Hi all. I have acquired an old 85 z31 with a 6cyl that once was my Aunts car. She's passed on a few years ago. I'm mechanically inclined, In the past Ive done a few head jobs and full tear-down/rebuilds. have access to most any tool that I'd ever need. The original reasoning they parked this car was because the alarm system kept going off. It's a shame because this is a beautiful car... Now 10 yrs after being parked I'd like to get it back running. I tried pulling all the spark plugs and spraying lots of WD40 in each cylinder and replaced the plugs. Then I put in some fresh gas and tried starting it but I wasn't getting any gas pressure. I dropped the tank and the gas pump literally crumbled apart as soon as I pulled it out of the tank. I found a new pump on eBay for only 60 bucks and it's on the way. It's just the pump, I have to mount this pump on the original pump sending unit assembly. My question is is there anything else that I should check into doing to revive this car? The gas pump was pretty cheap but in afterthought I'm thinking this car may be too far gone to consider getting it back on the road. The injectors may all be gummed up and the timing belt may be pretty rotten and ready to snap. Is replacing the timing belt a big job on these? And too once I get it running the brake system surly will need some attention... Any advice would be appreciated.

 

From what you have posted, you should be able to handle a timing belt change. Replace the timing belt before starting the engine, if it breaks while running, the engines toast.

 

do a search on walbro fuel pump conversion. there is a good writeup somewhere online. too bad they didn't know to pull the fuse on the alarm system.

 

if you do the timing belt the kit from courtesy nissan is the way to go. got everything you need. I shopped around when i did my 86T and saved a couple bucks but lots of aggravation. Do the fpr while there it is a lot easier with all the tin out of the way. all rad hoses for sure. It isn't an OLD 85 they are all the same age. more general advice.

Get your battery load tested. Better yet just buy an Interstate battery and be done with it. Be sure you have clean, tight corrosion free terminals on both ends of your battery cables. Be sure the ground (negative) cable goes to a bolt into the frame before going to the starter. grounding through the starter is not a reliable connection. Z's don't like low voltage. causes the electronics to act funny. it is possible to have enough amps to crank but not enough voltage to run the electronics. If you have one size fit all cheapo clamp on terminals they are a problem waiting to happen.

Clean the connectors for the maf or afm, ecu and tps. Deoxit by CAIG is probably the best connector cleaner on the market. spray with CorrosionX after cleaning and before putting together this will help prevent any further corrosion.

Replace outer tie rod ends, and ball joints. replace the bushings with poly (don't forget to lube them as directed unless you like squeaky things). New shocks. all those things will make you think you are driving a different car. doing them piece meal is a waste you won't see a great improvement until you do the complete job. Rear bushings nice too but more work and you won't notice as great an improvement. Rear shocks also because if the fronts are gone so are the rears. if car squats when you jump on the gas the rears are gone. If you have the electro adjustable shocks they are DEFINITELY GONE.

 

Thanks everyone for the advise. I found Rock Auto has a timing belt kit that includes the water pump and the idler pulleys. I also went out and picked up a Haynes manual for the rebuild. The other thing that I forgot to mention is that while this car sat the battery acid overflowed out and ate up the battery tray compartment and down all along the frame. Can this just be cleaned up, repaired and touched up or could this have possibly compromised the integrity of the frame?

 

Well, It's way worse that I thought. The battery acid gone down past the RH Hoodledge and down onto the lower body frame. Check out these pics. Can this be taken to a collision shop and have support beams welded in place or is this car toast?

 

I did some more searching online and did see there are solutions. It depends on the extent of the damage. My car isn't as bad as the cars you find in the salt belt so Im guessing mine wold be a little less expensive to fix. I did a little more research and found it was other z31 with the battery corrosion was bad as mine and they had just the frame rail replaced in that section with square tubing shaped and welded in place.

I like this next solution better. This person took the time to stencil out the pieces and welded them together. Click the link just below. I wish I knew this guy...
1artworkz Frame Rebuild & Rust Correction.

lastly I found online (see pics below) where someone replaced the entire bottom half of a 240Z. I guess this would be the solution to someone that has extensive damage that lives in the salt belt.

So Yes, It can be done. I just got to get the estimate at a body/collision shop.

 

Nice work.