Faults:
My Z-car ran perfectly all way up to at least 160,000 miles.
The front suspension is gone, the struts need replacing, the rack and pinion is shot, but that to be expected with the mileage.
The fuel injectors are starting to leak slightly, but the car still starts and runs fine.
The body only has minor rust, luckily I live in central Florida which is somewhat rust preventative. No road salt.
The paint is the original red and is very faded and needs work.
The seats are OK, but the carpet need to be replaced.
General Comments:
I will never sell this car.
Although it needs a lot of restoring, I am the second owner and the car has never been wrecked.
The engine and transmission are in great condition, even with 180,000 miles on them.
I am definitely going to start restoring this car this year 2006, and can't wait to get started.
I am going to fix the mechanicals first, and the the paint and body work.
I am just going to fix one thing at at time until it is done.
This car has an awesome body style and is fairly quick once reaching 3500 rpm's.
I am going to have a good friend do the paint and body work, and return it to its original red color.
I love the idea of having this car restored, because of the z legend and you don't see hardly any older z's on the road anymore.
My car looks bad now, but it is definitely easily restoreable and very fun to drive.
8th May 2009, 23:07
I owned a 280ZX for about 7 years. It never left me stranded. Only replaced a couple of ball joints and the water pump at 24 years of age. I'd agree that it would be one the most reliable cars ever... and I drove mine hard too sometimes. A bit expensive on fuel... but what a car.