I'm in the beginning stages of restoring an 1981 280zx with n/a motor. this is my first restoration. i thought i'd share some pictures of the worst parts so far. any opinions or suggestions would be great.

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

I fixed your picture links so they show...

Yes, that looks to be quite the project. Are you a body man, or have experience in auto restoration? If not, a rust project like this is a great starting point, as long as you don't get overwhelmed.

 

wow!!! thats a lot of Rust on that car.. but if you got the sheet metal and welding skills and most importantly the TIME.. then go for it.. but if it were me id find another rolling chassis, one with lest rust cancer.. and take off the good parts off of that one...

 

Wow I had a 280Z that was that bad and I sent it off for scrap after taking all the parts off of it (I REALLY wish I didnt now)

I'd say go for it! Take your time cutting out all the bad metal and make sure no rust flakes are getting where they could seed more rust.

 

thanks for fixing the pics for me. found out a bit more. she's missing her floorboards if i lift up the floor mats i see the ground & the driver side seat is held in by license plates bolted together. i don't know body work I'm entirely new to the car scene in general, i only know basic R&R. So far all the cancer seems to be on the passenger side. from what I've learned the last person to do body work on the car used tin siding & bondo. I'm hoping to get all the bondo /tin /rust cut out by the 13th then roll her into a garage & start working on what i can while i wait for the new body panels to arrive. I'm lucky to have a great z mechanic on hand & 2 decent body works.

 

You could find one with way less rust for cheap. I paid 300. Check those frame rails.

 

Mine was just as bad as yours is haha no floors, no rockers, no rear 1/4 panels! But if you gotta garage, tools and time to do it go for it, start cutting and replacing its fun . Good luck, have fun and be safe with it!

 

i'm mildly self employed so i have a lot of free time. as for getting a better one for cheap i can't. the car is only 1/2 mine it has a long messed up past but the part that matters is it was bought for the other owner by her best friend who died from cancer so i plan to work my fingers to the bone fixing this for her. minus the rims the ending goal is this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsu...fCarsQ5fTrucks


i have all i need to do the turbo swap after i fix the body. (this ad made me laugh cause the body i have is an 81 & the motor is a 83 just like the ad & this car is in the same state as me)

 

Heyas everyones ^_^...long time no visit, right? The Z he is talking about is my blue one that I'd already restored once before...Well long story short, my brother stole it, drove it into a ditch and left it there for 2 weeks during the rain season with the passenger side getting the worst of it...this is what it used to look like before that ...I'm the Z mechanic he was referring to...and the owner :P.





Soooo not me :P, I'd let a "friend of the family" do the metal work...sooo not making that mistake again >_>.

 

Lol - that's more than two weeks of being wet