bought my first Z :)

[normanb]

I have just bought a datsun 280z 77 for $1000 just down the road from me, it has some damage to the headlight and front bumper, but nothing major and of course it doesn't look great. But it starts and runs and I am so excited to be fixing it up. I think I got a good price at 1K, it looks rough, but underneath someone else's white paint job it is my favourite z blue colour and it is a genuine 2 seater. The sound it made and the acceleration were impressive!!

Any tips on what to do first would be greatly appreciated, the bumper and light cone first I guess, but a basic list of things to swap out would be very helpful.

I will be fixing it myself, I don't think it is a lemon and the garage I bought it from were as genuine as they come.

I can't contain my excitement, I was only 1 year old in 77, but I have wanted one of these for a long time!

Norm

[jfa.series1]

Welcome to the club and the Z Dizeaze!!! Make a plan for your changes and always focus on getting the reliability and safety aspects addressed first. Remember - if it ain't broke, maybe it doesn't need fixin'. Try to locate some fellow S30 Z enthusiasts in your area for ideas and general counseling. We'll all be looking forward to some pics of your new baby.

[Hardway]

Congrats on your new acquisition Norm! My first early Z car was a '77 280z with a 5spd and I had just as much enthusiasm for it as you do for yours. Unless the previous owner gave you evidence of a recent oil change, that is the first place I would start. Now that you own it you can start a new records log for it under your new ownership. Just as JFA said, if it needs anything else to make it safe and reliable that is where you should move to next. Making a plan and not getting carried away will be key. Bumpers and headlight cones pop up on Craigslist and Ebay and once you connect with some other owners you may find they have the parts you are looking for. As for your price, $1K is really good for a car you drove home. If it has little to no rust then you did great. Post up some pics when you can, we always love to see new owners cars.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Hardway

[EhlersRS]

Welcome Norm! Enjoy your new Z and thanks for sharing with us!

Robert S.

[normanb]

Here are the photos, I was able to drive it into the garage so that was a plus, I think the engine has been well maintained (or looks it) but the rest is a little rough, I am most concerned about the rust hole in front of the rail near the wheel arch and also how to fix the crack on the rear near the light cluster?

It looks like I need to get new rails, but I am hopeful not a new floor pan. I am going to rip out the carpet this weekend and poke around with a screwdriver to gauge the rust, what is the best way to clean this off, a wire brush or something harder?

I see a lot of work, but it is running and I only paid a 1000 so I think I can make it as I want. I really wanted a 5 speed stick shift in blue which it is under that horrible home paint job white. I will have a lot of questions, but I was looking to address the rails and pan first before anything else.

Any opinions good or bad appreciated. I am good with engines but a noob with rebuilding, so I am looking forward to it and I have wanted a Z for a long time.

Norm

[Hardway]

It is definitely rough but I think you still got your money's worth. A body shop will need to look at the rear quarter to see what is needed to fix it properly. The rust above the rail is a common spot. I fixed mine on my '72 240z since it looked the same way. You could definitely tackle a lot of the car yourself if you have a welder and some metal working skills, or teach yourself along the way. If it needs rails then it will more than likely need floor pans. My next comment comes from experience and ask that you only give it some thought. Before you go any farther on this car you need to determine what you want in the end, how much you want to spend, and when you want it to be done. Based on the pics and what you said about making it blue and looking good you will easily sink a ton of money in to it before you know it. If the drivetrain is strong it may make sense to keep your eyes open for a Z with a better body and possibly swap your drive train in to it if you wanted. Between the rails, pans, fender, and bumper you will easily spend $1K in metal alone and that is before you buy anything else or any tools to do the work. There are a lot of quality 280z's out there, many can be had for under $5K. You may have to travel a little to get a nice one but you would save so much money in the end and get more time behind the wheel instead of countless weekends in the garage. If your goal is to develop some real metal and body work skills and amass the tools to do it then you have a great canvas to start with. Again, just some things to think about.

