halz

what do you mean "were" ugly - they still are! SAABs are for masochists..people who appreciate good engineering but must have an ugly car!

Putting aside the fact that both Honda and Mazda are in the game of producing 'whitegoods', both of these manufacturers get my vote. Why? Honda. Started out making motorcycles so understood high performance and precision better and sooner than other Japanese manufacturers. They were the first (I'm pretty sure) to introduce variable valve timing (V-TEC) engines to the masses with their NS-X, a technology which is only more recently being adopted by other manufacturers Mazda. Always an innovator. The only manufacturer to take rotary engine technology seriously and spend the time and $$ getting it into mainstream production. Also one of the first to bring production supercharging to mass produced cars with the Miller-cycle Eunos 800. After shaking off recent Ford-inspired design doldrums they are again producing interesting cars, eg RX-8. Special mentions: Subaru (turbo AWD boxer engines), BMW ( generally performanced focused but should shoot the designer responsible for all of the Z3s and the latest 7 series). Worst of the bunch: Toyota - proving that good Japanese design is usually accidental, their cars either look good and perform poorly or vice versa. Mercedes Benz - trying hard to make ordinary cars look like fat, heavy barges. ...sigh, I'll shut up now...

Hi Lachlan, I'm Glad/Sad that you sold your Z. I hope you held out for a good price. As for Watanabes... I can't remember the colour of the K. If its white, get Gold wheels, if its silver, get Black wheels. Its just a personal thing - I don't think that gold wheels would look good on a silver car. and black wheels on a white car makes it look too ratty and unfinished. Just my 2 bobs worth, Hayden

Ask the guy for the engine number. If it follows Nissan nomenclature then a 3.0l straight six should be L30****...? By the way, what sort of car is it? (Promise I won't tell anyone!)

Leave the K alone Alfa... I know what you're thinking!

Cuong, Will this actually be a road car? Or just for the track? The only reason I ask is that it has a roll cage and apparently only a single seat..?

In answer to your questions... 1. 240Z owners generally love and value watanabe rims - especially owners who appreciate historic cars. 2. Black seems to be the main colour but I'm happy to be proven wrong!

Best: Little Creatures Pale ale, Coopers Vintage, Cascade Premium, Hahn Premium, James Boags, Gosse (sp?) Worst: Heiniken, XXXX, most of Tooheys, most of Swan, Bud.

Trex, You should respectfully ask your Classic car club what their definition of a classic car is. If its "cars older than 20 years" then they cannot deny you. If its "British and European cars older than 20 years" then you could suggest that they rename their club appropriately... because you are thinking of starting a Classic car club which welcomes all CLASSIC cars. :classic:

Z-Kid is right. I meant it was a mistake to sell it. That was in 1999, a while before the new Monaro was released. Since then the prices in the 'real' Monaros (ie the 2-door HK, HT, HG models) has risen noticeably. There are more of them on the market than 240s...maybe I should look at getting one of those instead

In reponse to a question in an adjacent thread, here is my experience with storing a car: I stored a 1969 GTS Monaro for 7 years and did the following: 1. Filled the fueltank until I could see fuel almost at the filler cap. Try to minimise the airspace in the fuel tank. 2. Disconnected and remove the battery 2. Inflated the tyres to 50psi 3. Drove the car into the garage where it was to be stored and removed the aircleaner. With the engine still idling, slowly dribbled engine oil into the carburettor until the engine eventually stalled. The theory was that if the plugs were too oiled to spark then the cylinders themselved would be well oiled. 4. While still hot, replaced the aircleaner and plugged its intake and the exhausts with something air and watertight. A cooling exhaust systems draws cool moisture laden air. 5. Jacked the car up and placed it on stands. The stands were positioned under the axles so that the suspension was compressed into an 'on the ground' position. Didn't want the suspension to spend years at full extension. 6. Sprayed the undersides, wheel arches, wheel wells, engine bay, chrome bumpers and trims etc with two cans of fish oil to inhibit moisture and rust. It attracted the neighborhood cats for a few days but was worth it. 7. Placed the keys in the glovebox - I was bound to forget where I put them. 8. Placed a pest strip in the cabin somewhere to elminate the possibility of fabric-eating bugs. 9. Left the windows down about an inch to allow some airflow. 10. Closed but did not lock the doors and boot (trunk). I was not confident that locks would be in working condition after x years. 11. Covered with bed sheet (or some other fabric) but not a synthetic car cover. These are are slightly abrasive and porous to dust over time. You can put one of these over the sheet that is already on the car. 12. From time to time over the years, open the bonnet and use a socket and extension arm to turn the engine over by hand. After 7 years to revive the car I did the following: 1. Pumped up the tyres which were doen to almost zero. 2. removed the covers 3. Got the car back onto the ground and roled it into the sunlight. 4. Removed the exhaust and air filter plugs 4. removed the sparkplugs and turned over the engine by hand. nothing appeared to be stuck. 5. replaced the plugs with new ones and also put in a new battery. 6. disconnected the high-tension lead from the coil and cranked the engine until the oil pressure warning light went out 7. replaced the high tension lead and dripped a little new fuel into the carburettor 8. spent the next hour coaxing the engine back to life amid clouds of smoke. 9. Placed the car in Drive and let the transmision work against the brake. 10. trundled slowly down the drive to a deserted estate for some gentle testing of brakes, steering, etc. After 7 years I was amazed that the car ran on the old fuel that was in the tank and that no seals were perished or blew out in the subsequent months. There was no evidence of rust. I gingerly took the car for a 120km drive and it just got better and better. I ran several tanks of fuel through it and bled the brakes as well before selling it (shouldn't have done that). I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had similar good experiences.

