500 dollar 280zx turbo
 

I just picked up an 82 280zx turbo with 77k miles to swap the motor into my n/a. an hour drive and 500 bucks and it was mine. so I got it home, checked for play in the turbo shaft an there was absolutely zero. spins nice with no side to side movement at all. next I pulled the plugs and all 6 were nice and tan colored, no rust, no oil or coolant. last thing I did was run a compression test and here's where things get strange... 1 and 2 are close to 120. 3 and 4 are really low, like 70. 5 was kinda low to and 6 was at around 120. I shot some fogging oil in each cylinder and no change. this car hasn't been registered since 95, and I know for a factthat the engine hasn't turned over at all in 7 years. I turned it by hand first to make sure it wasn't rusted up. I'm thinking maybe valves aren't closing all the way? I don't think it would be a head gasket because there's no oil it coolant present. I pulled the valve cover too and the valve train looks to be working fine. man was it clean in there too. what do you guys think?

since you already got it just pop the head off. Don't forget to drop a wedge in by the timing chain to keep the tensioner in place. You can pull the head with manifold and turbo attached (detach exhaust pipe). not particularly heavy but extra pair of hands might help. But could be the rings are stuck and not the valves. if you can start and run it a while then do the compression check again.

if I can get it to run I'll try running some sea foam through it. I hope it's just sticky valves or rings. I really don't want to pull the head if I don't have to...

Like Roger said, the best thing to do is tear it down since it's going to be out of the car anyway... nothing more frustrating than dropping in a motor, and taking right back out when it doesn't run. :D

If it's been sitting since 95, many of the seals need to be replaced anyway.

So... you can pull it and drop it right in, and hope it never leaves you stranded... or do a quick rebuild right now and have a much more reliable car. :D

Your choice. :D

i planned on replacing seals and whatnot before i dropped it in for sure. i have to split it from the trans anyway because i want to keep my 5 speed so rear main, oil pan gasket, stuff that's hard to get to in the car. ill get it running in the donor car first then see how much further to go from there. im hoping i get lucky and the motor in general is okay. I've had some nice surprises so far. I pulled the valve covers and its clean enough to eat off of in there. I also pulled the fuel sender and i've never seen one so clean. The whole inside of the gas tank looks like brand new! Not one speck of rust in there whatsoever. The body is pretty trashed and the interior is completely shot... Fingers crossed on the drivetrain though. If i have to ill just pull the head and see what is going on in there but it will be a last resort.