[I want to gain real mechanical skills for LS swap future project]

Thank you guys for your information.since I herd from you guys I posted on Craigslist that I want some one to teach me how to build a project. I found an old gray hair man who has 40 years experience working in his house garage. when I met him he was knowledgeable and so kind with me.

 

This weekend I will starts with him to have some basices.

 

Thank Z members

[I want to gain real mechanical skills for LS swap future project]

I really want to gain some real mechanical skills so that I can buy a 240 or 280z and be confident in pulling apart and engine, changing/replcaing parts etc. I have a good understanding of how a car works and can do all the normal stuff and other basic maintenance but I have never tried anything major. Automotive school is not a good choice for me because they ask for a high tuition and I already attend gradate school. 

 

I wish I could find someone professional near from my area (Rhode Island) who is willing to train me in his garage and he has some experience about LS engines. 

[what rust is acceptable on a Z?]

I flew to LA from the middle of Canada to drive back a car without rust. It has a little rust, but significantly less than what I'd find up here, and considerably cheaper than what they sell for here as well.

I might do the same thing that you did. I wish I could find one in LA with a good deal. 

 

Thank you

[what rust is acceptable on a Z?]

No rust is acceptable.  The price gets reduced based on the amount of rust found.  If you have to replace floor pans, figure $1,000 per side discount.  Keep doing the math...

wow... 1,000 per side!!  I didn't know that. I'm so glad that I wrote in this forum.

 

Thank you

[what rust is acceptable on a Z?]

Back in 1979, my friend bought a 1969 Corvair Monza for a price I forget... He then spent $3500 doing 'rust restoration' adding fiberglass replacement panels, etc.... Extensive work that would be considerably more now, plus paint.

In 1989 I landed in SoCal, and for $1,600 I bought a 1966 Corvair Corsa Turbo. No rust. It was the first Corvair I ever saw with all the original panels underneath it, where the cables and linkages weren't rusted to nothing...where GM Part Tags and grease pencil markings were still on it.

 

Yeah, I was a stupid kid back then. There wasn't this thing called the internet where old dudes could tell me "Take that repair panel money, fly out to LA, spend a week with a bus pass and the classifieds because they are RUST FREE out there, and selling for $500!" All I had was the local Michigan paradigm that rust was inevitable, inescapable, and cost money to fix. Of COURSE they will tell you that, it's paying them to do so!

 

My advice: Get on Craigslist, line up a dozen prospects, fly into LA on a cheap one-way, spend a few days looking around for a rust free driver....and drive it back.

 

You will be money ahead.

 

Rust repair on a car that is readily available WITHOUT the rust for a reasonable/comparable expenditure---with the lack of provenance or sentimental attachment to the chassis is a disease of the mind. There is no logic for that.

 

My friend could not BELIEVE the condition of my 66 when I showed him. Frank280ZX didn't believe my stories, either until he bought a 1979 ZXR out of a garage in Garden Grove for $500 (off a Craigslist ad he saw in Amsterdam cruising the internet. Made a call "go buy it" and it was done. He shipped it to Amsterdam before really looking closely at it. When he started tearing it down (you know, "doing it right" in the rust-belt tradition of total disassembly because SOMETHING is bound to be at the failure point at this time!) he actually called me on the phone "THE SCREWS ARE STILL YELLOW! (cad plating intact) WE DON'T NEED TO USE PENETRATING OIL ON THE SCREWS! I WILL NEVER BUY A Z IN EUROPE AGAIN! (His prior purchase of a stateside Z was one from WISCONSIN which was exactly the paradigm he was expecting.

 

It's not that way everywhere, and it's not more than what you would spend making it structurally sound and proper to go there and buy one and simply drive it back.

 

Those who have heeded that advice, to a man, have not regretted it!

 

The only problem that is most of Z's on LA are expansive but I will try to find a good deal with near rust free body.

 

Thank you    

[what rust is acceptable on a Z?]

I'm not sure I understand the question. If you buy a Z with some rust, which I agree is pretty hard to avoid, do you plan to try to repair it or just drive it like you found it? If you plan to repair it, think thru the repair. The Z has lots of blind cavities with complex bends. That's where trash gets stuck that holds moisture and promotes rust, like the doglegs and rear fender arches, rear hatch. If you can get to both sides of the damaged panel you can fix it, but if you can't get into the area that is rotten, the best you can do is to put a bandaid on it. If the rust is in a panel that can be unbolted and replaced, like the hood, hatch, doors or front fenders, you are golden. Like TonyD says, the rustier of a Z you start with the more time and money you will spend on rust instead of driving the dang thing. And rust ALWAYS comes back. But if you are ratrodding, it's not as much of an issue. If you plan to flare the rear fenders, a lot of the rust in the fender arched will be cut out to do the flares. Remember, blind box-sections like the rockers and doglegs rust from the inside out, so what you see on the outside bubbling thru the bondo is the tip of the iceberg. I have my eye on a car that has been in dry storage for over 10 years with a lot of the paint sanded off the hood, roof and one door. Those panels look rusty on the outside but that is surface rust and will take 30 minutes to remove with a common disc sander. The rockers, floors and doglegs are perfect. The battery tray has a little heavy surface rust, but I think it will sandblast without popping all the way thru. If I wind up getting that car, it will get the rotisserie treatment and white epoxy paint before I start bolting parts on it.

