So I first found my Z when I was 15 (a week before my birthday) in a small junkyard for $300 dollars. We happened to go the yard regularly, and the owner and I developed a pretty good relationship, so he was happy to sell my the car, and told me if I needed anything to just come on back. I had no clue that I would literally cut the car in half, and throw an extra 200-300lbs of new steel into it. (oh, and there was a hole where all the rainwater ran off the windscreen and it went DIRECTLY into the interior... I didnt' realize this until I drove it in the rain of course lol )


my 83' 280zx Coupe 5 speed had
-Original uncracked dash
- 83,000 miles
-cracked passenger t-top
-Digital Dash
-A garage door opener from 1991 lol
- Oh and it got hit by a fork lift on both sides, I don't even know how you can nail a car with a forklift, but hey whatever. lol

Here it is as I bought it.





I put it new frame rails, floor pans, and fixed all the rust spots. I also hammered out all of the dents from the fenders and spray gray primer

For paint I chose gunmetal metallic OMNI by ppg paints it cost $286 with all the filters/mixing components it needed.

I painted it in my driveway, it was my first time painting, but I think I did pretty well lol


For the interior I scrubbed it up and bought new carpet (gray marine boating carpet which is actually quite nice) and I got seats out of a 96 stealth which are comfortable as hell. I also made custom doorcards by myself lol


here are some pics of it. I'm so happy I have a Z













right now I have a total of around 1.5-2 grand in my Z, including the price of the car

 

 

You did a great job. Like the color. Uncracked dash - great.

 

Awesome job on restoring the Z! The paint looks good too.

 

Out of curiosity, how much did it cost you to have it painted? The reason I ask is because I eventually would like to repaint my z white and I didn't want an unpleasant surprise.

 

re-read he did it himself the paint itself with clear and filters is listed 289 or soemthing...

 

Ah yes, I noticed that in another thread right after I posted this and felt a little retarded for asking. Oh well..

 

**** happens. did good work on the paint getting the clear to mirror like that sure is a bitch i would know so props. i put about the same body work into my 280Z.... ok not true i didnt hae big *** dents and perfect floorboards but i did some MAJOR chassis/drivetrain overhauling but all in all cost me under 3 grand with car purchase sold it for 6k... but it was an S30

 

ah and i see the ricer wing we speak of.... very very usdm caviler looking... oh i noticed the floor mats to oh so jdm!!!!!

and whats cool is that the car in your av.. the owners first car was a 280zx that he got when he was 15... got mine when i was 15 and had to get my mom to ride just to get to drive it... dam learners licenses..

 

I'm taking that pos off asap. lol I like the floor mats though, (I speak japanese). I'll fix the hatch soon, football is over in 3 weeks or so. after its over its

-School
-Lifting
-My Z
-Some more lifting
-repeat. lol

i've been driving since i was 12 lol a lot of people like the wing... maybe I was drunk when I bought it.

 

I actually didn't put too much work into the paint...

Theres a tiny run here and there, but highly unoticable.
Every so often i'll run outside for 15 minutes and buff out a scratch or something lol


I tore everything off of my car. lol

sanded all the rust off, and learned that black rustoleum oil based paint is my new best friend

 

i'll tell you how a fork lift hits a car. i was driving a fork lift and moving a crate of watermelons and realized while i was on a little hill that it didn't have brakes. one fork went all the way through the box and only nicked one melon. i ate it.

i don't know how you painted it that cheap. i went a somewhat cheap route (doubled high build for etching primer by mixing it differently), and still ended up with $500 in materials. but mine was perfect. not satisfactory, you couldn't find a flaw. but after a gallon of orange, a gallon of primer, two gallons of reducer, activator for the paint, water separators, tape, and plastic, i was over $500. yeah, i didn't use clear. i just like single for some reason. well, for british cars anyway.

but at any rate, that's an impressive job. i wouldn't have had the motivation in your position. the only reason i finished my midget was that i HAD to drive it.

advise that i have though, if you ever need to paint again: i understand when you need to paint it outside, but it's really worth setting up a make-shift plastic tent to keep the dust down. you have a paved driveway, so just hose that down real well, keep it wet, then set up poles on either side of the driveway and run painters plastic all over. let it settle for a day or half a day before you paint in it too. all the dust will stick on the wet pavement and be ready after a while. don't pick a breezy day, or one that's not in the 60-70 range. my .02

 

i used to play football but that **** got to competitive and i couldnt take a weightlifting class because of my AP classes... ever heard of Lowndes High Vikings in GA? were ranked # 2 in the nation right now and have been state champs for the past 3 of 4 years.... we were on espnu last friday night... oh and my town got named title town... i guess were something special...

 

Much, much respect. It looks great.

Only a Z owner would understand - "the t-top is broken, there's a hole that admits rain directly into the passenger compartment, there's extensive FORKLIFT damage on both sides, and the paint and interior are shot. BUT - the dash isn't cracked! It's practically showroom fresh!"

Really nice work.

 

Excellent job J!!!! No more fires tho, LOL... Have you pulled the wing and filled the holes yet? My understanding is the blending of the paint is the toughest part. The car looks great, what about your next Z project? Are you working on the parts car you bought or are you holding out for the RHD S30?

 

I took the hatch and glss and stuff off of the parts car, then cut it in half with a blowtorch and threw the rest in the back of my dad's f150 lol

as for the RHD s30, I'm really searchin. I mean it can't be hard to get past US customs due to the 25 year or older rule, but finding one in general is tough. if I don't find one, I think I'll roll with a 280zx turbo, or a turbo z none the less (240z, 260z, or 280z) I don't really care I just want a Z and some power



280zx2by2, I have the same deal as you. I take every advanced class the school offers lol right now I take AP Physics, Its not very much fun but I keep my grades up.

On the contrary I have no LIFE. lol and I have tendonitis in my hip from football so I've been out for 2 weeks. I want to play so badly. But I can't run or cut without extreme pain.


Thanks for the comments guys. I've actually started to take pictures and I made a binder labeled "Z" so I can have pics and specs of every Z I own

So far I have bought 3 Z's lol

 

I want the wing off really badly