Another Z for me

[JohnnyO]

I bought another 240 today. It is pretty much original and numbers matching. I really cannot find anything that is after market exept maybe the bumpers. They both have over riders on them. Not sure if this was normal for 71 cars. I did find evidence of body work on the passenger quarter panel. Just a little paint flaking off but saw the original color under that so it must have been repainted.

The car is a 01/71 production Z and was titled in California for the first 19 years then in Montana for the last year. It has been sitting since 91. The seats are gone from the vehicle but the rest is there in its original glory.

Rust: It has some wheel well/arch cancer on the drivers side, floor boards are good, drivers floor support needs further inspection, Rear sill is great, battery tray looks good on top and feels good underneath and did not flex at all when I pulled on it, tire tub looks rust free from the top.

Glass: All original, non-tinted glass. No cracks or chips. Vertical defrost lines. All window trim is in excellent shape, no dings that I could find.

Hard to find/Expensive parts: E31 head, ash tray, seek scan am radio, original pointed antenna, hoodless map light housing, original bridgestone superspeed radial spare (appears unused!), grapefruit alternator, A/C unit and controls, original dizzy and plug wires, heater control panel in good shape, center console is in better shape than my current console, original exhaust system, 3 screw SUs, Series 1 guages, original finned drums, original slotted rotors, Series 1 dash for a core (3 large cracks), unmelted long pigtail fuse block and lid, series 1 fuel door, all badges except the hood badge are present and in pretty good shape, etc.

I am not sure if I am going to fix this one or part it. The guy I bought it from new what he had so I paid a little too much for it in my mind but these cars are hard to find in the upper mid west so I jumped on it because of originality.

I might throw tires on it, put seats in it (if I can find some up here) and try to get it running then sell it as a whole car.

I negotiated delivery into the price. It is about 130 miles from my house. It should be delivered in 2 weeks.

Here are a few pictures that the seller sent me. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any shots today.

My wife hates me right about now.

[Gary in NJ]

That looks like a good candidate for a restore. Unless you find a show-stopper, I wouldn't part it out.

[JohnnyO]

That looks like a good candidate for a restore. Unless you find a show-stopper, I wouldn't part it out.

That's the problem Gary. I already found a show stopper. It's me. I'm too much of a perfectionist to just get it running. I know it will cost me at least 12 grand to do it right and the car is realistically only worth 8-10 in great shape but I really hate to see these cars parted and scrapped.

So that is my dilemma.

[Mike B]

Looks like a great find and definitely restorable from what the pictures show. Is this the same car you were looking at last fall? The bumper overriders are aftermarket (AMCO). Are you sure the glass is non-tinted? I have only seen non-tinted glass on 1969 and maybe some early Jan 1970 production cars (for the North American market - JDM cars had clear glass for base models). I have also never seen a defroster with clear glass. All the ones I have seen had either clear glass with no defroster, or tinted glass with the defroster. I am also a bit surprised to see a Superspeed radial spare. I thought they switched to the RD-150 by 1971.

Tell your wife it could be worse. You could have 4 like me.

-Mike

[JohnnyO]

Mike, I am pretty sure on the glass and positive on the radial but I consider you to be an expert so you probably are correct. I am really hoping the glass is clear. I have a clear windshield in my car that has some sandblasting and 2 chips. My rear glass is clear without defroster lines but that is in good shape. I have some 73 quarter windows and they have a definite green tint to them. I could not deciper a tint at all in any of the glass on this car but it was a little cloudy today.

If 3 of my 4 were 69's I think I could explain to my wife the importance of having 4, but when you pick up a newer one without as much value as the one you already have it is hard to convince her.

I really wish I would have brought my camera to get pictures of the parts.

[motorman7]

My wife hates me right about now.

I know what you mean. I want this one below real bad right now but got the evil eye when I mentioned it to my wife' date=' so need to lay low here. I'm out of space. 6 cars in the family and only a 3 car garage

[url']http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/1928533428.html

[JohnnyO]

It is not the car I was looking at last fall. I might get that one soon, also. I am meeting the owner at a car/air show called Wings and Wheels and will try to "persuade" him into selling it to me. That was a 5/70 car and it had SS radial but the tub was rusty and the tire picked a little of the rust color up along with the rim. A lot of the important little pieces were missing on that car so I was not really too enthused about getting it. He wanted 800 for it. I know that I would not restore it, (it is too far gone) and I don't think there are enough parts there to recoup my cost. I might give him 300 for it.

