Exdamyankee

Nice looking 2+2! I've got a '74 myself. Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride! Fred

Jakob- I wouldn't think of trying to hand-form a roof panel, when there are thousands in the junkyard just waiting for you to show up with a sawzall!

I've seen a lot worse. I'll say one thing man, it's just my opinion of course, but that roof doesn't do much for me. I think I'd be looking to weld in a clean roof panel, but again--that's just me. Under hood looks OK, relatively unmolested. I'd get to work on that rust as soon as you get the car, sand it down to bare metal and get some etching primer on it to arrest the process. Then sit down and make a plan of what you want to do, start figuring out where you're going to source your parts, and go for it. As for the body, just think of it as a rather oddly shaped suit of plate mail and have at it!

Yeah Blue, so do I. It's a period-correct Nardi wheel, with the engraved "E. Nardi" signature on the 2 o'clock spoke. They sold for about $75 in 1974, a hefty chunk of change back then. It looked a little dingy 'til I hit it with some four-ought steel wool--brought the shine right back. I remember wanting one for one of my TR-6s years ago, but never forked over the dough.

Hey Zbyter, I think I've seen you over at zcar.com. Welcome aboard! Good folks here, from my experience so far. So you got a 16 year old messing with your Z too, huh?

I paid $2500 last month for a low (80K) mile '74 260Z 2+2 Auto with a fading repaint, but a super straight body with only very minor surface rust, a super clean interior (one minor dash crack and one seat cushion needing repair), nice factory Z-Mags, good rubber, and all the accessories work including the A/C. Drove it home to Tampa from Alabama. I spent almost $500 more in the last month for SU carbs, a used differential, fluids & filters, gaskets and miscellaneous crap. According to the spreadsheet I've worked up, I've got about a $8K more I need (OK, want!) to put in it down the road: about $2500 in engine/driveline/exhaust, $1300 in Chassis/Suspension, $700 or so for new seat vinyl, carpet and rubber seals, about $3500 in paint, body, wheels & tires. Includes only parts & materials, no labor. That's all. Of course, that's assuming nothing else breaks in the interim (yeah, right!).

46 in Tampa, FL

Thanks, I'm swapping out my diff this weekend too. Good info, Zs-ondabrain!

Decent car, but no $10K specimen. I'd probably not balk at paying $7K or so, to me at least it appears to be worth that.

Well, I managed to drain, reseal and refill the diff with $24 worth of Mobil 1 Synthetic. Let her down, started her up and took off down the road. With the crud out she's louder than ever. The diff is toast. Did I say "CRAP?" Anybody got a decent R180 3.54 bolt up for cheapsies?

Well, my stepson walked in this evening after being out with the Z all day and announced that he thinks "there's a problem with the car." Well, to make a short story shorter, it seems as if the bolts holding the cover on the diff had loosened and he lost a mess of gear oil. The ring and pinion are now howling on acceleration & deceleration. Crap... I went underneath, re-torqued the cover bolts and was going to add some gear oil to the diff when I dicovered that the fill plug is fairly well seized and the DPO had done a fair job rounding it off at some point in time. More Crap... I'm thinking this R180 now needs a rebuild, based on the whine. Am I being paranoid, or do you think it will quiet down again once re-filled with oil? Fred Tampa, FL 1974 260Z 2+2 Auto, SUs 80K

Thanks for the welcome, guys. CANDYBLUE - I love the look of trip DCOEs, but I figure if I do that I'm going to need a bigger cam at the very least, not to mention a better exhaust system to take advantage of the benefits of the carbs. While I do plan on putting the MSA 3-2/twice pipes setup on the car over the short term, I'd rather not get into engine internals yet. I just don't think it's prudent to throw another 40-50 HP into the car with the teens driving. BTW, my last TR6 had trip DCOE 40s, a big lopey cam and a free-flow exhaust with quad-tips. Estimated 140-150 HP (Stock was 105), and I could get myself into a fair bit of trouble with that car myself :-) Sounded awesome and ran like the proverbial sexually assaulted primate. DARRELL - The OEM pump was long gone, it was an aftermarket Carter pump that I pulled out. It wasn't terribly loud when it was in there (yes it was running). I'll pull the number off that one and try to replace it. NWCUBSMAN - I'll let you know what part it is if I can find one like it. As for the nic, when I moved to the South from New York, I was affectionately known as "That Damned Yankee" by some. Others quickly informed me that the term "Damned Yankee" was redundant. Anyway, after 16 years in Florida, I think I qualify as an "Ex-Damned Yankee" now, hence the name :-) GEEZER - Thanks, it looks a whole lot better now than the pics show, you're looking at a quick wash in those pics. Thanks! I think that covers everyone. Now that it's running fairly well, I need to patch up some surface rust on the door edges and the rear hatch. Then we're going to try paint. Gotta lear someday (if I botch it I'll sand it down and do it again until I get it right). Plans are to keep the stock Metallic silver, but add double wide Shelby type black stripes (6" stripe/1" gap/6" stripe) from nose to tail over the top. How's that sound?

Here's the page for the car: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230093801968&rd=1&rd=1 I always understood the electric on the 74's as a booster, and part of the answer to the fuel "percolation" (read: vapor lock) problem these cars had. Delivery now seems adequate, but I plan on replacing the electric soon anyway. OEM type is *expensive,* since I have three inline fuel filters I'm going to use a plain aftermarket type electric like the clogged one I pulled out. That's the plan, anyway...

Hello people! A few weeks ago I picked up a clean 1974 260Z 2+2, as a "toy" and a car for my teenage son and stepson to drive, to teach them about things mechanical, and give them something constructive to focus on. As a former owner of several British roadsters, mostly Triumph TRs, I know that living with an older sportscar teaches many valuable lessons: it teaches patience, deductive reasoning (as in "where the hell can that electrical short be?"), problem solving, and improvisation (the MacGuyver effect). Driving a Triumph as my only car taught me many things about life :-) One of those lessons was of course: "sometimes you walk." I bought the Z because the kids don't need lessons THAT hard (after all Z's have no Lucas electricals)! This was an eBay special, I bought it after nothing more than a few conversations with the PO, flew to Birmingham and armed with nothing but a cellphone and a credit card, jumped in and drove the 600 miles back to Tampa. Well, drove some of the way, limped for a good part of it (I had some serious fuel delivery issues). Made it all the way. Didn't use the credit card for anything but gas I just posted some pics in my gallery, but they are "pending image approval." Guess they thought I was going to upload some pr0n. Gallery is here: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=24119&cat=500&ppuser=14082 We've cleaned it up quite a bit, replaced the totally shot flat-top carbs with a set of only somewhat tired 3-screw SUs, blew out the fuel lines and installed new filters. The rear electric pump was all clogged up, so as of now it it bypassed and I'm running on the mechanical pump only. She still needs some work. The AC is out, but the compressor turns fine. I need a bottom seat vinyl for the driver's side, and the car is serious need of a proper paint job. Overall, I'm pleased so far. let me know what you think when the pics are released!