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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/01/2021 in all areas

  1. 240ZBUILTBYME

    The Unloved Z

    Introducing the unloved z! Unloved by the purists but very much loved by the masses (still the most successful selling z to date). This is my new 1983 280zx 2+2. Opinions on the looks of the 280zx will be divided, particularly with the 2+2. In photos I agree the 2+2 looks slightly odd, but in person it is completely different, they just look good to me. Like a 80’s cyberpunk 240z.... I had been wanting to buy a new daily driver for a while. Now when I say daily drive I use the term loosely. I am fifo and away half the year, we have a family car which is the workhorse, I do max 6000km a year. My current daily is a Ford Fiesta ST. An extremely fun and capable car. It has a torquey 1.6L turbo engine and handles like cars 4 times its value. I highly recommend you drive one on a twisty road if the chance finds you. Despite loving the way it drives on the twistys, it’s never given me that special feeling. You know the one. That butterfly in the tummy feeling. It’s never felt special enough, I didn’t care where I parked it, didn’t care if it was dirty etc. Plus there’s the smirk when you tell someone you drive a fiesta... Let’s be honest it doesn’t look the best. Not terrible but very....meh....doesn’t make the gonads tingle. I narrowed my search with a few criteria. Must have: Rear wheel drive (I missed my NA Mx-5 and the rear wheel drive dynamics) Manual transmission 4 seats (have to carry my spawns occasionally) 25k budget Gives me that tingle in the gonads Believe it or not this is a difficult criterion to search for, hardest to fulfill was the “tingle feeling”. My special feeling was mainly aimed towards old Japanese sports cars. My search results and personal tastes brought me to these: 300zx Z32 NA 280zx S13 NA 86 GT Basically I was happy to buy whatever came first. Obviously the 86s were plentiful. But COVID had caused an unreasonable price rise in them and I wanted one with low Kms. But if I’m honest they have never really pushed my button, plus generally their drivers are of questionable taste... I test drove a 280zx, it was in great condition and going for cheap. The catch was that the owner had bought it sight unseen from nsw and could tell me no history of the car, plus it had been resprayed with no photos of the work, the job was good but who knows what nastys could be lurking beneath that fresh paint?! Also it needed to be registered in WA. I passed on the car... but I did learn that I liked how these drove. Very balanced handling much like the Mx-5 with its 50-50 weight distribution I test drove a reasonably well looked after S13. But they wanted too much for it. Excellent condition 300zx’s started to appreciate beyond my budget. Fetching 30-40k now Then this beauty happened to become available. It was in the hands of my z guy in perth, and after mentioning to him I was looking at 280zx’s he asked me if I was interested. I was.... Once I saw the car I was sold. My wife....not so much. There were many questions, eye rolls and sighs. But at the end of the day she begrudgingly gave her approval. The old couple who owned her bought it in 1984 for $22180? (Car came with the original purchase invoice!) I punched that number into the inflation calculator and it ended up being 70k in today’s money! They loved the car and drove it as their Sunday car, otherwise it was garaged. All maintenance receipts came with the car. They owned it from 1984 up until a few years ago when they sold it to my z guy. It’s completely bone stock and an extremely complete car. Very different to my 240z... There are a few dings and scratches in the paint but overall in very good condition, a couple panels have been resprayed as the color match is a bit off, a few surface rust spots have started coming up, but nothing too crazy. The interior is the highlight for me, it’s in amazing condition and I absolutely love the red. Red and white combo is si magnifique! The one drawback is the auto box, god it’s horrible. But the car came with a manual pedal box, and I have a W71B that was in my 240z which if I’m not mistaken was the original 5 speed installed in these. Just need to source a 3.9 diff and those are the big items sorted. Plans for the car: This will not be a tear down project. This will be a preservation and maintenance project. That doesn’t mean I don’t have any modifications planned. I am well aware that this car is most valuable if left alone. But I cannot help but want to improve it. The stock suspension is too squishy and the engine performance is choked. All modifications will be bolt on. All stock components will be stored away so that the car can go back to original if need be. Wheels and tyres Manual conversion with lightened flywheel and LSD diff Coilovers Cold air intake and headers and exhaust Strut braces front and back Sway bars Camshaft This should all bring the car up to a better level and the stock ecu/afm should be ok with it. I’m not in a huge rush to do these as I still have my 240z project to consider. And that is the story of the Unloved Z
    2 points
  2. Hello! Will be keeping an eye out for this one for sure! Kind regards, Michael
    2 points
  3. _mloo

    WTB 260z 2+2 or 280ZX

    Hi Gav, I saw this in the cars for sale section - might be something to keep an eye out on if I can't find an s30 or s130. I spoke to rubberman about a potential down in Adelaide but it's quite tentative as we're not sure if the owner wants to let it go or keep it now Hopefully things work out and I can join the Z club!
    1 point
  4. Oliphips

    The Unloved Z

    That’s a great car, love the velour red
    1 point
  5. Tony Mahonie

    Mahonie

    Here’s the plates, and holes in the dash. Yep, 919 yellow from factory. I’ll add the hazard wiring to the dash wiring tidy up l’m completing now. I had no intermittent speed on the wipers when I purchased this Z, I changed it over to intermittent, then 2 more speeds. The colour got changed by the previous owners to diablo red I think. I Kept it diablo red. You can see it in the profile shot. Looks similar to sjcurtis post, on June 30, 2006. No writing near the glovebox. The dash was re-skinned before me in beige, then I dyed it back to black. Might be “abitza” Z, thanks for helping.
    1 point
  6. Buy yourself one of these: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/162693902809?hash=item25e14ff1d9:g:WbcAAOSwcINfCKRi And ask your local media blaster if you can have a couple of buckets of his old worn out garnet. I have one and I couldn't work without it.
    1 point
  7. 1 point
  8. OdinZ

    WTB 240z 260z 2-seater

    shameful bump. lol
    1 point
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