240 in OZ

Gav Is that you I see putting your hand up to look at the car? From memory it is in Heidleburg or something. I have a friend in Melbourne that offered to inspect the car for me if I was interested, but when I saw the asking price and the description of the condition I baulked at it. My guess is he is asking too much for the car for the condition it is in and is playing on the low VIN#.

Agreed, but it all depends on the sellers definition of the word "kink"; it could mean a lot of things.

Gav240z No, I havent seen the car in person. When it was first listed on the internet for sale (on ozdat from memory) a few months back I contacted the seller and made some inquiries. I was informed that one of the chassis rails was "kinked", cant remember which one.

Frame rail is bent in this car.

Sorry Halz; I wanted zed240au to read it again

Read the third paragraph of my recent post again.

datfreak We shall see if you are right in say 10 years time when there are only a handful of 240z cars still left in the country and still in one piece. These cars are now becomming true collector status cars, and Im afraid to say that true collectors just wont put up with mods such as non-original engines etc. Its good to see people out there rebuilding these cars basically from scrap and getting them back on the road; owner mods are always going to happen in these cases. But, I am definately against modifying these cars just for the sake of it.

Gav240z/others I did say in my posting "in some respects", and the points that both you and Steve Curtis have pointed out are basically the other respects. As the owner of a very original 71 240z I am very pleased to see the prices of the cars going up; hell Id like to see them commanding AUS$20K; but I was just trying to point out that people are starting to become a little unrealistic when it comes to selling cars that they have in the run down conditions that it seems a great deal of them are in these days. My anology with the MGB may have been a bad one I guess due to the high numbers of surviving cars and also the great spare parts availability. It wouldnt be too difficult to complete a 100 point restoration on an MGB, all you would need is a heap of dollars and not much sense (sorry MGB owners ;>), but try doing a 100 point restoration on a 240z here in Australia. From what I have heard it is starting to be a little difficult to complete one in the USA as well. What I was trying to get at is people are just being unrealistic when it comes to selling run down cars. Cars that have no floors, bad rails, gutted interiors and non-original engines in them are suddenly commanding $3000! Buy this car and have the body work done and you would be in for a great deal of expense I would imagine, far outweighing the final "value" of the car. At the end of the day the car has the non-original engine in it, and most buyers of collector cars looking at the high end of the market would want the original engine in the car, or at least available with the car. Halz example of RHD#91 is a prime example. Here is a car that has a non-original engine in it and the owner/seller is asking $12k for it. Using this as a mark of the market, should I ask say $20k for my original condition car and hope to sell it? IMO there is definately a clear divide starting to emerge in the z car scene here in Australia...the car is either good or bad. There doesnt seem to be that many average cars out there in the market place these days, and the picture has definately shifted significantly since I have been into zed cars. The really bad cars have become the bad cars and the average ones have become the good ones. No offence to anyone here on the list (and I include myself in this description), but I havent seen many "great" cars here in Australia for some time. I do not class my car as a great car. I can think of a few, but can count them using my fingers. I hope this has cleared up my point that I was trying to put across; I have probably just confused you even more, havent I ;>

In some respects Im afraid to say that prices of all of the zed cars here in Australia are really starting to go through the roof and IMO are becomming stupid in most cases. I can remember back in the early 90's when you could pick up a good, sound, running and registered 240z as a project car for around $2000. Sure it needed some work, but nothing major and it could be fixed up while you were using it. I have seen cars in similar condition these days advertised for around $4000 min. I remember looking at a very low VIN# car back in about 94 or so (VIN<100) that was registered, driveable and pretty decent. The owner wanted $2500 ono for it. It was a very original car but did need some work and unfortunately wasnt what I was looking for at the time. Of course, looking back on it, it is exactly what I would like to have now ;> I still think that the majority of sellers of z cars these days here in Australia are really trying to take advantage of "z fever" and also the scarcity of the cars to try and demand top $ for the rotting rubbish that they are trying to pass off as "restoration cases". Its a real shame to see. As a comparison you wouldnt buy say an MGB for AUS$12K that needed anything done to it, would you?

