Looking at a 260Z

[Nikki]

We're going to look at a 260Z this weekend, wish us luck!

I'm so excited, I'll finally have a car to be proud of that I can still beat around in without worrying about it.

It's a 1974 260Z with a 280Z motor in it. 9k miles on the motor and less than 70k miles on the chassis. paint is 7 years old.

they're asking $4500.

[shimshimhada]

That car looks great. I'd rock it. +1 intraweb shim point for Nikki.

[Nikki]

EEEEE i can't wait to drive it!

[ksfrogman]

I have a '74 Datsun 260Z with a 280Z block bored 150 over to accomodate Nissan Motorsports kit with 240SX pistons and Nissan Maxima diesel crankshaft. It now displaces 3.1L. I have front camber plates, coilovers and custom A-arms from Arizona-Z car, a 4.10 limited slip from a Nissan Silva, a 280Z 5-speed, 240Z cylinder heads and three mikinu side draft carbs. The 1972 240Z is the lightest, but this 260Z is stripped down. The early 1974 260Z has the smaller bumpers, but later that year, car manufacturers were mandated to handle a 5 mph front impact, hence bigger bumpers were installed.

[ksfrogman]

Btw, the one in those pictures has aftermarket bumper covers, but I no bumpers. Check the floor pans for rust. Those cars were notorious for that. I replaced mine and had new ones welded in.

[Nikki]

Wow, do you have pics?

I am aware the bumper is not stock...I wonder how well this car will hold up in a collision.

[shimshimhada]

LOL WHO CARES?

[ksfrogman]

I'll dig up my pics. My car is sitting in a friend's barn in Missouri. I had no way to bring it back, and no room for it here. It's strictly for autocross.

When I get home tonight, I'll dig up the photos, but PM me if you have any questions about the car. A friend of mine had a 240Z he used to autocross. He was the master mechanic for a Toyota dealership in Kansas City. He bored his 280Z motor 50 over, had some valve work done, had flathead pistons, 240Z heads, and a 5-speed manual from a 280Z. The Z-car weighed only about 2300 lbs, compared with my Supra which was HEAVY (3700? I believe?!). It's all about power to weight ratios.

I had a 1989 Toyota Supra Turbo (Intercooled) with 292 HP (HKS 2.5" exhaust, variable boost control, 17-inch wheels, soft Yokohama tires, Eibach springs, aftermarket front stabilizers, K&N intake and smoothed out intake runners. We took our cars to KCIR dragstrip. I went through the 1/4-mile at 14.33 secs @ 99.11 mph, but he went through at 14 seconds flat @97 mph. He jumped out ahead by two car lengths at the very beginning, and I couldn't catch him at the end. He eventually switched to the 4.10 gears and was able to reduce his 1/4 mile time to 13.5. Unbelievable for a tiny normally aspirated car.

If you don't want to dish out the money for the Mikinu carbs, you can get a hold of the stock SU carbs that are incredible! Cylinder head and piston choices will affect your compression ratio, and different head designs have different ports. Some have square ones, others have circular ones.

[ksfrogman]

Originally Posted by shimshimhada

LOL WHO CARES?

Not bragging. Just excited that someone is interested in a car that I invested a lot of energy, thought and elbow grease into.

One of these days you'll stumble upon an orange farmer who is into making fruit faces and you'll understand.

I have a fleeting suspicion that the new M (Z4) coupe has some styling cues in the rear 3/4 section that derives from 1st generation Z influence.

[vladinecko]

oh man, that is beautiful! and at that price, a bargain too!! i'm really jealous! that car is so ahead of its time.

are you gonna claim it as an antique (insurance) since it's not going to be your primary car?

by the way, the right front tire is a little flat...

[shimshimhada]

Originally Posted by ksfrogman

Not bragging. Just excited that someone is interested in a car that I invested a lot of energy, thought and elbow grease into.

One of these days you'll stumble upon an orange farmer who is into making fruit faces and you'll understand.

I have a fleeting suspicion that the new M (Z4) coupe has some styling cues in the rear 3/4 section that derives from 1st generation Z influence.

I was referring to Nikki's comment about how the bumper will hold up in a collision.

[longtran]

nice car. my friend had one. i drove it a couple of time.

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

oh man, that is beautiful! and at that price, a bargain too!! i'm really jealous! that car is so ahead of its time.

are you gonna claim it as an antique (insurance) since it's not going to be your primary car?

by the way, the right front tire is a little flat...

yeah will will claim it as a recreational vehicle and I think we'll get a multi-car discount nwo too
i also noticed the tire, it's just because it's been sitting in the garage..the owner said the tires are in great shape.

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by ksfrogman

If you don't want to dish out the money for the Mikinu carbs, you can get a hold of the stock SU carbs that are incredible! Cylinder head and piston choices will affect your compression ratio, and different head designs have different ports. Some have square ones, others have circular ones.

It has the 280z motor with fuel injection. I don't know exactly what kind of work is done to it. We'll find out on Saturday.

[ksfrogman]

It will be interesting to see what model year 280Z motor it has. The 1975 280Z intake manifolds had round ports (if I remember correctly). For performance, those are preferable to the square ones that later models had. If you're buying just for fun, it probably makes no difference.

I'll dig up those pics tonight when I get off work.

[Nikki]

went to look at the car...let's just say the guy left out a lot of details.


the motor swap was kind of sloppy, the paint was beautiful but wasn't prepped right so there were bubbles everywhere, there was rear bumper damage, the headlights/blinkers/hazards were nonfunctional, a couple other things, but in general it was not worth that kind of money and we couldn't get it even if we wanted to because we couldn't drive it home without headlights/blinkers/hazards.

oh well, we will keep looking

[shimshimhada]

that sucks. Good luck on your search.