austex

Haha, never doubt the power of free beer... Well, the story ended with the insurance company giving me $2600 and the car back--the buy-back was only like $78. I managed to find a garage-kept, low-mileage '88 300ZX for $1900. It's not nearly as awesome as my 260, but it does have the modern amenities, like power everything, AC... At least it's still a Z, sort of.

Hey guys, some of you might remember me... I'm the guy with the nice smashed-up '74 260. The original thread is here: http://tinyurl.com/2czpwsx Anyway, I was wondering if any Houston/Woodlands area Z-enthusiasts would like to come check it out. I'm trying to get some opinions as to how fixable it might be. I know I could take it to a shop, but I'd like some input from a Z-car owner if at all possible. If anyone's interested, PM me and maybe we can work something out! And if beer has to be involved....so be it.

Yeah, exactly. They have no idea what they're talking about. She told me about one that was kind of in the same shape as mine in JUNO, ALASKA for like $2500 or something. I faxed them a printout of that Collector Car Price Tracker that Carl showed me. Out of 289 auctions, the average selling price of an 'average driver' 260Z is $2950.

*update* Okay, I spoke with the insurance company finally and they said all they would give me extra for it is $60 for the tires. So, if I want to keep it, it'll be $2260. If they keep it, it'll be $2400. What a bunch of *@ *update #2* They said that the "only" way they'll go up on their offer is if I can show them some comparable 260Zs for sale that are going for more than $2200. For example: they found one in Houston that's kind of in the same shape as mine, and the guy wanted $3400 for it. Problem is, he claims it only has 10,000 miles on it. Mine has 87,000. So they knocked off $1200.

@conedodger: Yeah, I'm surprised the first offer was $2200. I figured it would be $1000 (or less). It's still a slap in the face, but I feel a little better about negotiating from $2200 than anything lower, for sure. I sent them about 40 receipts including the tax receipt from when I bought it back in February of '08. Hoping that'll help...

@WingZr0: Yeah, I paid $3,000 for mine before I touched it. I've got about 50 pages of receipts of everything I've done to it. 95% of it done by me personally. There is absolutely no reason why I should settle for a loss of almost $1000 on my initial investment of buying the car, just because of some stupid woman driver who did everything in her power to make sure I t-boned her. It's ridiculous. @Carl_Beck: Thanks! I was looking for something like that. @mlaw7: Yeah, I want to stick to my guns up to a certain point. I want them to give me at least $3500 for it, which I think is fair since I'd be able to go out and get the other Z I want. Ideally I'd want more, but I'm a realist.

Okay, they offered me $2200. That includes the buyback price (only $86). I'm about to fax some receipts and other documents to them. But I'm definitely not going for only $2200.

Yeah, that's what I meant about calling the junkyards. I'd never remotely consider selling it to one. It's in the process of being towed back to my house, so local Z owners can PM me if they want to come check it out sometime.

Yeah, now that the adjuster has gone to the collision shop and all that, I think I'm going to bring her home today. I've gotten set up with a rental car, so it's not a big deal anymore if "negotiations" drag on. I've got receipts from everything I've ever done to the car, and I figure I'll take gnosez's advice about calling junk yards to see what they would pay for a totaled Z. The only thing I'm kind of worried about is its "agreed value." I know the NADA average value is $6250, which mine would be (actually it should be a little higher than average), but lord knows the insurance company won't think that.

Well, the adjuster has already taken a look at it and said it'll have to be totaled. He said he has to send paperwork to the totaling office, etc etc. And that I should hear back within 48 hours. There's a Z in nice shape nearby for $3500 that I hope I'll be able to get (while still keeping my Z). So I'm hoping against hope that the total offer and the buy-back cost leaves me with about $3000... In any case, I'll be keeping it. Put too much sweat, money, and blood into it to just let it go.

Hey guys, thanks so much for all the responses and sympathy. I really appreciate it. I have it at a collision shop near my house, but I'm wondering if I should bring it home. Would that be in my best interest, or would it slow down the process?

