The rest of the pics...





Me after seeing the car and picking up some of the parts from the guy for the Z...



Raymond James Stadium!!! GO BUCS!!!

 

cool cool! a bit more rust than i expected but it doesn't look like any of it is structural... well, important structural.

awesome man!
how's it drive?

 

Holy taleedo, rust galore! But it dont matter, All fixable. ****, just get another hood all together. Nice find for 500. And its got the black interior?! SHWEET.

 

Yeah, a little more rust then I remember from the first time I saw it...I was working so I was in a rush the first time. However, not this time....the roof at the top of the windshield is clear of any rust as well as around all the windows...no rust. Under the car is also pretty clear of rust...only minor surface stuff here and there. Two spots on the cowl and she will be getting the hood from my gold ZX...also an '82. The T-Tops are in very good shape as well as all the weather stripping. It DOES have both seat and 90% of the interior parts...the car is kinda tore apart inside...no biggie, I have put my '82's interior through its paces putting it back together so no problem doing the same to this one. He also gave me the new carpet for it that has never been installed

It is going to take some work to put it back together but nothing hard. Surprisingly the test drive went well. It has some drive-ability issues which I think I tracked down...the car will act silly for a bit but as soon as you tap the ECU with your foot it straightens out and drives pretty good...the AFM is in need of repair or replacement and it needs a new radiator cap. It pulled great with no misses and I think with some replacing of parts and a tune up she will be FAR faster than either of my N/A's....pretty much is anyway...it IS a turbo.

 

That looks like my Turbo Car when I bought it.

 

Dude, that drive train and interior would look GREAT in your Gold ZX...

 

I thought about that for about an hour or so yesterday...however, I like the T-Tops and the fact that it is red with black and silver interior. Sure she has some rust and the front bumper is shifted to the passengers side a few inches but I can swap my bumper and bumper struts from my gold car as well as the hood, tail lights, marker lights and a whole bunch of other stuff to make the Turbo a little more solid until I can get it painted back to the factory gloss red. Then I can re-do all the pin stripes myself. Hell I can even go for the MSA body kit for it. The thing is all the ZX's I have, have rust in different places but the parts I need for the Turbo ZX are all good. So I should be able to make a pretty solid car from the three I have. I know I complain alot about the EFI on these cars and a bunch of other crap but a T-Top Turbo 5 speed 2 seater was my goal from the first time I drove in my buddy's 1980 2+2 and now I have something I can restore and something I can show off when it is done.

 

You mean, you're not going to do the carb swap now?!

Piece together your perfect car and part out the two cars that are left over!

P.S.
The slick tops are generally considered more desire-able now as a result of rarity and mostly because they don't ever leak...

 

As much as I love a slicktop, the T-Tops off with that turbo on a nice day is just too much fun to pass up.

 

Yeah, and I live in central Florida so when we have good weather its top down weather. Hey I got nothing against seeing my slicktop goto a good home....on that note if someone wants to buy my '79....$500 and it's yours, but you gotta come get it.

 

Great score on that turbo man, I am jealous. I so want a turbo car to swap in my '82. But I agree it is a shame the slicktops are getting parted out. Well at least you are selling the '79 intact. Since I got another slicky, I love the lines better. And I am tired of the roof leaking on my t-tops, in my '82. I am decking out the '82 slicky to a Z31 ecu upgrade turbo swap later on. With a full body kit, my F-40 wing, and a few other custom goodies. he he Of course my Bluestreak will be a stock 280zx turbo setup, because he is mainly going to be a show car in the end. With all the custom trimmings. he he

Besides all that, a slicktop was my first Z car. And I have always loved it, even after I wrecked him. I did want a t-top Z when I found my '81 slicky. But now I really believe I like the slicktops way better than the t-tops. Just my opinion though. Anyway good luck with your new project, and keep us updated bro'

 

if you drive the ZX to me ill pay gas and airfare home and 400 for it..... bah who am i kiddin i cant do that. lol. or could i.....

