Hardway

I got it! As per my post earlier this week I pretty much had a deal sewn up on this 1971 240z Series-1 #8011. I am happy to say the deal is done and the Z is safe and sound in its new home next to my 1973 Karmann Ghia. The trip up to Dallas and back was as smooth as can be expected. I left Friday after work, spent the night at my mom’s house in Plano, picked up the car in Dallas early Saturday morning, and was on the road with the Z by 8am. I rolled in to my house near Austin just a little after 11am. Once I got the truck and trailer returned, devoured a Sonic cheeseburger and proceeded to take a 5 hour nap. :0) Below are some pictures I took this evening. The car is pretty much everything I thought it would be. I have a small to-do list such as affixing a new Datsun script emblem on the hatch, installing a new rear hatch strut, and giving the interior a good cleaning. I may also bleed the brakes and clutch as they feel a little spongy but nothing to get worried about. Anyway, I am happy to be a classic Z owner again and grateful for the opportunity to own such a nice example of the marque. I look forward to chatting with all of you here on the boards and in-person at various events around central Texas.

That is exactly how I am looking at this car. I sold my '72 240z for $4800 that I had over $6K in and it still needed another $4K - $6K of rust repair, paint, and bodywork and that is me still doing a lot of work. This car is a series-1 which I really like and really only needs tires to be enjoyed. A paint job would be in its future but for right now it is very presentable. If all goes to plan I will have it back home late tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks guys. I already have a truck and trailer lined up to go get it Saturday morning. I will keep you posted.

I have been lurking around awhile and posted a few items here and there since I sold my ’72 240z back in 2013. I love my FR-S that I drive everyday but I miss having a classic Z and the interaction between owners. I have learned from my previous Z car ownerships that I want one as done as much as possible, the best car I can afford. I want it in silver or red, black interior, 4spd or 5spd, as rust free as possible, and as original as possible meaning no V8 swaps, stanced cars, flared fenders, etc. Getting a Series-1 is a big bonus as long as it is all there but most importantly, something I can start enjoying from day 1. I have looked at and investigated a few potential classic Z’s but all have been a bust for various reasons. Recently one popped up that looks like a real winner. I checked out a 1971 240z last weekend. It was built in 8/70 and is number 8816 if I remember correctly. In a nutshell the car is very nice with the only drawback being the quality of the paint. It looks like an older single stage paint job that has either lost its gloss or was not put down or possibly mixed properly. There are a few small door dings and scratches here and there but you have to be looking for them. Overall the paint is a 6/7 out of 10 while the body is a 9 out of 10. The only rust to speak of is on the bottom with none on the body. There is one hole the size of a small marble in the front corner driver side pan and a little some rust the passenger side rail running under the floor pan. Doors, hatch, and hood all open, close, and lock very nicely. Weather stripping is in good shape with only the hatch seal needing replacement. All of the glass is good with no chips or major scratches. The front windshield has a “240-Z” decal across the top that the previous owner started to peel off on the passenger side but stopped so it looks a little flaky. I plan to remove it anyway. Interior is good and complete with recovered and re-strapped seats, no speaker holes cut in to anything, and all gauges and lights working except the clock. The dash does have 3 small cracks above the center gauges but we all know this is very common. All of the Series-1 stuff is presented and accounted for except for the knob on the gas door which was replaced with a lock that is opened with the ignition key. Bumpers are in really good shape with only the rubber strips showing some age. The real highlights of the car are the completely rebuilt and detailed suspension, detailed and resealed engine, rebuilt transmission, and the fact everything is matching numbers and original to the car. I know exactly how much work it takes to rebuild and detail the suspension on a classic Z as I went through that same exercise myself with the lime green ’72 240z I used to own. Driving it yielded a very rewarding experience as it ran smooth and strong, shifted gears with nice positive action, stopped good, and did not have any unusual noises or smells. As it sits the only real immediate need the car has is a set of tires. The ones on it have lots of tread but have hardened from age. My plan would be to get a set of 16”Panasports for it anyway so it is kind of a moot point but it would mean buying wheels and tires rather quickly. The wheels I would be getting with it are the turbine wheels, not the black insert wheels. Given all this info and what can be seen in the pics, do you think this car is worth $9K - $10K? I have already nailed down a deal with the seller but thought I would run this by the Z community for your thoughts and opinions. I really like the car a lot as it checks just about all the boxes I want in a classic Z. Just want to make sure my emotions are not getting the best of me. Thank you for your input! MORE PICS -> CL Pics Photos by camaroguy1969 | Photobucket

+2 on the gills. Definitely a nice nod to the styling queues of the Ferrari 250 GTO & 275 GTB. If that Z was red it would be even more fitting.

Agree with everything said above. I sold my Lime Z for $4800 which considering all the work I did and everything left to be done, that is what it was worth. That car in Oklahoma is worth no more than $2K. There are too many other Z cars out there for better prices. He will have this one for awhile.