Thank you so much for giving me this information.  I may wait more to increase my budget and find rust free Z, so I can avoid body work. 

 

Thank you 

[what rust is acceptable on a Z?]

Not likely to happen in Rhode Island.

 

Anyways - Here's my basic list of what's acceptable, and what isn't. Obviously, you'll want to use a little discretion based on your skills, budget, and the severity of the rust. Our west coast members will probably disagree with my list, but whatever. And you need to accept that you will most likely have to do some sort of rust repair. I don't believe in rust free Zs, but a west coast car would be your best bet for a nearly rust free chassis.

 

Acceptable:

Floors

Hatch sill

Doglegs

Fender bottoms (which can sometimes mean rocker rust)

Rear lower quarters

Fenders lips

Batt. Tray

 

And depending what the rest of the car looks like, the TC Rod reinforcement area and maybe rockers, depending how bad they are. When the rockers need to be replaced, you really need to consider how much other rust there is, and whether it's worth fixing.

 

Unacceptable:

Inner Rockers

Roof pillars (Unless it's VERY minor)

Engine bay frame rails

Firewall/Cowl intersection

Strut towers

 

If any of these are rusted, most likely the car has rust in every area in the 'acceptable' list as well, and is not worth dealing with.

 

Thank you Sir so much, I will start looking for Z's and I but your list in my consideration .

[what rust is acceptable on a Z?]

I was searching for a 240z and 280z to start my LS project but most of the Z that I found have amount of rust. The problem is when I found a Z with free rust the price is very expensive and in the meantime I don't want to spend too much money on body work.

 

So, My question is 

 

What rust is acceptable on Z and in which area the rust will effect bad on the project? 

 

Thank you

[I want to build 10 second car. From where should I start?]

I ran 9.70's in my Z with 548rwhp

Did you do any modification on chassis or suspension?

[I want to build 10 second car. From where should I start?]

I've personally seen two diff 260z's run 10's but both were tubbed cars, I've played around with race cars for years and I don't think you'll get a z into the 10's with that stock suspension but I could be wrong I've been running a foxbody mustang running 11:46 to 48 and its hard to keep that from blowing the tires off sometimes, I'm looking for a tubbed rollor myself right now but it'll be all racing, good luck finding what you want

Yes, I think you are right about the tubbed roller. I think if I build a Z with more than +500RWHP the tires will spinning and I will lose traction.

[I want to build 10 second car. From where should I start?]

Well sir,

You are going to get a lot of different suggestions to this as there are a lot of different answers to that question. Bottom line it all depends on your personal preference as well as budget. If money is no object then what you are wanting to do should be fairly easy due to the low weight of the car. The other thing is what do you want to do with the car?

 

You can go naturally aspirated, turbo, supercharger or Nitrous. Again it boils down to how much you are willing to spend as some of these parts can add up in a hurry especially if you want it to handle great too. You can easily do suspension and brakes put a stock LS1 with some Nitrous and get into the 10’s but if you want the engine not to mention other drivetrain components to last you may need to build it for the purpose you are intended to use it.

 

My build is similar to what you are looking for. I wanted a car that would handle great and be faster than my previous car (C6 Z06). Running 10’s will do that for sure. Handling well and running 10’s is a little tricky since you can’t run wrinkle walls and handle at the same time therefore you need just enough traction and horsepower to avoid lighting the tires up every time you hit the gas. Like they say spinning is not winning.

 

A lot of options and a lot of good builds on this site, just depends on how far you are willing to go.

 

Good luck and look forward to see what route you decide to go.

 

Thank you so much sir for sharing this information and I really appreciate it.

In this stage I'm really confused witch route I should take. I have now 2012 Mustang 5.0 but I'm not satisfied with the porfomance. The engine is great but the car is so heavy and Im afraid that I will end up with the same porfomance that the mustang do.

 

Thank you

[I want to build 10 second car. From where should I start?]

Hi, 

 

it sample question, How would you build a 10 second Z? ..

 

I'm in the searching process and my planes is to build a Z with LS1 or 5.3 engine that can handle perfect and can go 10 second.