Noob with a 1983 280ZX

[Guest 83zxmike]

Hey guys!

 

I'm new on here... I got a 1983 280ZX last year to work on, so far I haven't done anything other than a little rust work, and stripping the interior. The car was a freebie, so I'm not out anything if I need to get out of it at this point. The car is in pretty rough shape for its age...

 

It has no engine right now. I have the complete top-end, in pieces in the trunk. and I have the 5-spd trans still in the car, but I don't have a block. It will need a complete brake overhaul, and struts, as well as the clutch cylinders, and various other parts before it's driveable again.

 

I haven't seen any rust damage that I thought is serious, but I've herd that with these if there's any rust that goes through anything you're better off to stay away from that car, because there will be a ton you can't see... well there's two rust spots like that on this car one is in the passegner side floor board where presumably the t-top was leaking... it's a small hole, but it does go through the floor pan. It's just barely big enough for my finger to fit in. The only other rust spot was in the inner fender where I guess the battery was leaking or something, but it's a good sized hole eaten through there. Any other rust is just surface rust that I will sand off and fix appropriately.

 

Given the rust I mentioned do you guys think it's going to be a big mess later on, or not, I didn't see any other rust on it that went through a panel. I know i can get a replacement floor pan but I don't know what to do with the innner fender that has a rust hole through it, it's part of the car itself, and not detachable so...

 

I mainly want to get it driveable, and then worry about cosmetics, but obviously it will need to be a solid car to begin with not something that will rust to pieces later on... anyway, there's a few pictures on http://community.webshots.com/user/michaelddjr look under the datsun 280zx album. I just moved from SC to south Georgia, and the car doesn't run so it's in storage in SC right now, so I can't just go get more pictures.

 

-Mike-