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Noob looking at A 1977 280


Dustinj

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Hey guys. I’m Dustin.  I’m new here but not new to cars. I’ve been restoring a 63 Karmann ghia for my wife and its almost finished. I’ve been typically American muscle and traditional hot rods but I want a little car to drive the shot out of without worrying about it. I’ve always admired the little Z cars and I’ve found one 2 miles from my house here in Amarillo. It’s been sanded on but the panels are solid. The only rust are the frame rails. I’m a welder so that doesn’t scare me unless you guys say to run away.  It fires right up and idles smooth  ac doesn’t work  

 

Here are are some pics.  he’s asking $5500. 

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Hey Dustin, fellow Texan here.  Welcome!  Your pictures certainly help tell the story of the Z you are looking at it but not all of it.  The compressed and rusty rails are somewhat common on these cars and thankfully there are solutions to replace them.  If the car runs, see if you can drive it a little, even just around the owner's property to ensure all of the systems work.  Then, if there any issues, use them as negotiating points.  Its hard to say if $5500 is a good number.  If you like the car and it sounds like you can do the work based on the Ghia you are working on I would suggest take cash with you and negotiate to get the price as low as possible.  Depending on what you ultimately want and what you are willing to pay, you would possibly be further ahead finding a car that is more together and "ready to enjoy".  Keep watching CL, eBay, and Bring a Trailer as a friend of mine is going to be posting a beautiful white 280z on BAT pretty soon.

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Thanks for the reply. This car is in the price range I want to spend. I don’t really want a finished car. However with this one I really just want to clean it up and drive it while I learn about it and get my ghia done. I always seem to get a car and take it apart and it’s years before I get to enjoy it. 

 

If if I were to buy this car I’d probably take the interior apart this winter and clean /replace anything that’s needed and get it livable. Clean up the engine bay and go through the wiring to see what’s about to fall Apart. 

 

On the body id block it down and get it in one color of primer. The orange looks original so if I find that to be true that’s the color I’d go back with someday. 

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Dustin, 

Welcome....I’ve been semi-restoring a 77 also.  I paid about 2k less than your guy is asking.  Mine didn’t run at sale (guy wasn’t mechanically inclined) and the interior had been completely stripped out (parts in boxes, except it had no seats). I got it running after lots of help on this forum (thanks Capt Obvious, Cliff, DaveM and Zedhead to name a few great dudes on his forum) and about $400 in parts and some bloody knuckles.  My body was in better shape than yours and needed no rust repairs at all.  It looks like the front of your car needs some parts and work, so I’d take that into consideration also.  You’ll find some replacement parts for Z’s are very inexpensive and others silly expensive.  

Overall, they’ve very affordable to restore and parts readily available. The good news is they are fun cars to work on and fairy straight forward but sometimes you’ll need small hands to get to things.  You’ll also get lots of help on this forum.  

I’d go in with a 4K offer and negotiate from there.  These car are only getting more valuable and I expect to see prices continue to climb over the coming years.  Rust has put many of them into a final resting place and there is a lot of interest in them in general. 

Here is a pic of mine at time of sale on a  Trailer and the pics in the garage are recent. 

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Edited by Av8ferg
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Hey thanks. That’s a great looking car. I love the orange they put on these. I wish this guy had not started sanding on it. But he said the lower front fenders had rust so he repaired them. The bad is that he fiberglass patched them so I’ll have to get new fenders or weld in patch panels. All of the pieces are there for the front he says. 

 

The feedback has had been that it’s a 3 to 4000 car. Running well helps for sore but the need for paint kills it for sure. I’ve found a couple where the body is in better shape but one is an auto and needs work to run better. 

 

How difficult is the fuel injection to get fixed. Is it mostly a parts replacing venture and running wires or?  I just don’t have any exprerience with it but I’m sure I can learn it. 

 

Thanks again

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The efi on these are very basic and simple. There's tons of info here and people willing to help too.

I refreshed my efi for about $500, new injectors and high pressure pump. Also cleaned the fuel tank and coated it with red-kote tank liner. Putting a cheapo fram g-3 filter between the the tank and the pump is an easy way to keep crud from going further into the system and also will let you see if there is any crud. Those filters are clear plastic.

A member here has one that color I believe. Maybe he would post a pic.  @S30Driver is a nice guy but he's  busy as hell working all the time, aren't we all. LOL

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Dustin,
This is a labor of love as you probably experienced with your Ghia. (I like those car BTW). I have 2 VW Bugs. A 1965 and 1968. 65 has been stripped and painted but has no engine or steering column. Long story there...the 68 is stock and just needs some love and a battery tray.
The EFI on the Z is very simple. I had to educate myself and was very frustrated at first to the point of almost switching to carbs. I was advised by guys here that might be more painful and costly. So I stuck with it, download the EFI manual for the car. It teaches you about the entire system and then has a detailed troubleshooting section. I discovered I needed a new ignition switch, fuel relay and ECU which I bought all on EBay for a total of about $100. Bottom line is I’m glad I kept the EFI. Yours runs so, you might just need to wire ends for the injectors (they usually need replacing). I bought a kit for $54 on eBay that has all
the harness connections.
Here is he EFI guide:
http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/efisystem/280zfuelinjectionbook.pdf


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I agree with Av8ferg ,  but would offer 3k to 3500 and go up from there.  Plenty of help on here for the simple efi system,  no problem there.  

The rear hatch area appears solid, which is great.   Looks like 110 color to me.

Here is a 2 for 1 picture for you Cliff,  me and a well known 73 240z....

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