Tuesday, November 30, 2010

STR Champion and Top Ten Overall

Well the final results for the South Bend Region SCCA Autocross season got posted. I already knew, but it is now official that I won my class. This year the Datsun ran in Street Tire R (STR) and even though I won mostly because I ran the most races I am still excited to win and I hope the trophies this year are cool. Last year class champs got garage tire racks from the Tire Rack ($100+ value). I could use a set for the second set of wheels for the Z...

I also now have the final results of the overall points leaders for the entire club (200+). This year I ranked in 7th place overall! We get points for attending meetings, write blog articles, winning races, and for holding leadership positions within the club. This year I was chair of two Street Survival Schools, co-chair of timing and scoring for autocross events and on the autocross leadership team (plan events, set up, etc.). The prize for being a top twenty member is usually a polo shirt or a jacket. I can always use more car gear!

The awards banquet is on January 15th... when I have family in town. So not sure yet, but I think I might take my dad and brother Andres if they want to go. If not, I will miss it and get my trophies later. Just excited to be ranked and to have won my class.

Now on the downside... went to move the Datsun tonight and she wouldn't start for me... sounds like a bad starter or solenoid... so I need to track down that part ASAP. I need to move her and make room in the garage, in the winter we keep the Jetta inside for Heather.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Worried Parent

I took the Z this week into Tough Guy Industries to get the gas tank removed, restored and replaced. It is a common problem on the Zs, and more especially on a 35 year old car that sat in storage for years. You never know if the tank was dirty inside, rusting, or if it is keeping pressure well still.

Whenever the Z is in a shop... I am like a worried parent wondering when the shop will call, what if its a bad news and I have a huge bill, or worse if the call is saying that the car is no good. I lose sleep, I am searching online for new gas tanks in case I need to buy one, and looking at other Zs in case mine is junk and I need to buy a new car.

After a day of waiting I got a call from them... they said the tank had been removed and restored before. The inside of the tank had a new lining, so they cleaned it for me again, and put it back in. Saves me money, and while she was in there they were able to pull off my bumper shock towers for me, so the rear end of the Z is looking good (you have to remove the exhaust and gas tank to get the bumper shocks out).

Now the down side is that this saving me money, but I have not found the issue with why the Z is lacking power... so the work continues on trying to get her faster! At least I can worry about one less item... 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

First Publication!

Well it isn't the cover of Motortrend... or a feature about the fastest Z at SCCA nationals... but the Z made her first publications. The student newspaper where I work did an interview with me. Of course my hobbies came up and with it, the Z.

So this week the IUSB Preface has a nice little article about me and a picture of Me and My Z. the article is not on their website yet, but when it is I will link it here for you all to check out.

Full Article: Preface

I was touched that a student wanted to do a profile of me, and glad they showed more than just my work side of life and include my family, hobbies and other items.

Monday, September 13, 2010

All grown up... First Car Show!

The local drive in malt shop on Sundays does a classic car night. I have driven by a few times and wanted to check out the cars. Well then I thought, wait... I should take the Z!

So this past Sunday the Z made her debut at Bonnie Doons. Heather and I got there a little late, so we had to park in the overflow lot. With is alright, I didn't even detail the Z yet. She had a few people walk by and check her out.

We enjoyed the show and of course here in South Bend it means lots of Studabakers. There were a few cool custom hot rods, some classic restores and a few more modern rides and unfortunately even a couple riced up cars as well. The ricey cars make the Z mad cause they ruin the rep of Japanese rides.

So this weekend was a good car weekend. Hermen and I had a Team PLP reunion and did the brakes on the Jetta. We learned about crazy German engineering and it took nearly as long to learn how to use the fancy brake tool I bought. Ha.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Seats... yep two of them!

So I finally got the bolt out for the seat. I bought a stuck bolt remover... broke it... so I just took the reciprocating saw out and cut the backside of the bracket off. So I got the seats in, took her for a cruise and snapped a picture since the lighting was good outside.

Now I really can't wait to get the rest of the interior conversion to all black interior done.

Monday, September 6, 2010

New Seats... well new Seat...

So I have been working on a project to change the seats in the Z. The car came with ugly brown vinyl and tweed seats... luckily thanks to one of my students who spotted a Z in a local junkyard I was able to find a cheap upgrade.

