Recently, Oddimotive Southeast staff took advantage of 45 degree weather in the dead of Tennessee winter to peruse the local pull a part yard and find a hidden gem a la Trinkets and Junk in the middle of nowhere Tennessee.
This all started between two of us: Me checking the local pull a part website and finding a “1988 300ZX” and my friend/coworker who just purchased a 1972 240Z from California pursuing a Craigslist ad of 15 Z cars for parts.
What is so enamoring about a salvage yard you ask? The answer would have to separate the automotive enthusiast from the casual onlooker. You see, a salvage yard brings out emotions; yearnings for cars we never got to have or rarely saw and what if’s we never got to explore. And chances are, if your car wasn’t the top of the line model, there just might be one sitting on welded together steel wheels with that limited slip diff, larger brakes, stiffer springs, and thicker sway bar, waiting for you to wrench off at bargain bin prices compared to the forum lurkers (who beat you to it and are now trying to sell you that limited slip for $750).
So with a backpack full of ratchets, sockets, break over bar, and a $2 stamp of admission on my hand, I was off to discover what oddities awaited in this new yard. I spot the white 300ZX after a brief walk. Nothing could be better than seeing the classic 80’s TURBO lettering across the passenger door. Score! The website didn’t say it was a TURBO!
The 87-89 Turbo 300ZX’s that had clutch type R200 limited slip differentials. After peeking underneath, I realized that I’m obviously not in the business of making money off of these parts, as I was a month late on getting that differential.
But not to worry! There were other parts to be had off of this car: coveted front turbo hubs and unbroken power window switch finishers! After removing those, off I went to peruse the rest of the yard:
Here is said 300ZX with a center console of cigs. I could only imagine the condition of his cassette tapes he had in there. Doesn’t surprise me that there was oil and coolant all under the engine…
Ahh, no salvage yard is complete without wheel barrows for hauling that engine to the checkout
Next up was meeting Craigslist guy with the 15 Z cars. It turns out our new friend Russ has his own personal salvage yard off the corner of hillbilly junction. Having your own land rules. Russ has the kind of personality that falls in between Larry the Cable Guy and a backwoods import tuner, who happened to like turbo swaps into his 240 and 280Z’s. We had a good time telling stories as we learned he runs a tow service and has collected 15 Z’s and other various cars since he was in his teens. Tales were told of running 130 mph down the highway, smoking muscle cars, how a vacuum switch on the manifold would increase fuel pressure to raise turbo boost, and the work he did on other local Z’s. It wasn’t just Z cars though. In this case, land means space, from Camaro’s to AMC’s to Mustangs and even a water fountain, he had it all.
So take a stroll down Z lane here and enjoy the patina of decades of sitting and turning into rust!
Yes, this was one of the coveted 280 turbo swaps. The black painted intake manifold is a coveted single year 1975 version minus the EGR
Time capsule AMC Spirit
A bus straight out of the movie Maximum Overdrive!
This is what sitting outside for 25 years will do to a rubber hatch seal
A January 1970 build 240Z that was parked and forgotten
One of the many 280ZX Turbo’s with the 5 speed. These are getting rare!