[JohnnyO]

I know what you mean. I want this one below real bad right now but got the evil eye when I mentioned it to my wife, so need to lay low here. I'm out of space. 6 cars in the family and only a 3 car garage

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/1928533428.html

I'm glad I don't live in California. At those prices I could buy one every payday and still be able to pay the bills and fix them up. I could have 26 new Z's a year!

Looks like it's worth getting though. We have a 48 hour rule up here. If you buy something substantial and leave it in plain sight (i.e., don't cover it up, park it behind the garage or across the street) and the significant other doesn't notice for 48 hours they can't complain. But be careful, it works both ways and diamond ear rings and $1200 purses are harder to notice than a car or bike.

[Mike B]

John,

Like you mentioned, sometimes the tint is hard to detect under different lighting. The best way to tell is by the number etched in the glass. Non-tinted glass is M-214 for everything but the windshield. The windshield is M-34G. Tinted glass is M-224 for the doors and quarter windows and the hatch is M-2243 (on my 5/72 at least). The windshield is M-35G.

Check the date on the spare when you get a chance. I am curious if it is dated 8/70 or earlier. I was basing my comment about the tire on this old post by Carl Beck http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=164453&postcount=14. Maybe his dates are off a bit.

If you can get the car running and then resell it for a decent price that might be the way to go. I bought a 1970 this spring that I was hoping to do the same to (after swapping out a few parts I needed), but after I got it home the rust was just too bad, so I parted it out.

-Mike

Edited September 7, 2010 by Mike B

[motorman7]

We have a 48 hour rule up here. If you buy something substantial and leave it in plain sight (i.e.' date=' don't cover it up, park it behind the garage or across the street) and the significant other doesn't notice for 48 hours they can't complain. But be careful, it works both ways and diamond ear rings and $1200 purses are harder to notice than a car or bike.[/quote']

Not familiar with that rule out here, but that could possibly work . My thought was to buy it and leave it at a friends house till I finish my current project.....just need more friends .

[JohnnyO]

Well it was delivered today. The vin is 20123 with a build date of 1/71. The car does have rust beyond my abilities but there are a lot of good parts too. I am going to part it out at this point.

Mike you were correct about the glass. All the glass is perfect from what I can tell.

The spare is a SSR just like my early Z. The date code is K7003 so according to the thread you posted it is from September 3rd of 1970. The date on the wheel is 71 so I am not sure what that does to Carls thread. I guess it tells us that SSR 20's were manufactured to some extent the first week of September at least.

The engine looks dirty but complete with 4 screw SUs, grapefruit alternator, what looks like the original dizzy, radiator needs recoring, metal fan 3 pully HB, AC is complete, E31 head, common valve cover and oil pan, both engine slingers are intact as are all 4 tie downs/tow hooks.

The interior has the usual cracks in the dash, the console has some aligator cracking but might look better than mine after I clean it up. The heater panel looks great, hoodless map light finisher, seek/scan radio in pretty nice shape, shift knob is a little cloudy but the wood just needs some refinishing as does the steering wheel. The interior panels have a few chips around the edges here and there but I dont think they will show when installed. The wheel house vinyl has no tears yet.(I will see if I can remove it without ripping). The seat belts are original but the latches have some heavy rust. they are dated 12/1970. The straps look salvagable if anyone is interested.

Wiring harnesses look good so far, antenna is correct and I can't wait to test it. I have been looking for one for a while now. Some of the panels are good enough to re-use and the tire tub has some surface rust but I think if anyone needs it I would cut it out for them. The hatch looks rust free as does the rear sill and fuel door. The grill and valance area looks to be in pretty decent shape. All the lenses on the light fixtures are in good shape.

It even has an original Koito head lamp. I was pretty surprised to see that. I will test it Sunday afternoon.

So, all in all, it does have lots of parts that I hope will help me complete my car and help others that need parts complete theirs.

Here are some pictures. Let me know if you need anything.

John

Edited September 23, 2010 by JohnnyO

[JohnnyO]

Fuse block looked great too.

I will probably pull the drive train and suspension too. Let me know if I missed anything obvious that I should be pulling.

Thanks,

John