The junkyard Z had white leather seats, and luckily in great condition. They had some spotting and stains, but I was going to dye them black so it didn't matter. My dad helped me go to the junkyard and pull them and the project began. I decided to go with Rustoleum vinyl and leather dye in a gloss black. It is available at autozone and the ratings online were as good as the more expensive professional stuff.

I had some issues dying the seats... not sure if it was a bad spray can, or the temp but on my last coat of dye something went wrong. So I cleaned the seats again and after some work finally got a good finish on them. They ended up looking like new! I should of painted the brackets on the seats as well, but I figure when I finally put carpet in the car I will take the seats out again and I can do it then. I was in a hurry to get the seats in the car so I could wait for more painting.
I got one short delay... which of course happens on each Z project... one of the screws on the bracket would not come out from the original seat. I have tried everything and nothing... I don't want to risk stripping the screw more, so I might have my shop try to torch it out, or maybe just buy one of those screw removing tools

Anyhow... for more pics click HERE. the black interior conversion has taken one big step forward. No more ripped up ugly seats!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sunday with the Z and Novali

So today I finally got the new AFM boot set up into the car. I must say that it looks good... but I am iffy on whether or not it is going to work correctly. When I first put it in she ran ROUGH... sputtered and stalled out. So I tweaked it, made sure the connections were all tight and then tried it again. She sputtered just a little... I reved her high and then she smoothed out! I like the look of the new boot (the old one was crusty, taped together and even new didn't look as cool as this polished aluminum pipe, black couplers and chrome clamps.

So I figured lets go for a quick drive around the block which is one of my favorite Sunday activities.  Well en route out of the driveway she died and would not start again. Hum... I then realized that my gas gauge was on E. I normally keep her fairly low for autocross but never thought I left her get that low. I got more gas later and get her started and ran her around the block and she ran strong. Problem is... with a 35 year old gas tank, letting her run out of gas is not good... So I better snag a new fuel filter now as well.
Anyhow I had planned on Sunday to hit the junkyard. I wanted to get one more thing for me, and a couple guys on my forum asked for a few more parts. I decided to skip the trip because it was really hot and lost time in the morning when the Z died on me. Well Heather had told Novali that maybe she could go with me and she really wanted to go. So I could not turn that down and off we went. She helped pull the AFM, the steering wheel and combo switch from the car as well as some other misc plastic interior items I might need.

I snagged a quick little video of her hard at work! It is a proud day having my daughter wrench with me. She knows of screw drivers from Handy Manny, but now she knows about a ratchet and sockets. I wonder if she will remember for next time.

Well anyhow... the fusible link upgrade will have to wait until later. I did paint the relay bracket and cover to the shunt. So it at least looks a lot nicer, I need to get a multimeter so I can test wires before I start digging in. Here is a pic of the parts cleaned up and painted.

At least the engine bay is looking better... I still have to start getting more performance out of her. Performance cost money and right now I am just enjoying the Datsun the way she is... but soon... hopefully soon we will get her running faster!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Heat Wave of 2010

Well I am in the middle of two projects on the Z... but in this heat I can't work outside long enough to get knee deep into my projects. But here are some updates on where I am with my work.

AFM Boot - my Air Fuel Meter boot has some tears in it. It was taped up and I think this is causing some of my lack of power. I think air is leaking around it. Well an OEM replacement is about 60 bucks and I can't find a good used one. My 1975 was the only year of my type of boot before they switched in 76 to a more eco friendly model with an EGR. So I decided to upgrade the part and get a smoother flowing pipe instead of a flexible crush bent rubber tube. I order some silcone couplers, claps and a universal mandrel bent pipe. I just need to get the pipe cut to length now and I should be done. I am wondering if I should do a CAI (Cold Air Intake) upgrade while I am at it... but thats is another $45... so I will wait.

Fusible Links - I had to re-wrire one of my fusible links when I get the car. Most people upgrade their fusible links to a Maxi fuse set up. Well my links are working fine now but I figured this would be an easy upgrade to do to the car, clean up the engine bay a little and get one more item off the list of things to do to the Z. Well not that easy i guess... the write ups for the job are either on 240Zs (70-74) or on the later 280Z models (77-78) which all have different wiring. I thought it would be similar enough that I could figure it out... well not so much. Most of the people who do the upgrade do it when either their links fail and they have to re-wire the whole thing anyways, or when they upgrade to a new alternator and can remove the external voltage regulator. So since all of mine is fine right now... I might have to wait on this project.

