If you can, find a reputable body shop, or even a restoration shop in your area and let them take a look at it. For $6000 the seller should be willing to work with you. What is wrong with 905 red? Back in the 70's a red 1970 with black interior was the holy grail!

If you have a way to have a good body shop look at it by all means do it. Front frame rail repair and replacement is expensive exact work. If you could find a good front clip, that would be a good fix.

Thanks for the replay.  Any idea what kind of labor/time/cost is involved for a shop to do a frame rail replacement?

Well I will go at it this way. My frame man would replace a front clip for just guessing $1200 or so. Then you have to find a good clip. That seems like it would be really hard to do. I would guess if you could find one it would cost a $1000 or more. So I figure it is a $2000 repair to make it perfect, but like I said get a local guy to look at it. He will be able to poke around and figure out how bad it really is.

All,

 

Here goes round two of "To Buy or Not to Buy:  That is the Question."  I went to look at the car again on Saturday and was able to drive it and look out it in the daylight (more on the driving later). Here is what I found:  The car looks like it was a rare one that was rustproofed when new as it had a thick black substance coating all the underside and inner fenders. The body looks great, although there is some rust in the floor pans and on the frame rail as in the pics above. However, I found something new:  It looks like at some point the first foot/foot and a half of the frame rail was cut off and rewelded.  This would account for the newer radiator and horns.  Could this be an early rust repair or an accident? 

 

The car drove fine, although this was my first time driving a Z car.  There was a clunk/whine from the right rear.  I thought that might be a bad U Joint?  I was also not used to the brakes having what seemed like non-existant stopping power compared to my WRX.  The car did seem to "float" and I think it will need a new set of struts and to replace the undercarriage bushings. 

 

However the question remains:  To Buy or not to Buy.  The seller is in no hurry to sell and is firm at 6k. Should I move on or is this a fair deal?  Many thanks to you all.  Here are the pics:

 

 

Without being able to talk with the person that owned the car or the shop when the repair was done it is hard to say.  Radiators and horns get replaced for various reasons, not necessarily due to collision.  If the body gaps look good, the car drives straight, and the wear on the tires is even meaning it is holding a good alignment, its hard to say what negative effects if any are being caused by the work done on the frame.  It could have been rust or collision, maybe a forum member with a trained eye can tell from the pictures.

 

Nice to see it still has its "D" wheels covers.  $6K for a running, driving, Series-1 is very reasonable.  Brakes can be fixed, the whine and clunk you hear from the rear is probably wheel bearings and the diff mount, again very fixable.  The rustproofing could have been Ziebart or something else done by the dealership or another shop in the cars life.  If the interior looks as good as the exterior and based on everything else you listed, I don't think you can go wrong at $6K.  If the seller is in no hurry don't wait too long as he might be placing other buyers in line.  However, I fully understand and applaud the level of due diligence you are doing.  Keep us posted!

Hardway,  Thanks for the comment!

on the frame rail as in the pics above. However, I found something new:  It looks like at some point the first foot/foot and a half of the frame rail was cut off and rewelded.  This would account for the newer radiator and horns.  Could this be an early rust repair or an accident? 

 

Does it have a salvage title?

I would guess that is a collision repair not rust. Rust normally eats the frame rails near the sway bars or behind the strut towers first. These older cars many times don't have salvage titles even when they have been significantly damaged.

It is not a salvage title. 

I would buy that car in a second! What are you waiting for!  I have almost the same car for 15 years now, i had to replace the floor and both framerails... this car .. repair is PEANUTS !!

 

just my opinion..

 

Mart

I agree with Martz.  At $6K if anyone else finds out about it that car will be gone.