TeeJayHoward Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 The first picture I have: The previous owner apparently had no sense of taste. I ripped off the louver and spoiler as soon as I got home. Ugh... Who uses screws on their car!? Another pic from the rear: The next day, I started work on the Z. Step one: Remove the ugly (and heavy!) front bumper: Wait a second... That's not a regular airdam... It's the rear bumper of another car, cut in two and screwed together! And that hood? Not quite as nice as it seems: The rust damage (Pardon my bondowork - Not dry yet, I'm smoothing out the lower door): Tires are crap, don't care if I paint them: When I bought the car, this was bubbling paint. A little concerned, I gave it a tap with a screwdriver. CLUNK! A piece of my car came off! Both the driver's and passenger's floorboards have been "repaired". The guy did a crappy but okay job on the driver's floorboard. I don't know what the hell he was thinking when it came to the passenger's one! The car is questionable in many ways: ***There's an electric fan up front. Good, right? Not really... It's from a junkyard ford, and is screwed into the radiator support. I trust it about as far as I can throw it (Temps average 200F on 5 minute drives!) ***There's quite a bit of rust (not as bad as some, but still...) and I've no experience with rust repair... Yet! ***Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in this car feels loose. The turn signal switch sags, the shifter has 5 inches of play in gear, the seats vibrate... I need to go through with a wrench and tighten down everything. ***The turn signals function great - But the indicator seems to be off. Left signal on = no light in dash. Right signal on = left arrow in dash. ***The A/C has been removed. No biggie, but I wish they'd of taken out all the lines, too! ***Neither window has a handle to crank it up or down. The car came with two channel-locks, one on each door. ***The sunroof is... Uhh... Missing. In its place is a piece of plywood that's warped from sun and rain. As a result, my interior gets a daily drenching. ***The paint is chipped and cracked and bubbling and hides about a full cm of bondo on just about every corner of the car. ***Chrome. Ugh, I hate chrome. Gotta find me some non-chrome replacements for the quarter windows, hatch, and windowframes. Any suggestions? ***The ignition switch is kinda... Broken. The previous owner apparently used a screwdriver for quite some time. Now I can't get the old one out, and I've got this weird switch dangling off my steering column to start the car. I've purchased a replacement, I'm just too daft to figure out how to actually replace it! ***When braking, the car pulls to the right, HARD. As in, a panic stop will pull the steering wheel out of your hands. I've got to fix this, and quick. ***The interior... What can I say - Every. Single. Piece. needs to be replaced. All of it. Headliner, seats, dash, carpet, everything. I'm actually kinda looking forward to this. I'm hoping for a leather-wrapped dash, Corbeau A4s, AutoMeter Ultra-Lite gauges... It'll be fun. ***My headlights don't work. While flicking them on and off trying to figure it out, my friend claimed one of them briefly came on, so I think I've got a short somewhere. ***The brake light in the speedo will randomly come on. What exactly does this mean, anyway? ***The driver's rear hub has one of the studs sheered off. I need to replace it. Found a '78 280Z in a pick-n-pull, but didn't have the right tools on me at the time. Okay... There. Phew! A list of all the bad stuffs. Now for the good! ***It only cost me $1000. ***It runs. ***It's NOT my only car, so I can fix it at my pace, instead of rushing. ***It's a frickin' Z! ***It came with two full-sized spares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Where in CO are you? I have a '78 280Z that I bought early this spring. I am slowly (like you) addressing the rust on it. My rear 1/4s are in better shape than yours but I rewelded the floors and sections of the upper frame rail. My car is finally structurally sound and the frame, floor work is almost all done. I rescued the car after it had been sitting for 15years and was going to be crushed. I did not pay much for it. I spent many evenings on the brakes and the getting the engine healthy and reliable and it runs very well and shifts well too. Ironically my car was recently featured in Classic Cars magazine. I also have a 280ZX Turbo that is completely disassembled (working on it as well). Regards and good luck, you have ALOT of work on your hands. I would be careful with that sunroof opening, I have seen many Z's rot from rainwater coming into the interior from these sunroofs and that could explain your electrical issues. If you do not own a MIG I recommend buying one, especially to weld up your rockers and the rear 1/4s. Bondo I would not recommed for anything structural like the rockers or even your rear 1/4s. Regards - Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJayHoward Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 Where in CO are you? I have a '78 280Z that I bought early this spring. I am slowly (like you) addressing the rust on it. My rear 1/4s are in better shape than yours but I rewelded the floors and sections of the upper frame rail. My car is finally structurally sound and the frame, floor work is almost all done. I rescued the car after it had been sitting for 15years and was going to be crushed. I did not pay much for it. I spent many evenings on the brakes and the getting the engine healthy and reliable and it runs very well and shifts well too. Ironically my car was recently featured in Classic