240Z values in rust belt - 2007

[ggarrard]

Arne - Would it be worth your while to ask around at various body shops to get a feel for what it might cost to do the rust repair? Maybe there's a body man somewhere would be willing to take on a project on the side for you... Wouldn't hurt to find out, and based on the outcome, you can then decide on your next steps.....

Good luck...

GWGarrard

[Sailor Bob]

It's all water and salt up here. To me and the few east coast Z people the I have met a solid body is the first order of business. I would rather pay 3G for shipping than 3G on body work.

And as earlier mentioned, interest drops dramatically due to the fact that it is not numbers matching for the obvious reasons.

[Mike]

Arne, bring it up to the guys in Salem (Ztherapy) and see what they'd do with it. There's a pretty good auto body shop just across the way that will give you a decent price on paint and repair if he has time.

[zanthus]

Well if you want To you can take it to the community college in Albany. I don't know what we would charge you but I'm a student there and I'm sure we are looking for stuff to do and compared to this 67 chevelle we have sitting there your car would be a cakewalk. I'd do your bodywork but I don't have the time right now to do it myself.

[Zs-ondabrain]

Arne,

You know I got nothing but love for ya brother, BUT!!! I have to agree with the guys on this one. Too much rust, mismatched panels, non matching numbers and the lack of other parts is just killing the bottom line......What it's worth.

I could do the bodywork but I'm 250+ miles away. The Z has PLENTY of potential but here's what I'd do if I were in your situation.

Slap 2 decent fenders on it. Forget about taking pictures of all the little dents on the frame rail, I've never seen a 240Z without those dents. So as long as the rails are farely straight and NOT rotting off, you're good to go.

run a DA over the car with 220 or 320 grit, pull off the parts that you don't want painted. Take a day or two to grind out or sand some of the other obvious rust spots. Spray a sandable primer on those spots as a prep for The local "Cheap paint Shop-Earl Shibe" pay them the $200-$300 for a quick WHITE paint job. White hides alot of problems that darker colors expose.

Put it all back together, and sell it for about $3000. I don't know what kinda money you have into it but we all know that it's real hard to get out-what you put in.

Maybe someone here (CZC) has a cheap set of doglegs that the paint shop can instal for ya. I wish you Luck on the sale but between you and me, I payed only $3000 for mine and I guess I got real lucky cause It's been in great shape so far..

Keep us informed and good luck.

[Arne]

No Dave, I hear ya. I knew going in to this that three bills would be a big stretch. Didn't really expect anyone to bite on that price, but kinda hoped for an offer of some sort. (Actually did get an offer - some yahoo said he'd "take it off my hands" for $500. I could part it and get WAY more than that.) Reality is that I probably paid more for the car itself than I should have, and it's a fact of life that you never break even on a deal like this.

Yes, the car has a pile of potential to be a really nice driver. It will never be a big dollar car, due to the lack of original motor. Had I not bought the red car last fall, I'd probably try to have the rust and paint done over this summer. For a driver or weekend car, being non-matching numbers give a bit of flexibility in what you do with the car, and I had plans to take advantage of that.

I don't know. First and foremost is that it needs to be saved - it has too much potential to part out. I have discussed the car with another club member, one who has the skills to repair and paint it himself. He also agrees with all of us that it's probably not worth more than $2000 in its current condition. Definitely a possibility.

I keep grappling with the thought of finding someone local who'd do the body and paint fairly affordably, and then finish the car before selling it. Very satisfying thought emotionally, but doesn't make a lot of sense financially. How much deeper do I want to get into the car? Dunno. If I could get the rust cut out and painted for another $2000, maybe I'd try it. But I don't think that's very likely either...

