ZCarolina86

Greetings Zdriver forums! I have been lurking this site for quite some time, and it appears that I have finally been offered a chance behind the wheel of this legendary auto. I am hoping you guys can offer me some insight into a fair price to pay for this car I am test driving on thursday. It is a second owner NC vehicle, with 210K miles on the original motor. I came to see it on sunday but the tags were expired so I only got to chuck it around the neighborhood a bit. It fired right up, and drove and shifted smoothly for the most part, one time when I was quick out of first the rear end "clunked" a bit.

The Pros:

New engine gaskets
New wiring
New radiator
New Rotors
New pads
New Clutch
New stereo
Great condition factory alloys

The Cons:

Fairly constant ticking while idling, sticking valves?
Power steering rack has a slow leak, "seeps"
Needs new tires, dry rot from sitting in a lot for 6months.
T-tops seem to leak slightly, not sure they would hold up in a rainstorm
Passenger side window does not make full contact with door seam, either weather stripping problem or sagging door hinge.
Oil Pressure Gauge works intermittently
Lap belts only, shoulder belts dont work

The biggest concern I have is rust. There are a couple small (the size of a nail head) bubbles in the 4 year old paint job that indicate rust. There is also a small to fair amount of rust on most of the window trim. I opened the hatch and checked under the carpet and sure enough found moisture and a small amount of rust.

I know there is also a golf ball sized rust hole in the passenger floor pan. The owner tells me she had it "fixed" and that the hole has not gotten any bigger (it was there when she got it) but i really dont know what that means. In my book "fixed" would mean a new piece of metal welded in. On thursday when I go to test drive it I will be taking it by my regular mechanic to see what he thinks/put it on the jack and get a good look at the extent of the rust damage.

She is asking 2 grand. I know I will need to replace a good bit of weather stripping and some major rust control/repair/repaint immediately. I do have a great friend with a garage and a welding torch so some of it I can handle with him. What would you guys offer her? Thanks again!

Im having trouble with attachments, hopefully this thread gets a couple replies so I can link my pictures from photobucket.

ZCarolina86

NismoPick

Welcome to ZDriver!

From the pics, it's in pretty decent shape! The bad news is, the only fix to rust is completely removing it... so it sounds like they "remedied" some rust areas, then painted over them.

Anyway, $2k isn't a bad asking price, and it's all relative / subjective to what you want. If she's willing to negotiate, well... let the games begin.

rogerz

depends on the part of the country you are in. around seattle you wouldn't pay $2K with what you say is wrong. leaking T tops almost impossible to find new gasketing. miles not particularly high for an s130 they are tough and durable. if you like driving a car that goes where you point it and not wallow down the road like a drunk pig then you are looking at new tie rod ends, ball joints and a set of poly bushes for the front end (rear too but much harder for less improvement). shocks also. If you can do the work yourself not terribly expensive. when hot and idling pull the oil filler cap. runs worse good. runs the same you got vacuum leak. two gremlins on these cars are fuel pressure and vacuum leaks. if it is already warmed and ready to drive when you get there maybe a coldstart/ cold run problem. check ALL the electric stuff so you don't post as I saw once "bought a 280zx when I got home found the lights didn't work-help". chasing down electric gremlins isn't fun better to have all working when you buy it. Z's don't like low voltage so old/weak battery and corroded battery cables another replacement item (actually probably want to do it anyway unless they look new). Parts you are kinda on your own- junkyard mostly. If you aren't a mechanic and can't afford to pay one you need to realize that 30 year old cars need a lot of tlc (or sweat and cussing). those one size fit all battery cable terminals on there are a problem waiting to happen on a dark and stormy night as they corrode down into the insulation (or when you have the wife out for a drive in your new z31 turbo and you are trying to get off a ferry boat with a dead car still paying the price on that one). does the a/c work R12 systems are expensive to get working.

bluezx

I'm new to posting on this forum but have a fair amount of experience with Z's and rust from the first couple I got when I lived up north.

Some other areas to inspect for rust before buying are:

spare tire well
under battery tray
frame rails
body mounting points of the rear suspension

Second two are real important to make sure the structural integrity of
the unibody is good.


Some of the other issuses you mentioned are relatively $imple fixes.

intermit.oil press.------------ sending unit, $40
ticking at idle----------------valve lash adjustment, basic maitenance tune-up
rear end clunk--------------- install new rear diff mount,Nissan part#55476-p6560,$80
small power steering leak-----Stopleak seal conditioner,$5-10
tires-------------------------depends on what you get,$200+
t-top and door seals----------can get very expensive shop around

From the pics it's sharp and looks like it's in decent shape.
Asking price seems fair but I'd use the above mentioned costs to do some
bargining with.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

Mark.

ZCarolina86

Thanks guys!

Nismo-Yeah im thinking she just used some rust converter and painted over it. Im really hoping the frame rails and underneath are in good shape...if they are totally rotten I will be very heartbroken about having to pass this one up.

