[240Z in Photoshoot]

Surprised these are passing for models nowadays...both pictures would look better with just the Z.

 

Except JSM's

[Almost Complete 280zx Turbo w/ Pictures!!]

Also interesting air dam.....

 

It's just the MSA II kit front bumper with little holes cut out in the sides. I did the same to my '82...makes a pretty noticeable difference.

[Laundry list of various parts]

I wouldn't say I'm *good* with welding, but I can make beads that won't leak

 

I already have a few mufflers laying around, so I really don't need that one either...just the pipe.

[Laundry list of various parts]

If you feel like cutting it up into like 4 pieces or so, and the price is right, I'd be interested. (It would have to be cut up anyways since I'm assuming yours is off a coupe, and this would be going on a 2+2).

[The Spinde Pin Saga]

The only thing I've ever used for these was my air hammer (biggest one Snap-On offered) and a point tip along with some type of penetrating oil. I'd say a set never took me more than a few minutes...10-15 max? Sounds like I'm glad I didn't try using a puller. Though I do wish I had ear protection on me, as it sure didn't help my tinnitus.

[Laundry list of various parts]

Thanks, I'll search for the isuzu hatch weatherstripping. I tried to find some closeup pictures of the rear 1/4 trim mounted on a 2+2, but didn't have much luck. I thought about using screws for them but figured it would look tacky. Are the rivets hidden under the rear window or are they in plain view?

[Laundry list of various parts]

Alright, scratch 2+2 interior panels off the list.

 

Add aftermarket steering wheel (grant, momo, etc) and preferrably hub adapter.

[Wanted: SBC cam/lifters]

Here are specs on the cam:

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CCA-CL12-212-2/

 

It has a little bit of surface on it but if you're interested I can take it to the shop and use a soft pad (can't think of the name of the pad, but we used it on head surfaces b/c it wouldn't scratch them) or possibly emery cloth if that would also work. This would also come with rocker arms, the lock nuts, valve shims, seals, springs, and the lifters should be in there somewhere. I didn't look too thoroughly in the box, but I remember seeing them in a ziplock baggie before. Anyways, lemme know if you're interested.

[Should I keep this shell? Too much rust damage?]

I guess everyone here just has more vision than i do but I still wouldn't want to touch that:) All that rust while potentially removable via chemicals will still leave behind pitting. I've been told that high build primers will take care of most of that stuff but I just hate to think about block sanding and reshooting over and over again.

 

Seeing as how i'm in the process of doing bodywork on my 2002 right now I'm probably not the best person to listen too...I really hate bodywork.

 

I hear ya man, I'm definitely not a body guy. I don't mind doing bodywork with someone that knows what they're doing, but I felt like I was getting nowhere with me going solo on this one - mostly with the bondo. I kept burning through it like crazy...even doing it by hand and touch. I would feel a tiny little high spot, sand some more, then it would've been too far. With a pretty fine grit too. I just don't have the touch for it, I guess. But anyways, the car should be at the bodyshop tomorrow or Wednesday, so I'll see what they say and go from there. Most of you guys think it shouldn't be that big a deal (didn't see all the suggested retaliation coming though...I honestly wasn't trying to get anyone stirred up), so hopefully the pictures were able to do justice. I scored some rx8 leather seats at a junkyard today for cheaper than what the reupholstery kits cost at MSA, so all I need to do is replace the front carpet and most of the interior should be manageable.

[Should I keep this shell? Too much rust damage?]

Yeah, my '82 was a pretty clean shell but still had to have some welding done on the metal above the windshield. But it was nowhere near as rusty as this one is. Though I've never worked with body solder before, so maybe that'll make things a little easier. And by chemical cleaning I assume you're talking about using phosphoric acid?

[Wanted: SBC cam/lifters]

I have a cam along with lifters / springs / pushrods that have around 3k miles tops on them. Nothing wrong with them, I went full roller. I'll run up to the garage tomorrow and get specs on them if you're interested. It had a nice lopey idle and a good powerband. It was either a comp cams or lunati...anyways, I'll check on it tomorrow. Don't know if you noticed, but I have some mega budget jtr headers in the for sale section.

[Should I keep this shell? Too much rust damage?]

I agree the stolen story is BS, save your self a headache and strip it for parts...I wouldn't even want to do the paint and body work on that.

