Just bought Z #3, 1973

[xcyter]

So Bob did you get it for a good price? If you paid that much for shipping how deep are you in the car now?

[Sailor Bob]

I am in it significantly, but due to the location that I live in, our salted roads and our poor weather - it is simply the price you have to pay to get a viable Z in eastern Canada. I looked at a couple of local cars and they were rough and still pricey, even getting parts from them is tricky - I looked at one last summer and no lie, it had at least twenty pounds of bondo added to the body panels.

So I am not as far into it as if I would be trying to reproduce a workable Z from local offerings. Ie - to buy a good fender $100 + shipping plus prepping and painting = $$$$ - multiply that by the bulk of the body parts that would have to be done and it makes alot of sense to ship from the SW.

The up side to what I have is - it is solid and I don't have to do the body if I don't want to. I was hoping to get it on the road for 1K - I am now thinking two or less as long as I do all the work myself.

[geezer]

From the routine long distance picture inspection it looks to be a solid car Rick. The front side rails seem to be in great shape. You should be ready for the road by next season easily if you stick to the plan and just replace the worn out bits and concentrate on getting her running nice. The few rust areas you found can be dealt with individually when time permits, as long as you don't allow it to get any worse. It doesn't seem to be much more than cosmetic anyhow. A little sad seeing your other Z under a tarp, almost a hint of winter being right around the corner again.

[Carl Beck]

Bob that is a nice car. I just bought one blind as well from California.

Ljbryan

Hi Ljbryan:

It is too bad you didn't use the search function before you purchased a car, or at least read the information in the "E-bay" forum.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16183&page=2

You can read the Posts in that thread.. especally starting with the second page.. around Post #35 or so..

We'll hope that everything works out for you -

FWIW,

Carl B.

Edited September 3, 2008 by Carl Beck

[Carl Beck]

Sailor - you've left us hanging... how about some pictures of the things you were not happy about on this car - so far it looks like a great car... What shipping damage etc, or what were you disappointed about...

We'd all like to know what specific things should have been pointed out by the seller..

thanks,

Carl B.

[Sailor Bob]

I may have been a little bit picky initially when I saw the car, when shipping long distances things happen - particullarly when the vehicle changes carriers several times en route. I got the low shipping rate (in relative terms), but paid the other way.

The vendor put a bra on the car prior to shipping (at my request) and one of the truckers tried to start the car to move it to another truck, (the ignition is tricky) when trying to start he thought the battery was dead and popped the hood to boost it and ripped two slits in the vinyl bra (now garbage).

I took some pictures of some of the body damage but they show very poorly in a photo. Minor dimples are almost impossible to see unless you are looking from the correct angle - the drivers door appears perfect in a photo but standing beside it it shows several dents. I wll get creative with lighting later to see what I can do to illuminate the issue (see what I did there )

Here's some things that are obvious (now) - the bumper shot is the unmentioned trailer hitch.

Don't get me wrong, this glass is half full.

More later.

[BRE-240Z]

Rick, I know you were a little disappointed in the bumps and scrapes that the car incurred during shipping, but I have to tell you that this looks like a very solid car to me. Shoot a coat of paint on her after you get the mechanicals done and you'll forget all about these little dings and scratches. Congratulations! This is a nice car.

[Sailor Bob]

Thanks Brian - you are correct it is pretty solid and the more I fiddle with it the better it seems to be.

I now have all the suspension parts removed and am waiting on parts, some will be three weeks yet , the upshot is that gives me time to do some tidying up. Bought a couple of spray bombs of satin black (+ primer) so the control arms, mustache bar, struts etc... will all get a refresh. One thing I noticed is that most of the bushings are very good - got me wondering whether or not to replace them all or just the poor ones.

Disconnected the electric fuel pump - works fine without it (perhaps better), when the carbs are straightened away I will know for sure - still blowing black smoke. Talking to Bruce at Ztherapy - he is very heplful, but I think these babies are in for a renewal.

The smoke got me thinking about oil as well, after all the odometer says 46,000 but how do you know? So I got the compression test on the go this morning and with five cranks per cylinder I got 165 (give or take a couple of lbs) all around. So I am thinking she is not burning oil from bad rings anyway. Turned out to be a happy day.

Ron - she wasn't under the tarp for long.

More later.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Sailor Bob