260zShooter Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I bought my car for $500 out of a junkyard and have spent about $11K in parts right now. I did the body work, so that made things slightly cheaper. It still needs the interior finished out though. It could have probably been done cheaper with better planning. An engine swap is no small undertaking financially. A build can quickly snowball if you don't budget wisely, and it will still cost more than anticipated. Kevin What junkyards in the Dallas area will sell junk cars? I've never seen one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysBroke Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 The last thing I'd plan is a swap, until you have had time to enjoy it for a while. I'm helping another member on here, Joe, with his Zcar project, and the last thing you want to do is take the car off the road for a considerably long period of time. It will kill your momentum. That is tooo true! That was the hardest thing about putting the 4.3L in mine. It took me over 2 years with my only job working >35 hours a week at Wendy's. (Now that Im in the military and have a desposible income I just dont have the time. Such is life) Its so easy to get frustrated and overwealmed with all the little details involved. If you do decide to go for it, Its best to break the project up into smaller parts so you can have little successes along the way, keeping up the momentum. And when you hit that brick wall and the momentum is gone, go somewhere else on the car and find a quick little project that you can do for cheap. It will get you motivated again to want to get that thing on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 well im 15 and i bought mine a year ago and i have spent about $2000 on it already most of it my own money (still doesn't run =( but getting there) but i always have the memory of when it was running and the first time i drove it out on the country roads. my sweetest memory haha but really it depends on how much you really want your car to be yours if your willing to take a long time on it for it to be nice go for it, because it will definatly be worth it in the long run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essdeezee Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I can't stress enough how important it is to have a reliable daily driver on hand if you plan on any sort of serious work. Often times, parts fresh from the store end up either being bad, or not being right in the first place. Often times, you make a mistake and end up needing additional parts/materials. Often times, you run into completely unforseen problems. Any of these happening could put you car-less for the work week. Real life has to come first, and not being able to show up just isn't an excuse to most employers. Do what I did. Buy a civic. Leave it stock. Hate it, but maintain it. Get 30mpg and reliability. Then feel free to go nuts with a z project. Thrash on it, enjoy it. If it breaks, you can park it until the next time you can work on it. Sometimes, real life has a way of putting its finger in your freshly baked cake. If you have some hardtack biscuits in the cupboard, you can shrug and say "well, I guess it's biscuits this week, but mm, here comes the weekend" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyfriend Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 In my opinion, the best thing to do for a z is to have it driveable if possible for the majority of the driving season and when it is off for the winter you should work on one major project that you have in store. that way you can continue to restore and modify your z and yet still be able to know what it feels like to drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin.pk Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 What junkyards in the Dallas area will sell junk cars? I've never seen one. Its was actually a z car junkyard. All Z car specialist in fort worth. I don't know if he usually sells whole junk cars, but he did when I got mine 5 years ago. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb25pwrd Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I noticed youve listed an RB25 as a possible swap, I would not recommend you go through with it if you dont have a fair amount of money sitting around or dont mind working on the car and saving money for a year or two. Im doing an RB25 swap right now and Ive spent over $7000 (including cost of car and back registration fees, $700) on it so far. Its not even running and I still need to buy parts to make it run. My brakes, suspension and all that is stock. My car looks like complete crap as well. To get an RB25 with suspension upgrades, brakes and all that and having the car look decent will cost well over $10,000. Dont let the price of the engine fool you, it adds up very very quick just to get it running. Unless my friend, you have driveshaft fabrication capabilities, can make a custom wiring harness and can make engine and transmission mounts, and obtain an engine that is complete and hasnt been in a front end crash (difficult to find), which cut the cost dramatically. ************ end quote* Like jakeoster said man RB's swaps are expensive me i have spent well over 12k just on the mods and motor but luckily I'm best buds with a shop owner that specializes with Nissan and Datsun swaps not too mention he himself having a hybrid and got free labor for it If you have the time, money, patience the rewards are well worth it, but my advice would be the same if you want this as your daily drive work with what you got and get that running I myself made the same mistake with my first project car thinking everything was gonna be quick don't even believe a shop or otherwise give you a set timeframe especially with these cars lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Over the last 22 years I've sunk a growing fortune into these cars. Truest statement of the bunch. I gave up counting years ago. JeffP did not, he keeps an anal record of anything he has bought directly relating to his car. At last total, it was over $75,000 on one car. Understand, like many people have said, "$3K this year" or "$15K this year"... These cars, barring an incident with a Mack Bulldog, or other similarly immovable object are remarkably persistent. Persistence means longevity. Longevity means protracted projects, and continuing expenditures. Taken in relative terms, Jeff's $75K really only represents say, $3500 a year for slightly over 20 years. I have to admit it is something like that for me and I'm sure for MikeK as well, save mine is spread over many more cars and projects...all of which are incomplete, ongoing, or otherwise not 'cover of Sport Z Magazine' type lookers as many here are... Asking what it costs up front is subjective, it's more 'what do you want from it'? And put the budget forth from there. It all