Should I buy '82 280zx

738 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by palladin, Apr 18, 2011

rssnayr

Discussion Starter · Apr 16, 2011

I have an opportunity to pick this car up for $4000. Everything works on it, outside is clean, has a gas leak at the fuel injector that pools in that area the longer the engine runs, back deck is trashed, needs up to date music. What do you think? Recommendations on purchasing it? Is it easy to fix the injector leak? Recommend a specific place to buy parts online??

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palladin

· #2 · Apr 16, 2011

To me...4000 is too much. It could be the injector needs tightened. If not, maybe just a new hose. Yep the 30 yr radio sucks even if it works. The back 2 panels as well as the headliner dropped 20 yrs ago. Not a problem, YOU can fix it. In fact, YOU can fix just about anything on this car. So there are a few questions. Do you have any problem solving skills and a mechanical aptitude?

How many miles on the car? Are there dash cracks? Does the AC work? How are the seats. Reupholstering the seat will run you about $300. Another $350 for carpet. $50 for vinyl and glue will take care of the back panels, add another 25 for the headliner. Does it have T-Tops? Not a big demand for a flat top.

blackdragonauto.com......thezstore.com...rockauto.com all good part sources. May find some at autozone or Oreilly's.
goto xenons130.com for more ideas as well as a free download of the service manual.

Other than that, we really need more info and pictures. Look at the bottom of my signature and there are two links to mine. I paid 4500 for the white one and 2800 for the black one. Both interiors were excellent, the black one more so than the white one.

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facel vega

· #3 · Apr 17, 2011

Palladin, you often say there is no demand for hardtop 280zx, but I looked at way over a hundred listings when I was searching a few months ago and inspected about a dozen cars, and this just isn't true. The t-tops have almost no impact on value, if anything they reduce it because most of the cars with ruined interiors have t-tops with bad seals. Personally I think the t-tops mar the purity of the original design, and was willing to pay more for a hardtop for that reason alone, and from what the sellers told me, I wasn't the only buyer who thought that way.

rssnayr, $4k is the price for a low-mile, rust-free (get it on a lift, the real rust is all underneath, many rust traps look good parked) car with no mechanical problems and an intact interior. It can go up from there if it is particularly well restored, but even if everything else checks out and there are a few small mechanical issues, think more like $2500-3000, depending on what work is needed.

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rssnayr

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 17, 2011

OK, the car looks really good on the outside with new tires and all of that. Haven't seen any rust but will go back and look harder underneath and in the corners (doors, around back hatch, etc). the dashboard is cracked and the back deck needs a lot of love. the thing is that i can do most of this work myself including some body work and can spray, not that it needs work in this area that i can see now. i was planning to offer around $3500 OTD. having read your opinions how much do you think i should offer? also, do you think this is something i can reasonably use as a daily driver? the window says 137k miles but the guy says its really 110k - jerking my chain! has all of the records from the original owner where she supposedly kept copious notes and records of any work. it is a hardtop. guys, thanks for your replying. yes it's a dream car for me but i certainly don't want to waste money.

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palladin

· #5 · Apr 17, 2011

window says 137k miles but the guy says its really 110k...I don't know what this even means...someone is lying somewhere. Mind you 137k on this car is not bad, but I have seen a lot of monkey business with that odometer.

Palladin, you often say there is no demand for hardtop 280zx.....you can look at 200 cars, just b/c they are there does not mean there is a demand. In fact, quite the opposite. There were more T-tops built than non t-tops. If ou have found far more slicks for sale than T-tops, you are saying people with T-tops are not selling. If the supply of Slicks are that great, the cost should be lower...Economics 101. If they are putting a T-top price on the slicks...and there are so many...that means they are not selling b/c the demand is not there for slicks. Economics 101.

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JGW006

· #6 · Apr 17, 2011

Without pics its hard to say, but from what you've described $3,500 seems rather high. Whatever work that needs to be done will take longer and cost more than you think. Ultimately, the car is worth what someone will pay for it. If it's important to you to get into the car, and the extra $1,000 - $1,500 you are going to pay for this than what you may be able to get with waiting longer, then go ahead and jump. But, if you have $4,000 + to spend on a car, wait. You will find a better one. Just my .02 (which I earned the hard / expensive way!)

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rogerz

· #7 · Apr 17, 2011

another 1000 and you could get a pretty nice z32. If you are really in love with the s130 be prepared to spend time and money getting it running right and tracking down the highway correctly. The 4K price does not include all the little hidden extras you will be paying for as you get to know the car better. If you already think there is something phony with the mileage do a car fax.

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facel vega

· #8 · Apr 18, 2011

Palladin-- I never said there were only lots of hardtops around, there were many of both kinds, and many of both coupes and 2+2s. I'm saying that having looked at the real current market closely over many examples I do not see the trend you describe. The various buyer's guides (such as the Hemmings one) also don't differentiate. You advise people buying cars that there is no big demand for slicktops, and this is demonstrably not true. Maybe I'm just quibbling over a minor issue.

In the same spirit of quibbling over facts, I'm not sure you're right about your assumption that more t-tops were sold than hardtops, over 1/4 of the total production came in 79 before the t-tops, so it would have had to do better than 2/3 for all subsequent sales to be over half of the total. All the turbos had t-tops though, and certainly in the last couple of years the t-top option was popular even on the n/a cars. I haven't been able to find stats on this, though.

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palladin

· #9 · Apr 18, 2011

You're right. You are quibbling. I ran across the stas at one point, next time I come across them I'll post it.

True in 79 they were all slicks. The 79 was a big reincarnation of the S30. Std and GL model. T-tops appeared in 1980 with a mixture and took off in 81. By 1982 you could not find a slick in the DFW area.

Besides, we're not discussing the demand in 198x, it is the demand today. The slicks do not sell as well as do the t-top models.

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