I've found a 280z at a scrapyard around where i live and the owner of the yard says he would take $800 for it. Is this a decent price? I would be doing all work to it myself. I would have to go about getting a title and he says he has a guy that he gets to title all his harleys that he messes with for around $100. The only rust i see on it looks like surface rust and the only spot i could poke through was on the bottom of the fender. If i got it i would strip it down completely to get all of the rust off of it. No idea how good condition the motor is in, oil looked good though. Forgot to ask if he has a key, Interior is alright, could be better, and he thinks the back brakes are locked up on it.
Anyways here are some pictures

Since no one else has chimed in, the critical areas for rust are under the battery and the front frame rails. Other rust areas are the floor pans and the doglegs aft on the doorframe.

Mechanical parts are generally available. Makes you wonder why the vehicle was abandoned. The wheels are definitely not stock.

This particular version of the Z will never be a collector car, but if you are into the project, enjoy.

If you are looking into a cheap daily driver, verify the front frame rails are good and bring a battery to try to get the engine to turn over. Even if it starts, you could easily be looking at another $3-4K to get it into daily driver status. Then plan on driving the wheels off of it because you will never get your money back out of it.

Rust is the number one killer. If the bottom of the fender is rusted chances are so is the rocker behind it. DJ hit the major rust areas, also check the hatch lip, spare tire well, the lower rear quarters, the base of the strut towers up front, the frame rail above the sway bar, the gusset above the tc rod mount, the seam where the toe board meets the floor pan, the floor pan behind the seats and pretty much anything not glass or rubber.

All s30's seem to be on the rise, the 280 will never be as collectable or valuable as a 240z but still good cars and worth owning.

Mechanically these are pretty simple cars. The fuel injection can be problematic but it's usually a bad injector clip or a leaky air boot between the afm and the tb. Carb or engine swaps are both popular. If the engine turns it can be likely be made to run for little $. I've bought and built race cars for $2k so unless you are hiring out the work or planning a full paint job it shouldn't cost much to get up and going.

It's a great price. I'd pick it up in a heartbeat. I mean, you can't fix it if you don't own it.