GTR

Well I'm going to try and keep this short (like that's ever going to happen :P), I went to look at a 1981 Turbo automatic for sale for like $400 yesterday hoping to find A Z with a good body, but of course that's like never gonna happen. Anyhoo, after talking with the owner (damn he was like sooooooooo cute) and looking at the car for a bit, we tried to start it with my battery, and being the.........well, the Z that she was, she didn't cooperate (I couldn't hear the fuel pump kicking on). The owner said that the car had run strong before it was parked (and looking at this body i can see why it was parked) with the body being the only real problem that it had. Well i told the owner that without hearing the motor, to me, the car was nothing more than a paper weight, and that i would only consider buying it (for my other two Z's, he only knows i have one) after hearing and driving the Z. If it drives and the motor makes no funny (well not funnier than usual anyway) noise, should i grab it up?

frank280zx

depends if you can wrench .. i would change the motor and hook it to your 5 speed. not to hard and straightforward .. but you have to have some experience .. 400 for a good motor is not bad at all !

GTR

but wrenches are like sooooooooo cold and engines are like all oily and grimy and dirt and stuff........gross, and i might break a nail or hurt myself

ShadowWulf

I think i feel the sarcasm just dripping off that......

But personally, if i were you (kinda) I would ****** it up and swap the motor depending on the mileage and condition it was in. The rest of the car can be parted out and in the long run, done right, youll make back more than the $400 you put into it....

Example, if it has a nice black interior id buy all the interior panels off you in a serious hurry...

GTR

Sry, I couldn't resist, then again that really was me when i was a little girl, but anyhoo, I know the rack and pinion are brand new, hehe, they are still in their box. Unfortunately, some of the interior probably is probably not salvagable. It has rust holes around the t-tops and i'm pretty sure they leak. the hatch area looks pretty dry though. But yeah, i know i can at least sell the excess parts to cover the cost, like one of my spare 5spd trannies (I've been wanting an automatic for a while) or the extra turbo parts or head, but i just wanted to get like other opinions before jumping into this. I have my blonde moments with cars from time to time (I just wish they weren't so often, stupid Isuzu) and didn't want this to be another one.

snwbrderphat540

the stock 5spds in my experience, dont hold up unless you granny shift. lol.

SHADY280

the stock 5 speeds hold up just fine, they use them in road course racing and mine takes a beating all the time. id buy it for 250, cause it dont run, then swap it to your best 280. didnt the white one need a gas tank that this one has? double bonus. hey shadowwulf, i got a black interior for sale ill pm you.

snwbrderphat540

hmmm.. let me rephrase, the stock NA 5spd didnt hold up very well.

lww

I ran the stock '80 5 speed in SCCA Club Racing for nearly 4 years and never did anything other than run synthetic gear oil. The T5 is just BARELY stronger but has issues with 3rd gear synchros where the NA 5 speed has issues with 2nd gear synchros. Both problems can be avoided through judicious amounts of practice and precise speed shifting.

If you can get the motor to run, it would be worth it and you'd be amazed (or not) at what you can get for mediocre parts on eBay...

hoov100

there is the potential to make some money if you get the car, i think a recycling center might actually give you money for it, they gave me $70 for a stripped z31 shell filled with trash.

z-hag

hay rosie------buy itr for 250-300, no more,use the good stuff you can use, sell the rest on whatever----didnt someone sell a piece of cardboard on ebay for big bux??????

snwbrderphat540

well, i probably shouldnt jump to conclusions since im still hoping its somethign in the clutch assembly/throw out bearing making the noise. i can speed shift good but i was going for quik pulls not road race, drag race style. slammin gears. lol. and its a turbo'ed NA motor. i should post up a sound clip/video.

hoov100

you mean what all the civics and jetta's do when the shift, because there trying to keep up?

snwbrderphat540

haha, damnit, i feel so redundant now, not like no lift shifting or that crap (honda method) full shifts but just quick on the clutch and stick to where the tires break loose you get that sold driveshaft pop the Z32 never made (it was scary the first time everything's so solid and old lol) and yeah.

hoov100

i remember one time i was driving my friends IROC around as transportation and launched it fairly hard and tore the driveshaft into two pieces, that sucked but was kinda funny..

snwbrderphat540

haha, lol, i woulda been pissed. however i wasnt launching, just rolling 1st to a hard pull shift to 2nd hard half pull, thats why im surprised i brokded something already anywho back to rose's thread. lol.

GTR

Thank you snwy, but anyhoo, my whitey has a gas tank and a lot of parts she was missing and i'm probably going to go back sometime today to see if he was able to fix the no-start of the Z and hopefully i can drive it and see....he said it ran strong and drove it around, it just had too much rust.

hoov100

something about falling through the floor when driving would make me park the car too..

GTR

yeah i can see how that might be a problem. anyhoo, right now i'm just waiting for them to call back if they ever happen to get it started, if not, oh well i'm not going to worry too much about it.