Jay.

The White car with the Gold stripes is still on the table - I might be arranging to get it picked up next week. Even as a side project, it seems good value and a pretty solid base. I've been in touch with a guy selling a nice blue 240z with an RB25DET swap for the last month or so. Pretty much 100% up my street. He's messed me around a lot which puts me off - we'd agreed a sale, and then he pulled out, and then he went silent, and it appears he tried to sell it to someone else who wasted his time - but it appears he's finally comfortable with selling it me so I'll be getting it looked at and maybe picked up next week too. The car hasn't really been maintained particularly well in the last 4 years - he says he's just had it serviced and not replaced much in the way of anything, so that can be worrying. However, the price is pretty fair (in total will cost me around 15k) and it ticks all the boxes I'm after. Some rust on the drivers dog leg, and a small spot on the door. Underneath appears clean, if not a bit of surface rust on the bottom of a door (i think) Engine swap looks nice, all seems to be in good condition. Fingers crossed he doesn't pull out.. again.

I am very partial to a dark green car, and I think if I ever decide to paint a car myself I'd decide on something similar to the darkest green you have sampled. Look forward to seeing what you go with

That does look lovely, and you're right it's impossible to tell to the untrained eye! If a 260z does come up, and it's the right price and condition, I'll definitely consider it. Same can be said for a 280z. I would just pay a premium for a 240z, for now.

Thanks for the Series, I had a watch of them. The person he bought it off is 1 of 2 mass Datsun importers and are pretty notorious for bad customer service and inflated prices. I'd expect the guy in that video to have paid well in excess of $12-15k for that. I know what you mean, but I imagine I'll probably change my build multiple times so I'd like to stick with the 240z as a base. I've had a Miata which I went through all the "stages" of ownership from full race car, to drift, to fast road, to completely OEM and back to a sort of hybrid

I had not seen that before, many thanks

I'm not completely against the idea, but it'd have to be the "right one". I am hoping to own this car for a long time (forever, if I can) so it seems sensible to pay a little extra and start with the 240z. I don't know why it really matters if I do decide to modify it, but I guess it's having that option for it to be returned to a 240z at some point if needed! I think if I was going for a non-240z, surely the 280z would be the better option as stated from @rturbo 930, they seem to be the best built? Many thanks! I don't know how I missed this one. I've sent him an email

Okay you have me there! I meant with the two pictures I received, I didn't upload the worst one :-P I'm glad it doesn't look "completely gone" though. Okay, I'll try and get those terms in my head. We call them completely different things on this side of the pond, but I definitely appreciate the 'Datsun' name for them, as I'm sure it'll make searching forums and talking to members a lot clearer that way. Thanks for those, I've jotted them down

Some cracking photographs there!

That does help, thank you. I've not heard of TABCO, but having had a look I see they're a pretty big company. I forgot to upload the worst picture which shows one of the floor boards which is pretty much gone, see here: Where are you looking for the sill rust? Below the Golden stripes? The guys been out of town the weekend, so I'll be calling him tomorrow evening. Any questions and stuff I should put forward? I'm sort of preparing myself for the worst in terms of Rust, in hopes I can only be pleasantly surprised. Thanks for the input, it's good to hear as I'm concious I'll overlook obvious things in my haste/excitement. I've found a nice YouTube video documenting it which shows the job is easy and straightforward, albeit slow and time consuming.

That's true, Unfortunately I don't have the knowledge to do that sort of digging myself! Having watched a few auctions, it appears a lot of them go to the same people? I appreciate the cars probably still go for what they're worth, but there are still plenty to find for a much better price. I've been in contact with a guy selling his 73 240z. I was wondering if people could give me some advice on it? It has the 2.8 engine, but not properly ran for 7 years, he drives it once every 6 months for about 15 miles. I imagine I'll need to get the engine checked for compression.. Anything else? Rust wise, he says it's not horrendous as he keeps it garaged but the floor boards need replacing.. Does anyone know how much roughly that would cost? I've read $1500-2000? I'm fairly sure I could do this myself as it's straightforward welding. Small rust on the drivers dog leg, he says that's purely cosmetic. The rear valance has rust, but no holes, I've attached a picture.. Any idea roughly how much that would be to replace? I don't think I'd be able to do this myself. I've attached a few pictures of the underside too? How do they look? I'll be sent some more pictures on Monday, what should I request?

I keep an eye on BAT but I've noticed the prices typically go rely high for some reason!

Yeh it's slightly wonky due to the front end crash of whatever. The salvage title won't cross over to the UK luckily. He won't go below 7,5 so I guess I'll keep searching I'm happy to buy in any state, as realistically it only makes a few hundred dollars difference. Just got to find one! Guys then you for your contributions. They're helpful and motivating.

That's true. I gave the guy an email, but not heard anything back. I've found this rough car on CL, IMO it's significantly over priced, but it's sort of what I'm after. It's clearly been in a front end smash, and poorly repaired. There's a rusty rear valance and rear sills. The paint work is a mess. It sounds like it'd be fun to drive though. https://rochester.craigslist.org/cto/6178852543.html Don't suppose anyone knows of it?

Thanks, I've had a topic up for a few weeks but no luck. I thought I'd try my luck over here too I'm based in the UK, so I'd be looking anywhere in the USA. Ideally near a coast but I can get it trailered if required. Thanks for these, unfortunately they're both auto boxed and looking for a manual!

As above really, I'm looking for a 240z (only) ideally with an engine swap and some street friendly modifications. I have somewhere between $10-15k waiting. Many thanks J