Barn Find 240Z But Is It Too Far Gone?

[Crikey]

Hi all,

 

I saw my first 240z when I was about 13. My dads friend parked it at our house for about 2 weeks. I thought it was so cool. It was very sporty, and I loved the "race car" look basic interior.

 

The car had triple webbers at the time with a waggot cam and waggot head work. I got to drive this same car when I was about 17 or 18, but it now had a p76 V8 Engine in it. Coupled with a button clutch it was fun to drive.

 

That was in the late 80's.

 

Now I finally have bought one. And not any old one, the actual car I first saw when I was 13. The car sat in a shed for 27 years. Unfortunately the shed needed some restoration, and the leaking roof and open front, has not been kind to this car.

 

I am not sure if it is past it. I have seen cars that look worse on the internet being restored. As the say about every car on ebay. "this car has rust in all the usual places" e.g. any steel parts.....

 

The hatch and the bonnet are absolutely buggered. throw away for sure. It has little rust in the hatch catch area on the body, and none in the spare wheel well, which I believe is unusual. It also has rust in the drivers plliar adjacent to the door hinges. It will need, dog legs, door skins, sills, bottom of gaurds, at least one floor pan,

 

I have the original motor with the car including the triple webbers.

 

So I would like to hear peoples opinions, can she be saved??

[gav240z]

I like to think every 240z can be saved! Especially an HS30... It depends on what you want to spend, but given you have some history and nostalgia with the car already I'd say it would be fitting for you to restore it. However I don't know your budget constraints etc..

 

I would slot the original L-banger back in with Triples, but that's just me. I kind of like the hot rod V8 too.. The chassis rails look non-standard and the photos show extensive rot, this will require some patience.

 

What chassis no. is she? She looks like she was 112 lime originally? Colour now looks more Safari Gold (but a bit too yellow)?

 

This kind of Waggot?

[Andrew_L26]

It's worth saving for sure! It's bad but it doesn't appear to be past saving. I would say that it doesn't look much worse than my 2+2 that I'm saving (Mine has just had all these sections repaired very poorly so they require re-doing)

If you can do the rust repairs yourself it won't actually end up costing you much money however it will take a hell of a lot of time. Door skins look pretty good really, guards also very repairable, bonnet has been modified and is stuffed. Hatch's can be replaced if worst comes to worst. Focus on the core body of the car and go from there. The undercarriage other than the aftermarket frame rails looks alright, very hard to tell from photos but the big filthy V8 has slung plenty of oil around which is good to prevent rust haha. The rear 1/4 appear to be in excellent shape other than the rust spot on the passengers side (I assume there was a dent there) and of course the doglegs. Surprisingly the lower rear 1/4 look excellent with what looks like minimul/no rust. 

The biggest thing is that there doesn't appear to be any/much body filler in the car which can give you confidence as that often means the car lacks shoddy repairs. 

Sure the car needs a heap of work but I wouldn't consider, even for a second that it isn't worth saving. I would get it stripped back (media blasted preferably) and go from there, It is very hard to tell exactly what is hiding under the paint and behind the panels but you're far better off finding out asap. If you decide that this car isn't the one you think is for you then I am certain that someone would get this car back on the road!

 

Andrew

[Crikey]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I think that is the Waggot that did the engine.

 

I was surprised to hear that the chassis rails under the floor are not original. I will take some close up shots and re post.

 

I must say the floor pans look very basic on these compared to a lot of cars.

 

I am not sure what the colour is, will have to look further into it. It does not seem to have an ID plate anywhere. Chassis No is HS30-012919

 

The V8 is apparently lighter than the 6 as it is all alloy. If I did the car to keep I would probably keep the v8 in it. I would obviously not get rid of the original motor. The v8 uses the 240z gearbox and no body mods were done to fit it apart from the bonnet hump.

 

On a side note, but still on the "introduction" side, Although I am in the automotive parts import/manufacture business I also do tours to Japan. I take people through the car factories, museums, cars shows etc.

 

In January I was in the Nissan Heritage Collection Hall at the Nissan Factory and thought all would like these pics. I have also included a few pics from the Tokyo Auto Salon.

 

Apologies if posted in wrong section or if they have been posted before.

 

[PeterAllen]

That's Waggott, with two 't's.

 

 

[TomC18]

It was common to fit longer/stronger chassis rails with the V8 to stop body flex 

[Crikey]

Does anyone have pics of standard floor pan and chassis rails?

[gav240z]

Good examples of how the original floors *should* look here.

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/13990-1971-240z-original-survivor/?p=166256