[Zs-ondabrain]

***Post Number 1001*** I broke the barrier finally

I'll tell ya what Arne. If I had room or if you bring the car to me after I'l done with the red Z. (about 2 more weeks) I'll do the body work and paint it white with a 1 step paint (base and clear in one shot) For a measely $1000

But it's up to you and if this sounds like something you'd wanna do, get ahold of me. I figure that $1000 on a $2000 car will get ya $4000. but who knows, you might get more if we clean up the engine compartment while we're at it.

A little paint and undercoating goes a looong way sometimes.

Let me know,

Dave.

[Curtis 240]

Arne. If i were you i would take a long think on this. 1 do you need the money or the car gone. As the car is a series 1 z it's worth saving. it may not be the best for rust but it is repairable. and eho said everything has to be done at once. You could do it one step at a time. My opinion is if you don't have to get rid of the car I would'nt but it's your decision.

Curtis

[Arne]

Well, it's a bit difficult to explain all the various issues that motivate me on this. Sure, I'd love to have some of the cash that I've put into this car back, lots of other places I could make use of it. But I don't really "NEED" the money right this minute.

But I don't have any indoor storage for it now - the red 240Z got that. (In fact, the red car has pushed my wife's Jetta outdoors as well.) I don't consider storing the yellow car outdoors as being optimal, to say the least. And I have some things that need done on the red car, so I don't see myself finding time to work on the yellow car for quite a while.

Of course, the bulk of what it needs would need to be done by someone else, and therefore indoors, I suppose. And I do have a nagging bad feeling about this in that I've never bailed on a project car before in all the 30+ years I've been doing this. Somehow it just doesn't seem right to me to not see it through.

Dave, thanks for the offer. If you lived closer so that transportation wasn't such an issue, I'd have to consider it. But getting the car up to you and back later would be a bit of a pain. And I think for ease of selling it, and also to maximize the value, it should stay it's original pale yellow, not go to white. (Pale yellow might be almost as forgiving to paint?) If I could find someone local (or close) who'd do it for that price, I'd probably do it.

Anyway, that's where I'm at now. I'm not in a monster hurry to sell it. It's certainly possible that I may end up taking care of the body first, but probably not overly likely.

Thanks to all for your opinions and thoughts.

[280z1975]

Arne,

Have you thought about marketing the car to the European market. It's a pain in the arse to deal with people overseas who sometimes don't speak English and to deal with the shipping, but the cost to the person to ship the Z from the West Coast is anywhere from 1,000 Roll on - Roll off and 3,000USD for a container. With the Euro worth so much more than the USD it makes it worth people to buy these cars. I have seen 240Z's here go for as much as 8,000 euros in just regular daily driver status. So if Dave can paint it and make it look decent you could demand as much as 6,000 USD to the overseas market ...

Check out the prices here http://www.hofman.nl/ ... from 3,900 euros to just under 10,000 euros (13,000USD) for a 280z ... 1 euro is worth 1.3ish USD

[76Datsun280z]

I'd spray the car (or pay to have it done) so the car is all one color and also put those bumpers on, I think seeing it with bumpers would grab people's attention with them on a little more rather than with them off so they know exactly what they're getting. Alot of the time it seems the appearence of the car can be the selling point for some buyers, especially when the buyer only gets to see it on his computer screen. I think having it be all one color would grab people's attention more rather than seeing two or three different colors on the car and people considering it to be more of a parts car or more of a restoration car than it really is, therefore possibly making people not want to pay as much for it. I guess what I'm saying is when people see pictures of it, they might be willing to pay more for something that looks like it hasn't been tampered with something that's more original complete ect, it's hard to explain and it's a bad explanation, but maybe you get the jist. I'd also set a reserve and put it on Ebay and see what happens. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck-Austen.

[lonetreesteve]

Arne,

..........check out the prices here http://www.hofman.nl/ ... from 3,900 euros to just under 10,000 euros (13,000USD) for a 280z ... 1 euro is worth 1.3ish USD

Wow, that's amazing, Gregg! A '71 Series 2 240Z that needs a lot of work going for 5900 Euro or $7,670.00!