1978 280Z Fully customized, Bob sharp Valve cover + Engine

1978 Datsun Z-Series Description

Hi. This is Datsun Spirit, Inc. www.datsunspirit.com.

We have an interesting car to sell.

Initial inquiries must be communicated through ebay please. Serious buyers are welcomed to come see the car(by appointment only).

This is a 1978 Datsun 280Z with a lot of custom parts. The engine was done by Bob Sharp Racing (I have the receipts). It has the rare Bob Sharp Racing valve cover as well as the oil cap.

The belowis the story of the car as we understand it from the previous owner as well asfrom the paperwork. (We have a brief case full of paperwork for this car, which comes with the sale of the car).

This car is from New Hampshire. It was built this way circa 1984 as a race inspired street driven car.

The guy who had this car built the way you see it, was the 2nd owner of the car. The engineer/mechanic who worked on this project was good friends with Jason, who was the chief mechanic of Bob Sharp Racing, and that’s how the engine was built and subsequently tuned by the Bob Sharp Racing. The previous owner told me that the carhad yielded250 rear wheel hp on their dyno back then, but I do not have any dyno sheet to verify that. The engine has the sought-after Bob Sharp valve cover, as well as the oil cap,and I have receipts from Bob Sharp Racing. Some of the receipts are not legible to me, others show part numbers or codes only but I don’t know what these part numbers refer to. I don’t really know what they did to the inside of the engine. The car was last driven in 1998. Currently it does not run, and we haven’t attempted to start it either.

Bob sharp was said to be aware of this car from the beginning and he was involved in the project. He drove this car at the Lime Rock at leastonce, if not more than that. The previous owner has seen some pictures of Bob Sharp with the car, but I do not have that photo.

They chose to build the car on a 2+2 platform, arguably that the longer wheelbasecreates more stability to race on the Lime Rock race track. The car had approximately 10,000 miles on it when purchased in early/mid 1980s. This car, when the customization was done, had the state of the art technologies—Auto pager, DSC Driving control system, Cassette player, MSD 6AL box, Soft Touch Rev control, Carter Knock Eliminator, A/C, map lights, redundant security system, Autometer Pro-Comp gauges plus 12 other gauges in an Airplane like custom instrument dash, lots and lots of switches, along with modern amenities like A/C, spot lights, redundant battery security system, stereo system, and so forth.

The car has 5spd. It appears to be the 77-79 style 5spd transmission. The differential is an R200, and it is 3.9 out of a 83 280ZX I was told. They bought a 1983 280ZX to harvest the brakes, transmission and the 3.9 rear end and some odds and ends. However, when I put the car on the lift, I saw a 77-79 style 5spd. I’m not sure if that meant they blew the 83 5spd and put the original one back on, or it was never swapped or what.

The car has the complete front & rear disk brakes from the 83 280ZX as well as the brake booster & 15/16 master cylinder. There is also a proportioning valve installed. The car is lowered a lot, so I assume springs & struts are replaced with something sporty (Tokikos maybe?—I see a little bit of red in the springs but I don’t know for sure if they are Tokikos or not.)

It has an interesting header that I have never seen before. It has rectangular flanges with 6 bolts. The exhaust is wild, it comes out right in front of the driver’s side rear tire. The previous owner said it sounded so wicked.

One of the most extreme modifications is the custom airplane like dash. The dash was very well built, a professional fabrication quality, not a home fabrication quality. The wiring is also a very professional work, not a hack job.

There is electrical circuitry underneath the driver’s seat as well as the passenger’s seat. There is even duct work done on the dash for the A/C as well, and the previous owner said the A/C worked ice cold when he had it. Some overhead map lights as well as some kind of switches and what not are there.

In addition to the custom dash, the car has complete custom interior as well. It has the roll cage/bars. Custom console, custom rear deck area, 4 point harness on both sides. The car had Recaro seats before but now there are 78 280Z seats (not mounted but just there). It has RJS racing harneses.

I did not find any mouse droppings inside the car, so I don’t think there is any mice damage inside the cabin or the wiring harness, but there is one small wire to the fuel injector that shows evidence of mouse chewing. I don’t see any other mice or farm animal damages though.

Exterior:

The car has custom fenders. The bottom of the fenders show some rust. The rear hatch is customized. I don’t know the proper name for those, but them scoops (?) on the C-pillers are custom made. The car has skinny 240Z style bumpers on both the front and the rear. There are 4 big fog lamps and airdam. The passenger side of the airdam is damaged because the previous owner hit a possum. The mirrors are Vitaloni Baby Turbo mirrors. The hood is in good shape. Overall the chassis is rusty, as you can see in the pictures. Currently the car has 280ZX 6 spoke wheels.

It has JDM amber tail lights.

I have handwritten diagrams and instructions for the dash switches and what not, and I have a briefcase full of paperwork. All of that goes with the car.

The previous owner stopped driving circa 1998 due to pin holes in exhaust that resulted in rejection on the VA state inspection.At that time, he meant to fix it along with other upgrades, but one thing let to another and with his family, business, and other cars and hobbies,unfortunately it sat for a long time.

You can view more pictures of the car here: http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/Rudel87/library/Bob%20Sharp%20Z?sort=3&page=1

We do not have plans to power up the car or to crank it. Someone may want to completely restore this car, or transplant the parts into a 2seater or in another 2+2 to revive the car, or simply use it as a parts car. The possibilities are endless. It is entirely up to the next owner of the vehicle.We will not part this car out or sell just the valve cover or anything like that. That kind of inquiries will go ignored. The car rolls easily—the brakes are not locked up. The car is located in Manassas, VA, and the car is sold as is where is. Serious buyer is welcomed to come see the vehicle (by appointment only). The buyer is required to pay $500non-refundable deposit via paypal immediately upon winning the bid (within 24hrs) and the remainder must be paid within 7 days. The buyer must pay in fullbefore taking possession of the car, and is responsiblefor picking up the carwithin14 days. Thereafter,we will charge $30/day storage fee.

Thank you.