[madkaw]

Norm,

you shouldn't have gone and did that. Now your life will be turned upside down. The obsession will start and eat away at you every minute of the day. You will be getting up in the middle of the night and going to the garage just so you can get something done on that car. You will become the rust police searching in every crevace of that body to erraticate the villian. Z parts will fill your house and your friends will call you a hoarder. All your relationships will have to overcome the Z obstacle. Your credit rating will go in the crapper by maxing out your credit cards on go fast parts.

Your life is doomed by the dizease.

Welcome to the club!

[normanb]

ha ha, that is funny, I certainly like the Z. To ask Hardway though, how did you fix the rust above the rail, just weld a plate over it? I have quite a lot of tools already since I do all the work on my jeep so that is not so much an issue, but bodywork has never been something I have tackled. The roughness of the underbody and fenders, is a real concern. If the engine didn't seem so nice I would have my doubts about the rebuild.

My expectation is to get a nice running sports car which will be resprayed blue, not for showing but for my enjoyment. In the meantime I hope to learn as much as I can about fabrication, welding and fixing up body work and interiors as I feel confident on the engine side.

My rough figures were to fix floor pan and rails for around $600 (doing the work myself), look for a new fender (x1) and cowl and then I was planning to remove the bumper and put an aftermarket mod on it to solve both the broken bumper and bent metal. I will take your advice on the rear quarter crack, but my original plan was to fiberglass matt this from the inside and fill from the outside. I will then clean any major body rust, fill and prime.

Then I was going to add the exhaust, fix brakes and struts, replace the interior and check gauges and call it done for a few months and just enjoy the engine until I feel like working on the body.

I was looking to sink between 2500 - 4000 into this over 12 months for a total of 5K in, am I being overly ambitious? A big aim of mine is to pretty much understand the whole car, so that if I do one again I know exactly what I am doing and if I keep this one when it is fixed then I can do all the repairs!!

I looked around, there were a couple of 280z near me (and a 240z which the owner didn't come back to me on) and I thought by the time I had put a bit of money into the car then the price would be comparable, the difference being in that I would have done the work and learnt something.

[Hardway]

Hey Norm. You are correct on the rust repair. I cut out all the old stuff, both the panel you see and the metal behind it. Once I welded in new metal behind the panel I made a new panel and plug welded it in. It was my first real deep dive in to panel repair and replacement. Once it was covered in rubberized coating it looked pretty much stock. Check out my build thread below and it will show you what I did.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/open-zcar-discussion/47863-lime-green-machine-restoration-thread-1972-240z.html

[normanb]

Hardway,

thank you for that great link, that gives me a lot of encouragement as I was concerned about patching that hole. I have ordered a couple of books from amazon and it will be on jack stands next week whilst I give it a really good jet wash underneath (just a basic jet wash, not really high pressure) and then I will take the seats and carpet out and make an assessment.

I think I might have taken a lot on, but at $1000 if I really screw it up (which I won't ) then I can part it and make some back.

I smile every time I go in the garage, which my jeep never makes me do, so I think money well spent!

Norm

[bartsscooterservice]

Hi Norm,

Nice 280Z, you'll be deep into the Z virus soon like the others here say!

Looked at the pictures, and rust is allready everywhere believe me. But that doesn't matter it's a Z.., just repair the bad spots. I think going for a second hand dent free front fender from a donor car is much easier for you, I would recommend to scrape all the paint of the car ( this is what an old pro from a local body shop here lately told me ), this way you can acces every bad rust spot on the body, many times it's hidden under the bodyfiller. And you got all that nasty old body filler removed, then let a body shop do a new thin bondo job and respray. ( or diy respray )

Bart

[normanb]

I wasn't expecting this piece of luck I finally got into the Z last weekend and took the seats out and the carpet and padding and the floor pans are solid, I poked with a screw driver but it looks good to me. There is one piece of rust on the passenger's side floor pan by the drain hole, probably 2 inches wide that has made the hole bigger, I will try and get a picture. It seems overkill to replace the whole pan, what would you do? What is the recommended bitumen based paint for the pans and should I do under the car as well and up into the arches?

Looks like this job has a got a little easier and it needed to!

thanks,

Norm