Another 240Z exhaust goes NLA

[Arne]

Heads up, people. The Monza exhaust system for 240Z is now NLA. Last week it was shown as "not currently available" on Black Dragon's website. Today, it is not shown or listed there at all. It has been missing from the Pacesetter website for quite some time. I suspect that it has been officially discontinued by Pacesetter for a while, and BD has finally 'exhausted' their supply.

Unless I've missed something, this leaves only the MSA systems (various 2.5" turbo and the 'twice-pipes") as the only remaining pre-fab 240Z exhausts. A pretty sad state, IMO.

[26th-Z]

It IS rather discouraging, isn't it? When I pick up a copy of something like "Classic Motorsports" and see all the ads for MG, Triumph, Jaguar and such.

[Arne]

My point exactly, Chris. For a car that continually gets press as "one of the most significant cars of the past 50 years" and other such accolades, the parts situation is frustrating. When I restored my MGB 10 years back I was over-run with choices in most every category. Things that 240Z owners can only dream of were just a phone call away. (Complete repro wiring harnesses, for example.)

Shoot, I had less problem finding parts (here in the states) for my '81 BMW 323i, a model that was never officially imported.

[gregs240z]

I really liked the "Monza sound" too! that's just a shame. Guess I'll hold on to my Monza system. Parts availability really is shocking for a car so important. I'm restoring a 60 Triumph TR3A and I could practically build a new TR3 with high quality reproduction parts. You could even buy an entire hand hammered TR3 body $$$$. such a shame for the 240z... Wiring harnesses would be an a great repro part for the 240z. Dang mice!!!

If I had the resources..... i'd specialize in quality repro parts for the Z. I think I could make a living at that. hmmmmmm......

[Arne]

I honestly suspect that the nail in the Monza coffin was the twin vertical tips. I can't think of any other car that uses or used this layout. I know that Monza revamped the tips on that system a few years back, so I wonder if the tooling was getting worn. Probably can't justify rebuilding the tooling for a few systems per year.

I understand the business reasons behind it, but I don't have to be happy about it.

[John Coffey]

So... who's willing to pay about $750 for a stainless Borla 2.25" exhaust that bolts up to the stock exhaust manifold and includes a Borla muffler?

[gregs240z]

Not me....

[Arne]

If I had the resources..... i'd specialize in quality repro parts for the Z. I think I could make a living at that. hmmmmmm......

Actually Greg, I think the problem is that it is quite hard to make a living doing Z repro parts. There are three major factors in play (and lots of minor ones). One is that for years rusty Zs have routinely been discarded and are gone, the volume of cars left needing nice parts is smaller than we may think. Add to that the significant differences between model years, or often even production months. (That's the one that precludes replacement wiring harnesses, I believe.) Lastly, the Z community is rather fragmented between restored/refreshed cars, hybridz, wild mods, etc. – that tends to reduce the market for any given part even more.

So with the '70-73 240Z Monza exhaust as an example – here was a part that only fit the oldest (and most rust-prone) Zs, wasn't big enough for the high performance crowd, and wasn't correct enough for the true restoration crowd. That leaves a few like myself who want to keep their cars period-looking. Too few of us to keep it in production, I'm afraid.

[gregs240z]

Very good point Arne. Datsun jumped around so much in parts that it would be very difficult to reproduce everything for the Z. I'm sure Nissan still holds copyrights on a lot of the parts which makes it even harder and more expensive to reproduce. Perhaps in another 20 years people will stop modding the Z and restore them to factory spec bringing the need for repro parts...

[a7dz]

Arne;

Guess you will have to come up and have this local hot rod shop bend one to fit your car like they did mine.

[WingZr0]

If all else fails you can always count on me to find more exhaust stuff

~Z~

[sblake01]

Another reason why I'm doing my gradual exodus from the Datsun hobby. It's not just the 70-73 parts market that's drying up nor is it just the S30, it's all Datsuns. Like Greg said in post 4, there is much better support for other vintage cars.