first time Z owner

[Evil Turkey]

Hi,

I'm a regular guy from Quebec, Canada. College student, parttime worker and all time Z lover. I loved the first generation S30Z longer than I can remember and never thought I could own one since I'm just a poor college student but things happenned so I bought an old beat up Z. It's a 1976 280Z (two seater).

It's in pretty bad shape (like most Z's up north...) and I have little to no experience about rebuilding cars but I have all the time in the world and I love this car so much I'm willing to learn all about it!

I've already gathered a lot of info from the web aswell as a factory service manual and the book ''how to restore your datsun Z-car'' by Wick Humble and it seems this forum will help me a lot in my restoration process!

Here are some pictures and a little question for you guys!

At the moment it's missing a windshield and an air flow meter. I have most of the other parts laying around (I started to disassemble it to see where this project is going)

My biggest concern is THIS:

It's the front left hand side pillar... it's the worst thing about the whole car and the only thing I cannot seem to find a solution to. It seemed fine when I bought the car but it was LITERALLY holding up by the PAINT! After I scratched up the paint bubbles, it fell appart so my question is simple:

is it FUBAR (f***ed up beyond any repair) or is there anything I can get done to save another Z?

Thanks!

[olzed]

I would suspect that what you can't see elsewhere is similar to your pictures. This one will take lots of dedication , time and DOLLARS to put right. Perhaps use this one to learn on, and when you are earning better and got yourself sorted, look at getting a Z that is in better condition. It is always best to start with a sound car if at all possible. Have patience, you have years ahead. I first wanted a 240 when I was 35, but didn't manage it till I was 55.