RaDeuX

Oh geez, so my parents want the 280Z to be gone out of the house. I had no idea you can't park a non-op vehicle on the driveway. But I've been told that you need a proof of registration for anyone to take your car away for you. I don't have the pink slip from Kismet yet, but I do have the bill for the transfer. As long as he doesn't send me the pink slip until the Z is functional nobody can send it to the landfill/demolition center right? I hope that's the case. Kismet pick up your phone!! Okay so I took off the head cover (whatever you call it) and it looks okay with a bit of rust. I guess I'm going to have to take that part off too, and then post more pics when I'm done with that. I'm getting one of my friends and my brother to push the car into the garage soon. Hopefully it'll stay there until the engine starts up

Well uhh, my parents said I can bring home a Z, but they never really said anything about a non-running one. If I don't get it running soon they're threatening to throw it away. I need help...

...but it has a blown valve. So I've never worked on an engine before, meaning that I don't know how difficult it will be to repair this. Would I be able to get a valve from say, Pepboys?

Is it somewhat fixable?

The rust on the orange one is not as bad as I make it sound. There are a few holes here and there, nothing major. I'm not sure why, but I can always smell the fumes coming from the 240Z no matter which one it is. Is it coming from under the floorpanel holes?

Pictures of the better looking Z

Pictures of the Z that I'm probably not going to get.

Okay, I looked at two Zs today. The first one was a POS Z that has doors that won't close, broken passenger-side window, brakes/sidebrake that doesn't work, carburetors need to be timed correctly, etc. He wanted 2800 as it is. The link for that car is here: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/914054971.html The second one was a much better condition Z for a lower price. The only problems is the rust in the battery tray and the floorpanels, and the cloth on top is held by tape but all in all it looks like a decent Z. I feel lucky that a good running Z is being sold for this price and that it's close to me. I'm just afraid that someone will buy it before I get the money for it. The link for that Z is here: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/912622756.html I'm going to post both Z's pictures although I'm not going to buy the black one.

I talked to a friend of mine who's fairly knowledgeable with cars. He told to buy the Z no higher than 1200 bucks. Underneath the paint there is some rust, and the light blue stuff is hiding the rust as well. The fumes are probably coming from underneath the passenger seat rusted-through holes. The engine was rebuilt by some John Doe, so there are no documentations on the rebuild. No receipts. Nothing. There could be a chance that there is something wrong with the engine (I mean there was so much smoke it made the surrounding 10 feet radius smoggy) I'm going to think this one through. I got time.

I appreciate your input. The Z will definitely be a lot of work, but compared to a lot of other 240Zs it's not looking too bad. It has a rebuilt L28 engine that's really torque-y but the owner wouldn't rev over 3000 RPM since it hasn't been started for 5 years plus the carburetor settings are off. He told me you need special parts to tune it, but how much do those tools cost anyway? Oh, and decent shocks would be pretty expensive too... Ohhhhh. My friend was going to test drive it, but the car ran out of gas so all we really know is that the clutch reach is very short. He said it felt weird and twisted but maybe it's because the car is 35 years old.

Planning to. I don't have the money just yet, so I have a few plans just to get some cash before December 3rd when the owner is leaving for Kentucky due to family matters.

This is the first Z I've ever actually taken a close look at... The guy that's selling this Z needs to let it go, and he hasn't registered it since 2003 so he's willing to let it go for 2000 dollars. I don't know how to drive manual yet, so he took it for a spin around the block (nothing further since the carburetors need adjustments or something) The Z's rust is pretty minimal compared to a lot of other Z's out there. The passenger side floor is rusted through, so I suppose that will need a welding job. Well now that I got a lot of pictures posted, here are the problems that the guy pointed out: -The car has not been driven for 5 years so it's "stone-cold" -Radiator hoses need to be clamped down (hence the strange orange liquid dripping from the front -Carburetors need to be set correctly (never dealt with carburetors, so I have no idea how to do that) -Headlights and windshield wipers turn on and off by itself because of the "stock"? -The car runs so rich that my eyes got red from the smoke and I can smell the fuel inside the car as well (probably not very good for my health) -Rear left shock is really soft so it needs replacement -Rear bumper is rusted through (I was recommended to go find another Z and take its rear bumper off and replace it with that) I think that's about what me and my friend found out about the Z. I pretty much have enough time on my hands to work on a Z, but there are two huge issues. 1.) I can only use the garage during the daytime when my parents aren't around, meaning I can't let the car stay overnight unless I really have to. 2.) I don't have money just yet. I'm going to sell my Integra which should be worth at least 4000 dollars. Soooooo... What do you guys think? Is this fixable for a novice like me? (I'm willing to learn) Is 2000 dollars worth it for this Z?

