Guest Ziggy Vulcan Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I am getting ready to get a 240Z and do an SBC swap. I'm getting ready to go look at a car and was wondering what I need to look for. What are trouble spots, where is rust common, what specific items should I look for, any help is apreciated. This will be my first Z and I'm pretty new to this. I've been looking and posting in the boards for some time and I'm sold on a sbc conversion. I still need to get a JTR manual but I want a Z anyway. I love the look, the lines, the sportyness, and the $$$. Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thepenguin99 Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Look for rust. When you finish looking for rust look again. After a thorough check for rust you might want to look for rust. Seriously though, the trouble spots imo are the battery tray, under the hatch, floorboards, and maybe the spare tire well. I would also look at the interior condition. Almost everything is replacable on the inside but some of it is very expensive. Specifically the plastic in the hatch area, door panels, and dash. Mechanical condition of 240z has always been my last worry. Mechanically these cars were very well built. Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ziggy Vulcan Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 thanks, rust is defininately an issue. The seller hasn't emailed me back yet so I don't know if it has rust or not. If it WERE to have rust, which will be somewhat of a turnoff , what would be the most costly to repair? Like, what would be the worst spot for rust? I like this car because from what I can tell it seems pretty nice but the main reason is it's the only 240 I've found in my state (SC) so if it turns out to be abused or rusted, it would be a horrible disapointment because it would mean a road trip for me. The seller said in the ad that the engine still ran and was "still peppy" so it sounds good mechanically. I'll just have to wait for the email reply, hopefully I can get some pics and rust info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ziggy Vulcan Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 Okay, update. Need alittle more help. He emailed me some pics back and it looks REAL nice. As far as rust goes, here's a quote "There is a little spot rust on the car. That is not major. There is also a small amount of rust under the battery tray. And last the back drivers side fender has been hit and is in need of body work." From what the pictures show (just outside) the fender looks really minimal in damage. Like, bent. My question is, how serious is it to fix these rust problems. I don't know where the little spot of rust is but I think it is on the floor. The car looks nice in the pics. I might be able to post them but the car is close too. I did not get any pictures of under the hood or the interior but he says the car still runs good and the interior is terrible but all there. Which is fine with me I want to revamp it anyway. I will be able to look at it soon but I want everyone's opinion on the effort required to fix the rust. Thanx for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Mileski Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Boy, I'd do everything possible to avoid buying a car with any rust showing. If its got visible rust, chances are its got a lot more invisible rust. You may waste more time doing body work (no fun) than working on the V-8 swap (mucho fun). I don't know what part of the country you live in but I'd sure try looking in southern or western states if possible to increase your odds of finding a car with less rust. Mike Mileski Tucson, AZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ziggy Vulcan Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 well, that's the problem. It's in South Carolina, which is where I live. It's the only one in this state that I've found and the I can't/don't want to drive all the way to Cali to buy a Z (where all of them are ). Plus, the car looks nice. It sounds to me like the rust is minimal as in battery tray. I just want to know if this can be fixed or not. If I had the option of buying in the west then I would. So this is the best I've found so far. I think I can upload the pics into my personal gallery. I'll try that. I'm going to go see it anyway. THEN I can determine if it's a rust bucket beater or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Ziggy; I bought my '70 240Z last Feb. 12th. The guy asked $2000.00 but sold for $700.00. Pricing of the Z's is somewhat crazy because folks wanting to sell read the websites (like "Zcar.com") and of course theri eyes grab the highest ones and raise their hopes and expectations of a much better deal than their local dealer offered as a "Trade-in" when they bought that new car (most new dealers won't even talk about an old tradin but tell the customer to sell it privately because it is "Off the Bluebook, and get what you can". These old Z's sure fall in that category. Now there are certain demands that exist for them and those are: 1. Someone needs a "Parts car". $300 2 A tool jockey wants one to fix up and ride in and/or sell. $500 3. Someone needs an old car for transportation. $700 4. A car buff wants one to build up for the street. $1000 up. 5. A Racer want's one to race. $1200 up. 6. A collector (millionaire) want's one for his stable. $(Sky is the lmit depending on the restore done). The decending order above indicates the increasing monetary value one might expect a prospective buyer to see in the car in question. Many will buy on the strength of the paint jub, body condition, chrome, tires and running condition. Others aren't so picky because they turn wrenches etc. and they want a car that will reflect themselves in every way. Just reason it out so you don't pay too much. Now, all cars will have rust as years pass but nothing like cars from the east coast where they anually pour salt on the roads to melt the snow and ice. This salt is just like a cancer to metal and slush is thrown up into every crevice of a cars underbody and into the engine bay. In about three years or so such cars are ready to be shipped out of state because it is almost time for the rust to eat all the way through the metal and begin to bubble the paint East coast dealers are continually shipping such cars across the country and their cohorts (local unscrupulous dealers) are continually selling them to the unsuspecting public! Therefore, we absolutely must know just how and what to look for when it comes to rust of this sort. MAKINF A SAFE BUY: 1. Determine where the car was first sold if possible. 2. The car may have later spent some wintertime on the east coast anyway so allow for that. 3. That done,... well to cut it short, a 10-20-30 year old east coast car (any make) will be putrid with rust everywhere because the salt once in there cannot be removed and just keeps eating away unless you treat it like a cancer and cut it out! 4. Beware of heavy underseal/sound deadener. This may only be there to hide big rusted holes. 