2300 mile road trip for $250.00 240 worth it?

[er34gtt2000jp]

OK everybody,

Some of you may have seen the recent thread about "two Z's in the desert going cheap."

Well I bought one of them for $250 and from the photos it looked like a steal. But I just found out that the car may be worse off than the auction and photos led me to believe.

My question is, before I make the 2300 mile round trip trek do you guys think a $250.00 supposedly fairly straight and for the most part not rotted out 1972 240Z worth it?

As far as I know it has a clear title and is fairly complete, someone stole some stuff out of the dash and threw a rock through the windshield. And I guess there is some damage to the front valance and grill. Interior is shot but it may have a complete original L24/ 4-speed.

I may be able to source some parts for it from other cars the seller has but I have not heard back from them on it.

I am looking for this to be a restoration-rectification project not a get out and drive it tomorrow car. It's just 2300 miles is a long way to go for a car that might be even worse than I know about now. It would be a BIG bummer to go all that way and find the car is a heap!

What are your opinions? Personally I don't mind the drive for a car that can be restored and is not totaled.

[ncz]

Whats the gas going to cost you? If the car is "fairly straight, not rotted" and has most of the original parts, it is definitely 'worth it". Of course your time and fuel will factor in but still should be a good deal. Watch out about the not rotted part, thats what everyone that hasn't been to this web site says about their cars!!!

[MikeW]

Perhaps you could get someone local to go and have a look at it for you before making the trip. I would say that $250 is worth it for a 240Z in just about any condition; surely it's worth that much for parts. You'll need to actually see the car before determining whether it's worth restoring.

[er34gtt2000jp]

Thanks for the replies so far,

Yeah the rust factor has yet to be determined, from what I saw in the two photos it looks OK but no pics of the floorboards or frame rails. Will have to wait and see about it I guess.

I am planning the trip this coming weekend and hope to pick up the car on Saturday.

It will end up costing me more in gas then the car cost me but I guess that is what we do for the love of the hobby eh!

[Zthing]

2300 miles? And you say the gas will cost you more than the initial $250 spent, plus food, possible lodging, not to mention the possibility of an accident doing all that driving. If the seller misrepresented the car, I don't know how you could be bound to the purchase. Otherwise, I would look into having somebody else haul it for you. Tabulate what you think the total cost will be just getting it home, then see what you could purchase closer to home for that amount, in possibly better condition. Hopefully the car is in ok shape, but I wonder how long that windshield has been out, and what the weather has done to an already rust prone car.

I myself am in the process of trying to revive a fairly rusty car. I can surely say that in my opinion, finding a good solid chassis is your best bet when beginning a restoration project, particularly if you are already questioning a $250 dollar purchase. Like MikeW mentioned.....have someone local check it out for ya. Hope all goes well.

[onuthin]

Eric Only you can can decide if it is worth that long of a road trip.If you go out and ask 100 non Z people and give the facts they are going to tell you no way,but if you ask 100 people that really love there Zeds and are addicted to the hobby the only answer you will get is go for it. Last month I took an 1800 mile road in bad weather to pick up the Z pictured up below. 35 hrs on the road I kept telling myself this is crazy but after a couple of days rest I made a 1200 mile trip to pick another Z. 1 week later I made a 900 mile trip for another. At least the trips are getting shorter. I can't explain why but I am still looking for another one. Only you can decide.I know what I would do.

[a7dz]

Do you have a place and the skills to do all the removal and rebuild of the body and frame rail parts? Can you weld and fab sheet metal? I only ask these because I am in the process of replacing or repairing both frame rails in the front fender wells, the inner fender well under the battery box the fire wall in two places where the water sat in the cowl and rusted through from the inside. Also cut the complete junction out where the right inner fender well meets the fire wall along with both rocker panels the left dog leg ( had done the upper fender well earlier) and the lower half of the right quarter panel not to mention the floor pan repairs. Was it worth it only because I can do these things myself and this is a car I have owned for over thirty years. . Would I do it again I am not sure I would, looking at some of the cars on Craigslist and the local news paper. I have far exceeded any cost of a cleaner car in just man hours alone. I have got more money in parts for this rebuild then I paid for the car NEW.

Just wished you ask these questions before you pushed the bid button on eBay. I am not putting you down as I too have done the same thing. I own a very expensive pair of door sill pans I don't even need. A lot of us have done it just hope some one else learns from it.

[gogriz91]

If you'll be kicking yourself you should make the trip. Whether or not anything good comes out of it is still to be determined and rests solely in your lap. Chalk it up as a road trip and enjoy the scenery.

[er34gtt2000jp]

Thanks for the encouraging words .

At least I am not the only guy crazy enough to think about Makeing a long road trip to pick up a Zed! You sound like you have made a mini career out of it.

At least I will have a slightly bigger trailer to do it with.

In my conversations with the seller they mentioned that if I get there and want another car instead we could work something out. So I think they are good people just not gear heads.

I have already pretty much committed to the trip, gonna stop by the Grand Canyon on the way home, I was just started to get cold feet after finding out the car was in worse shape than I thought.

I am one of those guys who love Zed's enough to do this, hell I almost brought one back from Japan but the deal fell through.

Thanks again for the replies!

[er34gtt2000jp]

a7dz,

I have the place, some of the tools and all of the ambition to take on the rust monster, but I would rather not if you know what I mean. I do however have a 280Z 2+2 parts car that could donate as much of it's front clip as needed.

If I need to replace.....let me rephrase when I need to replace the battery tray or inner fender I have a pretty good one to use. Same with the frame rails in the front. The floor pans and rockers are a different story however.

As for the skill, never done any welding, just 3 years as an aircraft painter. I do plan on getting a welder for the project though. I know I will need it at some point.

Who knows maybe I will get lucky and the car turns out not to be a Flintstone car! Or I will score something else.

Thanks again for the replies.

[montoya_fan01]

You asked for opinions, so here goes.

Sounds like a lot of hassle and a considerable gamble IMO.

Can't you find something comparable (or better) closer to Sac, CA? Doesn't sound like this car is anything special to warrant such a long trip.

$.02

[hls30.com]

You live in California, and you are ready to drive 2300 miles for a rusty damaged Z? The whole transaction will cost you an absolute minimum of $750, and two full days-why not buy this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-240Z-Rolling-Shell-Good-For-Race-Car-or-Parts_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ42611QQitemZ4559890760QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

and put the other $400 into a rusty local car with a title?

Save money use the driving time for working on the car...

I would ask the seller if the vin that Nissan stamped in the firewall had been removed...

Will