depends on what you have available and what your finances are... It could be a little. It could be a lot. There is really no telling. All I know is, for the sake of my wife, I stopped knowing any concrete numbers, as if I revealed a detailed accounting as JeffP has done my wife would wig out. As a monthly total, it all looks much more sane: "Meh, I only spent $300 this month, honey!" Yeah, and 600 the month before, 1500 next month, and nothing during December... But over the course of a year, or ten.....it grows to a staggering number you never want to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoorhs02 Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Its was actually a z car junkyard. All Z car specialist in fort worth. I don't know if he usually sells whole junk cars, but he did when I got mine 5 years ago. Kevin jerry at all Z is a cool guy...i live about 5 minutes from his shop. he can be pretty pessimistic at times tho...but i guess that can be a good thing. total, between my Zs...i have around $7k...and a year and a half invested. the 78 that i plan on turning into my DD has sat since 91, with a badass body. im currently redoing the suspension and bushings...and have only driven that car ~40miles between dropping my f54/p90a in and rippin her back apart for the suspension. all drives have been for 'test' purposes, between 9pm and 6am...ok i wont lie...some drives were for motivational reasons...she still isnt legal (hence midnight drives) so i take it easy...and yes i can agree, do SMALL projects...dont do what i did lol. also, make sure your DD is actually reliable...i have all the parts i need to keep me busy with the project for a while...but now i am stuck saving for a reliable DD to get me to work and school(gotta love mom and dad's generosity and understanding)...so the project is on a financial break at the moment. and i will emphasize...make sure you have a place to work on/store your car/extra and spare parts...my 2 Zs and my zxt are at my grandmas...and i have had at least 2 there for a year. .be grateful for anyone who is willing to help you out...sorry for the ramble guys...just some of what this project has taught me and allowed me to learn... jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 700$ for the car (77), and probably 3,000$ in mods and repairs, covering suspension, manual transmission swap, Turbo conversion,... repairs, well, Im not going to list all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Just the oposite for us Florida folks, park in the summer and drive in the winter! In my opinion, the best thing to do for a z is to have it driveable if possible for the majority of the driving season and when it is off for the winter you should work on one major project that you have in store. that way you can continue to restore and modify your z and yet still be able to know what it feels like to drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyfriend Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Just the oposite for us Florida folks, park in the summer and drive in the winter! So now I just have one more reason to be jealous of you Florida people! Not only is rust not really an issue, but you can also drive year round! I just hope your a/c is working... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoorhs02 Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 So now I just have one more reason to be jealous of you Florida people! Not only is rust not really an issue, but you can also drive year round! I just hope your a/c is working... a/c??? whats this a/c you speak of??? lol..come on now, it only gets 105 here in dallas...not tooooo bad:?. drive in excess of 10mph with the windows down and youll be fine! jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyfriend Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 whenever i ended up driving around in the summer i always ended up with a sweaty back on the seat. and this was driving 75 with the windows down. not fun when you had to go on a date Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR3NNAN Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 lets see, i got my first z when i was prob 16 or 17. My uncle that used to do body work said he would fix it all up for me. well he had it for a good 6 to 8 months and didn't even touch it. i was pretty upset, but the only good thing that came out of it was me not spending a cent of my money and by the end of senior year i had enough money to buy my second z, get it restored by a shop and now about to l28et swap it. my second z was 2500, the restore and paint was 1600, and the motor set up and gonna be 3000. I did all this working minimum wadge. I just turned 18 BTW. I say go for it. As long as you can save money it's definatlly THE car to build on. Awesome, fun cars with a great resale value =D ha ha. oh and my car went from rusted multicolored poo brown to what you see in my sig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo_gj Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 You bloody lucky Americans Here's some perspective from down under. At time of writing 0.74AUD ~ 1 USD. My Z cost me 6500 AUD to buy and was considered a bargain amongst the club because it ran beautifully and was rust free. Closest I was looking at was a 260z for 14K. My planned RB25 conversion I'm budgeting for 12-13K AUD. Suspension overhaul in December will cost me 3K AUD. I've got lots of other bits and pieces that total another 5K. I don't believe the project will ever really end, which suits me fine. I'm crazy and like to punish myself by keeping close track of spending. Still, if it makes me happy and is within my means, why shouldn't I do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Roughly infinity, you will never stop spending. Take steps like Mike said. Having a car as a roller sucks. Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedge Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 7800 can $ for the car and about 250 $ on odds and ends repair so far . But i got a plan down for the future and im in for 25k $ at least now . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corzette Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 The Rusty Old Datsun had around $65,000 into it. Engine, EMS, intake, exhaust, radiator, etc. were close to $20,000, shocks were close to $10,000, fabrication work on the roll bar, chassis, and suspension were another $7,500, transmission was about $8,000, multiple differentials were about $2,000, body and paint were another $5,000, multiple sets of wheels and tires were $5,000... Beautimus!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megatherion Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 1200 for the car, and about +1500 in parts, and many more $$$ in the future... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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