourne. I very recently purchased my first own project - an '83 280zx from a super cool lady i lived around the corner from in Newcastle, NSW. i know its no 240 or 260 but to be honest i'm just as stoked on it!! Unfortunately due to lockdown i won't get up there to drive it for at least 6 weeks!! im devastated but i think my dad is pretty happy to babysit and have something new to look/fiddle around with haha. i thought i would introduce myself as I am planning to try and do as much of the work as I can (with a little help of course), so you will probably see a lot of silly questions from me from time to time. if anyone can point me in the direction of reliable places for parts in australia etc would be very helpful too! there are some pretty intensive rust issues that we know of; around the windscreen and on the bonnet can be seen to easily but theres also some chassis, towards firewall and the floor pans need to be replaced. anyway, thanks again! Zoe

thanks gav : ) yep, the rust is gonna cut my pockets. i've got a little experience on an oxy and now mig welder and luckily have very competent welders around who are willing to help me with the patching bits but obviously the structural stuff will be too big a job. granny keeps asking if i want a silverware set or diamond earrings for my 21st... nope, but i'd take a some frame rail!! i'm also struggling to find places that arent in the states as $$ conversion and SHIPPING are wild. i've seen rails on rarespares for the 240/260 but to my knowledge theyre a fair bit shorter. would you happen to know any places or direction i could sniff around in for some in aus?? cheers

Due to popular demand I have decided to begin my build thread . I have gained so much information, knowledge and courage from other members build threads that it only seems fair to start my own. My thread will amuse and mystify as I stumble from error to error and hopefully, with educated and constructive input from others, will also educate. Firstly some disclaimers: This will not be a fast build!! EXCUSES: 1. - I have a full time job that involves shift work, including weekends; 2. - I run a small unviable farm in central Victoria that requires constant management in such things as fencing and livestock management (and eradication of Onion Weed!!) 3. - I'm married and whilst my wife is very supportive of my need for a hobby, she doesn't like the shape of the Zed and therefore doesn't understand my fascination with it (She found me an LH Torana!!) 4. - I'm not a wealthy man 5. - I have skill/equipment and experience limitations that combined with my natural fastidiousness, create a slowness of it's own. These excuses will be added to as required. On with the story ..... My wife and I bought a very tired farm in Central Victoria about 2 years ago. The wife loved the house and I loved that it had an old shed, so in we moved! The shed had a dirt floor and was full of mouldy Hay, 30 years of accumulated junk from the previous owner and numerous birds, several snakes and assorted rodent nests in the roof sisilation! It had large wire mesh doors, that let wind and the above rodents/birds/snakes in! It had 2 GPO and two Flouros, so at least it had power!! Three 8 metre skips of rubbish out and a concrete floor poured in we were on the way. EBay provided some lights and a sparkie mate who helped me rough in some more power and I now have light and GPOs everywhere (even a 15Amp outlet!). I found a caravan and annex, so the annex, made of freezer panel, was attached to the side of the shed to create an office/bar/thinking/planning/relaxing area (Bloke's room). My daughter and I then came up with a somewhat unique fix for the breezy door problem. She learnt to use a drop saw as her first power tool! (measure twice ....Thumbs always stay .... etc) This was my first shed (larger than a garden shed), so I had very few tools (toys). Much time and money has been spent accumulating some basic tools. All the while hunting for a project car. Now I will be honest at this stage and admit that it wasn't always going to be a Zed. The Zed was one of four possibilities (Mark 1 Escort, Datsun 1600 and Ford Capri made up the others) but as I scoured the internet looking for cars and information, it was the discovery of this forum that knocked the others cars out. the information and community hooked me in. (My wife says thanks - she liked the Escort more!!)

I've got an STL file - so I had it made for $10 posted . I actually wanted in ABS ( which is what I think the original was), but he couldn't do it. Also the corners on the original were a bit more rounded

The local IGA has replaced most of their shelving and a polite request from a great bloke got some free shelving. I'm running 3 phase power to the shed and the boss wants to put solar on the roof. I need 16mm 4+e cabling to run from the old coach house to the shed (about 70m) and this cable is a bit over $1k. Then there is the HD conduit and digging the trench; so that is going to have to wait for a little while. I ended up painting the floor myself. It went well until the clear coat. I left the two colour coats for a week and they got a fair bit of airborne dust on them. I gave them a good sweep, but I should have washed them. The clear coat has sort of gathered the dust so some roller marks and the like can be seen. Oh well, it's a shed floor. Of course the IGA shelving is not the only shelving I've build in the last month. Over the next month I will be cleaning up things from the Coach House and moving them down to the new shed. THEN I can get into the car again.