PerrenialBadass

Exactly what it says, I'm looking at a 1973 240Z. It is either burghundy or purple, I can't really tell since it is so dirty and the paint is faded. The car has been sitting for several years. The owner (original owner BTW) started to get it driving again in 1993, and got the engine rebuilt, but parked it and didn't get around to finishing the job. The engine has less than 200 miles since the rebuild according to the owner, but since it has been sitting so long I am not sure that it is relevant.

The interior appears to be in decent shape, at least the dash and door panels and other trim paneling. The seats are tore to high hell though, the interior is burghundy.

The body appears to be solid, but there is some rust. There is rust along the door at the roof, but it does not appear to be too serious. There is also some rust on the rear right quarter panel, which isn't really bad but I feel that it needs attention before it gets too much worse, or I might have to start worrying about it. Both front fenders have rust, the driver's side being fixable and the passenger's side needing replacement. The hood has some rust along the front edge, I'm pretty sure that this is easily fixable by itself. The hatch, however, is rusted to high hell. This rust hasn't spread to the rear hatch area, and the car has been stored in a car port out of the rain, so I doubt that water has ever seeped in. I do not see any rust along the bottom of the car.

Here are some pictures:






Some I was able to take under the car:





There is some surface rust that I will want to address down there if I get it, though, while I have it "down" for repairs.

I was thinking that if I got this, I would want to spend about $1500 to get it up to a decent state. I am decent at body work and am an okay painter, so I can save money on that. I am also pretty good at mechanics, although I tend to shy away from carbeurated cars (go figure). I don't have any aspirations for modifications to this car, just to get it up and rust-free. I've known the owners of the car for a long time, so while I know that it probably won't sell anytime soon, I also know that they won't be fixing it anytime soon either. I've heard that the S30 are **** for rust, so if I got it I wouldn't want to wait too long and risk it developing serious rust.

They told me that they would sell it to me for $400-$500. I will be going to college next year locally so I will be around to do the work, but money might get a bit thin at times.

So my question is: should I get this? I really cannot commit more than $1500 to the car this year, maybe more but I can not say for sure at this point in time. And the last thing I need is another lawn ornament. Also, is there any place I should look for other problems? I didn't get to get as good of a look as I wanted as I unknowingly pissed off some wasps and spent much of my inspection time fending them off with an oar and a broom.

Black260z

I would personally try and see if it will start before buying it. Spend $10 and change the oil and drain the coolant if its been in there a long time. Take the battery out of a car you own now and see if it will start. If it doesn't start / run well I wouldn't bother. looks like a money pit. That car looks like it could cost $1500 just passing safety.

snwbrderphat540

what passing safety? is that a canadian thing? lol ive never bought a car that needed to pass crap haha. my toyota once for emmisions that was it.

also, the underbody seems solid actually and the interior seems to be in pretty good shape as well. looks like just some grunt work and a little money to finish cleaning up the under body and bringing the paint back to life then if the motor does start up just cleaning it up as well. i say try to get her running if all goes well, looks like a great project that could come along rather quikly if you just put yourself to it. i say 400 is fair and actually a good deal if you get it to start. dont leave it outside though. never ever....

Black260z

yea. we have safety and emissions we have to make sure the brakes work, no big holes of rust, all the doors shut properly (no big accidents) all bulbs working, tires arn't bald. alignment is straight etc. to make sure the car is safe. We don't need this to buy the car, only to register and plate (front and back) for the road. And emissions everyone knows about.

Ratfink

I say go for it. You can get $400-$500 out of it if you wanted to.
Looks like a solid project car. Mostly there, solid, and in pretty good shape considering. If you can turn the engine over by hand with no strange sound or feelings, then I would bet money you can make it run. I mean come on. It's a Datsun L engine.

For $1500, you should be able to get it on the road pretty easy. Most of what it needs is some love, and time. My question is this. If all you can commit in the period of a year to a car is $1500, why are you looking for a project? Why not look for a better job? lol j/k. But seriously. Buy it and wait till you can dump some money into it. That's what I am doing.

PerrenialBadass

It's not that that is all that I can devote to it. That's just what I'd like to spend to turn it into a halfway decent car. The $1500 is an estimate, I priced the project (what I know need fixing/work/replacement) to about $1300, that I got to by pricing parts and paint. I figured that $200 should be enougth to cover any small, unexpected things. The year is for college. I also have an 84 Corvette and a 87 Z31, so I don't want to dig myself too deep, having to fix this Z as well as maintain these two money pits. I'd rather not have it sit around while I am off, so I would get it decent and driveable before I left... preferrably. I figure that if it is driveable, I could let my father drive it, and that it would be better off for it since I have yet to see a car that likes to sit for long periods of time.

I also figure that once it is running and fixed up, I can probably sell it and get back my investment. Probably make a bit of a profit, since I won't have to pay a mechanic/body shop to do any of the work.

And as to why I called it a "project car"... well, it definately need some work. I didn't want to give the impression that I wanted to get this and make it a daily. I know that it will need alot of work, "project car" fitting that description better than "hey I want this car".