This may go a little long, but I think the story is worth it. I spent a couple of months in Utah this summer. I was laid up with an injury and bored so I went on KSL to see if there was anything interesting. I see a ‘75 280z listed. Has a crappy picture but says one owner, 60k miles. I decide to go look at it. I’ve never owned a Datsun, but my brother had a rusty ‘77 280z back in the day.
I go to see the car and I can’t believe my eyes. The car has no rust. The interior is super clean except the drivers seat vinyl. The guy who owned it was the service manager for Nissan Salt Lake. He traded in his troublesome 260z for the first 280z that came in to inventory. The only parts he ever changed were the clutch slave cylinder and the radiator. Still had the window sticker, owners manual, sales contract with the 260z trade, radio instructions and warranty book with the plastic card. All the tools, Jack and chocks were in the car. It had Libre wheels on it. Power antenna worked as did all the electrical, even the clock. Rubber moldings for the front and rear glass were perfect. Original headlights. Original wiper arms. Still had the metal shield under the engine. Did I say, no rust. The battery tray was original and unrusted. The only issue was failed clearcoat on the hood, roof and hatch. He had painted them years ago and they were looking shabby. But with original paint on all the body openings and the rest of the car, it was obvious that there had been no other bodywork or rust. We made a deal and I got the car. When I went to pick up the car, the old owner had the original wheels, tires and hubcaps. He said he forgot they were in his basement.
I spoke to Eric at JDM Legends in SLC and they agreed to do the mechanical refresh. They were super excited when they saw how original the car is. First issue was the seals throughout the car were leaking. All seals in the engine, trans and diff were replaced. I wanted a stock radiator re-installed in place of the aluminum one. All the bushings in the suspension were replaced. While the suspension bushings were being replaced, all suspension components were cleaned and painted. The gas tank was drained. It was full of really old gas, but otherwise clean. They repainted the tank and straps. We are waiting for the seats to get recovered and the rear carpet reproduced. I’m looking at a NOS dash to replace the cracked original. I had the original bumpers removed and will be saving them and installing early style bumpers. I registered the Z using the original 1975 license plates.
