miles?

[z_pyro]

since the Z odo only has 5 digits, how would you tell that a car had 52,000 or 152,000 miles on it??

[72zcar]

I simple... you don't. Sometimes you can tell by the condition of the seat or the brake and clutch pedals, steering wheel... these things among others give you a idea if the car is 50k or 150k...u know what I mean:D

[z_pyro]

what kind of condition would they be in?

i know the seats are kinda torn up, the brake pedal's rubber cover is coming apart, the steering wheel kinda looks grungy....

other than that, the car is in pretty good condition

[AxtellZ]

its a best judgement thing. 150K should have much more wear. Carpet very compressed, etc etc. If the pedals are really worn, i would think its over 50K, but its really a hands-on judgement. JA

[72zcar]

you are saying "seats are kinda torn up, the brake pedal's rubber cover is coming apart, the steering wheel kinda looks grungy"

then I would have to say that the car is not a 50,000 mile car, unless the guy that owned it before you let wild animals live in it...:tapemouth

[z_pyro]

it really isn't all that bad. it sounds worse than it looks.

i would also think that there would be more rust and other kinds of wear on the car if it were a 150k car....

[Royce]

If they do not have a paper trail to document it is 50K then I would suspect it is 150K or maybe even 250K. Ask for repair receipts and check the mileage logged over the years and you can estimate if the mileage is correct. Other wear and tear will make it difficult to tell because the car is so old. Example the grease on the clutch clevis pin may have been dried up long ago and if they put 20K with a lot of around the town driving in the past 12 years it could wear the hole oval, just like a well lubed clutch peddle of 150K. Or for the seats and interior, if the car was left out it could age much more rapidly. Buy the car bassed on its overall condition, 150k is not a lot of miles for a car near 30 years old. Don't buy it assuming it is 50K because if they cannot prove it you will never be able to if you try to resell it.

Hope it helps!

Royce

[z_pyro]

i've already bought the car for $140. that's for the parts ($40 for cap/rotor for Mallory Unilite Distributor, and after the module on that burned out, $100 for a reconditioned points distributor.).

the car was donated to my auto shop teacher. it was just sitting in this guy's driveway, and he gave it to his friend (shop teacher). the shop teacher was going to get the car running, then sell it to a kid who needed a car (me!). it had a Mallory Unilite Distributor, but the cap + rotor were missing. we got those, and got the car running. since we were using an old battery, we had to put a charger on it to get it started. doing this made a voltage spike, which burned out the module on the distributor. so we ordered a points distributor, put it in and got the car running. we then drove it home (uninsured, unregistered). it's sitting in my driveway now.

the only rust on it is some surface rust on a couple of small places on the exterior, and some surface rust where the spare tire goes. there are no front floor carpets, but the rear deck carpet is in damn good condition for 30 yrs old.

the previous owner put in a L28 w/ N24 head, converted to dual downdraft Weber carbs, added Mallory fuel pump, Promaster coil and the infamous Unilit Distributor. there was an alarm on it at one time, but it was disconnected and i dont know what the hell he hooked it up to (it was installed in the very back of the rear deck, under the hatch latch, and the wires were run under the center console to all of the wires under the dash). the heater/AC was taken out as well. it has no radio. the deck glass has probably been replaced, as it has the horizontal defroster lines instead of the vertical lines that came on the series 1 71's (and there was a lot of broken auto glass on the deck). the "spare" has been worn to the point that the tread is coming off, it's almost completely bare and the sharp steel is poking out (ow!!). the turn signals, one brake light and one headlight don't work (i' getting a new turn signal switch). the dash isn't too horrible, just some pretty small cracks, and the previous owner tried to put a radar detector on the dash and used some kind of really thick glue that won't come off, and it's a real eyesore. the fuel gague, speedo and tach dont work, nor do the lights that light up the gagues.

i can't get ahold of the previous owner right now, but i'll try, just to see what the hell else he did to the car!!

i think that's pretty much it!

[Royce]

Well it sounds like a great deal! Unless you find the original motor it will never be at the top of the value scale but for what you got it is a steal! Sounds like a good car to start with, they all have their challenges, I am sure you will have a lot of fun with it.

Also, you have the makings of a good performing Z car. L28 block/N42 head with dual carbs, I perfer SU's but dual SUs are fine for that price!

Just try to focus on fixing one thing at a time, ask for help when you need it and I am sure you will enjoy it!

[zorro]

The only real true way is to track all it's previous owners and service history. My 260Z had 80000kms when I bought it and was 17 years old. Going purely on the average kms driven by a person in Aust of 25000km a year that would make 425000kms. Being conservative looking at condition of vehicle, compression and oil comsuption of engine I guessed 280,000kms which is only 16,470kms a year in case it was a city owner. That's only a guess but sounded fair.

If all else fails better try tracking it's previous owners.. Goodluck.