Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

1978 Datsun 280z Resto-mod on 2040-cars

US $12,750.00
Year:1978 Mileage:113957
Location:

Byron Center, Michigan, United States

Byron Center, Michigan, United States
Advertising:

For Sale, 1978 Datsun/Nissan 280z.  Inline 6, 5 speed manual, rear wheel drive. 113,957.

I bought this car in 2008 shortly after it had been fully restored.  The restoration process included a full strip down, rotisserie rust removal, fresh paint and engine rebuild.  The engine had less that 100,000 miles on it when it was rebuilt.  I purchased the car with a bit over 100,000 miles on it.  I have put about 12,000 miles on it in the last 5 years.

I continued to improve on the restoration with performance (and other) modifications over the last several years.   These include Tokico Illumina struts and lowering springs,  a “big throat” throttle body and leather seats.  You can see in the pictures that the car has been lowered with struts/springs and custom camber plates.  This Z sits over 4 inches lower than stock.  No tire rub ever though.

I have not had the car dyno tested but I estimate that it is putting out around 45 hp over stock, maybe more.  What ever the numbers are, this Z is very quick, handles like a race car and is silly fun to drive.  

The car gets loads of attention everywhere I go.  Lots of looks, and thumbs-ups and I have even come back to it in a parking lot a couple of times to find people taking photos of it.

A full shop manual, car cover, bin of extra parts (including a spare starter, alternator, and fuel rail) come with the car too.

I’m selling the car because I just don’t drive it enough and I’d rather see it go to someone that is going to have more time to enjoy it.

I have really enjoyed owning this car, but now it is time to let it move onto the next guy.  It is a very reliable, and fast Z and who ever ends up with it will not be disappointed. It would make a great track day car or daily driver.

I have loads more photos including over 60 of the restoration process.  

Below, is a chronological list of all the work that has gone into this car.  

Everything that happened before I bought it is listed as 2007.


2007:

tear down

sand blasted and repainted all suspension parts

rotisserie body rust removal

custom sheet metal work

new rings

new seals

ported and polished heads

79 5-speed trans installed

urethane suspension bushings 

pickle x rust proofing

custom metallic paint


2008

FJ62 Totoya Land Cruiser 4 piston brake calipers

17 inch BSA wheels/spacers

Tokico Illumina 5 way adjustable gas struts

Tokico lowering springs

billet bump steer spacers (to maintain stock steering geometry)

MSD fuel pump

Parking brake cable

custom short shift lever (notched 240z 4-speed lever shortens the throughs significantly)

Nismo shift knob

Nismo grill badge

Spectre cold air intake

keyless entry, power locks


2009

Brake master cylinder

Toyo Proxes 4 tires


2010

new seat foam

new leather seat upholstry

Z logo floor mats

Momo Competition steering wheel


2011

K&N cold air intake (upgrade from the Spectre)

Big throat throttle body

Clutch master cylinder

Clutch slave cylinder


2012

rising rate fuel pressure regulator

new leather shift boot

billet Z logo door lock pulls


2013

Pertronix FlameThrower coil



Auto Services in Michigan

Winners Auto & Cycle ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Auto Engine Rebuilding, Automotive Tune Up Service
Address: 17700 Telegraph Rd, Romulus
Phone: (734) 229-1009

Westborn Auto Service ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service
Address: 2823 Monroe St, Hazel-Park
Phone: (313) 565-0220

Weber Transmission Company ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Parts & Supplies, Auto Transmission
Address: 130 Oakdale Ave, Luna-Pier
Phone: (419) 698-1011

Vaneck Auto Body ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Body Repairing & Painting, Dent Removal
Address: 4520 Chicago Dr SW, Grandville
Phone: (616) 532-1626

US Wheel Exchange ★★★★★

Automobile Parts & Supplies, Wheels, Automobile Accessories
Address: 25245 John R Rd, Keego-Harbor
Phone: (248) 373-1300

U Name IT Auto ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Brake Repair
Address: 7162 E Apple Ave, Ravenna
Phone: (231) 788-1970

Auto blog

Malaise Era All-Stars

Fri, 17 May 2013

A few weeks ago, we bid a fond happy 40th anniversary to the automotive dark ages of 1973-84 that have come to be known as "The Malaise Era" - the performance ice-age when 160 horsepower was a lot and a 0-60 time of under 10 seconds was remarkable. Like music in the 1980s, everything in automobiledom didn't suck, however. There were a few bright spots. Here are five of our favorites:
1976-79 Porsche 930, aka 911 Turbo Carrera (above)
Photo Credit: Dorotheum

Renault planning a Tata Nano rival. Again.

Wed, 28 Nov 2012

Four years ago, Renault confirmed that it would partner with India's Bajaj Auto to develop a rival to the Tata Nano. At the time, as everyone waited for the Tata Nano to arrive, you could have used a Richter scale to measure the tremors the executive suites of any automaker with an interest in the low end of emerging markets. Then the Nano, still the cheapest car in the world, didn't sell so well - at the end of last year its sales were just six percent of its most conservative projections - and everyone seemed content to let Tata spend the money to figure out if there really was a market for the cheapest car in the world.
Renault believes there is, kind of. Automotive News Europe reports that it will partner with Nissan to build two low-priced cars for emerging markets, one for €3,000 ($3,888 U.S.) and another for €5,000 ($6,400 U.S.). The price of the least expensive offering is nearly $1,400 more than a Nano, which costs $2,500, and that can't be considered a small sum in comparison. But one of the hindsight knocks on the Nano has been that even in emerging markets buyers don't want a car whose biggest lure is that it is cheap; they'd rather give their aspirations a bit more of a workout.
Renault's offerings are scheduled to hit the non-Western market in late 2014, which is coincidentally the same year that will see the return of the budget-minded and emerging-market-specific Datsun nameplate. They'll be built in Renault facilities in Chennai, India, with no mention made of Bajaj this time around.

Datsun's lackluster initial sales fall below Tata Nano

Wed, 15 Oct 2014

When Tata introduced the Nano back in 2008, everyone was amazed at how cheap it was. They called it a game changer, but no game was changed. In fact, it took Tata five years to sell the 250,000 units it had the capacity to build in a single year. As it turns out, even buyers in what economists call "developing markets" like India aren't necessarily interested in buying an ultra-cheap automobile. And now it appears that Nissan may be falling into the same trap.
A little over a year ago, Nissan revived its old moniker Datsun to serve as a budget brand - similar to what ally Renault did with Dacia. Its lineup (consisting of models like the Go hatchback, Go+ minivan, On-Do sedan and Mi-Do hatch) is largely based on old architecture, packaged with little more than basic equipment and sold at rock-bottom prices. But Bloomberg reports that, even in the brand's core markets like India and Indonesia, the new Datsuns haven't been selling.
According to local industry figures, Datsun has sold fewer than 10,000 units of its $5,100 Go hatchbacks in India since its introduction back in March. Maruti Suzuki, by comparison, sells twice that many of its similarly priced Alto hatchbacks every month. In fact, after peaking in April, Datsun only sold 607 units in India this past July, dipping 77 percent to drop below even the number of Nanos which Tata sold that month.