newby question

[sen13soo]

hey all,

Just found this site yesterday. It's great. I have just recently gotten into liking the 240z. My question is what should i be looking at in terms of getting one. I'm in florida. I'd like to get a daily driver that i could use as a project car. Eventually, i'd like to have a turbo monster. Any suggestions on the condition of the car(rust, engine, etc..) that i should look for would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

kellan

[AxtellZ]

Welcome Kellan!

If you search the site, i am sure you'll find a bazillion posts with respect to condition. also, check www.zhome.com Carl Beck has really good info there, plus he's in Clearwater.

As far as rust- obviously you want as little as possible! The "killer" spots are frame rails/floors, and around the battery box/firewall seam. Little spots, fenders. doors etc are really not a problem to fix. the frame rails and floors are available to replace, but it becomes a big job really fast.

On the plus side, you can find nearly every z part for sale somewhere, so just find the best you can, and build up. seems to me you can find a beater for 2000 or so, and a really decent car for 4 to 6, plus a wide variety inbetween.

Just hang around here and at zhome, you'll learn a ton if u want!

Good luck. Jeremiah

[Rev.Victor Webb]

What part of Florida are you in? I used to live in Orlando and Know of a decent source that may still be there. It used to be called "The Z Shop" owned by Frank Webb in Winter Park. He may still be there and specializes in Z cars and Nissan. He also races SCCA and is quite knowledgeable. Hope this helps. Also,beware of "beach cars" as they will have rust in many not-so-visible places that may cause quite a shock when you dig into the car. If you have the time and resources, look into the mid-west for cars as the dry air causes little rust and prices are good.

[beandip]

A good place to look for a Z is in E-Bay the best area to find a rust free car is in AZ, CAl , because of the dry weather, however I live in Oregon and have found several cars with vary little rust. The key here is if the car is garaged or not, no salt is used on the roads so rusted out cars are few and when you find one its usually an import from the mid. west , or a beach car. I found my present '73 240 here in Portland for $500.00 . I need only a little body work $600.00 worth and then paint ,which being relistic ,will run about $1500.00 If I do the prep ,and they only need to do the final prep and mask. I am keeping the stock red (orange), that way the engine bay and all the jams are ok with out repaint. You may need to travel to find a really good one especially if you are looking for a 240 . Best of luck to you , and dont be in a hurry . "You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find a prince" so the story goes. Ha Ha

[jcdozier]

In addition to ebay, as suggested by "beandip", both Z-Car and Z-Driver have a "cars for sale" section on their web sites.

www.zcar.com

www.zdriver.com

Good hunting.............