Might buy a 260z.

[Zetsaz]

FRONT SUMP WITH MANUAL W58 RWD TRANSMISSION, WIRING HARNESS, & AUTOMATIC ECU

 

Front sump... but I was thinking it would be closer to this. I don't plan on using the GReddy transmission or the R154.

[bimic92]

after about 5 days of bidding, I'm sure the price will be comparable with the 2jz below

 

http://osakajdmmotors.ca/jdm-engines/jdm-2jzgtte-engine-30l-twin-turbo-6sp-supra-p-41.html?zenid=kk7tbgiotkaue50r6erdp4fa26

[Zetsaz]

Good Lord. O.O

 

That's expensive. There's no way that can't be had for less with a little searching. That just seems like so much. I'd just go for the RB25 at that point.

 

I still haven't decided. I may go the 1JZ route.

 

1JZ-GTE (Buy it now, 2.3k USD. Everything included)

 

Edit: or even this one.

Edited February 7, 2012 by Zetsaz

[bimic92]

Yeah, I know right. If they were cheap, everyone would do it though. If you decide to go the 1jz route, it'd still be pricey, but I say power to you. I think it'd be great inside a Z.

 

Good luck with the saving, I know I'm terrible at it haha.

[Zetsaz]

I take it all back. Found a '75 280z. Paint is pretty much gone from sitting in the sun, same with carpet. But the whole interior is in tact and there's almost no rust on the car aside from some on the floor pans. (Obviously)

 

Included is a Chevy 350 engine, not tranny or anything though. Dropped the price to 1k for me since he would rather it go to someone who's interested in the car.

 

Roughly $700-$800 for just the chassis, but he's sending me pics later so I can decide and then make an offer. I'll be posting pics to see what you guys think.

[Zetsaz]

Not sure what to think of it... Headlights would need replacing, haven't seen the rear lights. Made a list of what would be needed to get the body in the shape that I would like.

 

Carpet (done by myself): $30-$50 depending on the type of carpet I buy. (Not planning on buying a kit... way too much)

Front lights: $50

Seats: ??? Seat covers: $40

POR15: $40

 

$180, plus the eventual dash cap of $150 = $330

 

Knowing that, is the chassis worth buying? If so how much would you offer?

[78zstyle]

The 260z looked WAY better...

[Zetsaz]

No kidding, but the 260z needed some "body work" on the rocker and some other things and the guy wouldn't send me pictures. I don't know if there's a ton of rust, or it needed to be replaced or if it just had a dent in it. No idea what condition the floor boards were like and the guy never got me the pictures he said he would. Not that it couldn't be a better choice, but from a business perspective the guy isn't being very helpful. I could get the interior and paint done for $500 + the $700 the guy wants. That's $1200, how much is a decent L28ET swap? $700? $800? That's $2k right there with a better engine and basically the same body. (Aside from the body kit)

 

I would take the 260z if I had the money right (if the guy would help me out by showing me what kind of condition the rest of the car is rust-wise. I have 2 pics to go off). But this is just another alternative. Rust free body for super cheap, then dump my own engine into. Just another starting point for me to consider if the price is right.

[GOTHALOSISM]

I can't find anything that cheap here in vegas. I want a 240z to swap my lt1 over into. So much cheaper to do coil-overs than the 280's.

[Zetsaz]

I can't find anything that cheap here in vegas. I want a 240z to swap my lt1 over into. So much cheaper to do coil-overs than the 280's.

 

Never would have guessed. But I guess the 240z is in higher demand, so I assume it's for more than just the lighter weight and bumpers haha.

 

Still have no idea what to offer the guy. I was fairly stoked about it at first until I saw the pictures. Honestly, I would still be excited anyway since I think doing some carpet and interior work would be loads of fun. Especially getting the audio done right now. The only concern I'm having, is I have no idea what's missing mechanically. I know the driver door won't open from the outside (an easy fix that I've done on tons of cars), dash will need a cap obviously, new seats, new shift boot and possibly a new console. (Can't tell if it's just dusty or completely faded to gray, can you just paint them? haha)

 

Aside from that, I really don't know what's there. I would be replacing the engine and transmission anyway, but I don't know how much else I'll have to be buying. No clutch transmission or drive shaft. That's why I come here to ask.

 

EDIT: The 260z seems to have sold anyway.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Zetsaz

[Zetsaz]

Just talked to the guy. Aside from a paint job and interior work, all it needs to be up and running is the engine and tranny, clutch and driveshaft.

 

Knowing that, do you think this would be worth ~$750? If not, how much would you offer?

[aplyedmind]

Just talked to the guy. Aside from a paint job and interior work, all it needs to be up and running is the engine and tranny, clutch and driveshaft.

 

Knowing that, do you think this would be worth ~$750? If not, how much would you offer?

 

 

If u don't mind my input , It doesn't look bad for 750 . I would offer him 600 for it maybe even 500 . But I think u can get away with 600. Also 75 280z is a very sought after year as its the 1st year for fuel injection making the L28et conversion much easier to do. Plus u don't see 75's for sale often . And when u do They are usually pretty expensive if the owners know what they are selling.It looks like a good starting point to me and its less then a 1000 bucks . Soon enough we will not be seeing 500 and 1000 dollar z cars any more.

