Hello, I'm looking to purchase my very 1st 240z a '72. I'm looking for someone in the Sacramento Calif area (elks grove) to do a PPI - Pre purchase inspection. Will post pics soon to get the boards advice on the car. Clean 72, not original ,new paint, 280zx 5 spd tranny, 280z 2.8l motor, original interiors asking price 4800 bucks. any other advice please post or email me at luv2hoop@sbcglobal.net. Thanks....

i too am looking to buy my first 240z. my advise -patients-. never get in a hurry or think you might miss a deal. something always better comes up.you can learn a lot from this site. you being in california you have a lot of choices. for $4800 i would go for a 240z with an original engine or at lest a L240 .the more original the more desirable IMO.check out collector car trader on line.com. good luck.oh yea another tip- buy the best you can afford,not a fixer upper.( unless your into fixing it up)

also, new paint or new undercoating i would shy away from. i think the owner is trying to cover up rust. at least with a 4 or 5 year old paint job, any rust will show through by then.

Welcome to the clib, and to Zs!

I am sure I am not he only member anxiously awaiting your pictures!

Will

I' m ready for the Z board to dissect this car. But first I need to find out how to attach multiple pictures?

Originally posted by 240Z lezz

I' m ready for the Z board to dissect this car. But first I need to find out how to attach multiple pictures?

You can only have one attachment per post. It's actually more convenient to upload a bunch of pictures to your gallery. People can then easily comment on them individually.

As MikeW said. post to your gallery, but expect a wait on getting the pictures approved, lots of member submissions, and the administrators have to go through each photo!

Will

Ok Z-board. Tell me what you think. I'm hoping to make a deal for this car tomorrow. Here's the site for the pictures.http://photos.yahoo.com/luv2hoop@sbcglobal.net

Things I can see;

Rear hatch trim missing. Combination of red and black interior trim is wrong - it should be all one colour (red now very hard to get). Paintwork looks pretty good, however the fact that the engine bay is a different colour would put me off. I don't like where the speakers have been placed. I'm not sure, but I think that is a structural part of the car.

Fuzzy photo of the engine bay is difficult to see properly. Can anyone else see anything?

I'm not sure of the prices in the US (I'm in Oz), but I think you could get a more original car for the money - if that's what you want. I'd be wary of a new paint job too.

My advice would be to look at as many cars as you can and then make up your mind.

I see a couple things that would make me take a serious look at the asking price....

First and most importantly is that bra on black paint! It looks like it doesn't fit properly, and more than likely flaps in the wind, which will screw up a paint job in no time. Be sure to have the bra taken off and look underneath!

The engine bay being another color other than black, would make me take a serious look at the rest of the body work and paint work. If they are too cheap to pull the engine and paint the bay, did they cut corners somewhere else as well? The only good thing about the black paint, is that it is almost impossible to hide shoddy body work under black without it showing up like a neon sign.

Non matching plastic in the interior is a small problem, but will cost quite a bit to make right.

I'd take a serious look at the underside, just to be sure the floors and rails are in good condition. I'd also look at the suspension, it looks to have been lowered, but was it done correctly or did they just hack off the stock springs....

Looks pretty good, but, until the questions are answered, there's no way to give a good opinion on their asking price. I'd say it's in the "ballpark", but, it could end up being about 1K too high or more depending on the results of an "up close" inspection.

I agree with 2ManyZs and Gee, the pictures cover only what you can see anyway, and fresh paint can cover problems for a while. Give the car a good once over where you have to get uncomfortable to see-check the floors from below-and under the carpet, check the spare tub, and the rails under the battery and outside just back from the wheels. Pull the doglegs, hatch trim, and the door panels and check inside for propper repair.

The car is pretty, but will it stay that way if taken care of. or start rusting away? If you don't look for propper repair now, you will see how it was done in a year or so!

Will

One of my old cars looked that beautiful with a $199.00 Maco paint job and a month later the paint was trashed. The interior of the car has been highly neglected which leads me to believe that there's more than meets the eye on that Z. Interior is a good jumping off point to see how well someone has taken care of their car. And I just don't mean vaccuming and armoraling the dash. Some people think if you throw on a paint job and a nice set of wheels that's all it takes and the average Joe won't know that it's really rusting away.

JMO

Vicky