That is beautiful! I love the white with the black top and the Panasports. Classy and sporty, I love it! Congrats on the purchase.

Thank you for the compliments guys. I have only driven it a few times so far and even though it requires a little effort to gracefully enter and exit it is all worth it once you get settled and turn the key. I am actually leasing it so I won't be doing any modifications besides getting the windows tinted. I have joined the FR-S forums to read up on maintenance "gotcha's" but it is my daily driver and will stay that way. I must admit, I still have to sorta pinch myself since if you had told me 6 months ago I would sell my super reliable Acura TL and buy an FR-S I would not have believed you and probably would have laughed. But now, I have one and it is a neat feeling owning and driving something that is not seen every day on the road.

Looks like a great car to start with. Keep us posted on your work. We love pics and progress. Good luck with it!

Congrats on the new project Jay. When it comes to welding having a good machine makes all the difference in the world. Since you have someone that can give you some guidance you will be sparking it up and burning metal in no time. I was in the same boat when I was doing rust repair to my 240z. BTW, great job on the 240SX! Talk about night and day. We look forward to more of your updates.

GMG is an entertaining show in my opinion and at least most of the focus is on the cars and not endless rounds of "shop drama" like other shows out there. That Z was on Craigslist for many weeks and if I remember correctly they wanted like $4500. I am sure they picked it up for around $3K. Congrats to them on the sale and hopefully the new owner is happy.

I still lurk around on here but have not posted anything really meaningful in a while and wanted to share the news of my latest acquisition. I remember when these came out they were all the buzz in the Z car community so I know everyone will appreciate it. The car is a 2013 Scion FR-S with the 6spd manual. The only options are the rear spoiler and trunk mat. I won’t go in to all the details of it as I am sure most of you know all the specs already. The real point of this post is how I came to the decision and the events of the day. The want and desire for another classic Z has never left since I sold my ’72 240z. I still look on Craigslist, Ebay, Datsun Classifieds, and have even called on a few to get more info. Over the last week I have been shopping for a new daily driver and since I was already at the Toyota dealership I wanted to test drive an FR-S. I had absolutely zero intentions of buying one and the sales guy knew that and was totally cool. I had already convinced myself it was not practical, they are a bit expensive for what they are, and maybe in 3-5 years I can pick up one at a good price to have as a toy car. However, once I was behind the wheel and after just a few miles the car really spoke to me. It just seemed to fit perfectly, so easy to drive, plenty of power, gave lots of great feedback, and the “bolt action” feel of the shifter was just icing on the cake. I asked the sales guy to run the numbers just to see what I was looking at and it was not until then that we realized it was a 2013 and not a 2014. Because of this Scion knocked off $1500, combined with a $500 rebate the price got closer to being more reasonable. None of the usual sports sedans and other cars I had test driven made me happy. In fact, they were all just exercises in compromise. Then the Z came back to my mind and how this car has been viewed by so many as what the 240z would be today. Then I thought, people drove 240z’s as daily drivers when they were new, I could certainly drive this, and why not? I have no kids, our 2 little dogs never ride with me, my wife has a small SUV that she loves, so why am I even thinking about buying a sedan that would not make me happy in the long run. Then I had one more thought of rationalization, a fully restored 240z would realistically cost $10K - $20K. For something that is just as fun if not more, is much more refined, much safer, and with things like ice cold AC and a warranty, the FR-S started to look more like a real deal. After a little number crunching I said “I will take it”. 10 signed forms and two hours later I was driving home in it. As a bonus to the day I met a lot neat people as I waited for the finance guy, swapping stories about what we were buying and just having a good time. An even bigger surprise was the epiphany my sales guy was having throughout the afternoon. He loved the car too after just driving us a mile away from the lot to switch. After a lot of conversation and seeing how alike we were one of his last comments to me was “I really need to start doing more things for myself” It was a heartfelt comment and I told him “always remember and do for the ones you love but never forget about #1” I thanked him again for all of his help and wished him the best. I have been thinking about the events of this afternoon all evening. It never fails to amaze me how memories are uncovered and the emotions that are stirred by driving a particular car.

Thank you Fred. I was looking for a Shiro when I bought the red turbo '88. My 300zx just sold late last week and the buyer already has it in Miami FL. All of my efforts are focused on the Karmann Ghia but I still look for 240z's every day on CL.

Just thought I would let everyone know I heard from the seller and the 240z sold. I don't know where it is headed or who bought it but it's off the market for now.

My first classic Z, a '77 280z 5spd. Found it in the Austin newspaper, paid $2500 for in 2003 I think. Still had the FI on it and ran good. The wheels on it are 15x6 or 15x7 Shelby's that I bought on Ebay. If I had known how rare they were I would have kept them and put something different on it. The car went to Dallas and I believe was eventually impounded due to the buyer racking up parking tickets with it.

