dangerboy

how odd...

removed the plastic inner fender pieces on the drivers side today, as well as the ac condenser and the radiator. scrapped off and sanded down a little more. also vacuumed out and cleaned the inside bonnet area and under the battery tray. at the moment im most concerned about the upper portion of the radiator support and everything infront of it. the welds are broken, and the pieces seem bent like something happened to the car but the fenders are straight and the bezels solid so either theyre replacement parts or some very odd accident occured. i intend to re-spotweld what i can and to cut some pieces off of the 240 to use to fill in the blanks on the 260. once this dmv is finished though i may have around 3g to just buy something that needs drastically less work and part out both cars to recoup what i can. untill i know for sure ill keep chipping away at what i have though. sometimes you have to break things to learn how to fix them...

my work schedule is keeping me very busy because i have till tuesday to get this dmv ready to open from an electrical standpoint but have to fit in about 10 days worth of work. i did however have a few minutes to work on the car today. i took off the plastic pieces under the passenger side fender so i could better scrape off the undercoating. i found more rust than the small hole i knew about in the firewall. the battery tray isnt rusted but the piece of metal under it is where acorns have been sitting and probably holding moisture. people who cant buy a 20 dollar tarp to cover thier cars should be shot... more to come as time allows

no pictures yet but i figured i would start a thread anyway. about a month ago i purchased a 71 240z, i bribed my boss to rent a trailer and drive 2 hours away so when i finally saw it up close i felt obligated to get it and not have wasted his time. i got it home and realized that the rust was to the point that i would need a donor car or worse. 2 days after the purchase i was told of a 74 260z right up the road from me on ebay. i went by and looked at the car and compaired to mine it was solid. needs new floors but what z nowadays doesnt. the ebay price went higher than i wanted to pay but the history of the people bidding was suspicious so i held off. much to my (lack of) suprise, the winning bidder bailed so now i have both the 260 and the 240. my boss/roomate purchased a miller mig welder and we have been practicing on spare electrical materials that we have laying around. mostly welding together metal boxes. im really hoping that from the 2 cars i can make 1 working and solid one, hence the name of the post. each one has its own set of flaws but at the end of the day i will chalk it all up to learning. ive ripped everything out of the 240 except the dash and the 260 came pre gutted. ive taken the fenders and hood of of both cars and started sanding things down to bare metal to prime and paint. im always afraid that im not doing something right or that i will break something expensive but i read the other posts on here and see people just going for it and that is my inspiration. i hope to have pix of both cars shortly. thanks in advance to anyone who follows this.

yes keep the updates coming.

i actually bought a 260z today with a rebuilt motor that only needs floor pans and is 5 mins from my house for less money than the boat anchor that was 2 hours away and has more holes than a game of whack-a-mole. my roomie picked up a miller mig welder last week and hopefully that combined with the 2 cars can make 1 running and solid piece of machinery.

i purchased a 71 240z saturday and it had more rust than i was expecting but was close and in my budget. the floor pans, rocker panels, and frame rails are all shot. the battery tray is also shot, but rusted to the point that there is a hole in the firewall and half the wheel well is missing. im not really sure what i should do 1st so im posting here to get any tips. from browsing the forums for months im pretty sure you guys have all been here and done this. do i need to pull the motor to get things fixed (by a shop) properly and would the motor being in effect the cost? also will i have to find an unrusted wheel well from a donor car to replace mine? thank you in advance for any advice offered. ive included a picture of where the battery tray should be to give you guys a better idea. datsun1.bmp datsun.bmp datsun2.bmp

small world huh. i should actually be purchasing a 240z this weekend so hopefully that empty slot in my driveway will be filled. good luck with your restoration and who knows, in 6 months i may be interested in that 280. his previous craigslist post however had said that he simply removed the plastics and spray painted them black because the interior was originally brown. either way, new goodies in a box always make a sale a little better.

well at the moment its sadly in the 500 to 800 range. i have a panel saw ive been trying to sell for awhile that would up those numbers by 1000 but no one seems to want it. im down for a car that would need work, hell id be fine with a rolling chassis. rust in certain spots would be intimidating, like the doglegs, but ive always loved the early z's and even if its 1 new part a month id be happy just looking at the thing in my driveway.

thanks to everyone who offered a reply. unfortunatly he sold the car to someone while i was researching this. back to scanning the area for a z in my budget.

ive finally found a datsun 280z local that is a good price but the ad says "car ran till it was jumped backwards" or something to that effect. i was wondering what kind of potential problems can arise from this and if they would be of a magnatude to where i should look for a differant car. thanks