Need help with decision, time is an issue.

[Guest Anonymous]

I've been looking for a project car

for my v-8 conversion.

 

I found a nice 79 280zx that I can

get for $350, but I have to act soon

or it goes to the scrap yard.

 

It belongs to a used car dealer who

bought it to resale, and then realized

that it didn't have air conditioning.

Nobody wanted it because of that.

 

He parked it over ten years ago and nobody

had touched it since until I looked at it

yesterday (good weather-stripping, the

air inside was stale like a tomb).

 

It was running and had brand new tires when

parked. It had NO rust when he parked it,

but there is now some rust. None of the

rust is structural however. The rust

is in the outermost portions of the

rocker-panels (The unibody is visible in

some places, but has not been contaminated

with rust). It apparently rusted via contact

with the underbrush growing up around the

car.

 

There is no rust in the floor pans or the

back hatch. There is some minor rust on

the hood and roof, but it could be sanded

away (it is surface rust from many years

in the weather).

 

Should a snatch up this car or keep looking?

 

How hard/expensive will it be to fix the

rusty rocker-panels?

 

Oh, and you guys think I could sell the motor

and tranny? They had recently been rebuilt

when the car was parked. I'd bet good money

that the thing would crank if I put in a

good battery.

 

Should I jump on it, or wait for another one?

[Guest Anonymous]

I'd grab it. If smog is not an issue in your state and you can do what you like, then heck ya I'd grab it. I'd get it running stock (probably cheaply) and if its a solid driving car and you like it, great keep it, if not, get it running, detail it out and quadruple (or more) your money by selling it.

 

Regards,

 

Lone

[Guest Anonymous]

You didn't answer me about the rust.

 

How hard will it be to fix?

 

Could I just grind it out and shoot

in fiberglass? Or could I go with

marine filler or bondo?

[Guest Anonymous]

If its surface rust, then sand and prime (body) as far as the frame rails if you can poke at them and not holes appear or you can feel they're truly solid, then I'd use Por 15 and coat them inside and out (You'll need a way to spray inside the rail, but a thin nozzle will do that). That should take care of the structure as the Por 15 will stop the rusting (coat it for lack of a better work and keep the air from helping it along.

As far as the rockers, if your talking the bottom area of the body, if its through the sheetmetal, then the only thing to do is patch either with a steel replacement (probably MSA or Victoria Brit.), section the area out and put in the new piece. You could use fiberglass if you make sure you get all the rust under it. Definitely don't use Bondo to patch a hole, it leaches water from the backside and it'll ruin any paint you put on top of it as it'll bubble up and flake off when the bondo fails.

Fiberglass will patch it, but while fiberglass will definitely stick to the metal, it won't stick indefinitely and could ruin paint to because of cracking. All steel repairs are really the right way to do it.

I guess it depends on how much work you think its worth for you. If you have the dough, get the nicest car you can as you won't have to work on so much stuff and you can concentrate more time and effort on the cool stuff, just an opinion of course.

 

Regards,

 

Lone

 

[ September 08, 2001: Message edited by: lonehdrider ]

 

[ September 08, 2001: Message edited by: lonehdrider ]