 

Eh, if the shell is still reasonably salvageable (meaning I don't have to chop and weld another roof on, etc) then I'll just go ahead and fix it. The undercarriage is still pretty rust free.

 

sue or make a visit/have someone help his car make it to a field, with aircraft remover poured all over/in it and no rims....i hate people like that. i have a car i sold to a guy and took payments yea 1500 out of 3500 and 2 months later he blows the motor cause he ran it out of oil and yet thats my fault/problem somehow and isnt going to pay. he gave me the key to the car which just so happens to have his house key on it...oh how i have thought about the possibilities of how that could play out, or i got to small claims and sue for 2500 and the headache...isnt really worth it especially since they are broke, useless pieces of **** that have alot of debt and will probably just claim bankruptcy and say screw you. Hence the personal approch thought, then again its not like the good old days, cops wont do crap for the people that need it but protect the fuckups that keep screwing us over.

 

So then you think the Z should be easily repairable. Cool, well noted.

[Trying to smooth out a flare]

I see, thanks for explaining. Man I love those front flares you posted, though. Do you have any other pictures of it?

[Laundry list of various parts]

I've got a nice set of 2+2 drip rails.

 

Price and pics would be great.

[Trying to smooth out a flare]

Ooooh, those front flares would've been perfect. And I must be missing something, but where's the "clever" part on your next post?

[Should I keep this shell? Too much rust damage?]

Honestly I'm not too worried about the interior. Z cars don't have much interior-wise - I think if I just replace the seats and carpet, the rest wouldn't be too bad. Faded door panels aren't that big of a deal.

 

And no, I'm not going to worry about pressing charges. Not worth my time, and he doesn't have much money either so I'd probably never see anything. Just taking this as a lesson learned.

 

I can tell he never even touched the car...and I'm pretty sure it was never stolen. I think the first thing they would've taken is the rims, since it's the only valuable thing on the car. If they knew anything about engines or old-school import stuff, they would've stolen the turbo engine / t5 transmission too.

[Should I keep this shell? Too much rust damage?]

So about 3.5 years ago I bought an '83 280zx n/a with a blown engine.

 

 

I liked it b/c the body / interior was clean and just needed paint, along with working cruise control, a/c, etc.

 

 

I had an '82 zxt for parts, so I swapped the turbo drivetrain into it. I was going to try the rustoleum method with this one, so I setup a makeshift booth in my garage. Before I started sanding it:

 

 

After:

 

 

This is the last picture I took before I threw in the towel. Working 80+ hrs a week and having a gf took about all of my free time, so I bartered with a painter at the dealership to finish and spray the car. I did a bunch of front end and a/c repair on his tahoe, and afterwards he darted off out of state and told me to contact a friend of his that would hook me up a paint job. So I called the new guy, made arrangements and dropped the car off with him. Roughly a year later he said it was painted, but also said he was interested in buying it, so I gave him a few months to come up with the money. At this time I was also much more tied up with school and such, so I didn't really have time to mess with it or a place to store it. Well I took a semester off to get all my cars taken care of. I had tried contacting him since October but he'd been avoiding my calls. Then last month he calls me and tells me the car was stolen. The next day he has a lead on it and brings it back to his place the weekend after. I'm pretty sure the whole story of it being stolen is bs, but this way it takes the damages to the car off his responsibility. He says he "recovered" it from a field, and since we all know the best place to store a car, especially one with the t-tops off and the paint sanded down to bare metal, is outside in unsheltered weather, I really didn't want to see how the car looked.

 

So I got there yesterday. The interior is trashed - it still had standing water on the floorbard, carpet is molded, seats are molded, hatch carpet may be ok, carpet on door panels are kinda faded, etc. The interior doesn't really bother me, the RUST is what I'm worried about. I gave it to him with most the paint gone and nothing but exposed metal showing.

 

So I'm wondering if this chassis is worth keeping. I don't have access to lifts, engine hoists, etc. as I left my job at the dealership to finish school, so it'd be that much more of a pain for me to swap the drivetrain AGAIN. But if there's no hope for this chassis, then I don't have much of a choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I THINK most of the rust on there can be sanded off easily, and shouldn't cause a problem. My biggest area of concern is above the windshield - rust is the heaviest there and that's one of the worst places for it.

