rturbo 930

I didn't see it, but it sounds like they did exactly what I expected them to. Disappointing. At least they kept the original parts.

I remember a few of OP's previous threads. His 15 year old son is building a 240z drift car with a turbo and a welded diff... and stretched tires. This is not going to end well. I think it's time OP steps in and points his kid in the right direction. There's a difference between letting your kid get his hands dirty and learn on his own, and letting your kid build a car he's going to hurt/kill himself in.

My mom's '78 280z has those wheels, and it is not a black pearl. Kind of the opposite actually - it's white.

235 and 185 sounds like it's in the ballpark, I'd probably go one size wider all around, but I don't like a lot of stretch.

Looks good to me. I'm not sure why he said to mount them on top since everything I've read says to mount them underneath, which makes sense IMO. Hows much can they adjust in terms of caster? I know the GC plates have caster adjustment advertised, but no room to actually adjust them once mounted. Happy birthday, man.

A tube frame? Check this out then, post 12. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/54629-front-tube-chassis/ More pictures in his album here That said, I think that's a bit overkill, unless there's a lot more rust that you're not showing us. Replace the frame rails with some square tubing and call it good.

Yeah, I think everyone has their limit with what 'too much rust' is. When the engine bay frame rails are rusted out like that (not just the TC mount reinforcements), for me, that's too much rust. If you want to tackle it, go for it, but otherwise, scrap it and start over. I'm from NJ so I know getting a solid car isn't exactly easy, but I still think you can do better than that.

What does the rest of the car look like? With rust that severe, I'd check over the rest of the car before doing anything.

Is that all the rust on the car or is there more? You've gotta be able to find a better car than that in Oregon...

I'd get a new tank and ditch the dual exhaust. I personally wouldn't put a fuel cell on anything but a track car. I'd take off the vinyl roof too and make sure there's no rust underneath.

I'm curious what these weight with coilovers and hub bolted on. Should definitely hold up though, haha.

Yeah, the tail panel has been done - not sure about the deck area though. You can drill out the spot welds on the hatch sill, and remove that. The tail light/roll pan area is all one piece, and you can remove that too by drilling out the spot welds. If you want to convert to 240z tail lights, that would be a great time to do it, and it would be a totally seamless conversion. If you want to fix the trunk area though, that might be a bit more work depending how bad it is, but it's a fairly simple piece, You could probably have a replacement made up at a fab shop pretty easily, if the damage doesn't spread too far.

That's not from an accident, it's from when the piece was stamped at the factory. You'll find that on any Z.

Haggery's idea of "average" or even "fair" is still a pretty nice car. BTW - are you still trying to find a home for that car? Last I heard from you, it sounded like you were about done with it. Would be nice to see someone do something with it. Orange on blue? Jesus, were they color blind?

Yeah, I found the thread after I posted.

That 260Z is in excellent shape, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. If you're concerned about something as minor as a diff leak, and what it costs to fix them, I'm wondering if a Z is the right car for you at all. Do you have any experience working on cars?

I'm certainly no expert either - far from it, but if your door moved an INCH(!!!), and doesn't even fit in the frame anymore, I'd say someone messed up your cage install. No way I'd accept that. I've actually never heard of that happening to anyone on here, or on any other forum. As for checking your chassis for straightness, I'd go over it carefully and look for accident damage. If there isn't any, and the car never had serious rust issues, I wouldn't bother. But, since my car is missing a rocker with no bracing (I didn't know better at the time), I'm definitely getting mine checked. If you want it checked anyway for peace of mind, go for it. I'm curious what that would cost.

Big, heavy, cheaply made car, big engine. I'm not impressed.

Man, I wish I had a car that solid. Nice buy, and good on you for saving her.

240z isolators will only lower the rear, so instead of your car looking like a 4x4, it will just look ridiculous. Nate, what size are your tires? Bigger tires will help fill your wheel wells, and also give you a little more ground clearance. Honestly though, the 'before' ride height looks perfect to me. You just need a better spring/shock combo to get there. What was the 'before' ride height, and what is it now? It doesn't look low enough to scrape. My BMW is at about 4-4.5" inches off the ground, measured from the crossmember (I think), and I NEVER scrape anything, mind you I have stiff springs, and Bilstein sport shocks. To keep your wheels from rubbing the flares, you need to mount them higher. They look too low to me. Ultimately, I would get coilovers and sectioned struts. It will be the most expensive route, but worth it IMO.

What have you done in terms of maintenance? Whatever you haven't done, do that. If there's anything made of rubber on the car that isn't new, replace it.

Seattlejester, do you have pics? How deep was your rust, ie, did it go through both layers, or was it just the outer piece?

Does he have a bill of sale from the previous owner?

Any updates?

Looks interesting! Keep us posted.