 

Holy crap the weekend needs to hurry up so I can go get my TURBO!!!!

I have been contemplating doing the body work and paint prep myself....let me explain. I have been looking into getting a compressor and some air tools including a paint spray gun...for the most part they can be had fairly cheap. I am not looking to paint the car myself at this point but want to do the body work which would be cutting out the rusted areas and filling them in with fiberglass...like a boat if you will. Then sanding everything smooth, then spraying with primer. If I seal the primer, will it have to be sanded again before final paint??? My reason for this is that the Turbo will have to get the hood, front bumper and maybe the rear bumper off my gold zx and as you may know I want to paint the Turbo the factory red that it once was. I looked at all the door jams and other areas that do not get direct sun light and the color is good, so I want to just paint it the factory color so it all matches up the way it should.

Of course first off I want to make her run correctly...not that it is that bad right now...but the normal tune-up is on the list first and I think she will be better. The guy butchered the AFM, by this I mean the copper contacts that ride on the carbon track are messed up...meaning the inner copper contact is bent up and not riding on the track...so I will have to do some surgery. The ECU has a short...the car will act funny and if you tap the ECU with your foot it straightens out...so some more surgery. She may need a new battery. He runs synthetic oil and has since he has owned the car.

 

you dont have to seal primer, you just primer it and let it be till pain, then you will have to clena it and sand it a bit and tehn paint but you wont be taking a coat of anything off

 

primer is porous, it gets moisture under it, unless you use a coat of epoxy first to seal the metal. you drunk snow, or your fingers get fat there!

 

You definitely need to put a coat of epoxy sealer over the primer or it'll fall off in flakes at some later date. Probably AFTER you've put a few thousand dollars of good color on it...

 

My car is pure primer... it never sees rain or a car wash. Paint is over-rated.

 

you know what. just paint it, if you odnt got the money get the new du-pont half gallon jugs and some reducer, they cost liek 6 bucks and actually look pretty nice. i dont even know i f you need reducer i think they are a laquer paint.

 

I ask about sealing it cause chances are it will be "NismoPick Grey" for some time to come and I don't want it to rust with just the primer alone. That is why I was curious about if it needed to be sanded after it is sealed to accept paint properly. I actually knew that primer was porous, that's one of its functions for the final color...to wick the paint slightly as it is applied and give the paint something to "hold" onto.

 

My car has been primer gray for about 5 years now, but Utah is a pretty dry state too (not very humid air like FL). You prolly should seal the primer if you are going to drive it a lot before paint.

 

Just a few more hours now and the TURBO will be home....let's see, fresh batteries in the digital camera...CHECK.....tripod..CHECK...money for lunch..CHECK....money for gas..CHECK....money for hookers...

Ok, so maybe no hookers but I will be happy just having the ZXT here where I can devote my attention to it...ya know, if I paid this much attention to a chick she sure would be spoiled. At least if a car bitches at me though, I can just turn the key off...a chick will keep dieseling and wont shut up

You know I like drama but with a turbo I can substitute drama for.....PRESSURE!!

 

Well it's home...I am not as happy as I thought I would be. The guy I got it from said he wanted to "tune" it up a bit before I got it...well when I got there he had the AFM cover off and was spinning the black cogged wheel with the spring in it...can you say car run like ****? Backfiring through the AFM and she tops out at a speedy 45mph... I rocked out on the way home though with the T-Tops off. I know the AFM is toast now, as soon as I saw him spinning that wheel...Oh and the carbon track..yeah it moves on its own and the screws are tight so I know that is screwed too. It is only running on 4 cyl also but it still chirped 3rd...can you ****in believe it! #3 and #4 pluggs I think are fouled. I don't know what this *** did to the car from the time I test drove it till now....it doesn't matter cause he dropped the price to $200 He did wash it...can you tell

 

eh... turbo AFM's are pretty easy to get on ebay. So how much did you pay?

 

Gave him $60...owe him $140