FS: 70 240Z in Seattle

[SMW]

Time has come to part with my 1970 240Z (#4978) project car. Asking price is $2,500. Pictures are available in My Gallery. Please feel free to PM or email me at swinter AT earthlink DOT net with questions and/or picture requests.

General Info:

~168,000 miles

2.4L engine (NOT ORIGINAL - SEE BELOW)

Type A 4 speed

Not drivable -- will have to be towed/otherwise transported

I do not believe that there is any structural rust on this car. One of the reasons I bought it was that it was a Central CA car that had been well-maintained.

Garaged since 2002

History with me:

I bought the car from a professor at UC Davis (his daughter was about to turn 16, so he had to get rid of the sports car) in November 2001. It worked great for about 3 weeks, then a water passage in the short block gave way. I was in grad school, so I slowly (and with the help of some of the Central CA members, Royce in particular) took everything out of the engine compartment, cleaned and replaced parts as necessary (parts list below). I finally finished just in time to move to Seattle in June 2003.

The car worked great for about three months and less than 700 miles, then the electrical system caught on fire, melting portions of the harness and frying various parts. The fire was directly after a day when it rained 5+ inches, so I think something (probably the wiper motor) shorted and overwhelmed the old wires. Since then I have been working on restoring the interior and replace the wiring. But, to be honest, I haven't gotten very far. The interior is pretty well taken apart and I've scraped the tar stuff off of the transmission tunnel. I've removed all of the wiring and I purchased one of the Painless Wiring kits as my intended replacement.

History before me:

Everything with this car before 1980 is unknown. I believe I have all of the receipts since 1980, through. I can only guess that the first 10 years were rough, since the new owner had to replace the short block (thus this is NOT a numbers matching car) and various other cosmetic items when they first purchased it. The two owners between 1980 and 2001 appear to have been pretty diligent about preventative maintenance. The car stayed in the Central Valley its whole life before 2003, which makes rust less of an issue than most.

Systems Description:

Cooling: The radiator was boiled out and painted less than 700 miles ago. I replaced most hoses at the same time, and I have the rest ready to be installed. The heater core has been removed and could use an overhaul.

Suspension: Stock and ready for some major attention.

Drivetrain: Rebuilt differential at 127,425. Only u joints and half shafts replaced since then. It has the "thump" in reverse sometimes.

Clutch: New at 155,700. Looked good when I was swapping the engine.

Brakes: Rear brakes new (including cylinders less than 700 miles ago. Front brakes are okay -- last done at 151,472.

Tires -- nothing special, Michelins with about 20,000 on them.

Engine: 2.4L with E-31 head. I think the head may be original, but impossible to say for sure. Head surfaced, pressure tested and valve job less than 700 miles ago. Once again, not numbers matching. When I installed the engine, I installed new water pump, Nissan gaskets, radiator cap, timing gear, thermostat, plugs, and the Z therapy SU's.

Ignition: New distributor cap and wires. Pertronix Ignitor just installed.

Induction: Z Therapy SU's (Scott B. era) less than 700 miles ago. K&N air filter in stock housing. Stock manifold with most emissions stuff in place.

Electrics: This system has major issues. I would not trust any electrical piece in it, except maybe the headlights. I will include the Painless kit with the purchase price. Wiper motor is dead.

Interior: Dash has a half cap, but looks okay. Glove box disintegrated on dash removal. New wheelskin cover on steering wheel. Seats need help ASAP. Carpets are okay but have seen better days. Quilt patterned stuff has rips and tears. Clock didn't work. Someone installed odd speaker boxes into the hatch area. Aftermarket cassette/radio.

Exhaust: Stock manifold seals well. Pipes and muffler are at end-of-life.

Paint: White overspray over original orange. They didn't get to the engine bay during the paint job, so as an interim solution, I rattle-canned the bay white. Looks like there was a layer of black protective paint on the undercarriage, it is flaking off and should be dealt with soon before it holds water against the metal.

Body: I don't see any evidence of an accident with this car. Clearly age has set in with the paint and some of the fitment of panels and doors. I only found surface rust when I removed the carpet and scraped the tar of the tunnel. There is some surface rust near some holes that were cut in the firewall when an A/C system was installed in the past.

Battery tray was okay but not great. I cleaned it up and painted with POR15.

I've found one pin hole in the passenger side floor pan -- right below the holes for the A/C.

Bumpers are both intact and straight, but the chrome is showing its age. The rubber pieces are missing or at end of life.

Other parts/misc: The purchase price includes all of the assorted pieces I've picked up over the years including a couple sets of round top SU's, a straight rear bumper, tune up pieces, new hoses, some PU bushings, etc. I'll also include the books (Wick's How to restore…), manuals (Chilton, Datsun CD, Haynes), and the SU video.

Price:

I find it very difficult to price this car. Obviously it is a project and is not driveable, but has great potential and comes with a lot of new parts. I'm asking for $2,500. I'm willing to discuss the price, but I'm focused on not taking too much of a bath with this deal.

Thank you for your time in reading all this.

[SMW]

I'll post some pictures in the thread...

[SMW]

Also -- has anyone here sold a z on ebay? I'm wondering what you thought of the process.

Thanks -- Steve

[SMW]

This car is now on ebay; item number 4509170057