Has anyone's zed experience been soured by problems?

[Murph]

I've owned my zed for 8 months now and it's only been on the road for the first month of that.

Not only was I sold a dud (cleverly disguised dud), but the path to getting it fixed has been just as rocky. The panel shop doing the rust/chassis work took four months, did a sh*t job and it got broken into twice while there.....which of course their insurance wont cover.

It's getting all the mechanical work done now by my mechanic (a zed owner himself) and should finally be back on the road next week.

(that's the very very very short version of all my troubles with it.....don't wanna keep you here all day)

I'm really starting to think now the car has just been tainted by the whole experience. I know the car is going to be good when it's all done, but I still look at it and grumble *&%^# ^%$& ^&%&^!!!

Hmm..... Other times I'll look at it and think "damn those lines are sweeeeet!"........so there may be hope still.

Any one else had a zed that left that bad taste in their mouth that just couldn't be washed out?

[abas]

datto-zed

paid far too much for mine given that it had a blown engine, and I also was given the choice at the time to buy a nice running z that was was a much later (and more expensive) auto 240z. But I wanted a no rust early 1970 car so I bought the non runner. That was 12 years ago and I have not driven a z since then.

I often think how much fun driving I have missed out on by buying a non runner, which I have not had time to do anything much with since then. I have been tempted to try and sell it to buy a runner, but it was however the last car I viewed with my Dad, indeed viewing the car was the last time I went anywhere with my Dad before he died, so I have a heavy sentimental attachment to it, despite my Dad telling me in no uncertain terms that I had bought a pile of shite. :classic:

Still hopefully I am on the upward curve now and with Chloe's(Midwestz) help I might have a runner in a couple of years!!! :classic:

I hope your car get sorted soon, and that you can look back and smile over the experience!!!! ( Easier said than done)

Andrew

[Murph]

Originally posted by abas

despite my Dad telling me in no uncertain terms that I had bought a pile of shite. :classic:

Heehee......funny

Hope you get yours up and running soon too. At least it has no rust.

Originally posted by mperdue

I also spent too much money on a rust bucket that was carefully concealed. Of course there were some things I shouldn't have missed but oh well - you learn as you go I guess. It's just money right?? Ok and time - I hate wasting that even though I do all the time!

Michael

There were a few things I shouldn't have missed either. I spose some things we just have to learn the hard way.

But your right, at the end of the day it's just money. What $^!#'s me though is I took a year off uni to earn some money.....then wasted (? still to be seen) it all on this thing! Oh....and then my other car died while waiting for the panel shop to fix the zed.

Been riding my bike ~20km to uni everyday with four text books in my bag for the past few months.

[zed240au]

yeah the number of times i thought back and said why didnt i buy the nice neat 240z that was twice the price instead of the car i bought cheap

But i did nearly every thing myself learnt a lot meet some great people doing the rebuild and finally after 2 years got a great car and i was young and stupid so most likely would have pissed the money up the wall if i hadnt had the zed to spend it on

Dont despair the wait worth it if you do it right wouldnt sell my car for anything now been on the road 15 years out of the 17 i have owned it

Mick

[grnskyline]

'hi guys,

talking about bad Zed experiances, went down and looked at a yellow 260z 2+2, although I wanted a 240, I ended up falling for this auto 260z, loved it, just loved it.

However got underneath the car and saw the state of the floor pan, cracks, holes, not much left of the rails, etc.

The word from above was 'too far gone'... So I advertised it. NO One would touch it until a guy and his girlfriend came and offered me a swap.

In the end I swapped my 260z for an '79 alfa GTV (one of the Zee's compeditors back in the day). Anyhow to get this gtv drivable cost just as much as the Z did in the first place!

I am still fixing the alfa just to get it driving! So kept looking for about a year as a very harsh lesson was learnt. finnally fouund a good 260. paitence pays TRUST ME you can see it in my gallery.

happy z hunting

[260DET]

My choice was to spend money on the 260 or on something else. Having spent a lot of money on women the 260 got priority.