SOOOO... what is next for the Z? I think this weekend I can finish the AFM boot install. I painted the Fusible link bracket so I will spruce that up a little and put it back together. I can take my baby for a cruise and then she has to go back to the trans shop since it is leaking a little again.

Anyhow... new pics coming soon of the upgrades once I finish them.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Anniversary AutoCross

August 1st was my first wedding anniversary. Luckily I am married to a great woman who loves me and understand my love of cars and racing and of course my love of the Z.














It was the 6th event in the South Bend Region, SCCA Solo Series. I am currently in the lead of the STR Class and this would be my first season win. Luckily for this event no other STR cars showed so I easily won my class. So I inched a little closer to an end of the year trophy.

The event was a lot of fun and on top of my class win I ranked 27th out of the 40 cars total at the event. Not bad for a car that I have yet to do any performance modifications on. Heather and Novali came and watched this event and I am glad that Novali takes a little interest in cars. She does love going for rides in the Z and last time I took her for a spin she told me, "I love going fast!"

Monday, June 21, 2010

Father's Day with my Dad and the Z

I love working on cars... and so does my dad. Not sure if it would of been his number one choice of fun bonding but we did some work for the Z... not on the Z, but for the Z. What does that mean you might ask... we went to a junkyard and got parts from another Z, that will eventually go on my Z. 

 On Sunday, in between World Cup matches we went to a local auto salvage place where they have a Z with tons of parts I wanted. The main item was some leather seats, which are currently white and in great shape. I hope to turn them into black leather seats and get rid of my ugly brown vinyl and tweed seats in my Z right now. I also scored a ton of other parts. Engine inspection light, glove box door, shift boot clips, extra screws, AFM boot, HVAC ducts, and the best item was a second set of the full taillight panel. I want to paint that black. So now I can paint this second set, get it done and ready and easily just swap them out. Then I sell that set. 

It was a good day... I scored the entire list of parts for just $75 which is about what one seat goes for on my forum. So can't beat this deal on a lot of stuff! 

Thanks to my pop for getting sweaty with me out there and working on cars like we did with my old Camaro when I was just 15 years old... We ended the outing with some KFC and watched the Brazil game. Happy Fathers Day!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Datsun Cologne

For a limited time I have been wearing Datsun Cologne to work... you might ask, what is that and where do I get some?

Well it is only for a limited time (hopefully) but here is why I am wearing it to work. My parents are here visiting from Bolivia, and when they visit I loan them my Altima so they can roll around in style (and so they don't have to rent a car for 6 weeks).

Until this year my back up car was a respectable red 2002 Nissan SpecV that didn't produce any funny smells. Well this year my back up car (back up car = race car) is the Z. As I noted before the Z burns oil, and also leaks a little exhaust, and also has some gaps in the taillights that help the leaked smelly exhaust get into the car...

So that means on long drives in the Z, when I get out I am wearing my Datsun Cologne. I might try to market it at Macy's but I doubt I will be able to throw in a free handbag with $60 purchase so it might never catch on.

Monday, June 7, 2010

First Autocross!

It's Go time. Start Your Engines...


The weekend of June 4-6, 2010 was the Great Lakes Division (GLD) Solo Series Event #1 sponsored by the South Bend Region SCCA (my car club). I work timing and scoring for the club this year so I get to help with all the fun tech stuff for the events. It does mean I have to arrive early and leave late, but I like being involved.

So the first two races of the year I had to borrow a car from other members. The first race I ran in a 1986 Mazda RX-7 which is similar set up to the Z. Then the second race a fellow Z driver let me co-drive a 1990 Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo... that thing was a beast and a lot of fun to try and drive.

Well for this event I was able to get the car ready. It is a two day event that counts for points for our regional trophies and for the divisional series event. It drew cars from all over the midwest so it was a strong field of competitors. The first day we had a lot of rain, and the second day was sunny.

The Z was fun to drive! I have a lot of learning how to balance and handle a rear wheel drive car, and the Z needs more work to be competitive... but for not I am just glad I was able to race my Z. I registered here in STR Class and hope to try and keep her in that class. If not I might move to an SP class but we will see in the future. Here are my results:

Saturday
STR - 1st of 1 car
Overall Pax - 66th of 86

Sunday
STR - 2nd of 2 cars
Overall Pax - 88th of 91 (ouch)

Weekend
STR - 1st of 2
Index - 69th of 97

So overall I did alright, I had fun and I got a trophy both days for my class. I got some fun pictures. More Pics Here: First Autocross

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Throw some Ds on that Z

Well I didn't get D's (20 inch rims) on the Z, cause they won't fit, and two I am not that bling (18s on the Altima are as big as I go). I did finally get tires and mounted the new rims on the Z. It is pretty exciting because the tires on the car were nearly 12 years old and had horrible flat spots so they road super bumpy.

