Guest Whitebread Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 What condition was the body when you bought your Z? I found a 280Z with a small amount of rust patches on the whole body and one small patch right behind the driverside headlight where the quaterpannel has almost rusted through. I think the Z is in pretty good condition, especially considering the interiot has no major problems with it besides a little dirt and a head liner that is comming off. My father wants to get a Z with NO rust whatsover and that runs. I think his expectations are a little high for what he wants to spend on just the project car. Frankly, I think the only Z in the condition he wants are already gonna be converted or restored. So, what do you guys think? I can provide one pic, but I am unsure of the quality as I did not take it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 For every 1 inch of rust that you can see, there is 3inches that you can't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 White, where are you located in NJ? If it was fairly close, i'd take a ride and look at it w/you. Your fathers expectations do seem a little high considering we're in NJ and the salt has eaten most all Z's in the immediate area but... i'm sure with a good, large pocket of cash, you could find one with minimal rust. No rust... you'll need to look far west and even that's getting tougher. I picked my Z up about 3 years ago that's been sitting in a garage for 12 years in PA. Floors ,battery tray and adjoining firewall were all basically shot. Like Tim said, 1" = 3".. or more. Post or send the pic if you can. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Whitebread Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 There's the one and only pic I have now. The people that own the show were not in seeing as it is Easter Sunday. I will call the place tomorrow and talk to the owner about the condition of the cars. The gray thing next to it is another 280Z that is fairly rusted and the interior has a number of cracks and looks much more faded than the yellow one. I live in Pennington NJ, that car is located in Flemmington NJ, about 20 minutes from my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 If I had posted pics of MY 280 when I got it, most on here would have told me to strip it for parts and scrap it. (IE; find another one with less rust, holes, ect) Really, it was pretty bad.. but for what I had to spend ($800 at the time, and some of that was borrowed from a friend) it was all I could get. I'm in Ontario and it's the same, if not worse ,senario here; ANYTHING 10 years or older (sometimes not even that old) has rust. 20 years old, there's ussualy a bit of car left on the rust. Older than that? Well, it's amazing that it's still moving under its own power and is drivable! In the long run, I could have had a nicer Z by saving the $$$ I spent and just buying one with fewer... issues. But I wouldn't have learned as much, got the expiriance, and probly STILL wouldn't have a Z to drive.. I worked it out and I had about $3000 total into 280Z by the time it was 'roadworthy' last summer. I doubt I could have bought the car I have now for that kinda $.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rags Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 What are they asking for the 280? Have you checked the floor from under the car? What is your dad looking to spend? Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Whitebread Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I don't have an exact number, but based on his expectations, I'd be willing to bet he'd spend over 1K for the car itself. No, I have not checked the floorboards or the firewall or anything much really. The guys that own the shop were not there because it's Easter. I will call them tomorrow and try to get some information about the cars history and to setup a time to check the car out myself. Now, I'm not afraid of some rust (just as Datsunlover isn't), but I don't have the funds to do this myself. I'm all for the increased learning curve and the possible experience gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedNeckZ Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Check the frame under the frontend and battery box area real close. Most fenders can be replaced for cost. But frame and floor cannot be done that cheaply. Crawl under it and check everything! Think about this, do you have the time/space to work on it and do you want to spend a lot of time/money on it? Will it ever be worth the money and time you will spend on it? From the looks of the pictures it is starting to look pretty bad. Any thing can be fixed or replaced. But most projects get to be a drain and forgotten in time. Most of us die hards have worked with some pretty bad shaped cars and come up with some pretty sharp looking cars. But it does take time and soul to keep it going. You have to make up your mind on what you want and are willing to do. This site has most of the info needed to do the repairs and make it better. But be real with yourself and go with something you can live with. Good Luck with your project and keep us informed on it. Take care, Rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Whitebread Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I've got a 3 bay garage at my house and a 2 bay auto shop at my school with a multitude of tools. My father and I have already decided that we will take this project slowly, doing certain parts of the car at a time. Money wise, we have already discussed possible cost and I've told him we could be spending close to, if not more than 10K. He still would like to proced with the project if possible. I'm also looking for other cars, these 2 cars, hopefully, will not be my only options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Man that pic looks familiar. I got a similar design on my hood that was inspired by a Z I saw in a vegas showroom gallery (on the net). My bro-inlaw is a sign/racecar painter, and he did the work for me. Of course I've had rust attack since that paint job and need to strip and redo it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildky Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 There's the one and only pic I have now. The people that own the show were not in seeing as it is Easter Sunday. I will call the place tomorrow and talk to the owner about the condition of the cars. The gray thing next to it is another 280Z that is fairly rusted and the interior has a number of cracks and looks much more faded than the yellow one. I live in Pennington NJ' date=' that car is located in Flemmington NJ, about 20 minutes from my house.[/quote'] you do realize that is the VERY limited "ZAP" edition I have an article about them somewhere, gotta dig that out now, it is VERY RARE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rival5 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Thats a ZAP Z. Don't know how rare that edition is. I think it was just a paint package for the 77's. *edit* found this on zhome http://zhome.com/zcarfilesJPEG/ZZZapZL.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Whitebread Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I had no clue it was a special edition. Although, since it's just paint, it shouldn't be worth much more than an non Zap edition, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metallicar Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 The ZAP; Here is a link to Zhome: http://zhome.com/ Your find looks like it has the right mirrors on it, does it have the rear louvers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Whitebread Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Yes it does have them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 When I got my 280z, it was like 4 years ago, the guy had to give me the car for me to take it. When I saw the car it had some rust problems that I would expect from a 25 year old car that in Alaska, but when I opened the car I saw a 50lbs sand bag in the passanger seat and one in the trunk (aaarrrrrgggg). When I got it home and started dismantling it, the first thing I took out was the seats so I could remove the carpet to get to the floor pan to see the condition. It was a Flintstones car. Both floor pans were eaten through by my now cursed enemy RUST. both holes were as big as a softball. Then rest of the car seems to be in ecellent condition except the roof. Its seems that the cabin's lowest inche of metal is rusting but the rest of it is perfect.you can see the line were the rust stops. One of the problems for this was obviously the guy drove it in the winter time when theres road salt on the ground, The second was the the Driver side door was replaced by a door not of the same type (my guess would a door from a 240z). the weather strip for the door never sealed properly thus letting salt water ( road salt) get in the car. Looking closer the rust ate more from the inside than the outside. My guess is its because of the black gunk that they sprayed on the undercarrage and inside the engine bay. BTW does antone else have this stuff on there car and is there a easy way to get it off with out dissabmeling the whole and soda blasting it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Battle Pope Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 The only extremely easy way to get most undercoating gunk off is to burn it off. A friend of mine bought a kitcar that was in bad shape, and the entire frame had been coated in brush-on undercoating. He wanted to powdercoat the frame, but the gunk wouldn't scrape off. He actually had to remove EVERYTHING from the frame and BURN OFF the coating, as in putting the frame in a bonfire for 18 hrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Workinprogress Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Can you say annealing? Wouldnt this be very bad to do to the ENTIRE car? I'd rather go with the heat gun or oven cleaner route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Battle Pope Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Yeah, I was just mentioning my only experience with the stuff. Of course it would be much less harmful to a full steel box tubing frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Lots of M E K and scraping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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