Arne

It's shown in the URL in the address bar when you view your profile. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/member.php?23509-Willoughby-Z So in your case, the number is 23509.

I can definitely see preferring a Z to an early 912, or even an early (small displacement) 911. The small engine Porsches (even an MFI 'E' or 'S') would be a fussier drive than the Z. No low end torque, you have to keep them wound pretty tight. And the 912's don't even have the advantage of the better tires, suspension tuning and other equipment of the 911's, for the most part. Nice gentle picnic cars, but not really a Z replacement. I haven't driven a 930 in many years. Almost scary (but in a good way), as I recall.The G50 cars are very nice, but there's a pretty good premium over the '84-86 cars with the 915 transmission, and I haven't found the 915 to be a problem to drive at all. Randy, she's going to be awfully pretty in blue. Can you elaborate on your preferences ?Is there big differences between the two cars ? Just for interesting reading , not to flame the 911's . Hmm, maybe start this in a new thread . Thanks for any replies ! As I noted above, I don't think a 912 is a direct competitor for a nice 240Z. Different character of car. An early 911 - especially a 911E or 911S - is a better match, but the personality of the car is still different. I don't think a nice 240Z suffers much in comparison to an early 911, and the early 911 will cost a LOT more than a 240Z in equal condition. For $10k you can get a pretty nice 240Z, or a well worn and rusted early 911 that needs an expensive full restoration. You tell me which is the better buy.Comparing the later 911's (like my '84 3.2 Liter) to an early Z isn't really fair. Way too much development and refinement over the years of production for the 911. I will admit that if I had the choice between my 240Z and my new-to-me Porsche - both cars gassed up and waiting in the garage - I'd take the Porsche. I just prefer driving it over the Z. Which is not to say a 240Z is without good points. Even when compared to my 13-years newer 911, the Z wins some rounds. The shift linkage on the Z is more precise, even the dreaded monkey-motion shifter of my Type A tranny. And the heater controls make sense and are easy to understand in the Z. Not so in the Porsche - there are controls in three separate locations, the vent layout is odd, and the car has something like 5 or 6 blower fans for different HVAC functions. It takes careful reading of the manual while sitting in the car to learn how to make it all work. In short, there is a place for both. The Z is a more exclusive car in most parts of the country, and (due to the historically low values compared to other "collectible" cars) far more affordable to a wider number of people. Is is attractive, fun to drive, and easy to maintain. Some of the Porsches are relatively affordable ('74-86 mostly), but more expensive to keep up. They are also nice driving cars, but different. More solid structurally, and great handling while still riding a bit better than a Z. In short, I like them both. I only have room for one fun car at a time, and I prefer driving the Porsche. But if the 240Z hadn't sold, I wouldn't be suffering much.

Arne's been slacking. No decent pictures yet, as it's always dirty from being driven frequently in the crappy wet weather we've been having. I can live with the Porsche parts surcharge. They have never been a high-volume car, so parts are bound to be more expensive. And while I would have preferred to get a '73 or older (pre-impact bumper, aka long-hoods), those have taken on a quasi-collectible status. Decent cars are getting quite expensive, so much so that I would not want to use one as a fairly regular driver. The best buys in 911's right now are the '74-86 cars. The later ones are fully galvanized, a big plus for ex-Z owners always paranoid about rust. The Porsches in particular have a very similar appeal to the early Zs. Here's an excerpt from my 240Z website (written in 2005) about how I selected a Z as a fun car - notice that the same reasons apply to the Porsches.

I'm with you, for a street car, the contrasting color is a bit much. I've always preferred either silver paint or chrome. Which depends on the car's paint color. On my Old English White MGB, I went with silver paint as white can be a bit boring and I didn't want the wheels to out shine the car. But if my car had been BRG, I'd have sprung for chrome.

The glass guy who did mine put the stainless trim in the gasket before he installed the windshield.

http://www.datsunclassifieds.com

Look through the plug holes into the cylinders. If you can see rust in any cylinder (even just one), it's going to have to come apart. If you try to force it over serious rust in the cylinders you're just going to break something.

Yeah, I saw these results on the Porsche forums, too. Obviously, 911's & 260Z's are the ticket for rallying in Africa.

Carl, are you thinking of running the new lines over top of the original? Cutting it apart to adjust the spacing to match the Z's spacing? That might work. As Mike noted, you might need to use the paint/epoxy product to make the connection from the new lines to the bus-bars. But that would give you an entire new grid, rather than a grid with repaired spots. In my experience, while the repair spots work, they actually work better than the non-repaired spots. So my grid defogged in a rather spotty and irregular pattern. I had decided that if I were to try it again, I'd probably re-coat the entire grid, not just the gaps. I think I'd want to scrape off all of the original grid right up to the bus-bars, not apply the new lines over the old material. This might work really well. Good idea.

That's the voltage regulator. The original was cad plated, that is either the original after paint, or a replacement.The alternator is not a ZX unit, not if you still have an external regulator.