So this is the biggest mod done on the car so far and man does she look mean now. Here are the specs of what I got:

XXR 513 Wheels in 16x8 with a Zero Offset (XXR Wheels)
Kumho Ecsta AST Tires in 225/50R16 (Kumho)

I have always had good luck with my Kumho tires in the past and the deal from Discount Tire was way to good to pass up. Good timing as always!

So it was a good Z weekend. I got the transmission leak fixed, got the new rubber and rims on her and she is looking mean. Now I can start putting the center console back in the car since the trans work is done.

The rest of the weekend will be yardwork... but the plan will be to get the interior back together as best I can because next week I want to take her to her first race. Hopefully we will be racing at Grissom (SBR Series #3 and #4 races).

Monday, May 17, 2010

Parts, Parts and more Parts

Today I drove 30 minutes up to Michigan to buy more... more Datsun parts. I think it is a scary addition. However this was a good deal that I could not turn down. For $50 I got two boxes full of black interior pieces, a wood style steering wheel, some turn signal lenses, window trim, a full set of gauges and some emblems.

You might not be as excited as I am... but I want to convert my interior to black and this is nearly all the parts I need. Plus the spare gauges will help me when I swap out to new modern gauges.


The cool pick up are the emblems. I have a few different types already, I like these bigger disks, they won't actually fit my model but they will make good wall art in my Datsun garage area.


Unfortunately there wasn't a new frame rail in the box... I still need to find a shop to weld up my floors for me.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Sans Bumpers

Well while I am waiting to get the head rebuilt (I am slowly stock piling all the parts I will need) I decided to work on some other projects. One was to take the super heavy bumpers off the car. In 1975 they added bigger bumpers to the car to meet crash ratings. Well weight isn't good on a sports car, so I took them off and will be shopping around for some used older style bumpers to put on the car.

So here is a before and after picture... I actually really like it with no bumper!
BEFORE:

AFTER:


The rear is also a big difference I will post more pictures later. For now I wanted to share a picture of my garage space. Our house has a small two car garage... and I mean two cars and not much else! So I have to be creative in how to fit everything in there that I need.

I bought a small shelf that converts into a low profile workbench. I organized it and bought a small parts bin rack for all the little odds and ends I will be collecting (and that I already have). I made a space for race equipment and hung up my Nissan and Datsun banners. Until I get to overhaul the garage and really make it car friendly this will do, I like it!

So tomorrow is the second autocross of the season... still not ready to race the Z... gun shy and my friend Fred offered to let me co-drive his 300zx Twin Turbo so I can't turn that offer down! Wish me luck... first autocross in a Z!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mothers Day Cruise

My friend Fred came over today. He owns a 300ZX Twin Turbo... which is awesome and he offered to come over and help out with my Z for a little bit. He is going to be helping me pull the head and replace it. Today we ended up just doing some odds and ends.

So while I had helped we jacked up the rear end of the car and worked on getting the rear bumper off. I want to swap out the heavier 280z bumpers for either a clean no bumper look or get some 240z bumpers. They came off really easy, but I need to figure out how to get the bumper shock absorbers off. I like the look with no rear bumper.

Luckily it was painted under the bumper, once I had it half off I got worried it wouldn't be painted under there... but the last guy did a good job painting it. So now later this week I want to try and take the front bumper off. Man those things are heavy!

Then we took the Z on some country roads... I finally really burned some rubber on her and pushed her hard. We went and checked out Fred's Z and the work he is doing on it. He is doing some stereo work so I will be able to help him with that since he can help me with more mechanical work.

Autocross on May 16th... I think I might give the Z a shot! If not, Fred said I can co-drive his Z. So either way this Sunday I will be autocrossing a Z!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

May Flowers

Well April showers, a busy work and travel schedule means the Z has been a little lonely in the garage. Today kicks off May, and I am in Indianapolis this weekend... however now work slows down and I hope to get some evenings back in the garage with the Z soon.

So some updates on the Z. I got a set of wheels, no tires yet though. So I have a set of 16x8 XXR wheels in the garage waiting to get tires and get mounted on the Z.