Try this for size. It was taken from a drill rig off the NW Australian coast in March from a well that our company was drilling. Can't remember the cyclone's name but does it matter?!

Yeh, well very deal has its downside..:tapemouth ...kidding guys.

Hmmm, USD$1700 = AUD$2833. That is a very nice looking car for that sort of money. An early Z in Australia for that price would be in dire need of a comprehensive de-rust and respray as well as mechanical attention. Lucky guy!

I've always thought the Testarossa was a great flat ugly barge of a thing.. I'm serious, too long, too wide, too '80s. The Honda NSX is much nice looking car and its styling ques have been taken up by a lot of other manufacturers since then. Importantly, the NSX had something that the Ferrari did not: Variable valve timing. Honda have always produced great engines and I personally attribute this to their deeply rooted motorcycle origins.

Bambikiller - I never read an economics book in my life (does it show?!) but I do work in the oil exploration industry. I can tell you that a high oil price does mean more exploration (which is good for me!). It also means that otherwise marginally economic projects become viable. By 'project' I mean an oilfield development. If a company or consortium of companies decides to spend $350 million on development infrastructure then that is something not to be sneezed at - the money has to be spent somewhere and on something which means an economy is being stimulated. As for your ASSUMPTION about high oil prices in the future. Who is making that assumption? The market? Futures traders? They are a part of the market too and the price is being driven up by those guys buying up now in anticipation. Prices don't just go up by themselves - buyers and sellers are involved. I'm not pretending that it makes life any easier for us who need to buy fuel. Its just that we should not be suprised at the "fast to rise, slow to fall" antics of the oil price.

Yup, still lookin! I'm increasingly certain that the car I buy will not be one advertised in the papers/internet. It will be a word-of-mouth or chance find... I'm going to Melbourne in a couple of weeks, I'll be keeping my eyes open...

For what Its Worth...

Hi Lachlan, I'd try to replace the fuel filter first (they're cheap enough). See how she runs and if you still have a problem - take it stright back to the mechanic. Afterall, you have a repeatable problem that occured after he worked on the car. When you take the old filter out, open it up and see if it has any crud inside. I'm glad you made it home the other weekend - I would have felt terrible if you'd got stuck halfway between the airport and the gold coast! Hayden.

Shotime, you're welcome. I saw an interesting e-chainmail (if they can be termed as interesting). It suggested that 'the public' should boycot BPAmoco fuel stations (or one of the other major companies). If just one company noticed that their sales volume had fallen then they would be forced to lower their prices. The theory was that this would sparc a consumer-led price war bewteen the fuel suppliers... sounds ok in theory but getting 'the mob' to all follow suit is the hard part. Another thought that no one has raised is that certain cities (eg Perth and Houston are the two I have experience with) NEED high oil prices ...(I'm bracing for the flaming here). Both of these cities have strongly resource-based economies with a strong (very strong in the case of Houston) oil and gas component. As anyone working in the oil patch will tell you, high oil prices mean good times for oil industry employees and the spin off in associated employment and spending cannot be disputed. There are plenty of old hands in Texas who will tell you how cheaply they could have bought a House/Boat/Ferrari when the price of oil plummeted in the past.

...and yet you continue to pay for fuel, high price or low. Oil companies (and other primary producers/refiners) have always played this game. The truth is, the price is not high or low - the price is what the market will pay... and you are the market.

Your 'overpriced' fuel is still significantly cheaper than what the rest of the world pays. Don't complain.

Perth: $AUD 1.04 per litre. With the current exhange rate this equates to about $USD 2.45 per gallon... So don't cry, you still have some of the cheapest fuel in the world!

...and I assume you have the seats a little more upright when driving

CAT: central area transit, a free inner city bus service (Mr.C, have you ever heard them change gear? Me neither, I think they have a huge centrifugal clutch...) WACA: Western Australian Cricket Association. 'The WACA' is W.A's biggest sporting ground. I've also seen a bright yellow roadster in Subiaco and yes, I'd rather have one than a MGB. In fact, the Z could also be argued to be a contemporary of the ratty old MGB. There is usually a roadster for sale out thre somewhere...in fact I've sometimes been close to surrendering in my Z-search for and getting a roadster instead...