Rogerz- I am in Charlotte, NC. We dont have too much bad weather, but if I get this bad boy it will more thank likely become my daily driver so the occasional rainstorm will be a b**** if I get caught in it. I dont think/know if they pour water in, but she had just washed it when I drove it around the neighborhood and a few drops of water landed in my lap during the ride. I did forget to mention she had replaced the shocks, I tried really hard to bounce all 4 corners of the car and it wasnt mushy at all, definitely drove straight and turned on a dime. Im sure some springs and performance tokicos are in its future...Surface rust is not the hugest deal, my friend with a garage is a nascar engineer (he actually just finished his internship and is now a paid employee woot!) so we will be tag teaming everything we are capable of doing on our own...which is a good amount of the mechanical components. I'm definitelllyyyy aware of the TLC a 30 year old ride requires, my engineer friend has spent the last 7 years destroying himself over an 84 Porsche 944 turbo that has just about sucked his soul away (and your skin if your ride in it, holy rocket ship batman)

The AC works well, she replaced the blower fan recently and had it converted to freon. It blows cold *** air...though depending on things I may end up just ripping the whole system out when I remove the dead cruise control. Well see about that one.


bluez- thanks for the advice! makes sense for the rear end clunk. The rust is really going to be the deciding factor in this purchase I believe...i'll just have to wait til I get it up on the jack to know for sure. If it looks to be manageable do you think 1500 would be overpaying? Im thinking that will be my offer. Thanks again everyone! I really hope this one works out...i've been dying to get in a Z since I was 15.

WildmaN

Looks really clean man. One thing I noticed that was odd. Is where the clock is supposed to be. It looks like there is a black piece over it. Did it by chance, not come with a clock from factory? Otherwise I would say $1500 is a good price, as long as you don't have too much more rust to deal with. Keep us posted, and good luck man.

ZCarolina86

Wildman- she said the clock was broken and would just flash intermittently so she put a piece of plastic over it. ive got my fingers seriously so crossed that the rust is not much more than whats on the surface. i want this baby so bad! thursday cant get here soon enough.


also, how hard is it to put in new seat belts? anyone tried this before? maybe i should try this forum search bar...

WildmaN

Okay, gotcha. I was wondering. lol It looked kind of funny with the plastic over it. And all it may need is to be set to the time. I have never heard of a clock going bad in these cars.

Anyway, are you wanting to replace the belts OEM? Or are you looking into aftermarket? Just replacing the belts stock, are pretty easy. The only difficult part is having to remove the side trims, where the belt conveyor, or mechanism is behind. Otherwise, taking out the buckles attached to the sides of the seats, are pretty easy. I believe 14mm bolt. As I had to tighten mine just a short while ago. Also where it attaches to the door frame. Is I believe a 16mm bolt. Good luck.

rogerz

just cause the shocks feel good means nothing. Ball joints and tie rod ends unless you know when they were replaced are cheap. so are poly bushes. a few drops out of the carwash no biggie but put a hose on it to know if it really leaks. cruise control not necessarily dead. if the plastic buttons fall out where they contact the switches thinks you got the brake on. do a search on that. before you start throwing things away make sure they are really broken.

ZCarolina86

How big of an issue is cold start difficulty? Is there a general problem that causes this? When I just spoke with the owner she said regarding the test drive tomorrow "hi. yes. car has been inspected and tags up 2 date. key in kitchen drawer. let it warm up for a bit before u drive it. and dont 4get no choke so keepfoot on gas when starting cold "

I know this is common, but how big of an issue is it?

rogerz

dey aint' no choke on a FI car bro. don't hold the accelerator down when starting. if no start something wrong in the cold start valve operation. could be a problem with the chts. there are so many little "problems" with this car and you are not familiar with the beast you need to decide if you want to learn as you go. they came stock with a lap shoulder belt combo did someone cut them off. Unless you are a pretty fair wrench and comfortable with electric issues I'd steer clear of it. Course if you can talk her down to 8-9 hundred bucks hey take a flyer. even doing it yourself I come up with about 5-6 hundred to put in it right away. Parts for repair replace start to add up quickly.

ZCarolina86

Haha yeah, I know there is no choke. That's why I put what she said (verbatim) in quotes, it struck me as a pretty silly thing to say.

I am fair with a wrench, but by no means a professional. I wouldn't even be thinking about this if my engineer friend hadn't expressed a keen desire to help me with this project. I'm fully expecting to need to drop about 800 off the bat on mechanical issues, and who knows how much on body work and a paint job. Really, the rust is my biggest issue...its the only thing that he's not equipped to tackle if its much worse than whats on the surface.

And murphy's law dictates that it will be much worse...we'll see tomorrow when I take it to my regular shop.

rogerz

hope your engineer friend doesn't lose interest or prepare for the heartbreak of the new Z owner trying to figure things out.

ZCarolina86

Thank you for the pragmatism sir.

ZCarolina86

both floor pans and passenger side frame rail are super corroded...the hunt continues!

kraztrini

Interested In Selling My '79 ZX. I'm the 2nd Owner and Have Had It Since 1995. 90% Original Including Paint. Only Has 92K On It. More info If Anyone Interested. :