Need Opinions

[centralflZ]

Hey all,I've been looking at this '76 280z for awhile, and I wanna know what your opinions are on the rust issues...I looked at the TABCO body Panels, and seen they weren't that expensive. The guy wants $500 for it, but I'm going to chew him down as much as I can.. This is going to be a "work on it when I want to" project. Heres some pictures.

[blackice280zx]

it looks really ruff. What do the frame rails look like and what do the floor boards that would be the deciding factor. If they look like the rest of the car it would only be worth it for the running motor if it does run. It is a good parts car in my opinion. Will the guy sell the other s30 sitting there?

[centralflZ]

Floors are like any other 280z rusted, but not sure on how bad, the carpet seemed to be glued to the floor. The frame rails, I dont really remember, the front crossmember was not rusted at all. The gold s30, is a '71 240z auto, all the datsuns you can see are for sale... If I need fenders or any parts, I can use them off the other s30's he has.

[mtnhighus]

it really all depends on what you want, how much time and money you are willing to spend, what skills you have vs what you will have pay someone else to fix. its all subjective. i have seen cars in worse shape, and in better shape. the bottom line is, is it worth it to you. there are some really good sources for replacement parts if you want to do the work yourself, and all the tech info you could ever hope to find is right here on NiCO. i just purchased an 83 280 that is alot worse shape than what i see from your pictures, but it has all the right pieces, and hasnt been butchered too bad,so it was worth it to me. it is not gonna be my daily driver so it doesnt matter how long it takes to fix, but i can do alot of the work myself. there have been a couple of really good build threads on here recently, you should check them out, and the mods here are a huge help, and full of knowledge. good luck

[blackice280zx]

I vote no unless your getting it for parts. Howdy from hybridz

[evildky]

pass, thos cars are both rustbuckets, save yourself some hair pulling and find a better chassis, you are in FL there are much better examples in your state, especially when you figure you'd need $2000 worth of replacement metal to make one of those cars whole

and +1 for tabco, I got their rockers and quarterskin, gotta clear other projects otu of the way before I can actually get to putting them on

[centralflZ]

Yeah, I've been thinking about it. Sometimes I buy the first thing I see..Oh ya, I found this '72 240z, not bad IMO. Is that a body kit on it?

[blackice280zx]

I like that one

[evildky]

better, but whats under that kit? and the hole in the roof wuld be a deal breaker for me

[Perrenial Badass]

And where specifically is centralflZ from? Lake Alfred here.

Both of those S30s look pretty rough, I wouldn't buy them. And my S30 is pretty damned bad in the floors. If you can get them out and jack them up, check the floors. And bring a magnet, I didn't see the fiberglass repair in mine until I got the carpet up, looked solid from underneath. If one has solid floors and no rust holes, then it's worth buying.

[centralflZ]

Inverness, Citrus county.The violet '72 240z you see in the pics, the floors are solid in it, I was punching the floor pans, and wasnt going through it, the rockers have a quarter of them rusted, and minor rust around the quarter windows, other than that, thats it. Automatic though-one reason I don't want it. I did bring a magnet with me, the violet 240z seems good.

[Perrenial Badass]

Did you give the floors the magnet? I stomped on mine, seemed solid enough so I figured the rust wasn't too bad. Truth is, take out the fiberglass and you could stick a foot through and touch dirt.

[evildky]

the manual trasn conversion on these cars is very simple, don't be afraid to buy an automatic car, chances are if you buy a 4 speed manual car you're gonna want to upgrade to a 5 speed anyhow

[JDMZ32]

My first impression is that this money pit will quickly turn into a money canyon.

[DevilZed]

I vote no unless your getting it for parts. Howdy from hybridz

This can become a nightmare, with all the rust that these cars face you'll most likely need to tear out the carpet and see how bad are things underneath which the owner probably won't let you do. You can see that the rust is starting to show from underneath the paint and in some areas the rust has already started eating away at the car. This is what I see from the pictures, most likely it's a lot worse once you start to strip the paint and interior of the car. I rather save up a little more for the right car or wait till I find one in better condition. Picking a right classic takes a little time and patience but you can find them at great prices. You guys are lucky in Florida cause you can get any of the classic Zs (70-78) and not worry about smogging them. Over here in CA we're stuck to cars 75 and under, even some 75 cars still needs to be smog which sucks cause it's a 35+ year old car. I wish you the best in finding a Z...It's always nice to see another Z back on the road

[reddzx]

I too would pass on this one unless it was the only one you could find. Even if it's cheap, metal restoration and fabrication will take alot of time, money and work.

Keep looking.

[centralflZ]

Yeah, I've been looking around, and ran into a z32 owner at applebees and he told me about some 280zx's that he had....One is a '82 280zx turbo, black a little rust issues, nothing to cry over. I got it to run(it sat for god knows how long) backfires out the intake on fast throttle, but wont if you eaze into it....He wants $600 for it, I may chew him down.( this guy does not know ANYTHING about any Z, not even his own z32) Then he has a 5speed 280zx turbo. So I'm going to try and get one of those...any good reasons to pick a Auto to Manual or vise versa 280zx turbo?Thanks

[Perrenial Badass]

The 5 speed has the man-petal on the far left to exercise your leg, so that you don't find yourself walking in circles. The 280ZX has the T5 if memory serves, which is (not from personal experience here) a good transmission. Lots of aftermarket for it since it's the transmission used in Stangs, if that's your thing.

[evildky]

yup the manual trans on the 280zx turbo was the T5, the 81 was available only as an automatic, the 82-83 were availabel wiht the manual trans

backfiring through the intake is either a timing issue or a valve train issue, if the ignition timing and cam timing are correct then a valve is bent, sticking or the spring is compressed, figure around $200 to have the head gone over at a machine shop, plus parts