Hi All

[Bubba Drew]

Hey, just joined a couple of days ago and wanted to introduce myself. I am not yet a proud owner of a Z, but do intend to own one soon. Like a lot of folks here, my first exposure to the Z happened back in high school, where one of my friends had a black 240Z, supercharged....I was hooked from day 1.

Fast forward 20 years, through college, work, marriage, and kids and I still have that Z in my head.

Now I'm ready to buy, and would sure appreciate any help and advice. Thanks!

[ConchZ]

A good start is to watch prices online for a while, and read for a while. You can get a combined listing of Craigs List and Ebay, filterable for years and location here. Just change the years and location at the top. I bought mine in July, and prices have fallen since then, from what I can tell. The good news is that body shops are hungry right now in my area.

After watching prices for a few weeks, you'll get the feel for what it'll cost to get what you want. I've seen some nicely done cars go for around $15,000 lately. You can't buy one and refresh it for the price of one already done, although if you buy it right, you can get close. A solid starter 240Z seems to be bringing about $6,000 these days. Its hard for me to put a value on a completely restored 240Z, as originality becomes important, as does the level and depth of the work. Maybe someone else can take a guess. Probably over $20k, but not $30k.

While I'm no expert compared to others on this site, it seems to me that buying it right involves getting one with as little rust as possible. It might cost you up to $2,000 to replace the floors, for example. The other trick is to find one that hasn't been hacked up. Finding all the trim and interior parts will be expensive, so if you find one with all its parts still on it, you can tolerate more rust. Just be sure there's no rust on the frame rails in front of the firewall, or under the battery, as those are very expensive repairs. Luckily they are easy areas to check.

Be prepared to pay big time for bumpers if you want them to look new. Even decent looking bumpers will look pretty sad on a newly painted car. Expect to spend an easy grand to $1500 on bumper re-chromes and rubber parts that go on them. There are much cheaper fiberglass and urethane bumper options available if you like that look.

Interior-wise, you can recover the seats with new upholstery for about $300. You can't hardly get new door panels. You can get new carpets and all other vinyl. In fact, you could redo everything but the doors, dash and rear hatch plastic panels for less than a grand. New dashes are nearly impossible to find, but a dash cap doesn't look too bad for about $150. You can also search this site for info on how to repair a cracked dash, but be prepared to completely remove the dash to do it right. Removing the dash is time consuming, but doable yourself. You can still get those plastic panels around the rear hatch. While not the cheapest place, here's a comprehensive place to get many interior parts. Oh yea, that center console is probably cracked around the choke lever, but you can repair it. It will be hard to replace it.

Under the hood, I looked for a fairly original engine bay. I didn't want to sort out someone else's mods. I liked that mine had been upgraded to an electronic ignition, though. It also had working AC already on it, as that'll cost you another grand if you need that. My 73 had already been "upgraded" to 72 carbs. Do a search on flat top carbs to learn how to identify and avoid them.

I bought mine site-unseen, but had a friend in the seller's area check it out for me. It turned out ok, although the car has more rust than my friend found. I suspect the difference in expected rust vs what I actually got is costing me $2500 in cutting and welding at the body shop. I don't think I would have recognized how bad the rust was had I looked at it myself, though. Much of it was hiding under 20 yr old paint and undercoating. All you can do is look carefully, and then take a chance, I guess.

Good luck.

[bigoak]

Read read read the board...

Avoid Ebay (too many ugly stories), but if you do go that route, see if someone knowlegeable from the board can do a personal inspection (easier than you might think).

Buy the absolute best body you can. The is no such thing as "just a little rust". Mechanical fixes are relatively easy and parts are plentiful.

Thank your deity of choice you live on the west coast and not on the east...you're going to save a bundle and we're all jealous...

Read read read the board...(use search)...

Visit Zhome.com (Carl's site, he is a cornerstone of this board) as it has a very good buying guide.

You have great taste.

[Carl Beck]

Now I'm ready to buy, and would sure appreciate any help and advice. Thanks!

It would help a lot if you could provide more specifics.

What are you ready to buy?

a) a car that you intend to refresh or restore

a nice weekend driver - that you can "improve" in small incremental steps over time

c) a solid #3 Condition 240-Z that you can drive on weekends and take to local club meetings or shows and not be making excuses for

d) a solid #2 Condition car that is ready to drive across America, or put in State Level Shows

e) a #1 Condition car - ie an all but new 240-Z.

f) a solid body that you can put an L28 turbo or V8 in

What budget or price range do you have in mind - what are you willing or able to spend?

a) $3,500.00 to $5,500.00

$8K to $12K

c) $15K to $18K

d) $20K to $25K

e) $30K to $45K

Different selections from the above alternatives - would most likely result in different recommendations.