5. You must either get under the car to closely inspect the floor pan or lift all the floor padding to check one of the worst spots. Also the door sills will maby show rust even in a good car but be rotted out in a bad one. I read of guys finding advanced rust as high as the upper channel of the hatch door! Cars passing each other would throw the slush that high as it melted back east. 6. The battery box is a tough one. Expect rust from the acid but don't go for rotted away portions there, such is excessive and suggests the same elsewhere unobserved. 7. Have a putty knife and a rag to do the frame. As you get down to the paint/metal, if you are plowing up rust I recommend you forget that car. The Datsun frame is made up of a 3 layer? lamination of Asian sheet steel and the same rust has been working in between the layers also. Actually, A clean car can pretty easily be identified (in my experience) by doing the frame in the engine bay. Mine has the original paint all over it. I scraped and hit good metal before I bought. Later during teardown, I got spooked by what was even deeper than what I originally poked at and looked like very heavy rotting out of the door sills as mentioned, but a closer exam proved it was only rotting weatherstripping etc. (but there was some typical age rusting there. Aparrently from shot weather stripping on the doors which had mostly crumbled away. That's it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Hey Ziggy! Dosen't a 'Z' always look nice, even when she's been hurt? But In your position I would sure check it out if the price is right, which you haven't mentioned so far? Sure as little green apples, as soon as you buy because none else is in sight, you know what will happen.....LOL! Depending on the asking price of course, I bet that one is not going anywhere soon. Are you in the process of advertizing in the papers and local "Green Sheet" or whatever they call it in your area? Besides the reading of the ad, the resultant "word of mouth" gets all over the place fairly quick. There's got to be some more Z's around there. People give up and just let em' set you know; because they will not be insulted by dumb offers. But as time passes they forget it and then you come along and they are ripe. Sound good?.....LOL It's possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ziggy Vulcan Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 lol, the asking price is 2,200 but I'm gonna come off of that a pretty good bit. The interior is nasty and I don't know if it has carpet or not but all the better for checking for rust! I'm redoing the interior whether it's good or not I don't think the car is as bad as you guys are making it out to be. I'm pretty sure it isn't rusted through anywhere and that the rust is contained to the battery tray and maybe the floor. What I want to know is CAN THIS BE FIXED and how and how much? Looks excellent, it's nearby and I can bring it down to a pretty good price. No I haven't put an ad out. I've just been browsing so far. I haven't really even checked local ads and stuff. I just want to check this car out to see if it's a winner or not. Lol, South Carolina doesn't really get any snow and when it does (about one day per year) people are too scarred to drive in it. Remember, these are southerners. "Oh no!! I can't drive in the snow!! It's a 100% fact that I will spin, crash, and die!!!" so I wouldn't count on the salt. Even if they were brave enough to hit the snow, I don't know if SC has the equipment to lay salt in that quantity because they don't have plows!! ANYway, I know enough to know that if the car is rusted through and it has serious damage and the back end has been beat in etc. that it isn't a good car. What I really wanted to know was what was TOO over the top, and what can be fixed and what will cost to much money. It's pretty unlikely that I'm going to find a 30 year old car with absolutely no rust (especially over here). So I shouldn't turn down a good car just because it has a little under the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thepenguin99 Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Well to answer your can the rust be fixed question. YES. There are aftermarket floor and fraim portions available for ~$250 (both sides). All the body partsare available either aftermarket or used (fenders, rear quarters, hatch, doors, ect.). For the battery tray I would think either cut it out and put the battery in the back OR find a used battery tray. Please keep in mind that while everything is available in one form or another it is not enjoyable work IMO. Depending on what you have to fix you could be better off buying a car in S. Cali/Arizona and having it shipped to you. Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Ha Ha! As the man said, you can get all the stuff you need to do repairs but if you want to move right along with any car then you don't want to be fooling around spending many hours of labor on what you could bypass with a little more patience and concentrated searching. Your answer to the rust would be to have the equipment to cut out the bad (overlapping about an inch and patch in the new. I have a catalog from "VICTORIA BRITISH" working out of Kansas City that is crammed with about anything 'Z' you could want. Like a '70 240Z full dashboard cover @ $89.95. Most any body parts, same with chassis parts, even Tokico and Eibach. Same with door parts like armrests, knobs, hinges, inner window apparatus etc. etc. etc., Same with ignitions You'd have to see it to beleive it! All the smaller items you'd never find elswhere are in this book. It is amazing actually and one of a kind! Oh yes. And if that car is trashed inside and busted outside it is so near the junkyard (even if it does run) you and the seller can both smell it! Act like you've looked at several cars and offer $500 (that's $350 more than the junkyard will) then move to 600 with a $700 max. Now I will tell you that junkyards sell some nice running cars for $500 around here. If there's none like that where you are it's only because some used car dealers are grabbing them up first and selling them to you for a $1000! I'm not kidding. Well, Ziggy, we are just putting in your mind what you need to know. Remember we "Been there, Done that". We are the negative balance you need. The secret positive gusto, you are bursting with.....I can tell! I know the feeling. Edge the price even more by buying it as a "parts car for your project" and offer $300. What the heck, the man is through with it and has no interest in it now, you know how it goes with that feeling about your old cars......Good Luck! PS: Can't say about cost of refurbish. Depends on your tastes. 1-2000? It adds up real quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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