New to the CZCC

[24 OZ]

Hi Guys...I am new to the club and have owned many other cool cars in the past (GTOs, red '70 Boss 302, '67 Camaro RS, '65 Mustang, Trans Am, and several others), but I have always lusted for an early Z. I found your club while googling "original 240Z for sale", and realized this was the best spot for discussions regarding early Zs. I bought one of the cars listed on your site last week and have been spending numerous hours out in the garage cleaning it up and discovering its mysteries (much like going over a new girlfriend, except they usually don't like the discovery process to occur in a garage . It has 90k original miles, is rust free with the exception of minor bubbling under its dealer-installed vinyl top, has the original Toyo spare, original carpets and underlayment, badly cracked dash, original keys (still in good shape...not badly worn), dealer installed A/C (that I'm in the process of removing), one original Koito (sp?) headlight, numbers matching engine that pulls strongly to redline and doesn't smoke, original 4-speed trans that still shifts smartly (and the shifter feels solid...not like a soup ladle moving around in a pot), original white interior that is badly yellowed in places, badly ripped driver's seat (upper and lower), dead original engine compartment with the cloth covered braided hoses (all except rad hoses), dented bumpers that will be replaced, and some original parts in a box (rad cap, and rad hose clamps, nuts and bolts). The exhaust is shot (original muffler was replaced with some sort of welded on small glass pack of unknown origin) and leaks quite a bit of fumes into the cabin (need advice on what exhaust is closest to original), and the struts are probably the originals (they will rearrange your dental work going over medium sized highway expansion joints). It was repainted once in the original code 110 (red-orange) and will receive a show quality paint job in 2-3 years (any good painters of Zs in Ohio or bordering states?). The best part about the car was receiving the original owner's manual, blue plastic documents pouch, warranty book (original owner had it serviced every 3k miles...book is loaded with stamps from Datsun dealers all the way up to 39k miles...it was 5 years old by then), first registration slip from California, first smog check by California (that and the 1st reg. are stapled inside the warr. book), original bill-of-sale, and two photos of the car when it was new. The first owner was an Air Force officer who was stationed at Travis AFB (30 miles NE of SF Bay area). He kept the car and gave it to his son a couple of years ago after it sat in a barn for approx. 10 years. One cool thing I noted in the warranty book is that the first dealership to have the car was Manteca Datsun in Manteca, CA. They had the car smogged on May 25th, 1972 when it had 44 miles on the odometer, then transferred the car to Riviera Datsun in nearby Fairfield, CA. The car was built in April '72 (according to the Early Z Registry...it is now registered BTW), so I wonder how long it sat at the dock in Yokohama, the length of the voyage across the Pacific in the cargo ship (probably about 5 days), then the delivery time to the dealership. It was sold to the first owner on Aug. 5th '72. I am an absolute purist and will keep it original except for the white interior (I'm buying black interior parts to convert it), and I plan to put the skinny 5" steel wheels and hubcaps back on it...with modern 175/14 Toyo tires. I'll scan the original photos and post them on here within the next few days. BTW, it drove the 573 miles up from South Carolina with no problems and received tons of attention from other drivers. It handled the treacherous curves on I-77 and I-64 through West Virginia like a true sports car. I will be on here a lot (I have been a dreaded "lurker" for several months:) to ask for help...I am not too proud to ask for help. My "handle" comes from my years as a sailor...I preferred 24 ounce cans since they involved less trips to the fridge. I'm glad to be aboard and can tell you are a great bunch of guys to work with.

[d240zx2]

Well, hey to you, 24 oz. Glad to have you around.

Sounds like you've got a pretty nice platform to work with. Looking forward to seeing snaps of your "new" car.