No sense in getting advice or recommendations related to buying a Vintage Z Program car or #2 Condition show car - if you your thinking of buying a driver for $5K.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[bigoak]

The aforementioned Carl....

[Bubba Drew]

First off, thanks to all who have responded so far, the information provided is really helpful, and I appreaciate the time spent to respond in such detail.

To clarify my goals, I'm looking for a "b" in Carl's list, a good, drivable weekend car that I can incrementally improve, as time and money permits. I'm not a perfectionist, but place importance on the fundamentals: straight, solid body, and strong mechanicals (motor, tranny, suspension). With regards to budget, I'm open to laying out 3-6k for the initial purchase. The only other requirement is California specific, as I am interested only in those years of the Z that are smog exempt.

Honestly, I'm not experienced with Z's to know if my expectations match the money I'm willing to commit to this, so let me know if what I have is a pipe dream or something that can be realistically achieved.

Thanks all!

[stevef1972z]

I took the leap before I learned when I got my Z last year. You are already doing the right thing, you are here looking and learning. There is a lot on the site I wished I knew before I made my purchase.

These cars rust, from the inside out, and they are incredibly photogenic. Dont trust a picture, look at the car, knock on it with knuckles, floor pans, floor supports, frame rails, battery box, wheel arches and rocker panels all are prone to cancer. The engines are downright bullet proof, though the headgaskets can fail, but are simple for even a first timer to the Z to replace (I know that for a fact!). Of course like any car this old try to find one that hasnt had the wiring harness hacked over the years.

Be realistic on what your skills are and what you want to do to the car, and take the time to find one that fits you and your desire. You have waited this long, a few more months searching will make the experience much better than a sudden rush.

Welcome to the site, good luck in your search!!!!!

[ConchZ]

I forgot to ask about the supercharged Z your friend had. Nissan never made a supercharged Z. I've seen a few threads about supercharger kits for Zs, but I don't think it ever became even the least bit common. In the late 70s onward they offered turbocharging, but not supercharging. Lots of earlier Zs have engines and turbos transplanted from a newer Z. Maybe that's what your friend had.

[Bubba Drew]

I believe the supercharger was an aftermarket addon. My friend purchased the car with it on already. The previous owner must have had fun with it, because the motor was pretty burned up. I remember racing in the streets with that thing and it would leave a smoke cloud so big, James Bond would have been proud.

[Travel'n Man]

Bubba Drew,

The only advise that I can give you is NOT to buy on emotion but on solid found facts of the indivdual car you are looking at.

I agree with the others and stay away from ebay if possible (or to use one of us if the car is in our neck of the woods for inspection). It would have been many times cheaper for me to have purchased an airline ticket and flown to Calif. for that inspection rather than to fix the issues I was mislead on through ebay, but, that was part of my journey on this adventure. Sometimes adventures get expensive but at the end the results could be worth it.

Good luck on finding your Z.

[Carl Beck]

I believe the supercharger was an aftermarket addon.

As I recall - by 1973/74 and perhaps a little before - Jim Cook Racing offered a belt driven supercharger kit for the Datsun 240-Z. At something around $1,500.00 at the time, it did not become even the least bit common.

There is one original owner of a 1971 Datsun 240-Z here in Pinellas County (Clearwater, Largo, St. Petersburg etc), Florida - that still has the JCR kit on his Z. Boost has been held down to 8lbs and the car has less than 100K miles.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[Carl Beck]

To clarify my goals, I'm looking for a "b" in Carl's list, a good, drivable weekend car that I can incrementally improve, as time and money permits. I'm not a perfectionist, but place importance on the fundamentals: straight, solid body, and strong mechanicals (motor, tranny, suspension). With regards to budget, I'm open to laying out 3-6k for the initial purchase. The only other requirement is California specific, as I am interested only in those years of the Z that are smog exempt.

At $6K, in California, with the present economic situation, if you shop with serious intent, you should be able to find a car that meets the above criteria, with certain restrictions or disclaimers.

- "strong mechanicals" - - as long as one realizes these cars are 35-40 years old, and nothing will be as strong as it was when new.

Shopping will require a daily if not weekly active involvement in the market. It will require taking the time to go physically inspect many many many cars before you find "the one". You'll be best served if you have cash in hand, when you find the car you want to buy. You have to have a goal of being there FIRST when a new listing shows up. Lots of people want that $10K car for $6K.... get there a day late and most likely the really good cars will be gone...

It might take a week, or it might take a year - but it can still be done. Five years from now, Datsun 240-Z's here in the States will either be $15K+++ or they will be parts cars. There will no longer be any $6K decent drivers. That's just the way the Classic Car market works....

good luck,

Carl B.