[Zetsaz]

That's kinda what I was thinking. The guy is incredibly helpful too. He says he'd rather sell it to me than some other people that have seen it since he knows I can appreciate it more. I'm gonna try offering $600 (Father's approval since he's helping with the project... though he still doesn't like the project idea).

[Leon]

That's a $500-600 car, if there are no rust cancer problems.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Leon

[JavelinZ]

Honestly it would be difficult for me to offer much of anything for that. When it comes to cheap/run down cars, that don't run the most I'll consider offering is $500 and that would be generous. The reason I say that is when a car like the '76 I bought doesn't run you don't know what you're getting.(I don't wanna buy a $1000 boat anchor) Honestly that car needs everything. If you buy that car your gonna be sorting and trying figure out how things mounted or were wired, what screw went where blah blah blah. Maybe that guy bagged and tagged whatever he has that he took off, but more than likely he didn't basket cases are awful when you don't already know where every bolt goes(what if you don't have a special bolt for the car that you've never seen before? where are you gonna get one?).

 

Also I think your estimates are low for the paint, if your going to learn to do the bodywork yourself and paint it you can plan on having $800-$1000 just in the supplies to do it. BTW painting cars is 90% bodywork and 10% actually shooting the car. The bodywork is the part that nobody likes doing.

 

Here's my part list for that car off the top of my head;

-Suspension rebuild (stock with urethane) you can plan on that running around $1000

 

-Brakes are gonna need a check- if you have to replace stuff it could be a couple hundred (rear wheel cylinders on pre '77 are about $100 a piece, brake hoses pads, rotors, bearings all need checked)

 

-Interior I found decent carpet kits for around $160 on ebay that's not bad. (If you have seats and panels reupholstered your looking at around $1000 let's say because that's highly dependent on material.)

 

Your gonna need new tires. Couple hundred, (new wheels? moar)

 

Paint if you do it yourself expect around $1500 and that might be low yet, cuz your gonna need a booth and decent gun worth its salt. (You could do a maaco but I don't think you want that it's not gonna last or look great.)

 

Weatherstripping will run you a few hundred.

 

So if you add that up you're looking at about $3500-$4000 and you don't even have a running drivetrain thats been sorted. That'll be a couple grand if you go the JZ route you're interested in. You can also tack on a couple hundred for miscellaneous little crap that always burns holes in your pocket.

 

This is where I get the buy as much car as possible thing. It's really hard to win on cheap deals. I know Utah doesn't have the Z market that Arizona or Cali has so, I know Z's are slimmer pickings in your area. Ultimately you have to decide what you want to do. I will say, that if it is possible go look at the car in person if you can before you make any sort of offer. Upon a visual inspection looking at it top and bottom running your hands on the body for dents or bondo should let you know whether you really want to mess with it.

 

Maybe some other guys can chime in on the price stuff I was listing but I would say it's pretty accurate from my own experience and that's just for trying to make a decent car to enjoy.

[Zetsaz]

Nah, I think that's actually completely accurate. I was looking through some of the other pics I got. When I was on the phone with the guy I had the impression that the suspension had had some work done and the interior was in good shape (aside from the carpet being torn out, which wasn't ignored of course). That and I was kind of expecting the body to be a little more complete at that price. Passenger fender will either need to have some welding done, or be replaced. I have absolutely no problem working with interior. In fact I enjoy it. If I replaced the carpet myself, even without a kit, I would have fun. Sound proofing, POR15 on floor boards, you name it. But patch work isn't exactly something I can do well. When the guy said there was no rust and the body was in solid shape, I was expecting better than the follow up emails I got. My brother and I will work on an engine or some interior/audio stuff and painting all day long, but any body work that takes more than a couple days terrifies us.

 

Guess it's back to waiting for the right one to show up. I'll be in Vegas for a few days next month, so I might keep an eye out in the Arizona area. I'm also probably visiting my dad's uncle in El Paso, TX over the summer, so I'll probably start taking a look there as well. I've actually seen a couple Z's in good shape there.

[Leon]

I see lots of Zs on SF CL that I really want to get, and would probably have if I had the space. They're in your price range and need much less work than that 280Z. Plus, 280Zs are really cheap in CA because '76 and later require smog checks. Consider buying in CA or AZ and shipping to Utah.

 

Or, find a drivable one and book a one-way flight after getting lots of good pictures and having a local Z person inspect the car.

 

My 2 cents...

[Zetsaz]

Ah yeah... smog checks. I hadn't thought about how that would affect the price. I'll keep looking around here, just because I know a few good deals pop up every now and then, but I'll definitely be looking in CA and AZ. Now that I remember, a couple summers ago I worked with the Utah Conservation Corps and I have a few connections to wildlife and fire jobs. I may be able to get a job in Cali for the summer doing firefighting. Not a bad time to look around I guess.