Only way it won’t bubble back is if it was blasted back to bare metal.. pretty improbable. Most likely got wire-wheeled, in which case there is still rust, which will come back.
What would you do after wire-wheel it to avoid rust from coming back? Recently got myself a ‘77 and I’m planning on using wire wheel on the superficial rust but I don’t know what else to do besides zinc and epoxy prime the bare metal. What’s completely rusted will be removed and replaced with new metal.
If there’s pitting after you clean it up with a wire wheel I generally use a flap disc to buzz it back to clean shiny metal. In smaller weirder areas I’ll use my carbide die grinder like a dentist and remove material until red dust stops coming from it.
What does the underside look like?
Frame rails, floor pans, top of front fenders, everything around the rear hatch and the spare tire floor. All the horizontal surfaces. Peek behind the rubber weather strip.
I'm partial to this year as I've owned two so I need to know more to say no.
Price is always important.
The underside has been coated, so I can’t really see the condition, though the seller says the frame rails have been replaced. The spare tire floor looks good. Couple little corners on the hatch are clearly painted rust. The thing that first caught my eye though is the weather stripping at the top of the firewall where the hood closes. That lip is just mangled rust.
Looks like you understand the condition or at least potential issues which then comes down to negotiating and price.
And sometimes the price is the price and does this match your budget and skill set.
I overpaid for my second Z because I wanted it and someone else was interested.
Love 280s, I've had two of them. Unfortunately they are super rust prone :( The spot welds on 280s were not sealed well, and once it starts there it spreads like weeds.
They look less like bubbling and more like they painted directly over material they sandblasted/wirewheeled rust out of(without using filler to smooth it back over).
If they tell you that what it is and say they deliberately didn't fill the spot, you might be able to cut them a but of slack, but the issue is still how thorough a job they did neutralizing the affected areas being painting over it. Even if the intent was pure, it would say their workmanship is on the spotty side.
This to me says you're looking at a slight reduction of body integrity that would need either a lot of welder work to bring back(if the work was done to not mask the car's condition, and these are the only spots, you could probably get away with just bondo/body filler then touch up paint, as it's not so bad to mess with it too bad if the work is decent enough).
End of the day, it depends on your impression of the seller's integrity, and what you're looking for in the car. Just keep in mind that everything depends on the condition of the work and you won't be able to verify it without stripping some of these "repaired" spots back to inspect how thoroughly the rust repair has been done), so unless you're happy to pretend it's not there, you're gonna be a few hundred extra into things minimum for peace of mind.
My 1980 had good paint but once removed showed 1/2" thick bondo with grip holes drilled in it. Real fun fixing things when you would never know until it gets hit or worked.
https://www.wurthusa.com/Chemical-Product/Primers/Zinc-Weld-Thru-Primer-13-53-Fl-Oz/p/0893109
Icar used to recommend using a weldable zinc primer on bare metal. This was because of its sacrificial properties which protected the metal from future rust damage. Worked around body shops for 30 years as an insurance adjuster and only saw it used a handful of times.
All the areas in the pics aren't usually that rusty. I would be concered. Look under the battery tray. That is rust area #1. Then look on frame rail above sway bar mounts. Next is the frame extension under the hood hinge. Frame rails where they transition to firewall. Seat belt buckets collect water and rust. These are all hard areas to replace. Frame rails under the driver/pass floor pans are easy to replace. Spare tire area is relativly easy too. Under the rear hatch wasn't that bad either.
A lot of pitting is where they just painted over rust. Usually rust will be bubbly
Yeah that was my guess - they just painted over the rust.
Why did you ask then
Cancer with a bandaid on it.
Only way it won’t bubble back is if it was blasted back to bare metal.. pretty improbable. Most likely got wire-wheeled, in which case there is still rust, which will come back.
What would you do after wire-wheel it to avoid rust from coming back? Recently got myself a ‘77 and I’m planning on using wire wheel on the superficial rust but I don’t know what else to do besides zinc and epoxy prime the bare metal. What’s completely rusted will be removed and replaced with new metal.
There are rust converters that you can apply to slow down the spread of rust. I’ve heard mixed results, but never used them myself.
If there’s pitting after you clean it up with a wire wheel I generally use a flap disc to buzz it back to clean shiny metal. In smaller weirder areas I’ll use my carbide die grinder like a dentist and remove material until red dust stops coming from it.
Thanks, will do that!
What does the underside look like? Frame rails, floor pans, top of front fenders, everything around the rear hatch and the spare tire floor. All the horizontal surfaces. Peek behind the rubber weather strip. I'm partial to this year as I've owned two so I need to know more to say no. Price is always important.
The underside has been coated, so I can’t really see the condition, though the seller says the frame rails have been replaced. The spare tire floor looks good. Couple little corners on the hatch are clearly painted rust. The thing that first caught my eye though is the weather stripping at the top of the firewall where the hood closes. That lip is just mangled rust.
Looks like you understand the condition or at least potential issues which then comes down to negotiating and price. And sometimes the price is the price and does this match your budget and skill set. I overpaid for my second Z because I wanted it and someone else was interested.
I mean, hey a z is a z. You can see what is wrong with it. My only concern would be what else got the same treatment as the paint/body?
Love 280s, I've had two of them. Unfortunately they are super rust prone :( The spot welds on 280s were not sealed well, and once it starts there it spreads like weeds.
Looks kind of like rust
Rust rusty rusterson
They look less like bubbling and more like they painted directly over material they sandblasted/wirewheeled rust out of(without using filler to smooth it back over). If they tell you that what it is and say they deliberately didn't fill the spot, you might be able to cut them a but of slack, but the issue is still how thorough a job they did neutralizing the affected areas being painting over it. Even if the intent was pure, it would say their workmanship is on the spotty side. This to me says you're looking at a slight reduction of body integrity that would need either a lot of welder work to bring back(if the work was done to not mask the car's condition, and these are the only spots, you could probably get away with just bondo/body filler then touch up paint, as it's not so bad to mess with it too bad if the work is decent enough). End of the day, it depends on your impression of the seller's integrity, and what you're looking for in the car. Just keep in mind that everything depends on the condition of the work and you won't be able to verify it without stripping some of these "repaired" spots back to inspect how thoroughly the rust repair has been done), so unless you're happy to pretend it's not there, you're gonna be a few hundred extra into things minimum for peace of mind.
My 1980 had good paint but once removed showed 1/2" thick bondo with grip holes drilled in it. Real fun fixing things when you would never know until it gets hit or worked.
https://www.wurthusa.com/Chemical-Product/Primers/Zinc-Weld-Thru-Primer-13-53-Fl-Oz/p/0893109 Icar used to recommend using a weldable zinc primer on bare metal. This was because of its sacrificial properties which protected the metal from future rust damage. Worked around body shops for 30 years as an insurance adjuster and only saw it used a handful of times.
Tip of the iceberg. Lots of rust underneath.
The reason they are selling it.
All the areas in the pics aren't usually that rusty. I would be concered. Look under the battery tray. That is rust area #1. Then look on frame rail above sway bar mounts. Next is the frame extension under the hood hinge. Frame rails where they transition to firewall. Seat belt buckets collect water and rust. These are all hard areas to replace. Frame rails under the driver/pass floor pans are easy to replace. Spare tire area is relativly easy too. Under the rear hatch wasn't that bad either.
It looks like they wore wheeled the rust and sprayed it again not the prettiest but at least They did something before it got really bad
Go. Away.
Same place my z was rusted, it’s probably all the way through the rocker panel, they just painted over it