New to the forum, got a few questions about my purchase

[WogsRus]

Hi Guys

Well a new ZZZZZ owner from down under. I have been into old school classic cars for some time, owning two DR30 skylines and some late 80's ZX series zed's.

Now after some 10 years, i purchased myself a 260Z 2+2. Why? it was $1300 with only 56000km on the clock, second owner. Whist i know many issues the car has, the rust is pretty well contained, as we do not salt our roads here in winter so not to bad. Body is straight and has sighs of repair and previous rust removal. Main damage to rear quarter panel need a lot of attention as it appear the car had a small dent which was simply bogged up.

The car was purchased sight unseen and had been sitting around for about 8 years or so. The issue i have is that water had accumulated in the foot wells and hay presto we have rust.

I have attached pictures of the car as i got it and the floors, and i was wondering if someone could give me a prognosis on how bad it is going to be to repair. Reason i am asking, this is my FIRST ground up restoration and i am raveling the challenge so far.

I have not actually seen the car in the flesh yet, picking her up in two weeks. The car starts and drives and so forth, and was registered until 2 years ago when the owner could no longer afford to have a car sitting registered.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the main difference is in floor pans form a 2 setter to a 2+2 setter.?

Is there a way of adopting a 2 seater 280z or a 260z floor to suit?

I think in the US the 260 and 280 are virtually the same floor pans????

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[WogsRus]

Humm Bump, no replies, bugga. Did i post in the wrong section?

[JohnnyO]

Welcome to the club. You should probably post your question in the body section but most users would see it under new posts anyway.

Here is a link to a company in AU.

https://rsp-secure.com/rarespares/

THey have floor pan sections but do not show 2+2 pans. I would guess that your pans might only be shot at the fron so these may work.

Rarespares may be able to fab some pans for you.

Good luck.

John

[Zak's Z]

Hi there. I don't know the difference between 2-seater and 2+2 floors. I think for you to get a proper prognosis on how bad the rust is, you need to provide more info. The 2 pics you provide of the floors look like they need replacing. I assume you know for sure the metal is rotted and needs to be replaced, and it's not just surface rust.

I think you also need to show some pics of the underside of the floor pans, the frame rails, the floor supports, inner and outer rockers, etc to get a more accurate diagnosis. If it was just water on the inside sitting, maybe everything is great. But let's have a look. I don't know how easy it is to get 2+2 floors escpecially in your market. Why can't a competent bodyshop have a look and give you a quote on some new metal if its only floors? Would it be easier to have someone just make floors than to source some out and have them shipped?

EDIT: Was writing this while Johnny'O was replying... looks like he found a source!

Edited October 2, 2009 by Zak's Z

[EScanlon]

I would FIRST remove the tar-mat on both floor sections BEFORE deciding you need to replace the floors. The pictures you posted show the original tar-mat still in place and it's hard to "diagnose" properly.

What appears to be "serious rust" may not be. It may be some nasty surface rust, but if the floor metal has not rusted THROUGH, then you may be able to effect some simple restoration techniques and save yourself some money.

To remove the tar-mat easily, use some dry-ice to freeze it, then with a rubber mallet you can give the floor a good whack and it will shatter. (By the way, you can then straighten out that dent on the driver's side.)

Once the tar-mat is gone and you've exposed the metal, check for rust through with a lamp light UNDER the car, to see if you see any pinpoints of light.

If you DO see PIN points, but not HOLES, then you may be able to simply use some POR, or some other rust-encapsulating product to get you by. If on the other hand, you see ground, and forget about needing a light, then you need to at a minimum, patch the floor with new metal, or opt to replace the complete pan.

Give Charlie Osborne at Zedd Findings an e-mail and ask, he may very well have what you want. He's in Canada, but he's familiar with shipping to Australia.

FWIW

E

[WogsRus]

Thanks guys, should i repost in the Body Section?

Thanks for your input. Once the car is here i will let you all know how bad it is and post plenty more pics

Thanks

[1 Bravo 6]

When you take those photos mate, .. include some of the firewall behind the pedals and also on the passenger side.

Rick.

:devious::devious:

[WogsRus]

Well at the moment the car is going no where. The lady has not started it for some time, and the car cranks over but nothing happens, the engine does not smell folded so looks to be a fuel issue.

Bugga, now i need to freight the car home, and i have already booked flights and so forth.

[EScanlon]

Starting the car may not be an issue, but were you planning on driving it home?

That may have been a bit over optimistic, but not necessarily impossible.

Could be as simple as needing a fully charged battery, a fuel filter change, a fuel pump that needs rebuilding or changing, etc.. So don't give up on it yet.

FWIW

E

[WogsRus]

Well the car is in Melbourne and i'm in tassie, so i can't go over to fix it and fly back.

The ad stated car ran and so forth and was drivable. I intended to get the car on the boat back to Tasmania and drive to my parents house, so in total less then 100km for the car to drive.

As i can't tell the lady to MAKE it run, i will have to ship it as freight.

I think it is fuel, as she said she can't smell it flooded or any fuel and so forth. I suspect something as simple as a fuse for the electric pick up ump, or as serious as a busted seal on the main pump. The Carbs can have their floats stuck and the list goes on.

Does anyone know a Z enthusiast in Melbourne Vic OZ, if so happy to pay for someone to fix it . >

[WogsRus]

ok so the list form John form the viczcar site is as follows.

#1 Inner fire wall / plennum chamber weld seam is shot and rusted out in a number of places, this will need some major cutting and grafting.

#2 Battery mount area in swiss cheese, but this could be an easy fix, single but curved panel replacement reqyuired.

#3 Passanger side sill, but if you have a guy who can fab this then not so bad considering the dog legs look OK on the outside.

#4 Floor pans passanger area's, drivers side has had some Frankenstinian work done, hard to tell exactly to what extent and I'd say the passanger side would be as bad.

$5 Drivers side rear quater panel looks like it has more plastic in it than Michael Jackson did.

#6, The sunroof is an aftermarket one and not the prettiest of things.

#7 Only slight rust, as far as I can see on the upper Tail lamp panel on the passanger side.

#8 Rear tail gate glass area and structure including front glass area look intact. only slight hint of a few rust spots.

#9 It has aircon, so that means if the core is cactus as I suspect then you will need to find a replacement not sure how hard this will be.

Looks like a donor body it is