71 on ebay that may return

[St.stephen]

71 in northern NJ

Went and checked this one out last night. Here are my comments

the car listed at a buy it now price of 7399.

There were some plus's on the car

Completely documented mechanically since 1971. She was the original owner

Gorgeous relatively unmolested interior. with the exception of a CB mount on the inside roof.

Nice slotted mags

Motor ran great, and was totally original,

new starter

New clutch master

New mech fuel pump

Original metal fan

Minus's

Hood and passenger Emblems missing and filled over. the owner tried to tell us that the car never came with a hood emblem from the factory

Peel back the drivers side floor mat (no carpet) to reveal a pop riveted, painted floor repair that was rusting through (she tried to hide the rust repair however I managed to come across a repair bill from 1978 that said the car had MAJOR structural rust repair that is not economically feasilble to repair and recomended she should SELL. Another bill in 1981 revealed that the frame repair was inspected)

passenger floor was intact but showing signs of corosion

Hole underneath in drivers floor to reveal pop riveted patch

front corner of trans tunnel/floor getting soft on the passenger side.

drivers side floor support from frame rail cradle back about 6 inches.....HOLES.... FILLED WITH BONDO!!!

Rear hatch lip, all filler

rear wheel arch bubbling

the rear rocker seam....filled in

bottom of front fenders WELDED on. no bolts

opening the passenger door revealed the weld seam where the quarter is tacked on....covered in filler

battery well showing early signs of rusting through.

carpet completely faded (contradicts claim of perfect interior)

car wasn't driveable due to brake problems.

Exhaust ready to go

Waves all over the back quarter

two extra tires with snow tires mounted

The owner delcined and offer of 2500 which was a generous offer I thought..

This is just a reminder to the newbie's on the site..Bring a flashlight, set of car ramps, daylight, some play clothes and completely give your possible purchase a full not once, not twice, but three times over and bring a friend along especially for a car listed at this price. YOu may miss something that someone else would not

This was a nice example of a 2000 weekend driver that could survive as is for 10 years considering it was kept indoors, out of moisture and kept clean. However being advertised as it was a "perfect car". not even close. Opening this car up would have certainly revealed some extensive hidden rust damage.

[kmack]

Here are some things from the ad that just don't make sense:

What is a "model 296"?

"No visible rust", because it's hidden under the floor mats....

"No damage to seats or carpet." What's with the tan deck carpet, then?

"A/C not working properly....Everything works." Need I say more?

"It will need brake work....he assured me that the engine and transmission

where strong and in perfect working condition." How did he find this out

if

he couldn't drive the car?

"...a few minor repairs will have this car looking as good as the day it

came from the Datsun dealer." Oh, and replacing floor pans on Z's is such

a

typical job now that it's not considered major anymore?

"Also included with this auction are 2 rims with snow tires." That's a

very

bad sign right there. The fact that it had a set of snow tires and hasn't

been driven since '85! That's scary! So much for being "garage kept and

babied from day one."

Damn, listen to me And I didn't even go look at the thing!

[2ManyZs]

Seller ended the auction.. wonder if you scared them finding all those things that didn't quite fit their description....:devious:

I looked at that auction a couple days ago... when I saw the snow tire referrence, I knew it couldn't be as nice as they made it out to be....if ya got snow tires for it, that usually means it's been driven in the snow and that isn't too good...

[ZmeFly]

selling my 71 which was rust free, because the only small patch that was 1 inch long and 1/8 inch wide i repaired with fresh metal and welded it in.

i had to fight to get 5200 for it. go figure

i wouldnt have offered them 2k at all for it concidering from what you said the shape of the car was in a very poor state of affairs.

[NCLarry]

Thanks to St Steve for posting the message. It was I that was considering the purchase, as a supplement to the stripped down 71 in my garage. I also brought out a Z mechanic from the old 'Z Center' in Northern NJ, for those of you on the right coast.

As Steve said, it's always best to have others with you to keep you grounded and justify your position when purchasing. I can't imagine how so many buy sight unseen from across the county and with serious money.

For what its worth, the eBay seller was 'brokering' the deal. He takes a cut and the owner doesn't need to be involved. In this case, she was quite attached to the vehicle as it was her ride. She indicated she used to rally it back in the day, hence the CB.

Some of the information posted by the broker could be honest error, however, he does work in the auto sales industry, so, he may know more than was let on.

What is a "model 296"?

Beats us... couldn't figure where he got that reference.

"It will need brake work....he assured me that the engine and transmission where strong and in perfect working condition." How did he find this out if he couldn't drive the car?

This confused me as well as both the broker and owner indicated the car did go to for service last year at which point the carbs were supposedly adjusted (they didn't run properly yesterday) and the fuel pump and several other bits (see first post) were adjusted. I can't imagine they would've drove it there and back and not noticed/repaired (especially with the other work done) the brakes.

Originally, the broker listed the car through one of the NJ Z clubs and that was how I found out about it. For all purposes, the seller was fair enough to end the auction early (before it hit a reserve) based on my urge for him to do so as we had arranged to meet before it was listed.

He should be relisting it if anyone wants to take a stab at it. In all, it helped me realize it is perhaps best for me to stick with my plan to strip and rebuild mine... at least I know what problems I have. Next, off to buy/build a rotiss.

[2ManyZs]

Here's one in your area that doesn't look to be too bad... needs some work, but maybe you can go in together with someone and buy both of them..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2433426259&category=6187

[St.stephen]

These look like a good deal! The underneath of the white one looks relatively clean. I really need to have a larger garage!

[MikeW]

Wow, I hope they didn't damage the rear body trying to get this picture:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2433426259&indexURL=6&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting

[St.stephen]

hard to beleive this one looks cleaner than the one that posted about

[2ManyZs]

Bigger garages just get filled with more "stuff"... :stupid: