I am buying my dads 84 Z28 off him, he is the only person that has owned this car. It's black with gold trim and gold rims, the paint is dull from sun fading. The interior is in mint condition, and it only has 89600 miles on the motor. My concerns run more towards the under body, what should I look for to determine how much restoration would be needed after I bring it back to my place. With it being uni-body can everything be replaced, without having to find a donor? Needless to say, I already own a 91 RS, but there is a 7 year difference between the cars. Any suggestions will be appreciated, thanks

 

well dont you know what your dad did with it? i would get under there and see what is all bent up and how much rust is under there. see if there are any wrinkles in the unibody to tell you if it was in a wreck.

 

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Some places to start for rust problems (not an exhaustive list):

-Any sign of bubbling in the a-pillar (beside the base of the windshield).
-Take a good look at the floors from underneath (specially if it is a t-top car).
-Make sure the hatch does not leak and check for rust where the spare tire goes.
-Check for rust/holes on the strut towers (you may want to pull the inner fenders off to take a look from underneath).
-Check where the strut towers meet the firewall.
-Check the firewall in and around the heater core and inside the cowl vent.

 

thank you very much nosajwols, some what of a list of things to look for. Yes I do know what my dad has done to the car, he lives in Ohio I live in New York. He has stored it at different locations different environments. He has had it out of storage for a couple years now sitting on cement. Never been in a wreck, everything is original on it except for normal maintenance work, plugs, wires etc.

 

I bet its probably pretty clean. Good luck with it!

 

If it has been stored also look for signs of mice. Things to look for are lots of maple keys in odd places (they eat the seeds) and signs of nests in things like the airbox and frame.

I mention this because my car was stored for the better part of 10 years and it became a mouse condo complex.

 

Common rust area. The bottom of the cowl is all seam sealer where the sheet metal is spot welded together. It dries out and lets water into the seams and slowly eats it away. Good job with the repair. Modern urethane seam sealers are much better than the stuff they used back when these cars were built.

 

What TransamGTA350 said about the seem sealer. After 40 years of Texas heat, mine comes out in chunks! The General used liberal amounts of this stuff EVERYWHERE! I found it in floor pans, TTop channels, door seems, you name it. If it looks brittle and dried out, then there is a good chance that rust might have invaded underneath it. Also check the windshield A pillars around the plastic trim. Water gets under this trim and starts to rust. Some of the members have had to pull the windshield to remediate the rust. I also found seem sealer used in to fill weld areas in the A pillar (on the passenger side). And check the inside of the A pillars too (where the weather strip mounts). There is a double seem welded together and to smooth it out the General used more seem sealer! While I haven't seen a picture validating my theory, as these cars rolled down the line, there must have been some assembly folks with HUGE Tubes of this stuff shimmering it EVERYWHERE! It's dripped on the floor pans in the inside of the door, down the side of the inside B Pillars, all the seems in the rear of the and under the quarters are filled with this stuff. I know when I use seem sealer or caulk for that matter (home improvements), I seem to get the stuff all over me and the residual surfaces! I even glove up to eliminate sticky hands. The line workers must have been covered in this goo after their shifts were over!

 

I always make sure the A/C works LOL

 

Look for rust in the T-top area if so equipped……

 

Under rocker panels to see if anybody has placed a jack, cracks were the steering gearbox attaches on the frame, behind front bumper make sure it hasn't been crashed, these things can help you get a better price or you can pass on it if it's too bad.

 

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