I am shopping around right now for a machine shop to work on the head for me. I want to get it done right, but don't want to spend a ton. So talking to car club folks to see on some good recommendations.

Here is a pic of the rims sitting in my garage... I hope they don't collect dust for too long...


I am still selling a few of my SpecV parts as well... have my 17x7 Flik wheels and Falken Azenis tires to unload. Posting them on Craigslist this week now that I have some time to get things cleared out of the garage.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Summer Time

Well today the weather hit 80 degrees... in mid-April... Crazy! I finally got the right brake parts in and my shop slapped her back together. So I picked her up after work and we went for a cruise. Ran some errands, stopped at the post office to get a package, and drove around the neighborhood.

It is spring time and the flowers are blooming, the dandelions are poppin' up and I got the lawn mower out. That means soon it will be time to wash the Z in the drive way. Well I am deciding on what wheels to get for her (I am selling two other sets of rims from the Spec so I can afford these). What do you think of these babies?

It will be the first major purchase for the Z... but the tires on her have bad flat spots from sitting in storage for so long and I want something bigger for the street. I will end up making the wheels on her now the autocross wheels.

Still trying to get her to stop burning oil... looks like the head needs to be rebuilt. I have never even pulled a head off so I doubt I want to tackle the project. I can get a rebuilt head for only a couple hundred bucks so maybe I go that route and just worry about doing the installation myself. Hum...

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Taking a Brake

So right now she is waiting on brake parts... so she is taking a "brake". So please no emails about my grammar getting worse. Ha.

Both rear wheel cylinders on the car leak, I tracked down some cheap parts. Not doing anything performance, because down the road I would like to do a disc brake conversion. So no need in spending extra money right now. In the future... disc brakes, SS brake lines, etc. For now, lets just get her back on the road.

I am shopping around for someone that can rebuild the head, or at least replace the valve guides and seals. I think that is the problem based on all the different things I have read and the shops that have looked at it. The scary thing is, you can't know the extent of the issues until you get it apart... I do know that the cylinders compression tested fine so it should just be a little head work and she will be rolling.

It was fun on Friday I took Novali for a spin in the Z. She found it funny that half of the interior was out of it and lying on the garage floor. She also liked that the car wasn't a lot taller than she is... ha.

Well hopefully soon she is road ready... and more importantly ready for to Autocross. Season kicks off on April 25th.

Monday, March 29, 2010

First Photoshoot

Well Friday night I got the first good pictures of the car. Soon I will get some interior photos together (once I get all the missing parts and wiring fixed). The exterior for the most part is in good shape. The bumpers and front spoiler need some work that I will tackle sooner than later, but the rest is in good shape. She sure does turn heads everywhere I go! After the pictures Heather and I went for a cruise on a curvy road... when I got her up to speed she started smoking a little and this time you could really smell it in the car. So I know I have an exhaust leak up front somewhere... one more thing on the list to fix... 

Luckily just the other day I drove by a muffler shop that had an early 70s Z (a 240z) sitting in their lot. So gonna run the Z over there to see about fixing the exhaust. Plus maybe I can find someone here in town with more Z experience.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Take Your Z to Work Day

TGIF. 

Decided today I would drive the Z to work. Maybe tonight after work I can take D out to dinner in the Z. We could kick it old school and go to Bonnie Doons and have a car hop serve us in the car. Make the Z remember her glory days. The problem is there are no cup holders for the milkshakes... So this week I have been working on the interior and figuring out all the wiring. It wasn't in as bad of shape as I thought... well that is the current diagnosis. I got all the harnesses plugged in, matched wires and the shift boot that was just laying in the car is now properly installed and has a nice MOMO shift knob installed that my wife got me for the SpecV.

I had fun this week doing all the research on the wiring inside the car. The car was originally an automatic so there are some wires in there that just don't go to anything anymore that the previous owners just left hanging. Plus in 1975 was the first year they had all the smog restrictions so I have wire harnesses for some EPA stuff that has since been removed from the car. The hard wiring project will be trying to figure out how to wire a radio into there... all the wires were cut so it will be a frustrating afternoon sitting there testing wire to wire to see what drives which speaker, power, etc. 

Until then, it is cruisin' in the Z with no tunes.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

First Cruise in the Z

Well I got her out of the shop yesterday afternoon and we went for a cruise. Well, ran some errands, but I had the window rolled down and would of had the radio cranked up if it had one. Details details... 

