Looking at a 240... need advice

[El Gabito]

I am looking at a 240 here in town and it seems like a good deal to me, but I do not know a whole lot about the old Z cars. It is a 1973, original engine, has been rebuilt at least twice. It has the 280 head, aftermarket carbs. I'm not sure of everything it has. He also has lots of parts to throw in, one being an electric fuel pump from an RX-7. The body has some minor damage, the worst is the front right fender for which he has a replacement (more on that later). It has the typical rust. Some minor spots on every panel, worst is the rocker panels. The engine was just rebuilt, he's drove it up and down the street to see that it runs (has about 5 miles on it). The interior looked really good, not perfect, but pretty good for being over 25 years old. He has done a lot of work on it. It was originally orange, but a previous owner put a crappy coat of white on (it's peeling in places).

Here is the other bonus. The selling price also includes a 1972 parts car. This car is in worse shape, mainly being that it has surface rust on most of the body. The aforementioned fender is comeing from this car however (it had been replaced at some point, in perfect condition, never painted). Has a complete engine and tranny, but he's never looked at it to see their condition. He did say that the Tranny and LSD looked good though. The interior is almost in slightly better shape than the 73 (the dash mainly... even oem radio!). Also has the old head from the 73 in it.

He is selling all this for $1500/obo... This seems like a good deal to me, please let me know what you think.

I am also wondering how tough it is to do all the "de-rusting" and are there any full body fiberglass kits?

Thanks!

Kyle

[dero]

i dident read your whole post but skimmed thru but anyways 1500 seems decent for a z with engine that only has 5 miles on it.

[beandip]

with the ammount of rust you described it sounds like two parts cars. I am afraid that the rust repair will be vary costly and labor intensive. If you realise this and want to just drive it and it is driveable , then go for it while you are looking for a clean car. if you are looking to fix it , me advise is to pass. To make a rusty car that you described a nice driver only , NOT a show car. will cost you several grand unless you can do the welding your self and even then you are looking at a hell of a lot of work. to replace a rocker is major and if this is rusted you can bet the farm that it is just the tip of the ice berg. Sorry Gary look for a clean one that is in better shape . You will pay more for the car but much less in the long run and have somthing to show for it.

[El Gabito]

I'm in Springfield, MO by the way.

Even if my plans were to replace parts with something like the Subtle Z kit, you still think it is not worth it? I don't know how to describe the rust, it didn't seem that bad to me. Then again this is the first car w/ rust I will have ever had. I mean the entire engine bay and interior was rust free (he had all the carpet out of the car). it was just spotty surface rust, and there was only one spot where it had actually eaten through the fender. Sorry, I'm bad at describing rust, not a lot of experience with it.

[carguyinok]

Look real hard imo. I dont live far from Springfield and the wet weather around here eats them up insideout :sleepy: . If one of the POs painted it white look harder :stupid: White is used as a good cover up for rust patch work. But for the parts list vs. money you may not want to pass. Then you can just look for a good shell. Hard to say without seeing.

[El Gabito]

I'm kinda thinkin maybe I should wait... all I really want is something with a decent body, because I want to swap...

Do these fiberglass kits replace the actual body panel? I'm a little confused on the whole unibody thing.

[2ManyZs]

The body kit such as the Subtle Z kit would only replace the front fenders and hood. The rear quarters are bonded on top of the stock quarters. So, if the chassis is rusted in the rockers, chances are it's also into the rear quarters, dog legs, and perhaps even the floor pans, which means you would have a lot of repair work to do in order to have a solid chassis to mount the kit on.

The outer shell of the car in the rear quarters is a very large part of the uni-body, so if that is compromised by rust, you will be looking at either repairing it, or taking a chance on the car being unsafe sooner or later.

My opinion, keep looking for a good chassis before you worry about getting a parts car. I think most of us have made the mistake of buying a car without checking it over completely, only to end up parting it out when we discover hidden problems.

[rudds67]

hi,

I paided 1200$ for my z. its a 73 240z . ya it has rust and a little bondo but is runs good. and let me tell you , it is really fast..

good luck

steve