Internet Parts Sources

[suzook86]

What are your thoughts on Black Dragon and Z Specialties? From what I see they look good. However, I was just wondering what the general concensus was of those of you who have been restoring longer than myself (novice). Such as good quality parts, service, price, etc.? While your reading this lets expand it to any thoughts/comments on your internet "Z" buying experiences!!!

[Galaxybj]

So far I have been going through EBay for parts and have had very good luck. I have the Black Dragon catalog to use as a price guide for now until I get more familiar. The person I bought mine from last month had used Black Dragon also. Hope all is going well with the Z (I looked at the one you have).

[Red-Eye]

Looks like an NM thread so far...

There's quite a few out there. In addition to Black Dragon, there's MSA, Arizona Z Car, Courtesy Nissan, and Classic Datsun. But I'm sure other will chime in with more.

Robert

[SteveJ]

What are your thoughts on Black Dragon and Z Specialties? From what I see they look good. However, I was just wondering what the general concensus was of those of you who have been restoring longer than myself (novice). Such as good quality parts, service, price, etc.? While your reading this lets expand it to any thoughts/comments on your internet "Z" buying experiences!!!

It's funny to me when you call Black Dragon an internet parts source. Until recently, they haven't had much of a presence on the web except for a phone number and address to ask for a catalog.

Black Dragon can be good, but do not rely upon them for expertise/information. They know about as much about our cars as the local Autozone. Be careful, though, because sometimes you will get a wrong part. For instance, many years ago, I ordered a mechanical fuel pump and received one that was not right for my car, despite it being listed as the correct part in their catalog. They took it back.

Motorsport Auto has much more expertise than Black Dragon. Most of the complaints I've heard about them center around poor customer service with regard to ordering parts out of stock or no longer available. They are working on some reproduction parts to help the enthusiast.

Keep in mind that you're looking for parts for a 30 year old car that was produced in a lower volume than most of the popular American cars of the same vintage. American cars also tended to share parts, especially for the powertrain. That adds up to much lower prices for American car parts. Parts pricing for our Zs tend to be MUCH higher.

[Blue Meanie]

What Steve said.

Blackdragon is a good source for parts but they definately aren't Zientists. Z Motorsport on the other hand has a great selection of parts and everybody there knows what the hell they are talking about. When I ordered something from Z Motorsport that was out of stock, they called me back within an hour to apologize. I've never had a bad experience with either.

As for Ebay, I've gotten a few bad, nonworking parts off of the auction. Becareful of the wording "worked great when I took it off the car." You see, they never said it would be working by the time you got it!

[7T1240]

I have purchased the Precision Weatherstrip Seal kit from Oliver Naugle @ Z Specialties. I particularly appreciated his willingness to answer questions and share his knowledge. With the weatherstrip kit came his writeup on how to install door and inner / outer hatch gaskets, including tips on how to make the job go easier and avoid pitfalls. My only negative is that since both Z Specialties and I are both in Washington State, I have to pay sales tax - not an issue for most.

Gary S.

[KDMatt]

I love MSA, good stuff, COLOR catalog, competitive pricing and OEM stuff wherever possible.

'Only other place besides Courtesy Nissan that could sell me an OEM fan coupling... and it cost be $20 less too!

[vercingetorix]

I just got a few small pieces from Black Dragon an inner shift boot and some smaller stuff, it was fine. But when I am going for something major I use MSA and have always been impressed.

Best,

H Houghton

[Arne]

I order from both MSA and Black Dragon (formerly Victoria British). But I learned long ago with the MG restoration that a.) you couldn't get any reliable info from the phone people at Victoria British, and b.) if it was a part that I considered critical or if strict originality was important, I bought from Moss or The Roadster Factory instead. (I loved the people at TRF, and would happily pay a bit extra to buy from them, as I knew it would be right.) Today I do much the same, ordering the more important stuff from Courtesy or MSA.

[Blue Meanie]

How are the prices at Courtesy Arne? The one thing I did look at was cheaper elsewhere.

[Arne]

Cheaper isn't always better. I have to re-learn this every now and then. Courtesy's prices on factory Nissan parts are competitive, in the cases I have checked.

[Duffman]

I have a laundry list of Z suppliers saved on my computer but wasn't aware of Z Specialties in Washington until mentioned on this thread. Just got off the phone with Oliver at Z Specialties, discussed many different needs for my interior, performance upgrades, etc. Very nice guy, probably spent 30 minutes going over stuff. Will definitely contact him in the future for parts and advice!