The mint 260z for sale in Qld is an auto

OK, now you made me go and check the parts fiche book (www.carfiche.com) ;>. For the LHD models the parts book lists that FRP (assumed to stand for fibre reinforced plastic) was used for the headlight buckets from start of production until 06/72. From 07/72 onwards the headlight buckets were metal. Dates may vary slightly as sometimes the published literature doesnt correspond with changes made on the assembly line. You are right in saying that the factory found it difficult to tool them up initially in metal so they went with the fibreglass ones due to the extreme demand for the cars when they were first introduced. Im not sure how the dates for the LHD cars correspond to our RHD cars. My car is a 09/71 and it had one fibreglass bucket and one metal bucket that was used to repair the car when it was damaged some years back (prior to my ownership). I have recently replaced the metal one with a fibregalss one so I now have a matching pair of fibregalss ones. Mr C says his car is a 72 and by the sounds of it had fibreglass ones originally as well. Mr C, I am happy to pay postage from yourself to me for the fibregalss one that you are going to replace on your car if you no longer want/need it. PM me and we can work it out. Regards Joseph

I believe that the fibreglass headlight buckets/nose cones were introduced for the 72 model year.

Steve If it helps any mine is a 09/71 car with # HS30 01282. Joseph

Hello I suggest that your engine or head has been modified to produce larger cylinder compression. Without knowing more of the history of your car and the engine it will be difficult to tell what mods have been made. Regards Joseph

Official Nissan Part Numbers: Battery Tray 24428-N3600 Battery Frame 24420-E4600 Frame Hold-down bolt 24425-89903 Call your nearest Nissan dealership and quote the numbers above and they should be able to help you out. Regards Joseph

Kats Please provide us with direction to the new thread when you start it via this one. Thanks

Good luck finding a RHD mirror here in Australia. I looked for a while for a used one and eventually got one from a friend of min who was wrecking his 2+2 out due to a collision. The mirrors are VERY hard to find here. I understand that they are available from All-Z Parts in Sydney new. Joseph

Factory minimum spec is either 115 or 125 from manual. Quoted from memory as I dont have the manual here at work.

Jim Are you able to provide some more info on your console restoration service. Stuff like whats involved, whether there is a differentiation between the early and the late console, etc. Im looking to have mine repaired, its pretty bad. Thanks 240 in OZ

Alan Can you please let us know how you get on with the centre console that you are having done by them. I am interested in getting mine done as well after I noticed this service listed on their website. I sent in a few emails to them but didnt really get anywhere on the process or quality etc. Thanks Joseph Gauci 240 in OZ

Sounds plausible, but how do you explain their presence on the Japanese home market cars that didnt have to be transported via ship to their country of origin? I also dont remember reading in the manual advising dealers to remove them prior to selling the car as it does with the tie-down shipping hooks. I have a copy in a book that I have of re-printed road tests on the 240z. The very first one in the book appears to have been completed on a LHD pre-production car as it has hubcaps installed but no emblem in the centre as they still must have been deciding what to go for at that stage. I also think that it doesnt have the rear pillar badges (from memory, book is at home). This car has them fitted. I have also found that they keep the area behind the bumper bar clean as well. This area is very hard to access with the bumper in place. Joseph

For anyone that is interested I have a set of genuine Nissan ones for sale here in Australia. I purchased a set for my car as it has the Japanese style mirror on it and then accidentially purchased a second pair. They are brand new, still in Nissan packaging. See my initial for sale ad posted to the board some time back at: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6301&highlight=australia They are still available if anyone is interested. Joseph

Halz Not sure on that one, but I would guess no. I remember reading somewhere that cars came from the factory with the standard mag type wheels that are referred to in the original post from 76 onwards for our market. Im not sure if they were an option prior to this. I have picked up an original Australian spec 260z sales brochure recently and both of the cars featured in it are wearing the factory type mag wheels. The brochure is dated 76. I will be scanning this soon and posting it to the website. One 260z that I know of that came from the dealership with its original stamped wheels and caps was a very early 74 car. I purchased the wheels and caps from the second owner of the car for my 240z. I have also seen numerous re-printed roadtests conducted in Australia and the cars all seem to be fitted with the standard stamped wheels and caps. The road tests date from 74 and 75. Joseph Joseph

Alan I know of a few 260z's that were delivered into Australia and actually sold by the dealer with the original pressed steel wheels and Z style caps fitted. Joseph

Gee Yes, I do. I have heard of some guys actually cutting the tranny shift lever and re-welding a purposeful bent section in it to overcome this fitment problem. Joseph