Money.......(the bell tolls)

[St.stephen]

Zcarguy,

I'm not sure what your resources are, what you can do yourself and what you can afford...However frame rail, and floors are can be an easy task. Honestly. What scares most people is cutting out the rotted metal, seeing what;s left and the welding. Many people cannot weld so someone has to do it for them. That usually means big bucks to them. Not necessarily so. if you take the time to do most of the leg work, many shops will work with you on putting in the replacement kit parts. SOme may do it after hours, some may not warranty their work if it isn't their kit parts. Some may be great and ahve it done in a day if all the leg work is done.

If you have a garage, that really helps. Can you disassemble the car? Is this a daily driver? How much time do you have to complete the project. what is your budget? These are all questions I have to ask as they really play an important role.

Vehicle disasemebly is kind of vital. It;s very hard to detect all the problem areas located on the car while it is fully assembled and there is nothing worse than chasing the rot. SOmething I learned a long time ago with these cars. You fix one problem area of rust and another starts.

I am not kidding, every Z I have had has needed floors, battery tray and inner fender well patches. Only one needed frame rails. I got lucky with the 260. It was beginning to show signs, however I was pro-active and caught it.

I would much better able to give you a hand if you have some pictures. I can then target what you need to repair.

DO you have any available?

[St.stephen]

I have to clarify that most of the cars I encounter here are cars that have been owned by people that fell in love with the car because of it's looks and performance however are not "car" people. That meaning they have zero clue how to fix them. They buy the car, drive it for a while and it develops a problem that they themselves cannot fix. They bring it to a mechanic that has no clue about Z cars, wrongly and expensively tries to find the solution by trial and error and the owners end up with a car that still will not run right and no-one can figure out why. I get this alot with 75-78 cars. Many cannot seem to correct a bad running car when it comes to the injection.

Needless to say the cars sit outside for years upon years until it;s time to finally get rid of it. by that time, I end up with it rather than see it go to the boneyard and sort it out myself.

[laffeaux]

My first foray into Z cars was an early '71 that I bought in 1990 for $1400. The car ran great, and althought I thought I new how to look for rust, I did not. The car ended up with huge rust problems, and after a year I gave up on the car.

A year later I jumped back in with an early '74 260. I spent $2000 and the car was much more dependable than the previous 240 - sure, it was less fun to drive, but rarely left me stranded (whereas the 240 left me on the side of road many times). Unfortunately, someone decided that they wanted my car and stole it one night in NYC. I never saw it again.

I got away rom the Z's after that and bought and partially restored a '67 Firebird. I sold it after 5 years for about 1/3 of what I'd spent on it.

Drawing from my past experiences this past summer I bought another Z. This time it's a late '71. I was looking for a car with good body and engine for about $6000. I figured I'd buy a car that someone else had already spent the money on. Well, as it turns out you can;t always get what you want. I found a car with a good body, but it needed mechanical work. In the end I'll have spent about $7000, but I'm getting a car in hte condition I wanted.

What's most important? (1) a solid rust free body, (2) a complete car, so that you don't have to guess what it is you're looking for, (3) a good interior, and (4) an engine that does not blow blue smoke or leak oil.

[justaZcarguy]

St.st:

Yes I will have pics by Friday, the USB cable for my digital camera suddenly walked away and I had to order another, it will be here hopefully Wed. then I will be able to DL all of the pics that I keep promising people...

I have access to a plasma cutter and I think that is half the battle right there, I am also friends with what I feel is one of the best welders / fitters in the whole damn state, (Mr. Strode, please take a bow...)

Once I get those up to date I'm sure you will be able to eyeball the area...

Thanks and I'll post 'em ASAP...

You have a great Wednesday sir...

B

[spudz]

Hmmmmmmm !!! What I would do if I had to do it again. I would really check over the car better.

I bought mine from a friend and it was exactly

as stated.

I would make a list of the things I have to

have and the stuff I would like to have. I research everything a bit better before starting

anything. I finally have a master plan on the suspension stuff after I made a few mistakes.

I don't have a budget on my car , since I don't

have any money . I just sell a few Roadster

parts I have to pay for things I need on he Z.

[hmsports]

I'll only talk about my street car budget -- not the race car's...

I purchased a clean '71 for $750 here in St. Louis -- absolutely no rust -- it was sitting inside an auto repair shop for about four years after sitting outside for about four -- car was left there after a brutal divorce -- the husband wanted to spite his ex-wife so he gave the title to the owner of the shop.

Anyway, the interior is missing with the exception of the seats and dash. My budget has included just parts to get it on the road:

Clutch master and slave, brake master, caliper repair kit, rear wheel cylinders, all four brake hoses, clutch hose and Crane XR3000 EI with PS-91 coil. All the hoses, fuel lines, plugs, cap/rotor and wires were replaced by the auto shop before the big battle. So far I've spend about $400 on parts. Oh, plus I'm using a spare Holley Blue fuel pump -- normal cost about $90.

Eventually, I'll replace the seats and put an interior in it -- right now I just want to get it running.