About to buy a ZH... maybe! Give me some advice - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Neeek · 06-09-2004, 23:34

I've found a suitable car, I think. I haven't actually seen it yet (that's on Saturday) but it's been described to me in pretty good detail. Would appreciate your thoughts on it based on what I've been told so far, which is:

1977 model
280,000km
302 V8, FMX 'box
350 Holley
2.5" single sports exhaust
14" Hotwires with 235 rubber

The vendor says it doesn't drop any oil (but there's a small puff on start-up fron cold), it's had an oil change every 10,000km since it's been in their care (nearly 3 years), new power steering pump... Never let them down, vendor kept referring to the car as "she", which is a good sign that it's been looked after. Oh, and it apparently goes like stink and drinks like a fish. Proper car, then. :) All sounds good so far, right?

There's rust on the front passenger door frame - leading edge and on the top. Fairly minor by all accounts. Then there's some on the leading edge of the front guards which "isn't that big" and easy to repair... no need for welding, apparently. Nothing on the major panels, they say.

It's out of rego, and needs only new front discs and pads (an easy enough job to tackle myself) for a safety certificate, says them. I won't buy it unless it gets that blue bit of paper, though.

So, help me out! Questions:

What should I be looking for on ZHs? Anything in particular, or just the usual stuff when buying an old car? And crucially, how much do you reckon I should offer if it's actually as described? I know what it's been advertised for, but I won't tell you that..!

Cheers in advance.

Neeek

ZH_302 · 06-10-2004, 02:15

Where do I start?
Rust should be your main concern, 'cause it can be big dollars to get it cut out-

*Check out the sills (panel underneath the doors)
*Also check at the base of the A pillars (underneath the windscreen) by opening the front doors and feeling in the gap there.
*The rust on the door pillars? you describe is a worry, if its bad around the hinges you'll have to get that fixed
*Also check the usual spots in the corners of the doors, lower front and rear quarter panels.

Have a good look around for overspray to see if there has been any dodgy repairs done. Use a fridge magnet if you suspect there is any bogged up rust (it wont stick to bog!)

I think that's about it for rust, someone else might think of somewhere else to check

I suspect either the gearbox or engine is not original, AFAIK all ZH 302's had a C4 g/box and all 351's had an FMX, could be wrong though. Not that it really matters. Just do a compression test to see if the bottom end is OK.

Heads would also need a recon after 280000k's if they havent already been done

Hard to put a price on it without seeing the car, but if it's out of rego and needs new rotors and pads, I wouldn't pay anymore than $1000-$1500 if it's in average overall condition

davway · 06-10-2004, 02:27

im thinking too that if it needs discs then itll probably need ball joints, tierod ends and all the other crap under there is probably pretty worn after all this time. check the shocks and springs too.
get under the car as well if you can and have a good look around. check for floor rust, leaks from box diff and engine, anything that doesnt look right ie bent, broken, dangling. just use common sense.

GreenMachine · 06-10-2004, 03:50

PM sent mate!

Neeek · 06-10-2004, 15:41

Thanks for all the advice. The price is about right, then.

EA - PMed you too with my contact details...