Actually, http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/ mostly.

The for sale page is still at http://1971.240z.home.comcast.net/~1971.240z/extras/for-sale/index.html I didn't get too many scammers, just one guy who was actually rather persistent - of course, I knew from the get-go it was a scam, so I might have led him on a bit, wasting a considerable bit of his time. It was the "I'm on a ship at sea, can only buy via PayPal" scam. The reality is that at the price level of your car, you can not expect it to sell on ebay. But you did put in your phone, which is good. You may well get followup calls after the auction. Definitely post more pictures showing the underside and documenting the restoration work, if you have any. Your car is a prime candidate for overseas sales - I firmly believe there are a lot more potential buyers of nice 240Zs in Europe than there are here in the USA. Speaking of - I too know about the Porsches going back home. One of the cars I was interested in sold to a broker for shipment to The Netherlands before I could get a chance to look at it.

My for sale post (same as I used on ebay, too) is still up on my website. Take a look at the pictures I included. I've been told by several people that these are the type of pictures that help sell a car like this to someone who can't see it in person. And don't be surprised if the only offers at your price come from overseas...

When I was offering my car locally and on eBay, I advertised it with all the spare parts included. Figured that just made sense. But for shipping overseas - well, technically there's not supposed to be stuff in the car when it is shipped. And shipping bulky stuff overseas isn't particularly cost-effective if it's not particularly necessary. I did pack a few odds and ends in the toolboxes and such, but most of my spares did not go with the car. That's why I've been cluttering the classifieds lately. 930 should be fun - way faster than I would need, but then even the chipped 3.2 in my Carrera is more than sufficient for me. I didn't look at Turbos as I intend to drive it fairly regularly, like the 240Z. A 930 is more of a special teams player....

I split this thread off from a different one, as the topic seems to have drifted.

Still selling off the remaining spare parts - 4 boxes to the post office today. Received word that my former Z is still here in the states, the ship doesn't sail until next Monday. Then about a month to Norway.

Looking at the wiring, this kit plugs into the existing headlight circuit, and the new system includes its own relay. Additional relays as we use for H4s are not necessary. If you already have relays, you could leave them in place, it would still work the same. But I don't see any benefit to them, and more relays are just more potential points of failure. So if it were me, I'd remove any existing relay kits before installing this setup.

I'm pretty certain that all of the above pictures are "Classic" except the last one (10 of 10).

Good advice, Rich. I had somewhere close to 75 pictures on the page I used to promote my car. Had I not done so, I'd still own it. If you are trying to sell a car to anyone who is not able to inspect it in person, you must provide enough detail and pictures to make them comfortable. That's a lot of pictures.

IMO, in today's market, $7000 would be very well-sold. From the pictures, and knowing that it has been sitting for 12 years, it will cost AT LEAST another $7000 to refresh the exterior and get it drivable, unless the buyer can do the paint/body him or herself. And that's assuming just the normal stuff - full hydraulic overhaul, all hoses (cooling, fuel, etc.), probably boil out the fuel tank. If the engine has seized from sitting, add a few grand more. And I know from personal experience what a clean, refreshed low miles 240Z goes for these days. It'll be impossible to make this pencil out at a starting point of $7k if the buyer has to pay someone to do the body/paint. Don't get me wrong, the car has a lot going for it. For the right person, it'd be a great project. But $7k will be a stretch, will take some time to find the right buyer. Time it doesn't sound like you have to spare.

I don't like navigation, either. In the old days, people figured out where they were going before they left. I don't want an electronic nanny guiding me around. And I may be one of the few people who don't care if my vehicle has cupholders. Perhaps that's one reason I have preferred German cars - they get it, cars are for driving. They resisted cupholders until the 'Muricuns screamed horribly. Just my opinion, I don't expect other people to share it. Indeed, judging by the numbers of people I see doing all manner of things while driving, most don't.

[arne's-personal-rant]Do a favor for everyone you share the road with - when driving, concentrate on driving. Leave the phone in your pocket, or even better, turn it off. No need for distractions like a smartphone staring you in the face while driving.[/rant]

Do it, Mark. Not only is it fun to get them out and on the road regularly, but I think it is important to make the cars visible - let people see them, spur some interest in people who may remember them fondly, but have forgotten about them because they haven't seen one in so long. For the 5 years I had it, I drove mine to work generally twice a week year 'round. To the end I got comments from people, and it wasn't unusual to see people in the parking lot just walking around the car gawking. (And this is on the West Coast, where early Zs are relatively plentiful.) I think that kind of exposure is important for the car hobby in general, and for early Zs in particular.

More than that. The carbs alone are worth $500 or more. But how much more will depend on the extent of the rust. We will need more detail - where is the rust? Any pictures of the rusty spots?

You can view the page at http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/content.php?130-Fuel-injection-to-SU-carb-swap&