slow'n'steady

well... i just bought a 280ZX off ebay, and am not too happy for a few reasons...

1. speedo/odometer, cruise control, E-brake NON FUNCTIONAL

2. doesnt run the best, cuts out when under boost, and doesnt seem to wanna idle the best at times

3. RUST!!! A LOT!!!! there is no point in tryinng to fix the car up too much cuz it is rusted TO HELL!!! the exhaust was cracked in half from the seats back, fenders are "flappin" in the wind cause the mounting points are rusted off, and there seem to be a lot of holes, as i roasted the tires and smoke filled the cabin, and it looks like one of the previous owners was a COMPLETE MORON as there is fibergass mat jus hangin in places and well... it pretty much looks like **** all together.

I figure i will make the body LOOK good and paint it up sooner or later, but i am not gonna spend too much time on anything else. the ONLY reasons i bought it where Turbo, T-Tops, 5 speed, Rear Wheel Drive, and again T-TOPS (i LOVE t-tops!!!!!!).
Where can i get a new exhaust? any online places? i dont want too spend too much, i found N/A exhausts for under $200 but no Turbo exhausts.
I must admit though it is pretty quick even when its not running the best! and gotta love breakin the tires lose when your cruisin down the road.
any free or cheap mods? nothing major, ill only have the car a little while, prolly just until i finish my 3.4L DOHC 1987 Pontiac Fiero.

only pic i have, and will take until i do a little work on it.
DONT BE FOOLED BY THAT PIC!! THIS THING IS MORE RUST THEN ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!

NismoPick

Hey... I saw that one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsu...QQcmdZViewItem

I'm not surprised that it has rust.

Anyway... Exhaust is simple... go to a muffler shop & tell them you want a new 2.5" cat back exhaust. They should be able to do it for about $150.

Speedo / odometer prob.... prolly the cable: CHECK IT.

WELCOME TO OWNING A Z PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY A MORON.

slow'n'steady

well, i decided to take a few pics. i got most of the exhaust problem taken care of except there is a bad leak under the hood. here are some RUST pictures, as well as the fiberglass **** i was talkin about.



oh well good thin i have a few gallons of fiberglass resin/hardener and a **** ton of fiberglass mat ; )

oh yeah also cat is being replaced with Glass Pack

icice9

oh dear God thats some major rust!!!!! i dont even know if its worth trying to fix... you might be better off finding a good shell and just dropping the engine in it....

Skully

i had way worse..if i had that i woulda been happy!! lol!!!! god i wish i took the "before" pix
yeah but thats pretty bad
this brings back such memories im almost getting excited!!! same rust spots same ..its like you bought mycar.. 4 years ago

jfairladyz

I'd take everything outta that car and find a dirt cheap chassis in good shape and drop the turbo motor into it. Looks pretty bad. T Top Z's are easy to come by and you can find them for less than $1000 running and half that for a non running Z to swap the motor over to.

If it's cutting out under boost then it's probably not getting enough fuel.

icice9

if you loved in the bay you could pick this 1980 t top for $500... it just needs an engine....
http://www.craigslist.org/eby/car/159615182.html

SHADY280

my cars body kit is results of rust repair, turned out to be a good thing. you can fix it, just takes time and skill, bring it to me in canada, for 30 bucks an hour i can get you going no problem, any thing up to and incuding a full restore. you prolly wont but i like to dream!!!

hoov100

time for FG panels!!

RodMoyes

I agree about the rust... it's probably too much to safely or cheaply overcome.

Find a good shell and drop that turbo motor into it.

Rod.

dviper3912

I saw this one on ebay too. I knew the guy was a moron when he called it a
v6...

lww

No link...?

Skully

nismo posted it once...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsu...QQcmdZViewItem

jfairladyz

Maybe he swapped the motor.





Or, maybe he's just a retard

lww

I gotta quit reading these threads backwards!

slow'n'steady

yeah... the plan is...

do the body work which i am very capable of, take out all the carpet, and weld in some patches for the couple holes in the floor, put in new black carpet, replace freezing/sticky when sweaty leather seats with black cloth seats. Figure out why the hell IT WONT IDLE for the first 30 seconds or so when i start it up (EVERYTIME not just the first start of the day) then put a cold air intake on it, paint it and drive it 'til it falls apart and call it a day!!
Which sucks, cause i love the look of the car as well as the performance, but it is WAY too far gone!

some of my work



no pics of when i first got the neon, but progress and finished...

Skully

seems you got the skills to do it man...so go for it ..i plan on driving mine till it falls apart too then take out the engine and throw out the rest. hehe
good luck with that.


ps im not a truck person but that truck is sweet!!!

slow'n'steady

its been changed a lil since, has more chrome! new wheels, sits a little lower, and a 376RWHP 350 in it. some other little stuff too! and i wasnt really a truck guy either, well still aint, but it was only $800 and only cost me like $5K to get it where it is today, as i do all the work myself (except the engine, Horn automotive built that)

thxone

You know I have had two turbo vehicles with the same type of problem, I would get on the cars hard and they would build boost exponentially then all of the sudden fall on their faces. Up to that point they were awesome!! Both turbos were T3's and the problem was a simple little rubber vacuum hose running to the wastegate. My suggestion would be to locate that hose my friend and replace it quickly with some high temp hose....your problem may just go away. Let us know man, don't let your Z die!!!!

Attachment 4718

NismoPick

ah... teenage domestic rice rocket:



yeah... times 1 trillion.