So there's a guy that fortunately lives like 3 miles away from me with a decent deal on a Z. The paint is iffy, but I'm pretty sure I could temporarily put a couple layers of paint on it somehow. Here's the link: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/914800030.html I'll post back here again when I get enough details and pictures on whether I should purchase this Z. So excited~ Yayee-yay~

I've tried the dry ice method yesterday. I got some at Lucky's and they're a little pricey I have to say. I went over to Office Depot and got 3 compressed air cans and tried it out. Neither are all too effective I have to say (dents are less noticeable, but still there). Then again these are door dings that are fairly small anyway. I have a massive dent on the lower rear from an idiot with an SUV that hit me, so I'm going to try to fix that with the dry ice method but use a better heat source (I've been using a hairdryer to heat things up) I appreciate your input, and I ordered that book a few moments ago. Oh by the way, I'm testing this all out on my Integra.

Found a really cheap Z, but it's awfully beat up and I'm not sure I'll be able to fix it up. Number one issue here is all the dents and door dings on the car. Someone told me the best method is to get PDR tools, but where would you get those tools as well as instructions on how to use them?

After further research on the L28ET, I've finally come to the conclusion that I will get that motor instead of the SR20DET. The money I save on the L28ET can be used for other serious upgrades for suspension. I can always swap the L28ET for an SR20DET later on if I feel like I need to (most likely not, I'm pretty sure I can find better methods to lighten up the Z) Thank you all for your inputs. I know you guys must be sick of the same questions over and over again.

I DID finish an autotech class last quarter at my community college, but I guess that is not even close to enough knowledge. At least I have something to start with I suppose.

Sweet, now I can narrow down my options between an L28ET and an SR20DET. I heard that the excessive weight loss from the SR20DET can cause the car to understeer on high speed corners. A lot of people complain about understeer as if it's a bad thing, but isn't the main cause of understeer come from driver error? As I said previously, I have no experience in engine swapping. Therefore, an L28ET might be a better candidate. It's nice to know that I'm finally narrowing down my options though. Edit: I might as well include this in my post anyway. Is it hard to swap an automatic to a manual transmission? A bunch of 240Zs in my area are pretty much automatics with good deals.

SR20DET is definitely on my wanted list. However, there are two things that I'm concerned about. One is the amount of money this will require (probably gonna be asked to search for that...), and two is about the extra space under the hood. Is there really any advantage with having so much room, other than the fact that you could attach a huge turbo later on? (which I won't do)

Wow, thanks for your detailed post BRAAP. Yes you're right, I have no experience in engine swapping, or any experience in performance tuning. For my budget... Let's say 3k to 5k? In that case, I really don't have a choice except for an L28ET. Performance-wise, something that can carve corners like no other. I guess I've totally overlooked the L28ET due to all the other options that were available. Time for more reading...

Alright, so the L28ET uses fuel injection... For a 2.8L it only puts out 180 horses, whereas a smaller/lighter SR20DET could push 250 horses. I don't think the L28ET is the engine for me...

Hmm, an L28ET... I'm a little opposed to it since it's like a 30 year old engine. In my mind a newer engine gives better performance, since I believe fuel injection is better than an engine that uses carburetors. To be honest, I have little knowledge of older engines but I know that older engines tend to have less volumetric efficiency due to their design. Unless someone proves me wrong or can persuade me that an L28ET could perform just as well as an SR20DET or RB25DET, it's probably not going to be on my wanted list. Is an L28ET all cast iron, or is it all aluminum? If it's the latter, can I change, say the engine block or something to an aluminum one?

So I guess V6 engines are pretty heavy themselves. But yeah, I've done searches and all but they ask about engine swaps and not really the meaning behind WHY they want that particular engine... My budget is... as least as possible. Yeah I'm definitely down for a lightweight engine. Problem is, I hear it becomes too light on the front and create understeer on high speed corners. I think the problem can be fixed if I added another turbo along with a bigger intercooler/radiator...