lonetreesteve

Hi Guys, I have a dashboard (no cracks!) from a '72 240z for sale on eBay. Please check it out if you are interested or know of anyone who is. Not sure if it will fit other years are not, does anyone know? Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7909399635&category=40017&sspagename=WDVW Thanks! Steve

Just go to the eBay link and e-mail the buyer yourselves. Why would the buyer lie?

Koreavet, Rick at Eurasian performance is full of it! Chuck, the buyer and new owner of #390 e-mailed me back this morning and here is my question and his response: "Chuck, I e-mailed you about a month ago regarding the 1969 240Z you purchased (#390), asking you if you were going to restore the car or not. You e-mailed me back and said that you were, which I thought was great news! There's a rumour that the seller e-mailed a member of "Classiczcars.com" that you sent it to the shredder. If you did, that's your decision and your right as the owner. However, I just wanted to see if this was true or not." Chuck's response: "That is NOT true. It took 2-3 weeks to arrange shipping but I have it at my house. The car is very original. It's missing the original wheels and hub caps but I have some. I'm going to restore it. I'm not the kind of person to throw something away...especially Z #390! I need to finish my 260Z turbo project and then I'll move on to another one. Do you live near PA? You're welcome to check it out." Chuck

That's strange, because Chuck, the buyer told me that he was going to restore the car (see my post on this thread 5/28/04). Perhaps it turned out to be a bigger and much more expensive project than he originally anticipated and he only kept the parts he needed. I am going to e-mail Chuck and find out for sure if this is true or not. I will let you all know once I hear back from him.

Zacch, What is the number that is stamped into the block? Also, what is the number on the dataplate?

Zacch, Very interesting! What is the engine number on your L24 and does it match the engine number that is stamped on the dataplate, along with the serial number of the car? Do you have an E31 head as well?

I think this one from a couple months back was a better specimen (notice how high the bid was and it didn't meet the reserve!): http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2471957802&category=6187

Check this one out! It's an all original rust-free Arizona car! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2482367178&category=6187&sspagename=WDVW

Does anyone know the significance of the casting numbers on the Driver's side on the lower portion of the engine block? Is there a special code for day, month & year for production date? For example, on the old Pontiac GTOs of the mid & late '60s, a letter such as an "X" stood for the 24th day of the month and a "4" would indiate that the engine was made the 4th week of the month, etc.

Mike & Abas, Thanks for the very interesting information, I really appreciate it! One thing that I really love about 240Zs, you constanly learn something new all the time!! Steve

Mike, That's very interesting to me. It has the 20 mph speedometer, rear vent grills and "240Z" logos on the rear pillars, that I thought were only on '70 240's only.

Check this one out: They guy has it listed as a '71 when it is actually a -70!! Very good price for the vintage and condition! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2480032092&category=6187

Has anyone or does any know someone who has these block casting numbers figured out?

I agree, the automatic is less desirable and therefore the car is not as valuable. I don't get the door panels at all. Perhaps the buyer put some speakers in the doors after they bought the car 6 or 7 years ago and then took them out and put some replacement panels in so it was "stock" again..... who knows? The other one that is available that I'm sure you are all familiar with is the Orange '71 (4-speed) at Peak Nissan in the Denver area. As I mentioned on that earlier thread, my son and I went by to take a look at that car. It actually looks better in person than it does in pictures. It is a better specimen than the car we are discussing (even though I like the British Racing Green color better than the orange). Peak Nissan wants $29k for their car. It will be a few years before it will get that kind of money I'm afraid. As I mentioned in that other thread, the owner of Peak doesn't really care if they sell the Z or not because it brings people into their showroom! The only flaw that my son and I could really see was some paint overspray on the chrome on the passenger-side door. The car is behind ropes on the showroom floor, so its kind of hard to get a real close look at it. Maybe another Nissan dealer should buy this one and put it on thir showroom floor. Its certainly has helped Peak's business!!

I e-mailed the buyer of #390 (Chuck) the other day and he replied back to me today. He has plans of restoring the car back to stock! He said that he has been buying parts in anticipation of finding a 1969 240. Steve

I've seen them go for between $350.00 and $450.00 on eBay. I also have a '72 240Z dash that was "thrown in" along with numerous other Z parts when my son and I purchased a '71 240Z a few weeks ago. You can have a cracked one completely restored by a company (who advertises on this website) for $525.00. The big difference is that the restored one probably won't crack for 40 years, while either of ours could crack tomorrow. I agree with Beandip, restore the 240, you can buy a set of floorpans with frame rails for under $250.00. A reasonable body shop can cut out the old ones and weld in the new ones for under $1,000.00. Restored 240Zs are truly a classic car and a good investment, much more so than any 280!

