Let's give a hand to our member "Ken" (Ken Lewis) for winning the latest Member Ride decision. Thanks to the member-ride committee for choosing, discussing, and putting together such a great thing for the club....

Click HERE to open Ken's gallery.

Here's a write-up about the car....

THE QUEST

In a far off galaxy, long, long ago, a quest began to seek a rust-free, solid body, Datsun 240Z. Many leads were followed, with equal disappointments. So many rust free cars offered for sale that turned out to be Fred Flintstone Specials. Just raise the floor mat on the driver’s side and see the grass grow beneath the car (special footgear not provided).

Years passed without any success. I was located in the Northeast rustbelt, which greatly contributed to the lack of a suitable car.

Then OB1 (Carl Beck-Zhome.com) contacted me and stated that he knew of some individuals that might part with the type of vehicle I was seeking (we had communicated

earlier and Carl knew what I was seeking). So, I boarded a plane to Tampa, Florida where Carl met me at the airport. He was somewhat concerned about me staying with him, as he had stored many OEM Datsun 240Z spare parts in his guest bedroom (I can vouch for this, as I still have the imprints of many parts all over my body. It seems he was using all horizontal space!).

The next day we began our quest. We looked at several cars but not the one I was seeking.

The second day offered a greater selection of colors and power train setups. I had just about settled on a British Racing Green 71 with tan interior and triple Webbers, when I spotted a car under a cover. I asked about it and was told, “that’s my baby, and it’s not for sale”. I asked if I could see it and he removed the cover……there it was!!! SilverBullet240Z!! A gleaming 1972 Datsun 240Z. The body had been in the paint shop for several months until the owner was satisfied. The engine compartment and interior had not been detailed but was in good to excellent condition.

The car had been purchased new, by a lawyer in Holly Hill, Fla. and had been delivered in January of 1972. The build date was 10/71. Time for lunch and a lengthy discussion of the car. The owner was retiring and moving and finally relented to sell it (would have been easier conducting an adoption). Then followed a lengthy undercarriage, body and engine inspection. Paid for the car and drove it back to Carl’s. Did a speedometer calibration check along the way and determined that the speedometer read 10% low.

The next morning I threw my overnight bag w/tools (screwdriver, wrench and pliers) in the car and departed Tampa around 11 am. By 7pm I pulled into Pedro’s (South of the Border) to get some sleep. By noon next day was in Washington, DC where I spent the afternoon and night. Off again early the next morning via Baltimore (very hot June) with a lot of stop and go detours. Through New York City and on up I 95 thru CT. Rain and heavy traffic.

Was in the passing lane around New Haven when the traffic ahead suddenly stopped! Stepped on the brake and the pedal went straight to the floor without slowing the car!! Careful use of the emergency brake fortunately stopped the car before it entered the space occupied be the car in front of me! Managed to get back in the right lane (no brakes) and had to travel about a mile and a half before an exit. Started off the exit and was alarmed to find it was a downhill!! Expeditious use of emergency brake saved me once again. Stomach was down around my feet by this time. A check determined that the brake fluid was low in the drum brake m/c. Could not find any indication of leaks (I had checked and topped all fluids prior to leaving FL). I purchased a can of Dot3 and refilled….now I had brakes. The rest of the trip to New Hampshire was uneventful, although I made many stops to check the brake fluid level and test the brakes.

At home I had the car inspected by a racecar set up shop where I had the entire undercarriage components replaced (found a blown right rear wheel brake cylinder)

Then began the task of detailing the car for show. A lot of work and many, many hours of detail preparation.

Modifications to the car are as follow:

Libre (ARE) four spoke wheels w/Yokohamma tires

H4 headlights

Dessert cooler (Hi Efficiency 5 core) radiator

MSD Blaster 2 coil w/Pertronix ignition.

MS 6-1 header, 30” glass pack, Dynomax Turbo muffler

Alpine CD Stereo with MS enclosure and 6x9 speakers

5 speed 81 Manual transmission

Recaro seats

Z Therapy Racing Carburetors w/SM needles

Euro taillights

432 Domestic grill

Since 2000, SilverBullet240Z has participated in 16 Z Car Club Shows in the following locations: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire.

Two International Z Car Conventions: Kingston, Canada and Nashua, New Hampshire.

Most of these shows were ZCCA judged shows. A total of 20 awards were received, including: Best of Show, Best Interior, Best Engine and 1st Place Street / Nissan Modified and three 2nd Place (Peoples Choice) awards. SilverBullet240Z has never failed to place in any show it was entered.

This is not a “garage queen” as I drive this car approximately 3,000 miles every summer between May and November. Come November the car goes into controlled storage. All Components/instruments that came with the car continue to work as they did on the day of delivery. Considering a nice drive to Long Beach, California in 2004!

Purchase date was: June 24, 2000

VIN: HLS3051114

Engine: L24 block W/E88 Head and Intake. Stock

I am second owner. 1st was a lawyer

Car was driven for 10 years and stored for 15.

Mileage when bought: 63,451

Fully documented day by day!

Member of the "Z Car Club of New England", host of the Z Car Club of America 16th International Convention which was held in Nashua, New Hampshire, October 6-10, 2003

Ken Lewis

Click HERE to open Ken's gallery.

I like it!!:classic:

Having seen Ken's car up close (I've had the pleasure of judging it at a ZCCA show), the photos do not do it justice. It is in my mind the most tastefully done modified 240Z. Besides the seats, it is modified as it would have been in the early 70s.

Great Job Ken, and all the best.

Pete

PS: The Screamin' Silver Eagle is on jackstands, awaiting this winter's transformation.

PSS: Oh yea, I'll take those seats off your hands Ken...

I can second Pete's opinion of Ken's car. Only saw it once at the Z show in Syracuse in 2002, and the only thing I found lacking was A/C sitting in it in 95+ degree heat on the pavement....:cross-eye

Hated to get out of the car, but I also hated sweating like a pig sitting in those seats.....

Oh, and his Z32 is pretty sweet too, and just as clean.

a job well done, if you ever want to get rid of it..........

Hope you don't mind, but your car is my computer's desktop image! My 240 is the same silver, and I only hope I can get it looking as good as yours. I'd be great to find one of those front spoilers too...

Originally posted by mdbrandy

I'd be great to find one of those front spoilers too...

I *think* that the front spoiler is a BRE Spook or a knockoff of one. If so, they can be had through Classic Datsun Motorsports (Les Canaday) in So Cal.

Thank you very much, everyone, for your kind comments

Mark: I'm flattered that you would use SilverBullet240Z as your desktop! Please feel free to do so...re the spoiler you can find it in the Motorsport Catalog on page 9, "BRE" style fiberglass front "spook", no ducts p/n 50-1521.