Standing at the edge of the Z pool...

[mrcursed]

Hi all,

Been in love with the z for a while now, but never had the guts or the budget to tackle one. Seems like the time has come for me to fulfill a dream. I don't have much to speak of in terms of skills or tools, just time, patience and willingness to learn. I've been reading as much as I can both about Z's as well as welding, patching, this and that. It's all a little intimidating as you can imagine.

But I've decided to give it a shot, and use this opportunity to start a life long hobby. I have to say, I've bounced around many car forums, but this has to be one of the most technically sophisticated car forums out there, lots of info to soak up.

I'm about to go check out a Z this weekend, according to the owner (take with grain of salt)

The Good: car has original engine, drives fine, new tires, 3 webers carbs

The Bad: "the car need a rear strut" (I don't know if that means it's blown or what, will find out this weekend), the studs on the rear wheel hub are stripped, the driver side door won't open from the outside, and the registration ran out last year.

And here is the kicker: "There is no rust"

I've read waaay too many threads about cars that have hidden rust all throughout the car to just believe him. Hence me checking it out. If the car really has minimal rust, how common (and how easily) fixed are those problems? I'll take some pictures this weekend, and I'll post them so you guys can have a better idea as well.

So I guess this is both a long question and a short introduction hehe... Again, thanks for such a good forum, and I'll be asking a lot of questions later on...

[Carl Beck]

I guess we are all waiting on pictures....

You didn't mention price, nor model year...

Stripped rear wheel studs are NOT common, nor are they easy to change.

The door not opening from the outside is somewhat common, most likely a broken leg on the door handle... you can swap the left and right side door handles or get another one...

good luck,

Carl B.

[mrcursed]

hey, thanks for reply Carl

It's a 72, and he is asking for 3500. here are some of the pictures that he posted on the add:

Engine bay: http://images.craigslist.org/010102010212010305200706122c6b1196f78cf4a2c900efe3.jpg

Exterior:

http://images.craigslist.org/0101110104050103122007061245dcf00478890eec2d000d65.jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/010103010200010409200706128fdd8ef36ba549aff300f263.jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/010102010404010310200706122171889c3bbd0c31bd00d1aa.jpg

[e_racer1999]

i think i saw a little bit o' rust on the battery tray.....

but otherwise, if there is minimal rust and the frame is solid (i guess the 2 are related....) GO FOR IT! sounds like not too shabby a price, especially with the triples....

[mrcursed]

yeah now that I'm looking at that picture, I see some rust on the tray itself (and the battery is not there...)mmm... well I'll have to take a look on Sunday for myself.

I just read this thread about taking off the wheel studs:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20492&highlight=rear+wheel+studs

Seems like I'll have to get a couple of new hammers to work on the Z.... hehe

[Foo2rama]

BOO.. I got a 73, for just under that in socal. The 72 is considered more desirable as they are not hampered by the smog revisions on the 1973's and beyond. My mechanicals are in good shape but your body at least from the pics seems better then mine. I although have only one rust spot I could find, but it has gone through door ding hell. If you have not got the car yet check on the trunk sill on the left hand side those tend to rust.

[hls30.com]

If the stripped lugs and the bad strut are on the same corner-not too bad to change the corner as a unit... One of the first jobs I ever did to my first Z was to change out two rear lugs I broke. I had a hammer, a lug wrench, and a ton of determination, add two hours in a sun-drenched South Georgia college parking lot in August, and you have it...

Will

[mrcursed]

Hi all, just came back from checking out not 1, but 3 Z's that were in the area. And man, thank god this forum exists. All of them had rust through in one place or another, but without reading about all the places here, I'd never have saw them.

So the particular z in discussion (see my original post) was the least rusted out structurally of all the ones I saw. Here is a summery:

1. The blown-out strut and the stripped wheel stud (it was sheared off flush against the rim, and that wheel is held on only by 2 lug nuts.) are on the same corner,rear drivers-side.

2. The body is in pretty good shape, the fender (right behind the headlight) on the passenger side has some bondo repair from a ding.

3. Engine runs fine, took 3 tries to start, but it started and sounded fine. Except 2 things, a. a slight exhaust leak from the header at the gasket (#6 cylinder) b. When he shut off the engine, the horn went off and stayed on until he disconnected the battery...... :paranoid:

4. Interior is pretty much shot, seats were done for, and center console was cracked. And there is no carpet, which leads me to...

5. Rust:

Battery tray: One spot rusted through on the tray, the sheet metal under it has surface rust. A look from below showed no rust through.

Dogleg + Door jam: surface rust on door jam, no rust visible on doglegs, from inside or out.

Hatch: No rust on the left-hand side trunk sill.

Floor pan: With no carpet, I could see no rust on the trunk shelf or in the spare tire well. There was however some rust on behind the driver seat. I couldn't get a good picture of it from the back One particular spot that rusted through. The passenger side looked better.Can't say the extent of the driverside rust beyond what I saw from inside the car.

The pictures I took are in my members gallery pending approval, but if they don't show up, perhaps this will work:

Passenger side fender, looking under the battery tray:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1093/563041271_322f9759df.jpg

Looking at the rust behind the driver seat:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1362/563041195_af7bd66289.jpg

Battery Tray: (the tray itself is pretty structurally sound)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1039/563041231_247b1c2d54_b.jpg

Driver side door:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1416/563041205_0a98c4a8f1.jpg

Entire underbody is covered with this, is it from factory?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1043/563041209_e7678e2904.jpg

Again, thanks for any input you guys can give, again, this is a 72, and he is asking for 3500.

[boyblunda]

Hi

Sounds like there is a bit of work to do on this car but that will almost always be the case with cars of this age.

If you are good with your hands and can do the paint and panel yourself then this might be a good machine for you provided that you can be confident that you have identified the extent of the rust. However, even then there will be expenses involved in the suspension, carpet and interior items you have listed.

Maybe if you were to list the inescapable expenses you might be up for with this vehicle and think of what you might be able to buy with the total amount of the purchase price plus the minimum additional costs, then you might be surprised at the quality of other Zeds you can purchase for an equivalent amount.

I do not know what the full story is in North America but in Oz it seems that you can get some reasonable mid range priced vehicles that have already had a lot of work done on them and are in quite good condition.

Keep looking around while waiting for more informed comment than mine to arrive on the pics you have posted.

All the best to you in your quest for A Zed.

[mrcursed]

wow that's actually really good advice boyblunda, I'm kind of in that struggle between how much I can do (and learn) and how much I should spend so I don't do the things that I can't. Nothing is worst than 4 month later, I just get to the point where I am so overwhelmed that I just hit the wall.

So I'm gonna take your advice and keep looking, keep reading and learning and find a z that need a little less work, I will keep you guys updated on any new Z I find.

Thanks again!

[boyblunda]

Glad you thought I brought up something worthy of consideration with regard to this vehicle but mine is just one point of view from the other side of the world.

The vehicle looks good from the photos and the triple webers could be a bonus if you want to end up with something of that ilk but I think that there could be additional and more informed comment available here, particularly with regard to :

* the value of such a vehicle in your market

* the photos you posted of the rust spots

* any possible difficulties of getting a vehicle with triple webers registered in California

Whatever you decision on this particular vehicle, it seems that you have a level head and a good sense of investigation that will serve you well in considering the information that comes your way in this post and in the archives.

Keep us posted on what you are thinking. People here are really helpful.