I’ve owned my 82 ZX Turbo for about 10 years. It has been in storage for most of its life and has only 8300 miles. Everything on the car except for battery, fluids, filters, fuel sending unit and fuel pump are original. The car has aftermarket wheels and new tires, but I have the original tires and wheels.
It’s a long story, but I have been going through the process of getting it road worthy enough for maintenance miles. In doing so, I have determined that the brake calipers require attention. My question is this:
Would it hurt the value of the car to replace the original calipers with new (pretty sure I have seen the available) instead of rebuilding them? I know for a fact that the right rear cylinder is pretty badly pitted and am fairly certain the others are as well.
I asked this question on another site and received the answer I sort of expected from a very well respected member. I am just trying gather as many opinions as I can to verify my next steps.
KS80, I don’t suppose Concours is in its future and it IS a safety issue. However, it is in pretty fair condition for a 40 year old car with 8300 original miles. I don’t want to remove an original part that would greatly reduce the value of the car to a collector in a few years. I’m not overly familiar with the process for 100% original automobiles.
It sounds like you have already made up your mind to keep them. I have seen rebuild kits out there but not lately, Good luck in your search for parts either way.
You will eventually replace something rubber on your car, the fuel lines, the vacuum lines, spark plug wires, plastic sensor connectors, rubber injector o-rings and the plastic adapter so might as well come to the conclusion now that it will be a huge undertaking to keep it 100% original.
Post a picture or 2 of the car, I would love to see it, I currently have three 280zx's
I am far from having made up my mind, KS. As I stated in my initial post it isn’t “100%” original as the fuel sending unit and fuel pump basically rusted away and had to be replaced, but it still wears the original wiper blades since it has never been driven on a wet road. When I mentioned 100% original autos, I was talking about the process and wondering what experts consider 100% original. Bad phrasing on my part. Thanks for responding. I have the original complete wheels with original tires mounted.
The bottom picture is an interesting story. I purchased THAT car in 1996 and sold it in 1990. I knew the car was still in town and knew where it lived until about 2010. This last May, a co-worker knew I was looking for my old car sent me a picture of this car so I went over to verify it was my old car and purchased it back on the spot. The car was for sale as the owner had inherited it when his dad died and was looking to sell it but had only spread the word by mouth. Right time and right place. This is the day I verified it was my old car and re-purchased it. I paid the exact money that I sold it for back in 1990........4500.00.
I put it in storage for the winter and will look at it in the spring and summer. It runs and drives really well except for the really bad tires on the car. I have been looking into new rims and tires and have considered the rim you have on your car. the factory rims did not come with the car but I have a spare set from my wife's 1981. This is her car that I gave to her for our 21st anniversary. It is a one owner (she is the second) southern California car. And now we have 3!
Great story! I like hearing when someone finds a previously owned car and is able to reacquire it. My Z was my Dad’s before I bought it from him in 2014. He was working for Piedmont/USAir in Dayton, OH. A young guy lived at home with his parents and was the original owner of the car. The car has never been driven on a wet road. He drove it to work one day and it rained. He called his Mom for a ride home until the roads dried. He decided he wanted a Vette and his Mom said the Z had to go. Dad bought it in 1986 and it basically stayed covered in the garage for 28 yrs, the last 20 in Myrtle Beach humidity. Unfortunately, he put it away with about 1/4 tank of ethanol fuel. The sending unit was unrecognizable due to the rust. I sure wish it had been climate controlled. The undercarriage has some minor surface rust on the exposed edges and bare metal of course. I have the original wheels and center caps mounted on the original tires. They had picked up some corrosion over the years as well. I have the out being refinished at the moment. I saw a finished one last week and it blew me away how good they looked. Pictures when I get them.
