Arne

I haven't bought this car yet, thought I'd ask for advice. What can I expect to find under this fender?

There's a lot more to handling than just the skidpad numbers. Lighter car is crisper and more responsive. Skidpad can't tell that.

I agree totally. I haven't found my Z yet, but I'd say that chances are better than 90% that it will be a 240.

I'm still looking for the first one. Unfortunately, I need something a bit more complete than that one.

Here's another good possibility, but Seattle is even farther away. http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/92410036.html

Let me clarify. The car I'm looking at is titled as a '71 with an automatic. I haven't seen it in person yet. The seller is going to send me the VIN, but hasn't yet. The pictures make two things clear - 1.) the car has the early emblems on the C pillar; and 2.) the hatch has no vents and is not original (dark blue hatch on pale yellow car). My best guess is that it is a late Series I car, with a Series II (or later) hatch. My goal for this car would be as a clean, mostly stock daily driver. Absolute originality is not needed, or even desired. (The auto WILL be replaced by a 4 or 5 speed.) I have no problems having with the non-vented hatch if it doesn't seriously affect the ventilation adversely. Since good Series I hatches must be getting a bit scarce these days, I figure someone must already have this setup. I'm just wondering if I should be concerned. If I get this car, should I start looking for a vented hatch?

I'm looking at another 240. (Not in person, just pictures so far.) This one is (apparently) an early '71 with an automatic. My question is that it has the early emblem on the C pillar - the one with the "240Z" logo. I understand that emblem was only used on the cars with the vents in the hatch as opposed to the vents under the emblem. My question? If I assume that the car does not have vents in the C pillar, then it needs them in the hatch. And the hatch on this car is not original and has no vents. So how important are the vents to the ventilation system? And is it possible that this '71 could have had the early emblems covering the vents? Should I even care? Arne Still Z-less in Oregon

Hmm, the goal for the 240Z that I don't yet have (got a couple I'm looking at) is more pedestrian. I'm going to want period correct mods, yes. But I'll be looking for period US market mods, not the home market of Fairlady stuff. Things like a Spook spoiler, period wheels, etc. Much more affordable stuff, it sounds like.

Are the driveshaft and transmission mounts the same?

Just to update, I've pretty much decided to pass on the 260, it's just not in good enough condition for the asking price. The search goes on.

Still waffling - I haven't bought it yet. Since I'm still paying for my son's college, my project budget is tight. Certainly not too tight to buy the car or start mechanical work, but tight enough that I wouldn't be able to take care of the body and paint any time soon. If the car was just a touch better in the paint department, I'd probably already have it in my driveway. I may pass on this one, hoping to find one with better body and paint even if I have to pay more up front. Anyone know of a 240 or 260 in or near Oregon that is solid, acceptable paint, but totally worn out otherwise? That would be my ideal project!

Greetings, folks. I've been subscribed to this forum for a while as I look for an early Z to restore, and now I need some advice. My wife and I would prefer to restore a 240, but I've come across a early (smaller bumper) 260 that seems like a viable candidate. Some background - this will not be my first major restoration. One of my previous projects was a ground-up on a '67 MGB, so I'm quite familiar with rust and SUs. But I know my limits, I'm a much better mechanic and upholstery person than I am a body and paint man. So I have to pay others to do my body and paint work. This means that I generally try to buy projects that have bodies that are as solid and straight as possible. Mechanically they can be totally worn out, I can deal with that myself. So here's what I found - a '74 260Z, root beer brown with an automatic (easily swapped to 4 or 5 speed, I know). Remarkably straight (the nose of the hood isn't even bent) other than the driver's door, which will likely need to be skinned or maybe replaced. Initial inspection shows it to have very minimal rust (not totally unusual around here, we don't use road salt). The flat-tops are gone, it has dual down draft Webers on it. Other than the Webers and slot mags, it's pretty much stock. So it's a 260, not a 240. Is this a bad thing? Since it has the Webers already? (I'd rather have early round tops, but if it runs well when done I could live with the Webers.) I did all my book research on 240s, are there any hidden issues that I need to look for on a 260 that are different from a 240? We would prefer the 240 bumpers, as while these are still small and chrome, they do protrude a bit. But a trick that some of the old BMW owners used to do on 2002s and 320i's was to drain the oil out of the bumper shocks and collapse them permanently - anybody tried that on the 260 bumpers? Or will the early 240 bumpers fit the early 260s? (I've found surprisingly little hard info on the web about Z-car bumper swaps - is that because it can't easily be done?) I'm certain that a lot of this has been beat to death on this forum in the past, if so I'm sorry to have to bring it up again just because I'm new. Feel free to reply to me directly via PM if you don't want to clutter the forum. Thanks for any info you can share on this.