Thinking about purchasing a 260z

[needZ]

Hi i'm located in sydney and i've found a auto 2 seater 1974 260z running on a l28 for sale which i'm soon going to take a look at. It's just about to run out of rego and the asking price is $2,900.

I was wandering if any aussies out there could give me a rough (ball park) guess at what sort of condition i'd expect it to be in considering its price and that it's had rego for the past year?

This is my first time considering purchasing one so if anyone could also give me a few tips on where to look for rust that'd be great.

thanks guys.

[seerex]

Not sure about a price for you but can definately tell you where to look for rust. First the floor pans and frame rails look under the car as well as inside the where you feet go. Around the door jams where the bottom seals go is a bad spot. Under the battery box is pretty bad spot. I would also check around the hatch area and under the hatch itself , alot of times you can see the discoloration from the water running from the hatch and down past the tail lights that can be a sign of rust. All of the body I would check out but those to me are key hidden areas to check . Just bring a magnet and a good eye , I would rather see the rust and know the extent of it than see bondo and just gues at how bad it could be

[needZ]

Much appreciated info seerex. Ahhh i'm quite the newbie so could you please shed a bit of light on the magnet situation?..

thanks again

[seerex]

If the car is all metal therein not having body filler aka bondo the magnet will stick without any probs , if the car has had body work using bondo or fiberglass , the magnet will not stay attched to the body . If you find a radio supply place sometimes they sell rubber coated ones, alot of people don't like you using a bare magnet on their car. They also make body filler testing devices not sure how well they work but I have always found the magnet to be a somewhat realiable test, not 100% but it it will atleast give you a heads up to possible bad spots:geek:

[speedyblue]

When my car was up for sale, someone went over it with a fine tooth comb, and a stud finder. Good Idea actually. Maybe that was the body filler testing device you heard about.

Good luck

[ZmeFly]

Areas to check,

Frame rails, floor pans inside and out.

Rear dog legs, inside and out

Rear hatch area

Wheel wells front and rear

Battery box area, under the bonnet and inside the wheel

Rocker panel and the same area inside the car.

Look for repaint and if you find a repaint see why it was done, search for bondo.

Check suspension, most people never replace the very old and worn rubber bushings, good buying point something YOU have to replace.

Check the steering rack for wear, wheel for play another buying point.

If you have a compression test kit, take it along with you as well. Check the oil in the car to see what it looks like, also the antifreeze as well.

From this you should be able to determine the state in which the car was maintained.

And of course drive the car. Make sure the transmission shifts smothly, no rear clunks or noises. Just more buying points.

Good luck with your purchase.