Sometimes she is a bitch, but you can put up with a lot if the bitch is good looking.:classic:

So, what can I say Datto-Zed? A good first generation is now worth decent money, they are a classic but it should not get on top of you otherwise that spoils the enjoyment. You should be able to enjoy the journey as well as the destination.

You can have a bad run but bad runs don't last forever if the work is being done right. Your decision though.

[MicksZ]

I hate to hear it when dudes looking for a great car like the Z's get stuffed around and fall into the trap where you buy what comes up even though it isnt what you want only because there isnt a whole lot that comes up anyway!

I am one of the few (I think) that had a huge bunch of luck when looking for a zed. I was at a large prominant car yard in Melbourne looking for an R33 Skyline cos I had cracked the sh*ts and decided a big bank loan was the only alternative to my 8 months of looking for a half decent Z (one that was ready to drive - Dont have a huge shed so massive rebuild was out of the question).

I was actually sitting in a 92 Turbo 200SX when i peered through the rear vision mirror and there stuck in the rear corner of the yard was this awesome 73 240Z with 12 months reg, no rust for a quite yummy price! Drove it twice and bought it 3 days later. (you can see it in my gallery)

It has a bit of rust coming thru the doors, and a few cracks here and there, but on the whole it was bloody good luck that got me the car.

Just a good-luck story to keep the forum vibe 'up' and to give motivation to all you hopeful buyers! Keep it up, patience is everything. It will happen....

MP

:classic:

[zbuild]

Ahhh yes, I look back and think. . . . .just like me

I specifically asked "how are the guard lips?" because mine had stick on fibreglass flares and was told: "great. . no rust. .. yes they are under there". . . .yeah right! They had cut the lips off! there was rust in the bottom of the doors, bottom of the guards, above the doors, bonnet, hatch surround, beaver panel, floor, rails and most anywhere else you'd like to look.

Mine took me 4 years and I think Ive done just about everything either twice or three times. . . . .but now. . ..wouldn't sell it. . . well if someone offered me some obscene amount of money

Hang in there, when its finished, and youve spent your inheritance, you'll have a very sweet car.

Cheers - Simon

[280zx Fever]

i payed $50 for my car.

it is nothing now but even if i part it out i could get close to 1,000 i think so i dont think its a dud but a work in progress

[Mr Camouflage]

The way i look at it is this.

I didn't expext to find a rust free 30 year old car. In Australia thats almost impossible, since most of us live near the coast. And you can expect to find a few dents and broken bits too, and you have to expect that you will have to fix them, and that will cost money.

I bought one knowing that I would have to strip it back completely to find all the faults and fix them. Would have been nice to drive it around a bit before starting the resto, but i didnt notice the amounts of smoke the car was putting out till after i had bought it. So I stared the resto immediately.

I probably paid too much for it, but at least i have one and dont have to keep looking. I've had the fun of pulling it apart, and once i've fixed it an put it back together, will have the satisfaction of knowing that its done right, and that i did it myself.

Only problem is it's taking so damn long. Its getting towards summer, and i'm getting impatient. I want to go crusing in my 240z, but its nowhere near finished.

When you get your car back on the road and everything is going great, you will fall back in love with it. Dont give up on it yet.

Hey Simon, Is that why you had wheel arches welded on? I though you just wanted some extra room under there for those tyres. Didn't realise they were cut out completely.

[zbuild]

Yeah. . . they had cut the lips of then cut upward with a hacksaw in about 10 places for a distance of about 3 inches. . .very nasty!

In the front corner of the wheel arch. . .just behind the bottom rear corner of the door, they'd also packed in newspaper and just bogged over it, there was no metal for about 10 inches upwards. Im hoping to get my website back up soon, you can see some of the devastation there. I'll give you a hoy when its up again.

Cheers - Simon

[Murph]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom guys....cheers me up a bit. Still yet more dramas, the springs Fulcrum sold me appear to be the wrong thing. :stupid:

I'm certainly looking forward to getting it back.

MicksZ: That zed of yours is gorgeous!