Im thinking about taking a look at a 1973 250z this weekend.
Any problem areas on body or mechanical I should look for?

Thanks

I had a 260Z that I bought to covert to a 350 V8. I quickly found out the car was a mess. The are very prone to rot right where the front strut towers meet the bottom of the body. Look in behind the front wheels right behind the suspension and hopefully you will see clean metal. They also tend to rot out the inner and outer rocker panel as well as the floor pans.
It was a great car and a lot of fun to drive.

They rust, bad. Especially up North, how bad it is where you are, I don't know. there is a really solid one at a junkyard near me. It has T-Tops and is an anniversary edition I think.

I say the same thing.... rust.

If you want the one that really will appreciate, get the first year model ('72?)

'71-'72 240Z's are more desirable, worth more $$$ in good condition.

I owned a '74 260Z 2+2 (small back seat, fit kids good). Had it for 17 years, great car, it just ran forever, everywhere (may
not be typical). Was a California car, no issues with rust.

Early '73 would be a 240Z, late '73 may be a 260Z (no 250Z made). Some issues the '73-'74 Z's had were the carbs, '74 had been
made for better emissions but were junk. The early Z's had the SU carbs made for performance, of course there are many
aftermarket options now.

The junk carbs looked similar to a soup can, the top edge had a corner if you know what I mean, vs the SU carb which was
rounded at the top, like a bottle.

Good Luck to you. :)

I had a 73 240Z it was rotted bad and that was 20 years ago.Coolcars though I really like the gauge setup mine was 4 speed and really fast!

I say the same thing.... rust.

If you want the one that really will appreciate, get the first year model ('72?)

Yep, they can rust, so be vigilant in your inspection! However: If it's solid, go for it. Nice cars, fun as hell to drive! Have a ball.

Oh, wait! I forgot where I was. Forget it, buy another Chevrolet.:p:p:p

I had a 24 OZ years ago in Fla. Fun car to drive. If you could keep the side draft carbs tuned.

The T-Top one I mentioned is solid. If this doesn't work out for you, try the one I mentioned. You can get pics of it on the Camaros forum under the thread "An Ohio Junkyard". It is mostly complete. It still has the rubber "Z" car mats.

Very thin sheetmetal, which is why these were so light (great for autocrossing) but prone to so much rust; even in CA.

Doing bodywork is a real pain; if you don't watch your weld flame...you will (1) go RIGHT through the sheet metal or more likely (2) warp all the good, straight metal :(


I used to have a 1972 Datsun 510 2 door, which had same issues.

Oh yeah....knock on ALL the sheet metal to see how much bondo has been applied....this was the typical method to "straighten" that sheet metal because owners didn't want to weld in replacement sheets...for the heat reasons mentioned previously.

Back in the early '80s, I had a (I think it was) '75 280Z 4 speed, first year of FI, only had it about 6 months, living in Dallas Tx at the time, car was a blast on the freeways....used to get flipped off all the time, peaple didnt like my darting in and out of traffic, very fun car.:D

I should ask my brother about his, he's had a 280zx turbo for over 25 years... his was modified by Paul Newmans race mechanic, Bob Sharpe... it was quick for 1984... turbo, alcohol injected, 165mph top speed and mid 13's in the 1/4... with t-tops and a/c... a nice body style, although i hate to admit it!!hahaha!!

ak

I had a 78 280. Bought it with 120K on it got rid of it with 300K and it still ran strong. I was good about changing the oil. Thats one of the 2 or 3 cars I that I wished I never got rid of.

OR consider an Opal GT!!

I put a GTO Goat center 2-barrel on my buddy's GT and it would run way above 125 mph back then!!

BUT it didn't like to close the butterfly's so that it could idle down fast like stock.

We road raced a Chevelle going east outta KCMO and they guys in it pulled in for gas and so did we and they couldn't believe it was basically a stock GT!!

pdq67

When I worked at a Nissan dealer out of high school in the early 80's I loved to drive these cars. The fastest I have ever driven was 140 MPH in a 300Z turbo with 11 miles on it.

I've owned several S30's (first gen Z). The two that have been the best was my BBC 454 powered one (sold last August for a down on a house) and my current Z that has a 6.0 LSx swap.