This blog will be about the purchase and refreshment of a 1973 240Z.

I had been searching off and on for a classic car to drive on a semi-daily basis. After about 2 years, I settled on the 240Z. It met most of my criteria, which were:

1) Low enough cost that I won't feel bad driving it around.

2) Parts and technical information are easy to find.

3) Somewhat rare.

4) Somewhat practical.

I found that because Nissan used a lot of the same parts for many years, you can still get almost anything you need. The 240Z has a great car club following, so technical support is easy to get. The cost of buying one and getting it to nice daily driver shape is less than 20k, and I haven't seen another one driving around South Florida in over a year. The car can be taken on trips, because its fairly comfortable and has luggage space. Nice combination of things. I sometimes wish I had a convertible, and sometimes I wish it had four seats, so I could share the ride with more people, but you can't have it all in my price range.

So...I bought a 240Z. I've driven it around for about 6 months, deciding if I like it, and deciding what to modify and/or repair to make it the car I want. Basically, I want a car suitable for limited daily use. I want the AC to work good, the seats to be comfortable, some better heat and sound insulation, a decent stereo, and remote power locks with an alarm. Other than that, I want the car to be fairly stock.

The car I bought was an almost completely stock car. The only modifications it had were a switch to 72 round top carbs, a Crane 700 ignition and matching coil, and a new AC compressor mounted where the old air pump used to be. The previous owner had recently replaced the brakes, master cylinder, clutch, struts, and cooling system, including the radiator. In short, mechanically it was in great daily driver shape. It helped that it was very well maintained and had only 95,000 miles! The engine compartment was spotless. The interior was all intact, although there was a small crack in the dash.

It also came with a box of receipts for nearly all work done to it, and the previous owner kept nearly all the old parts when he upgraded them. For example, the original ignition and hose clamps were saved, although he didn't keep the old flat top carbs or the emission control stuff. I also got the original bill of sale, all the original warranty and manual books, 4 books of gas mileage logs, and the original window sticker. If these 240Zs ever become highly collectible, my car will have all the stuff that is important to collectors. This makes it worth putting money into it for refreshments, or so I tell myself. I totaled up his receipts, and found that he had spent $13,500 in upkeep over the years, including one repaint in 1985. Not bad for 35 years of ownership.

So now I've got a project. The car needs some rust repair and a repaint. Its got a good passenger side floorboard, but a hole beneath the seat on the drivers side. There's rust in the dog legs and on the passenger side rear wheel arch. The battery tray is rust free, but the left front shock tower has a patch of rust bubbles. The frame is very rust free. The interior is intact, but the white vinyl and plastic has yellowed with age and sun.

I'm somewhat handy. I can replace a clutch, rebuild a carb, and rip out and completely redo a bathroom. I can't do body work and paint, though. I decide that I will hunt around for a body shop to do that, but I'll do the interior refresh myself and much of the mechanical upkeep I can handle. While hunting for a body shop, I also have been researching various websites, including CZCC for tips on the interior, and sources for parts. Later posts will describe what I've found.

Hopefully this blog will be a resource for folks in my situation. Someone who has enough money and time to refresh a car, but not enough to completely strip and restore it, should find this useful, especially if your goal is to make the car a semi-daily driver. If I stripped and restored the thing, I'd be afraid to drive it.

Status as of this writing - I've removed the interior, except for the dash, which WILL come out once I can park the car for a while. The car is in the body shop for its makeover. The bumpers have been shipped to Les Cannaday at Classicdatsun, who is getting them re-chromed for me at his favorite shop. I've ordered a bunch of stuff from Les, including OEM style real leather seat upholstery. I'm currently cleaning, repairing and replacing various interior parts. Most of that is done, so with luck I'll be able to start re-installing the interior as soon as it gets back to me and I remove the dash to repair that crack.