Looking to Buy a Z

[CantZme]

Currently looking at a 260z and don't know much about them, please tell me if the car is worth what he is asking.

1974 260z with a four speed tranny, 3.54 diff, small fmic and pvc ic piping. Upgraded turbo to t3/t4 hybrid, centerforce dual friction clutch, 1 gen dsm bov. 2.5 in downpipe w/ no exhaust on the car. The l28et in the car has about 70k miles and the car itself has almost 185,000mi. The car does need a good amount of work though. Door panels and interior carpet are missing, it needs a new headliner, complete paint job, wiring under steering column needs to be cleaned up. Seats have some tears and will need to be replaced, needs new tires, and an oil line from the turbo needs to be replaced. Overall the body is straight and is currently primered. Drives nicely and does not leak oil. The owner is asking $2000 and is very firm...i'm really fond of the car so i was about ready to buy it lst week but wasn't sure if i would be wasting my money. Please give me any feedback you have, it is greatly appreciated.

[datz280]

I’m fairly new to dasuns as well. I just posted above you. I would look at what you want/need. How much do you have to spend? It sounds like a full interior is needed: carpet kit, seats, door panels, and headliner. Also paint. How much rust is there? Rust repair can get expensive/old quick. Also do a compression test and see if all the cylinders are close to being the same (I don’t know what they should be). Take it to a shop and have them put it on a lift and get a good look underneath as well. You cant go to wrong for $2,000 though.

[Gollum]

Yea, 2k sounds good, as long as the chassis is in premo condition. Rust is the main factor here. If the car is in great shape other than the oil line & interior i'd say it's a fair price (if not a good deal for you). Now, the primer, for same measure a sealant should be sprayed before/after the primer. Some primers have that built in. If the car hasn't been sealed what so ever you might end up having to redo the primer job anyways.

 

I'm sure more people with more knowledge about paint will chime in here.

 

You're in the LA area so parts won't be hard to come by. Great parts might be a little hard to find, but general parts to complete the interior shouldn't be too hard.

[Mayolives]

I will agree with Gollum. If the car is mechanically sound and the body is as good as you have indicated, 2k is a reasonable price. Have you looked closely at the underside of the car and inspected it for rust? Finding a decent first generation body at a fare price is becoming harder by the day. Good luck with your search.

[AK-Z]

For inspecting the body, I would check a couple of things in particular.

 

Floor boards. just crouch down and look at the floor boards from underneath

 

Trunk sill plate. The part of the trunk panel closest towards you when you open it, both the part on the car and the part on the hatch itself.

 

Rocker panels/door pillar. Tap on the rockers and try to listen for what is metal and what is plastic fill. Since you say the carpet is out you chan check it from the inside.

 

Spare tire compartment. On mine the hatch never sealed properly so it would drop slightly and well up in the spare tire compartment, mine never realy rusted here when water was in here but just mentioning it just in case.

 

All the other things would involve removing the fenders and the cowl next the the windshield.