240/280Z in the rust belt?
 

I'm really missing my old 280Z. It was a '75 with new suspension bushings, Tociko shocks and springs and sway bars and strut tower braces. I also had CRX seats to replace those flat ones that had me sliding all over the car. The bad news is that I live in WV and I'm afraid of the rust that these cars are so prone to. I'd love to have another one similar but with A rebello racing engine or something similar. With more power mine would have been perfect for me. If I lived out west I'd probably already have one. I've seen a few good ones pass through BAT lately.
So who here owns/has owned an S30 in the rust belt and successfully kept the rust at bay? Also feel free to comment about how much you loved/hated yours and what mods you did or wanted to do.

You are going to be disappointed in looking at the first response that I know nothing about these cars (a friend had one) but I did once own an old Korean War era Jeep I wanted to restore and never got around to it due to cash. I did, however, do a lot of research about the process of restoring and hung around a couple forums reading about a few members who were restoring old military vehicles.

Anywho, to the point.......... If you find one that needs a little work and is not too far gone and want to undertake a restoration, they make some really good two-part epoxy primers for restorations that if you strip everything down, and spray the heck out of the panels one the outside, and if you can, on the inside, you are pretty much good to go for decades. A couple coats of a well applied epoxy primer can put the metal into a shell that makes moisture a non issue. You can still give the car a good undercoating on top of that.

So if you find a car that need some rust taken care of, but have some money and time, if you do it right you can address the rust and not have to worry that it will re-occur if done right. If you have a shop, and skill and time might still be worth undertaking a fixer-upper.

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hm...e/2603041.html

All I can tell you is that I failed. Every time I parked my Z, I felt like a part would drop off due to rust, but I bought it that way...

These cars are from a rust-prone era, but with the proper effort they can be brought back or maintained. I'd just start with a good example and then be vigilant, and not do basic damaging things like drive on salted roads.

these days it seems the clean examples are over $10k.

I owned the last iteration of the 280z (1978) prior to the S2k. I found it in a field for cheap and managed to revive it and drive for about 3 years before the trans let go. The engine actually had a fresh rebuild on it along with the more rare high compression N47 cylinder head which was a selling point. I threw a few goodies at it like a header, MSD ignition and intake. It actually felt quicker then the S, more trq for sure. I really love those inline 6's. Though it was a west coast car, it was left outside in a field of grass for a couple years so that did not help the rust issues under the car. It was passable for me at the time for the money and all considered, but wasn't worth restoring, too far gone. I ended up selling with a blown trans to someone a few years later for a little more then what I paid for it. I do have a soft spot for the 69-78 Z cars. Good luck in your search.

If you're truly worried about rust and are as picky about it as me, be prepared to spend some serious cash on a proper bare metal restoration. Mine just after epoxy primer and some slick sand filler on the exterior body.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...3c3d511307.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...f44fd1e497.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...4e515df43d.jpg

^^^Now that's some dedication and money alright!

Bravo. I could not afford the time OR the money to undertake a project like that!

budgy - any pics of the finished product? :drool:

Yes pics please. Very nice!

Those are pretty recent photos. I think when the build is done I will just start a thread and share some photos from different stages of the build.