Thinking of buying this...

[Ben's Z]

Drove well, needs a master cylinder. Has cheesy 80s two tone paint job that has small bubbles all over (not rust related) Great interior. Thoughts and suggestions from the experts are appreciated.

Air was pretty cold, still R12.

Had a perfect crack in the paint where the right rear quarter window meets the door and run into the corner of where the quarter panel, roof and hatch meet. Another forum told me this could be from the lead Datsun used at the factory when the car was welded together to cover up the joint???

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/1745205209.html

[d240zx2]

I'd be glad to take a peek at it with you.

Frank

[Mikez73]

Looks like a pretty reasonable price for that car in this area. If that one doesn't work out you might try crazedlist and look at cars in the SW and on the west coast.

[olzed]

small bubbles all over could well be surface rust under the paint, from a poorly prepped surface prior to repainting, if its had a bare metal respray.You need to cost in a complete strip and spray

Edited May 21, 2010 by olzed

[Oiluj]

The cracks at the rear quarter are somewhat common, especially if the car was driven "hard". The roof is joined by spot welds covered with lead filler.

Hard cornering or accidents can overstress/flex the joint and the paint cracks. Not neccesarly a bad thing, but an indicator that you should look more closely for evidence of damage to the chassis.

[Mikez73]

Well?

[Ben's Z]

Saw this about 11AM today, but did I pull the trigger??? Nope I as usual I thought about it and asked the owner for his number so I could ask him questions.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1977-Datsun-280Z-/270587366859?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f00438dcb

[sblake01]

That's pretty nice actually and the price is about half of what I ended up getting for my 78 last year.

[Gary in NJ]

The rear wheels look a bit forward in the wheel well. Worth a good look from underneath.

[Mikez73]

Saw this about 11AM today' date=' but did I pull the trigger??? Nope I as usual I thought about it and asked the owner for his number so I could ask him questions.

[url']http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1977-Datsun-280Z-/270587366859?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f00438dcb

Just keep looking. Something similar happened to me. I saw a Z on CL but before I could make a deal the owner put it on ebay and got more than he was asking. I was pretty disappointed but...I ended up with a better car for less money.

You never know

[Ben's Z]

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/1796429194.html 88k miles or so

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/1796473599.html

206,000 miles same owner since 1985, bought it with 100k. According to owner Slight crack in dash, needs carpet, seats re upholstered. Some rust, including "very little" on frame. I do like the fact it is the original paint, so no cheap spray jobs covering up $^!# body work.

Both cars have non working A/C

Going to look at the orange on Saturday and the White on Monday...

Thoughts and suggestions? Any locals feel free to PM me. I am in Spring, TX.

[JohnnyO]

Boy, that white one looks pretty nice. If it checks out rust and damage wise I would spend the extra money to avoid the mileage if it is documented. You could easily spend 4 grand on bodywork if you have to contend with rust in the orange one.

Good luck and don't forget to pull the trigger ;-)

John