I just have to share, I'm so happy I could (well, ok, maybe I already did) dance a jig! I spent the weekend visiting my folks in madison WI, and my younger brother (who's a 80's VW guy) took me to the local parts yard. The same '72 (11/72 actually) 240z that he pulled my uncracked dashboard from earlier this year is still there. The ol' girl has now donated the following parts in the name of keeping other healthier (meaning not rusting apart) z cars looking sharp:

both plastic quarter window trim pieces complete with seatbelt retaining hooks

both plastic interior plastic trunk side pieces

both of the little rectangle things that screw on to the main rear trunk trim and allow access to the tail light bulbs

the flat masonite/textured vinyl thing that screws to the underside of the hatch

and a center console complete with chrome rim around the main tray and an intact external shift boot.

The best part? The entire collection of interior trim cost me $50!! :cool:

So including the $100 for the dash (which came complete with guages), the entire cost of rejuvenating the interior of my z will cost $150 plus whatever a fresh bag of the plastic anchor things costs. So yea, I'm happy. That's all, carry on

It's nice to find a bargain occasionally. $100 dash---thats great. I wish there were 240s lying in parts yards in NZ.

There aren't many early z cars left in parts yards here, either, and the ones that remain are dying a slow, rotting death the same as the one I found.

I've been doing some research here on the forum, I may have to put a layer of fiberglass on the backside of each panel to strengthen them.

Places like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, etc can be great places to find nice interior 240Z pieces because the cars lived such a short life due to the elements. One of the Zs my son and I bought about 6 years ago, the seller included several crates full of parts from a '72 240 that he had purchased and cut up for a donor car while he lived in Wisconsin for a short period of time. The car had a very nice un-cracked dash and a perfect console along with some other nice interior pieces. The odometer in the dash only had a little over 60k on it, but most of the other parts in the crates had quite a bit of rust on them and I'm not really sure why he kept those pieces.

It's the exact opposite when buying an old Z in the dry, warm weather states such as SoCal or Arizona- very little rust, but the interiors tend to be pretty shot not only from the many years of use, but also the intense sunlight and the arid climate.

I agree with Steve... It is kind of cultural to the experience the cars had when they were on the road. In the Midwest they rot out from road salt but they can't be driven in the winter so the driveline is in good shape and rubber weatherstripping is probably good too. Here in California, the driveline is shot and so is the weatherstripping from the year long driving and the sun. We should have exchange wrecking yards!

I just realized my profile still shows San Diego as home. Having said that, I understand exactly what you mean about the difference in vehicle condition. My z was a california/arizona car so it has almost no rust but the interior and other things like the bumper rubber strips are destroyed. I'm on the east coast now, so I'll have to hunt around for other rust buckets that may be hiding treasures like the ones I found

Edited October 14, 201014 yr by BTF/PTM

Well, I guess apart from 240 and 260 being scarce in my part of the world, we are fairly lucky with the climate. Summers are not tooo hot and where we live we don't get snow, although it's very wet in winter. I keep the Z garaged and covered to keep my crack free dash, I hope, crack free. After washing the 240, I use my wifes dog blower to dry off the car. This thing is like a vacuum cleaner on blow, only more. Resto 10 years ago, and so far no rust.