Back Story:

Scowering(?) through CL for a couple of months and researching different types of sporty vehicles in hopes of one day getting my hands on one but yet had no idea on what car specifically I ended up with a list. I was to get either a 240sx, a Cressida, a RX-7, a Celica Supra, a Miata, a S30Z, a S130Z, or an early model Z31.

For those of you still wondering what won...

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The Car:

1976 Datsun 280z (1 year shy of being SMOG Exempt!! )

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The Purchase:

I saw it last week on CL for a pretty small chunk of change and thought it wouldn't hurt to check it out. So I did.. and this is what I saw. ETA: 9am

Pretty good looking car for less than I paid for my GS right!? (Forgot to take pics of it without the car cover :ohgeez:)

The catch?

Now... the regular joe schmoe would've ran far, far away from it as soon as he laid his eyes upon that. But being the optimistic SOB that I am I went ahead and jacked up the car to scope out the damage underneath so I could kill all doubts I had about it. This is what I saw...

Driver's side.. looks ok..

That is NOT a lamp you're looking at :ohgeez:

Let there be light!

Hmm...

Let's look at the other side shall we..

Ehh... that's normal right?

Gnarly sway bar bolt bend..

Strut rod tried to make a emergency U-turn, lower arm definitely took a crap..

So at this point I am looking all up and down the car for body damage. To my utter shock, everything else is A-OK!

- Full black interior [Check]

- Engine runs (Without hesitation!) [Check]

- Leaks (Minimal)

- Manual transmission [Check]

Crappy picture, but nonetheless.. 4 TO THE FLOOR!

So I gamble my way to from his $400 to $325, and he bit the hook. So off I go to U-haul.. ETA: 10:30am

I spend 2-3 hours driving to countless U-hauls trying to find a damn car dolly so I can get this over with, and I finally do! ETA: 1:30pm

I get back to PO's house and pay the guy immediately and in return I received..

Few of the service records.. I wonder what's in the torn brown envelope.

And..

Along with the pink slip of course!

And then the question dawned upon me, HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO GET IT UP ON THE DOLLY!? :ohgeez:

After COUNTLESS hours (which seemed like days), countless curse words and ALOT of ingenuity, I managed to get 'er up there. ETA: 6:30pm

So after all of that, the PO forgot to sign the the pinkslip! So I waited 15 minutes for him to come back home (he had left), which turned to 20... which turned to 30... at this point I'm freezing my arse off, and filled with grease/dirt. He finally arrives an hour later gets it signed and off I go! ETA: 8:30pm

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Her New Home:

The next day she is introduced to her fellow companion, a face to face introduction was in order...

Part of the damage.. (I liked the wheels too!! )

As she sits as of last week..

That'll buff right out right? ...RIGHT?!

Fun picture

Does anyone know who makes these wheels btw? Model?

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The Plan? To fix the damage and get her back on the road! After that, who knows..

So I finally had the time to work on it..

Top view..

Ehh...

Strut rod got it good!

Half way done

Look ma', no shock tower damage!

Tie rod end being a -itch to take out.. thus the salute.

Done.. (crappy cell pic)

Is it just me.. or is this supposed to be straight(er)?

Damage, FAST & FURIOUS STYLE yO!

Not bad eh?

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Next up..

I'll try to make a jy run in the next few weeks and see if I can find a good rack since there is no inner tie rods on these.

Edited January 10, 201312 yr by Homeboyx

Believe it or not, that fender is probably repairable.

I would plan on replacing the crossmember if you want the car to align properly.

I'm planning but I honestly don't think it'll need replacing. It looks to be unscathed suprisingly..

Here.. we.. GO!

So I finally bring you some updates.

Got my hands on the last piece of the puzzle I needed, I think..

Thumbs up for a straight Inner tie rod! Woot! Woot!

Notice the gnarly purple (black?) bumps on my dumb from when I smashed just the tip of the finger with the BFH!

Gloves? AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO DAT!

Purrty good I'd say...

MUCH better..

What's left to do..

And I have to install the front sway bar I brought from the JY along with the rear one I disconnected among some other misc. stuff..

Now that I had the whole car uncovered I remember to take some pics of the interior! Finally..

Durrty beast..

Not sure if I should install this or not..

Aaand I'm not sure I like this.. I hate that it's screwed in! :mad:

And that's it for today folks!

It looks like tomorrow is the day the front wheels hit the ground finally.

Nice repair so far ! What's your plans on this? Just repair and repaint and drive the beast? I do like the yellow paint ! Fits nice with California weather..

Edited January 22, 201312 yr by bartsscooterservice

For now I just want to drive this thing. haha I am a bit leaning towards going the L28ET(T) way.. but that's probably not going to become reality until this engine blows or something. I would like to go RB, but with California being.. well California, the DMV and SMOG station is definitely going to give me a lot of **** since '76 is the first year they dropped the smog exemptions!

The wheel looks like Appliance mesh, dealer installed option. Should be a lot still around from upgrades to Panasports or something. Maybe somebody will sell just one. There was a thread last week from somebody who made them all shiny, check that. That's a lot of car for 350.

Thanks for the heads up Stanley.

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So... car is still not on the ground! :mad:

I managed to install the "new" front sway bar.. it was actually more difficult that it seemed, weird.

So I was trying to remove the tie rod end so I can screw on to the inner tie rod easier and whacked it a few times. Would not come out. So I said screw it and do it the slower way, wrench it in slowy but surely. After that I tightened the castle nut up nice and snugly, when installing the cotter pin I noticed that it wouldn't go through all the way! The castle nut was kinda smashed and wouldn't let it go through. So I thought to myself, "Ok, I'll just replace it with the old, good looking one and call it a day." Boy was I wrong.. Once I removed the beat up and crummy castle nut, the good castle nut wouldn't catch on the threads! :mad:

So after fiddling with it and nothing was happening, I decided re-thread it.. only to find out that I don't have a die big enough for that damn stud. So I had to buy a new tie rod after all... so I pretty much said "fukitol" and whipped out the MBFH and finally got it out. I called a couple of places to see where I can get it by today (part must be ordered :ohgeez:), and finally found a place. I get my arse over there and order it. Headed back home, waited an hour and a half and went back to pick up the part. At this time it's already 5:30pm. So I get there only to find out the guy didn't order the right one! When he found the right part it the price changed, instead of being $14 it was now $40! FOR A TIE ROD END?! Long story short I took my refund.. :ohgeez:

So now I'll have to wait until the weekend comes so I can lay my hands on the car again.. and I still have to order the part from somewhere else.. sigh*

Smashed castle nut

Left- JY tie rod

Right- Old bent tie rod

How it sits now.. SO CLOSE!

So.. until the weekend it is..

Sucks! I'm not very good in English, but before installing the tie rod end ( wheel side ) and putting the crown nut on, it's best to make sure the inside of the parts ( where the wheeld side tie rod joint goes in ) is clean, and warm it up with a gas torch, and keep the tie rod part cold, then you put it in without hassle, let it cool down, and then put the crown nut on ( make sure the thread is smooth before putting it on ). I wrecked alot of these in the past, by doing it the wrong way. Heat is your best friend in these jobs

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Edited January 23, 201312 yr by bartsscooterservice

Thanks for the heads up!