I actually sold my lime green machine in Oct. 2013. It went to Canada where the buyer has continued on with the car and it is looking great. The sale of the 240z help pay for a front end paint job and deep polish on the 300zx. Thank you for the compliments Blue. As requested, here is my '88 300zx Turbo 5spd. It is actually up for sale as my wife and I became the care takers of a beautiful 1973 Karmann Ghia Convertible. The car was a shining example of the best car we could afford. Not cheap by any means but you could not give it the paint job it has and put tires on it for what we paid for it.

Don't worry about it. In the classic car game we all have plenty of stories about the one that got away. With such a low VIN it will surface again. Hopefully the owner is a member here or will join so we can hear more of the story. Having patience and faith that a good one will come along is the hardest thing about liking classic Z cars. Plus the fact that they are now on so many people's radar is not helping. As discussed many times on here, save your money, be patient, and buy the best car you can buy. Or at least the best body you can buy. Rust repair is the money pit in this cars.

I spoke with the seller of the car. Super nice guy and definitely an enthusiast. Based on what he knows the car spent time in Hawaii which explains why there is so much scale on the under side. In regards to the interior, it is blue. The seats were recovered at some point and look nice, dash is cracked, but minus the headliner it is complete. The carpets and door panels are pretty much shot as to be expected. The drive train is in really good shape with the carbs just needing to be sync'd and tuned to get it perfect so there is a swappable/sell able item there. He agrees that its really a parts car as the amount of time and money it would take to restore it far outweighs what it would ever be worth. He is open to reasonable offers and if I had the space I would pick it up and part it out. Low VIN or not it just needs a ton of work and anyone who buys it needs to go see if for themselves.

I have emailed the seller to see if I can go look at it. Georgetown is just about 15 minutes from me so if it is convenient I will head up there to get a closer look and if possible take some pictures of the interior. Just based on the info the car is very rough and would require a ton of rust repair and overall bumper to bumper restoration. The low VIN means almost nothing since it is so rough. Personally with the sunroof and rust it is worth no more than $1K. I don't see anything close to $1800 in parts. If I go see it I will let everyone know.

Saw this on CL last night and wanted to share with the Z car community. A very rare car but in need of a ton of work. There are no pictures of the interior but given the rust damage you can conclude it will need work as well. The seller is very upfront showing the amount of work that is needed to bring this car back to road worthiness. If someone on here buys it please let us know! 1970 Datsun 240Z SN 556 for Parts or Restoration 1970 Datsun 240Z. S/N HLS30-00556 Build Date 1/70 Body/Underside heavily rusted. Would need Floor Pans, Left Rocker, Engine Frame Rails, etc, etc. Can be driven on to a trailer. No foot brakes but emergency brake works. Engine gone over in the last year and runs well. Oil Pressure good at hot idle. Engine temp stabilizes in the middle after warmup. Lot's of early goodies on the Engine. '2400' Valve Cover. E31 Head with new valve guides and seats. 4 screw SU's freshly rebuilt - need syncing. Euro E41 no emission intake crossover tube. New timing Chain. New water pump. New 280ZX Electronic Distributor (tach works). Excellent compressions. Good Clutch. Trans shifts well - new rear seal. Rear aluminum drums measure out in spec. New Battery. Very nice early steering wheel - $$$! 5 * Vintage Shelby Viper 14*5.5 wheels (American Racing Libre copies). Texas Title/130U signed by previous owner. $1800 Also have Z-Car 3 Weber Intake with 3 * 40DCOE-2 carbs that needs rebuilding $400 Contact by email to ask questions. Include your phone number with a good time for me to call you if desired. ktm_for_sale at yahoo dot com

I am happy to see my thread is still being used as a resource to owners In regards to where to get new pins, I ordered mine from MSA as I was ordering some more parts at the same time and they actually had the best price. Was it all worth it in the end? Hard to tell since I only drove the car about 50 miles after doing all the work before I sold it. Since I was replacing everything else and I wanted to strip and paint everything I needed to get them out. The current owner loved all the work I did and the documentation and pictures helped to prove its value. If I had to do it over again I would, especially now since I have all the tools and knowledge. If anyone in the Austin area ever needed a hand with theirs I would help them out.

Thanks for the kind words and compliments everyone. I am not gone and will continue to stay active on here as I search for another Z. The right one for me is out there, I just have to find it or better yet, it will find me.

Thank you zKars. I did not even think about the ext. vs. int. regulation. I should have known! Oh well, what do I do with it? I hate to throw it out but no one will give me any core value for it unless I buy a new one.

This alternator was in a box of parts that came with the 240z that I recently sold. It needs new bearings for sure but overall appears to be in good shape. Does anyone know if it a factory original or a parts store rebuild? Is there any market for original components like these for restorers?

This is the latest in Petrolicious' weekly video series. The sound of the Robello engine is just intoxicating! I would love to know just how good of a deal this guy got seeing that the engine alone probably cost $8K+. Still, a GREAT video as always by these guys. Enjoy. Dare to Be Different in a Datsun 240Z | Articles