I've seen them go for between $350.00 and $450.00 on eBay. I also have a '72 240Z dash that was "thrown in" along with numerous other Z parts when my son and I purchased a '71 240Z a few weeks ago. You can have a cracked one completely restored by a company (who advertises on this website) for $525.00. The big difference is that the restored one probably won't crack for 40 years, while either of ours could crack tomorrow. I agree with Beandip, restore the 240, you can buy a set of floorpans with frame rails for under $250.00. A reasonable body shop can cut out the old ones and weld in the new ones for under $1,000.00. Restored 240Zs are truly a classic car and a good investment, much more so than any 280!

Or perhaps the "X" is like a "space" and the 04 is for the 4th day and the D is for December: 12/04/1969?? Steve

The block is a E31, not a P30. I wonder if the first number "9" is for 1969, the "X" was for 24th letter in the alphabet or 24th day of the month and the "D" is for December for 12/24/69. Perhaps the high L24 #060039 was like Carl thought: mis-stamped, should have been stamped 006039. Or the engine was re-stamped at some point in time. I wonder if an early 1972 240Z's original engine blew when it was still under warranty and Datsun replaced it with an "off the shelf" engine. Maybe Datsun had a stash of these '70 engines and didn't assign them numbers until they were ready to ship them to the dealer for a repalcement? Or when the Datsun dealer replaced the engine they stamped the original engine number of the '72. I'm not sure!! But is certainly is a lot of fun trying to figure this one out!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2479358623&category=6187 Looks like #390 was sold. Looks like it just barely made it over the reserve price at $510.00 (it was at $500.00 earlier today and the reserve was not met at that point). I hope the buyer has the time & resources to restore #390 back to its original glory, but of course I am a "glass half full" guy. I understand that the original interior color was one I have never seen or heard of on a Z - turquoise. I would love to see pics of the car if it ever is restored. cbuczesk was the winning bidder and looking at a few of the items that he has previoulsy purchased, there are a lot of Z items. Figures it would take a real Z nut (like all of us!) to purchase such a basket case. In all seriousness though, I really do hope it is restored and not just parted out. Does anyone know who cbuczesk is? And what plans he has for the car?

Hi Guys, Well, I took your advise (and a wire brush!) and found the raised number to the right of the E31 on the driver's side near the bottom of the block and it was "9X04D". I will leave this up for you guys to figure out..... I don't want to speculate, its just tooo strange!

HLS-00390 is for sale. This important piece of 24Z history is less than 2 days from the shredder and needs someone to save it! Check it out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2479358623&category=6187 It needs a lot of work, but has most of it's original parts! If I lived in or near PA I would buy it! Save this classic from the shredder! Pass the word!!!!

Yes, it's a dealer in the Denver area (where I live) called Peak Nissan. My son and I went to take a look at it a couple months ago after seeing it on eBay. The car is an absolute gem! Everything is perfect on this car. As mentioned on the eBay listing, it's #33 of the 42 '70 thru '72 240Zs that Nissan had restored a few yersa back. It looks like a brand new 240Z sitting there on the showroom floor! They want $29k for the car, but I'm afraid it will be a while before they will get that kind of money! I spoke to a couple salespeople there and the owner really doesn't care if the car sells or not.... it is brings a ton of people into the store!! With all the interest it draws, it has actually helped them sell new 350Zs, as well as other Nissans. Someday, 240Zs in this condition will bring $25k or more, but it will be a while. The '70 Series 1's (particularly restored '69-vintage cars will bring the most and the others will follow. I hope to see more 240Z activity at the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale, AZ. Cars like this '71 beauty and others like it will start fetching big bucks once they catch on. Hey, I remember when GTOs didn't used to be worth that much, and now they are priced out-of-sight!!

MBentsen, On the '72 240 that my son are currently restoring, we found that the driver side door had a lot of bondo in it, so rather than go to all of the trouble and expense (we do not have a welder nor do we know how to weld) we purchased a good, solid door (complete with working window, good glass, etc). Since the door we purchased was orange and the 240 is white, I used a grinder on the outside face of the door and wherever else I could to get rid of the orange paint with the grinder. The remaining area that I could not get a grinder on was sanded by hand. Once it is primered, painted and has the inside door panel installed it should look great! Oh, by the way we also changed out the door lock. For only a few man hours of labor and only $75.00 for the door we have a good solid, matching color door! We also have a spare window, etc. from the old door as well (which we will probably need for our '71 once we start restoring it).

MBentsen, On the '72 240 that my son are currently restoring, we found that the driver side door had a lot of bondo in it, so rather than go to all of the trouble and expense (we do not have a welder nor do we know how to weld) we purchased a good, solid door (complete with working window, good glass, etc). Since the door we purchased was orange and the 240 is white, I used a grinder on the outside face of the door and wherever else I could to get rid of the orange paint with the grinder. The remaining area that I could not get a grinder on was sanded by hand. Once it is primered, painted and has the inside door panel installed it should look great! Oh, by the way we also changed out the door lock. For only a few man hours of labor and only $75.00 for the door we have a good solid, matching color door! We also have a spare window, etc. from the old door as well (which we will probably need for our '71 once we start restoring it).