Well, had the owner responded to an eamil with my questions I would have been more willing to bid beyond where I did. But, that's the way it goes. Congratulations BD280Z

Way to go BD280Z,

After seeing the car, I think you got good value for your bid. Are your plans, if a title is forthcoming, to restore this car to original? I'm in Phoenix, and would love to see the progress. Keep us updated.

Dan

Welcome to the group, BD. Here's a photo of encouragement!

Hi All,

I'm the luck winner of this auction. ..snipped...

Hi BD280Z:

Is the Buld Date 05 or 06 of 70?...

thanks,

Carl

Way to go BD280Z. Glad to know someone willing to save a Z won.I hope you are able to get a title for it and be able to drive it instead of parting it out.There are a lot of great members with a lot of knowledge that will be glad to share their info to help you.Good luck.

Carl,

I forgot to put that in the summary of my trip to the car. The door jamb data plate had a build date of 5/70.

Dan

As far as the title goes be aware that a title is not even required in some states depending on the age of the vehicle. Here in Georgia a title is only "required" for 1986 and newer vehicles. A title is "optional" (whatever that means) for 1963 to 1985. Other states may have similar rules. Hopefully you'll be able to get an Arizona title without a problem but if not that doesn't mean you'll have to part it out. You could easily sell the whole car for a profit at this point although admittedly you've got some work ahead of you just to get the car extracted.

Here's the Georgia info. I couldn't find something similar for AZ.

http://motor.etax.dor.ga.gov/motor/titles/required.asp

Thanks for all the feedback, advice and encouragement!

If/when I get a title, I'll bring the car home. I'll get it cleaned up as much as possible and will post some pictures of the cars current condition.

Like the 78 I just finished, I'll make every reasonable effort to keep the car stock/OE. It will be determined upon the availability and price of the parts that I'll need.

Unlike the 78, I plan to document and photograph the effort as much as I can. I'll post updates as they happen.

Again, thanks for the replies!!

Quick update.

Today I got a notarized Power of Attorney and Bill of Sale from the Seller. Tomorrow I'm stopping by Arizona Z Car Source and getting some wheels & tires and heading out to the car. I'm going to have the tow-truck driver take the car straight to DMV for the Bonded Title inspection and then on to my house. With some luck I'll be vacuuming out the mouse crap by lunch time.

You guys who take on a project like this have my utmost respect. I wish I had the time and means to do a compete ground up resto of a worthy candidate like this. Perhaps one day I will. For now, I'm more than content with my 73' driver. No matter what, any car I ever own will be a driver, regardless of how rare or valuable it might be. That's what these things were made for. Good luck with your new project.

Yesterday I got an Arizona title for the car. I used the Bonded Title process and it wasn't that bad, the Bond is for $2,000 and cost me $75.

I never got the car to my friends shop, I kept it in my driveway so I could tinker with it. I have a vehicle storage problem and had to park my daily driver in the street, I've since moved the 280Z to my friends shop.

While waiting for the title process, I was able to get the car running. I did the Marvel Mystery oil, PB Blaster, WD-40 soaking in the cylinders each day for about a week. New ignition wires, points, oil/filter, clean & gapped the plugs with fresh gas fed directly into the pump and she fired up after about 15seconds of cranking. A little rough at first but after a few minutes the idle smoothed out somewhat and I let the car run until it was warmed up.

The following day, I let the car warm up again then did a compression test. The numbers ranged from 155 to 160 and the exhaust is clean with no smoke. I think I got really lucky here!! I'll have a leak down test performed as soon as I can get the car to my mechanic. I removed the valve cover to oil everything before I tried starting the car and was surprised that the top end was pretty clean with no discoloration or buildup of any gunk.

At this point I'm going to start removing everything from the car so I can have the metal media blasted. Here's a question for those of you that have done this; What process have you used to seal the metal after blasting? After I weld/repair any rust, do I POR 15, phosphate wash, primer, paint, undercoat the metal? Do I have the bottom and floors powder-coated? My goal is to preserve/encapsulate the metal so tha car will survive for many, many years. I'm in virgin territory here and appreciate any feedback, thanks in advance!

BD

I don't have the answers but I feel that I must chime in: I think it is great that you got the car, you are doing the right thing and I for one look forward to getting periodic updates on the "Dersert Queen"'s progress. Exciting times for you no doubt.