Hey everybody. Today a woman pulled out in front of me to turn into a restaurant and I basically t-boned her. Everybody's fine and in fact it didn't even do much to her car, but my beloved Z is..... I don't know. I was just wondering if anyone had experience in getting in wrecks in their Z's and how hard it turned out to be to get body parts and all that and if it could be repaired. The wreck was totally her fault and I have a bunch of witnesses. So basically I could use just about any sort of advice right now because I'm really upset. There doesn't seem to be any damage to the motor, radiator, or anything else; when I start it, the throttle is stuck but that's about it. I'm just concerned with the body, because I could fix/replace just about any mechanical components

Hey everybody, just wanted to get some input before I drop $150+ on a new headlight switch... The problem I've been having is that the wire for the tail lights that goes up to the top of the headlight switch (see picture) would intermittently get so hot that it would melt the solder and obviously disconnect and leave me without tail lights. It was annoying, but I would just re-solder it and it'd fix the problem. Now, today, it melted again and I re-soldered it, but still no tail lights. I checked all the fuses and they're fine, and the switch contact is getting battery voltage when I turn the lights on. I'm thinking I need a new switch because all that soldering might have melted something internally or otherwise damaged it. What do you think? It's the top left contact (sorry about the cell phone pic quality). Me and the previous owner have had to re-solder it a lot, as you can see.

Sent you a PM, gnosez.

Hey guys, I'm on the hunt for the interior quarter panel trim (both sides) for my early '74 260. I was browsing datsunspirit.com and they list the plastic trim kit for 71.5-73 as being able to fit early 74's. Is that true? Here's the link to the product page.

Hey guys, I have an early '74 260Z with the stock transistor ignition system (except for MSD Blaster 2 coil) and original distributor. Today it would crank strong but not start, and I found later that there was no spark. The resistances on the coil were out of spec, so I went ahead and picked up another one. Still didn't start. So I checked the pickup coil the way I was always taught to: connect an ohmmeter to the connector, then tap the coil lightly and see if the reading changes. And it did: with an initial reading of 727 ohms, it changed about +/- 300 ohms with each tap. Is that the problem, then? I ask because I've never run into a bad pickup coil before. Are there other tests to run to determine if it's bad?

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking as well.

Hey everybody, I was wondering if there's a noticeable difference in performance between the electronic ignition of the early '74 260Z, and the E12-80 of the later model Z's. But I guess my real question is: would it be worth it to get a ZX distributor with the E12-80 for my early '74?

Hey guys, I know this has been covered on this forum, but I can't seem to find anything concrete. I have a 260Z with electronic ignition and an MSD Blaster 2 coil. I want to bypass the ballast resistor, and it looks like all I would have to do is take the positive wire off of the ballast and put it on the + side of the coil, and then just remove the - wire going from the ballast to the coil (there's two wires going to the - side of the coil now). Is that right, or am I over-simplifying?

Hey, beandip! My motto is "when in doubt, lubricate!" As for the old ball joints in my car, those things were ancient (I've had the car for about a year now). My auto tech instructor said that they looked like the originals. That wouldn't surprise me, considering they did look about 30 years old... But yeah, I do agree with you and others who stress the importance of lubrication.

Hey, just thought I'd post an update. I installed those ball joints today and they fit just fine! No drama at all. They're the Spicer/Raybestos brand and I got them for $32.99 each at RockAuto.

Thanks, ezzzzzzz! I guess the sealed ones are okay, then. Just looked kinda funky at first glance. And yeah, I do personally prefer being able to lube them, but it's just personal preference obviously.

Yeah, I agree. I might send these back and get the Sankei ones if no one on here says that the kind I got work fine...

Hey everybody, I recently got a couple of new ball joints to replace the ancient ones in my '74 260. I ordered the sealed, pre-lubed ones from RockAuto, without realizing that the ones on the car look exactly like these, whereas what I got is what you see in the picture. Will the ones that I got work, or did I make a boneheaded purchase? I realize the difference between them is that one you can lube yourself and the other has "lifetime" lubrication, but it looks like the ones I got wouldn't fit right. I just want to know 100% whether these will work before I tear out the old ones. Stupid question, I know. But thanks in advance for any input!

Thanks for the great replies, everybody! Really appreciate it. So, what I'm wondering is what makes the difference in the loudness? I mean, one person says that their Holley Red is really loud, and another says it's quiet, etc.