First round of repairs got her road worthy. Basically a tune up, she got new spark plugs and a new injector (#1). We fixed one trans leak from the main seal to the output shaft. Next on the list is doing the brakes, I have never worked on drum brakes so we will see how it goes. 

So we took a cruise... I drove from the shop home, then to the BMV to get her registered and order my new title (yeah!). It took a lot of driving around to find the BMV... man IN makes everything difficult but I enjoyed the extra drive time. In between trips I snapped a couple pics of the Z... 


So good story... after the BMV I had to run to ACE. Sunday I dropped off my Z keys at ACE because I was in the hurry. Heather was going to pick them up for me. Well they gave my keys to someone else! Luckily they tracked down who they gave the keys to and got them for me... Whew it was the only set that came with the car! Unfortunately the keys were not cut well and didn't work. So I went down there to get them fixed... 10 key blanks later I finally got one ignition copy made that kinda worked, two ignition keys that sorta worked, and two new door keys. Hope not every project on the Z will be this hard! 

I finally made it home, it was dark already and luckily all the exterior lights work on her (side markers, headlights, brights, turn signals, dash lights, etc.). I took Heather out for her first cruise in the Z. We drove around the neighborhood, by the Frank Lloyd Wright house, and I put the peddle down a little. Felt good.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Back from the Doctor

Well she was in the shop for a few days. They found a laundry list of things I need to do... first order of business was finding why she was running rich and burning oil. Well Injector #1 was not functioning properly. I tracked down a part over the weekend, and we got that in as well as all new spark plugs. The cylinders all had good compression and with some adjustments to the idle she is running pretty well. 

The mechanical to do list right now... Replace both rear brake cylinders Air Flow Meter Boot and lots of other hoses are cracked and worn Leaking trans oil from the shifter assembly (very slow leak) New exhaust... I think from header back (at least new gaskets) Front suspension is fairly tight, but needs updates... 

Besides that she runs and drives great. The exterior of the car looks very nice, but the interior is missing a lot of parts. She doesn't have carpet, missing dash pieces, and the center console has seen better days. Some of the positives though are that the dash has no cracks and the windows and chrome trim are all in good shape. The seat belts are a little iffy so I need to get those replaced soon. Got her from the shop this afternoon and heading out to get her registered, keys made, and just enjoy driving her around!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Restoration Road - Step 1

So the first order of business was to get the car to the shop to get properly checked out. Well the car wouldn't start without needing to be jumped, so I figured, lets fix that first. Took the battery out (rusty bolts made the job 10 times harder than it needed to be) and got it tested. Battery as I suspected was bad, so I bought a new one and while I was at it got new battery cables (both). While under the hood I noticed a wire on my fusible link was being held together by one wire, so I made a new jumper wire for that as well. She turned right on, and I drove her to the shop. As I type she is at the shop getting checked out... it is nice getting her in a shop on a hoist to get a thorough check out. Wish her luck in there!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Introducing

Welcome to my newest Blog... "Me and My Z"... 

On March 15th, 2010 I traded in my Sentra SpecV and got a 1975 Datsun 280Z. For those who know me have seen me drool over Z cars for over a decade. I always wanted to get a 1978 Datsun so I could own a car my same age and we could grow old together... Well I decided to just shop for a good deal and find a fun Z to drive. I also am a firm believer that patience is a virtue, and that things happen for the right reasons. 

Well the weekend of March 14th I had a consulting gig in Chicago. So I did a quick craigslist search and there was a nice looking 280Z. I looked up the address, and it was 2 miles from the location I was consulting at on Sunday and Monday. WOW. So I decided to drive the SpecV to Chicago that weekend (usually only drive it in the summer), and to add to the odd timing the registration on my SpecV expired that week, so selling her also saved me new registration (I put off registering her since I was shopping for a new car).

The car was nearly rust free, had a fairly new paint job, mostly complete interior (missing radio, some panels and carpet) and turned right on. She smoked a little, actually a lot, and she was running rich and burning a little oil. I took her for a drive and she shifted well, suspension was decent and the brakes worked. She kept smoking though... 

Well I worked a great deal on the car (I think) and the dealer paid to put her on a flat bed and drive me home. As I was leaving the dealer asked if I wanted all his Datsun stuff, he threw in two big boxes of stuff (interior parts, gaskets, new hoses, new battery tray, etc.). Here is a picture of her from the lot of the dealer. When I got to town I took her to my shop to diag the motor and start my list of repairs. 

Wish me luck on this new fun adventure!