 

Sorry, for now they're only cell cam pics, but once I get the car back in my garage I'll snap some higher res pics. I'm also going to get the opinion of my bodyshop, but I'd like to see what you guys think.

[Trying to smooth out a flare]

I know, story of my life. BUT, I forgot to tell you I sold the blue Z a few weeks ago. I'll let you know when I have the next one ready to sell.

[Laundry list of various parts]

Alright, for my '77 2+2 I'm looking for:

 

- 2+2 interior panels between the driver seat and rear seat

- 2+2 inner hatch weatherstripping and door weatherstripping, as long as it's not dried, crusty and falling apart, I'll take it

- Drip rail trim for the 2+2

- If anyone has any performance exhaust laying around for a 2+2, I'd be interested

 

 

More of a side note, but I don't know what kind of hardware is used to hold the chrome trim down next to the rear 1/4 windows...I searched but couldn't really find it. If anyone has any (I'm guessing small rivets?) I'll be interested in it. If it's something super common in parts stores, then just let me know.

 

 

280zx coupe parts:

 

- Clean t-tops in good condition, no corrosion or dented trim

- Gray front carpet in good condition

- May be interested in an 82-83 turbo dizzy...but not sure on it yet

 

Lemme know what you got

[Trying to smooth out a flare]

zr8ed - Thanks for that link, I think that'll be the route I'm going to take.

 

speeder - I just threw the front air dam on there for the picture to get an idea of how everything's going to flow. The final fit will have the dam much closer to the ground, and it will be a bit wider to flow in with the front flares. I didn't want the front bumper on there, but since it was blended in right under the buckets, we had to cut off quite a bit. We were planning on using a similar method as you to fiberglass the front flares in with the air dam. Thanks for your help on this

 

If I had known you would've been interested in the future, that spoiler would be in my garage waiting for you...it's long gone, sorry bud.

[Trying to smooth out a flare]

Cool, thanks for the link. I'll message them and check on international shipping costs. I noticed the flares seem really wavy, though. I don't have much experience with fiberglass, but from what few pairs I've seen, they didn't look this...cheap. I don't know, these give me the impression that they're flimsy and may be more trouble than they're worth. BUT they do look like they'd match my rear flares really well. Hmmm

[Trying to smooth out a flare]

Thanks for the feedback guys. So the consensus is to find new flares, but after checking zcarparts, betamotorsports, zccjdm, and zforceproductions, the only flares I see are the ZGs and the competition IMSAs (which from the pictures I've seen, look larger than mine). I'm running the exact same wheel (size and model) that speeder ran with this flare, so it fits like a glove. The floral foam thing sounds interesting, though I have no experience with it and I doubt the body guy has either. How would I go about cutting up / butchering the front flare to make it look more blended?

[Trying to smooth out a flare]

On my widebody project, the front flares are a bit different than the rear. I can get them to flow together, but it will require the front flares to be smoothed out, so to speak. I believe both flares are smaller IMSA flares. I picked the rears up off eBay with very little description on them, and the fronts are IMSAs that speeder ran on porkchop. This is his previous front bonnet. Pics:

 

 

 

If you notice, the rear flares look like they're blended in with the car, versus the front flares which look like they're just slapped on there. Not putting either one of the styles down, but they're clearly different. I'd like to keep the front flare on there, but just have it look more blended like the rear. I'd like my front flares to blend more like this:

 

 

 

I talked to the body guy about this, and he said my best bet would be to buy another flare. A) If I have to I will, but I'd rather not cut into the bonnet. B ) I don't know if he's just telling me this b/c it would be the easiest way for him to knock it out. To me, it seems like it would be simple to just lay some fiberglass mat and resin where the flare meets the fender, and then bondo that to smooth it. I told him about it, but he's worried about it being too much bondo and cracking. Anyways, just trying to see if my idea would work, if I should just buy different flares, or if you guys have any other suggestions. Thanks

[fiberglass widebody]

I'm pretty sure most people here know of that kit, but IIRC that kit is no longer available through any vendor. Your best bet would be to wait for one to turn up on the classifieds or craigslist.

[Rattle Can / Spray can paint job: Which brand to use]

Should've added that I never really used rattle can for any of my cars, but I did use duplicolor's low gloss black for my motorcycle frame. It looks great - you'd think it came like that from the factory.