Cars magazine. I also have a 280ZX Turbo that is completely disassembled (working on it as well). Regards and good luck, you have ALOT of work on your hands. I would be careful with that sunroof opening, I have seen many Z's rot from rainwater coming into the interior from these sunroofs and that could explain your electrical issues. If you do not own a MIG I recommend buying one, especially to weld up your rockers and the rear 1/4s. Bondo I would not recommed for anything structural like the rockers or even your rear 1/4s. Regards - Yasin I live in Colorado Springs, CO. I'd love nothing more than to do a complete and proper restoration of this Z, but let's face it - Without a garage, there's really only so much I can do. Everything I'm going to do to this Z will be done in my apartment's parking lot. Even if I knew how to weld, I'd have to run a 125ft. extension cord out to my car, and I'd probably blow the 10A fuse for that room anyway. How much would a body shop charge to repair the rust areas I've shown? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jknc90 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 PM me any parts you need. I'm parting out a Z with frame damage Good luck with your project. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Do you still have the three piece spoiler that was on there? Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJayHoward Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 Do you still have the three piece spoiler that was on there?Good luck! Yup. Pics are at my apartment. ...You're the second person to ask about it. I'm rather surprised. Are they hard to come by or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Yup. Pics are at my apartment. ...You're the second person to ask about it. I'm rather surprised. Are they hard to come by or something? Yeah... they are quite hard to come by. Good luck on the car... That is a LOT of rust! Search for the member "mull" and watch all of his videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJayHoward Posted August 21, 2007 Author Share Posted August 21, 2007 Do you still have the three piece spoiler that was on there? And, the rest of the junk I took off: At the moment, my car is in a body shop. (Mr. Body Shop in Colorado Springs)They're replacing the rear quarters, filling in the screwholes, and taking care of the rust basically. Meanwhile, back at my apartment, I have this: I'll strip, fill, and paint 'em before they go back on the car. Just running a little low on funds at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyZ Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Wow! I think you paid about $999 too much! Or maybe I'm just spoiled by the killer deals I've been getting lately. On the other hand, it's great to see an otherwise dead/dying Z car nursed back to health. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJayHoward Posted August 21, 2007 Author Share Posted August 21, 2007 Wow! I think you paid about $999 too much! Or maybe I'm just spoiled by the killer deals I've been getting lately. On the other hand, it's great to see an otherwise dead/dying Z car nursed back to health. Good luck! If I didn't pick up the 280z I did, I was going to buy a black pearl for $600. It needed about 1/4th of the car replaced due to rust, and I'd feel bad modding a "collectors car". Zs aren't exactly common in CO. Not rare, per se, but... Not common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1zcarfan Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Shaggy Z, Feel free to PM me next time you come across a "killer deal" that you're not interested in for yourself. I live in Austin as well. Obviously I'm not connecting with the right crowd. I'm mostly looking for S30 cars and/or parts but some SBC parts and a complete JTR kit as well. Thanks, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJayHoward Posted August 22, 2007 Author Share Posted August 22, 2007 The original craigslist ad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Wow...That ad was quite misleading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyZ Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Wow...That ad was quite misleading. Ditto... I would've turn and ran. But then I'm not an auto-philanthropist like TeeJayHoward. I get disappointed with a lot less <--- I just used that because I haven't seen it before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_esworthy Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 That ad is still on cragslist. I had called them about it but it was obviously sold... to you. Im glad I didnt drive 100 miles to look at that!! The ad is completely misleading! Good luck with your project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhptom Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 I just picked up a 77 280Z as a new project that is in about the same condition as yours. After you do one you want the next one to be a little harder to challenge you more. You will definitely learn more skills with a car like that. Have fun and it will end soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Yup. Pics are at my apartment. ...You're the second person to ask about it. I'm rather surprised. Are they hard to come by or something? nah, they are all over the place. I put 3 out to the trash this week. I'll help you get rid of that one if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 I remember that Craigslist ad, I did not put 2 and 2 together, until after you posted the pic of the Craigslist ad. The ad was mis-representing for sure. But I am glad you are going to save the car. Regards - Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.