I bought this car 2 weeks ago in Sutton, MA from a craigslist ad stating it was a California car that has been sitting in his garage for the last ten years. Well upon arrival and a few minutes of investigating that claim was bull$hit. It was originally a Cali car 20 years ago but 20 years of New England changes that easily.

The good news about this car is that is complete and a matching numbers car.

My buddy and I went to the garage last night to do a little work on the Z. I changed the oil and filter. We were able to remove the AC compressor pulley from the front of the crank with the socket that John (my buddy) machined down at work. Once the pulley was off we could see if the engine was seized. The engine turned over with ease!!!! I decided to get the front of the car in the air so we could inspect the years of hacking and boy did we find a lot of ♥♥♥♥ I never expected.

What I saw was a piece of nifty angle iron bolted with 10 3/8” nuts and bolts along the rail. This occurs on both sides. I have no clue why they are there but for some reason I failed to see them when I bought the car. You can also see in this picture the severely rotted and poorly fixed floor pan. This is the one of the areas that is bad that I did know ahead of time. This will be replaced with a new floor pan. Now to the most disappointing thing that I didn’t know was wrong because I was blinded with excitement from owning a 240z (that I have wanted for sometime) .

You can see here someone tried to do some sort of disgusting repair to this support. All my hopes of driving this car around this summer went immediately out the window when I realized how much work is going to be involved. I still believe that I paid too much for this car. If I left my excitement at the door I am sure that I could have walked away with this car for $500 if I called the PO's bluff. I didn’t because I wanted the car so bad.

Our Plan

1. Get engine running. Figure if it is still good.

2. If the motor is still good, pull engine and put it on a stand and clean and paint. If the motor is bad then use is it as an anchor and track down a SBF 302.

3. Pull the nose off, doors, hatch, and cowl.

4. Remove the interior.

5. Start body work including floor pan, front structural supports, both dog legs and rear quarter lips. Sand the entire car.

6. Clean engine bay and paint.

7. Paint car with 2003 350Z Lemons Sunset. (paint it ourselves)

8. TBD……

I will keep this updated with pics to show you my progress.

Edited February 3, 200916 yr by padam07

I know there are folks here who have started with a project in lots worse shape and turned them into real beauties. Time, Money and some TLC can do wonders!

Tuck\o/

the only way to inspect a zed is with a trouble lite on a hoist. my brother's advise is - don't get too excited over a car, a better deal will always show up.

Good luck with it. While rough, it can be done. You'll find these cars are incredibly easy to work on, so if you are a good DIY person, you'll get her in shape in no time.

Well I have been able to put a few hours in here and there...Just wanted to show some pictures.

It has been a while since I made an update. I have been able to get some more time in the car and now I am reay to start tackling the body work.

Don't you love those custon frame sliders!!

Andnothing like some good old anger management on a 3 series bimmer we are stripping!!

Edited March 3, 200916 yr by padam07

Frrame sliders........ I think you should just leave em on and drop that thing on top of an old 4x4 Ranger frame since you're a Ford fan. At least when it's Found On Road Dead it won't be a surprise. :devious:

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I have been working on the car here and there. It is hard to get down to the garage when my 10 month old is tearing up the house. i stripped the engine bay to get it ready for paint. Next I will be replacing the floor pans with zedd findings replacement pans I bought from a member here (thanks). I will have some pictures to foloow soon.

Hi Adam,

You might want to consider joining the Z Car Club of New England. Many of the members are extremely knowledgeable on Z cars and do their own work as well as race them. One member has Z parts website and sells reproduction frame rails that you could weld over your rotted "slider" rails.

PM me if you would like more information on our club. If you go to the Portal page on this site I posted a link to our club under the Recent Links section.

Good luck with the project. I have my body apart for a repaint so let me know if you want to chat.

Take care,

Marc

Edited May 7, 200915 yr by mgmoreau