gav240z

Too damn hot in my garage at the moment, 35 degrees and it's got a tin roof. Hence I'm not in it, but the ship of Ship of Theseus is a great example, I guess as mentioned each individual vehicle should be judged based on it's own merits. So therefore each owner should approach their restoration in their own way.

I think you would be better off selling the spare car separate. It looks like a relatively dry and rot free car from the pics and may appeal to someone looking for a better shell to restore.

So that is a good point, is an uncracked original dash more desirable to have than a well restored and reskinned dash? I'd say in the Australian sun it would be almost impossible to find an uncracked dashboard. Many cars that were only 5 years old at the time already had cracks. 46 years on and you would have to find NOS or import a used 1 from a cold climate.

So I recently read this article. http://roadscholars.com/original-doesnt-mean-original/ The article talks about what constitutes as original vs restored and what separates the two concepts. It got me thinking about what makes an S30z original. Since different marques have their own standards and aspirations in what a car should or shouldn't be depending on what kind of class they want to be in. It also got me thinking about what parts might be worth keeping and restoring vs replacing with reproduction parts. For example there have been fairly accurate reproduction tail lights made for early S30z's but I can tell they are different to the original Koito stamped units, so I prefer to refurbish the originals over buying reproductions. The other thing that comes up often is engine no's matching, but this only seems to apply to some markets for the S30z. North American, Australian, UK etc..but as I noted in Mossy's sale thread recently. French market cars didn't have the engine number stamped onto the ID plate. (see below) Likewise in home market cars (Japan) the engine number was never stamped on the ID plate of these models, rather just the engine type was stated. An example is a genuine HS30-H here that was for sale recently here. Here is a PS30 (Fairlady Z432) 1 of the most valuable early S30z's there is, yet there cars never had an engine number stamped on their ID plates either. In those markets, there is no such thing as matching numbers. So does it make it a moot point? If a Z432 still has an S20 engine in it, but the original motor it left the factory with was destroyed at some point, does it matter? Does this mean an L28 is as good as any other L-series in an L-GATA powered S30z from factory? Or should it remain with it's original displacement L20, L24, L26, L28 etc..? My gut feeling on this is that the collector car market follows certain trends at a given point in time, the late 90s early 2000s saw a lot of what would be called "over" restored cars and as a result some owners may have discovered that their cars restoration work was not quite as good as they had been lead to believe. As a result there is more desire for under or never restored cars because owners are likely to be in a better position to judge what they are getting as there are less unknowns. So a genuine used vehicle has more appeal and is likely to retain many of the factory fitted original parts, even if they wear a bit of patina and surface rust. It's the warts and all that appeals. So with that in mind I thought it would be fun to kick of a discussion as to what are the features of an S30Z that make it original and what do you think are the most important considerations to make when restoring a car and aiming to keep the 'lightning in the bottle' so to speak.

Do you have a photo of the part you're talking about and where it goes? I might be able to dig through the parts manual and find a part no.

Some good history on them here. Thanks to Shannons TV.

http://page16.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/u95312894 3,800,000 yen 5 Days to go, 37 bids.

I do like the idea of an Aussie made car. Seems they are under appreciated at the moment.

Honestly, 944 turbo or 944S2 (3.0ltr), I prefer the earlier style instrumentation but I have to say such a great drivers car and I really like the style too! If the budget allowed I'd get a turbo.

280zx 2 seater turbo (RHD). http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g170173916 Buy it now: 2,250,000 yen The Google's translation.

A Fairlady 240Z-L was a rare bird to begin with, it was introduced in 1971, this car is an early looking 72 model car. Finding a rust free S30z in restorable shape in Japan is incredibly hard from what I've seen. This car is complete, single owner car that doesn't look to have been messed about with too much. I'm not sure what a restored car is worth in Japan, but I'm guessing it's worth good money. Hence the current price. I'm just playing devil's advocate here, I noticed in particular on Facebook a group for S30z's there is a lot of people talking down prices of S30z's despite lots of indicators showing that values are rising fast. They seem to think 240z's in particular should be acquirable for $5k all day long. This isn't the 90s anymore... but a lot of people still think you can get them for 1990's prices. The fact that the car already has 33 bids with so many days to go indicates that at least 2 people are willing to bid on it at the current level. Who knows if it will keep going? I often notice cars get pulled from auction before they finish. Perhaps sellers get an offer too good to refuse?

Does this change your opinion fellas? http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/14448-the-global-z-car-s30s130-market-thread/?p=173053

http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d185277940 Look like a Nissan Fairlady 240Z-L. It says it's a 1972 model, but is painted in a similar shade to Grand Prix Maroon (a 240ZG colour only as far as I was aware?) Apparently it's an original owner car too! Being advertised as an unrestored example. Looks like it has front frame rail rot unfortunately. The headlight covers are long since destroyed also. I can't fully make out the vin but it appears it could be: HS30-10058? Making it six cars apart from this stateside car? The chassis plate is so corroded it's hard to tell for sure. 33 bids so far and 6 days to go. Current price is 3,001,000 yen (~$37,000 AUD) at current rate. Poor translation...

Very nice car, I lived in Europe for 6 years, I never did get around to visiting Luxembourg but my sister did, does that count? Monkey Magic was definitely an odd ball show, we got it here in the 80s on TV. I'm not sure if that is the origin of your username? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-xjgjbxMqc Hope you enjoy the site!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Datsun-260z-2-2-unbelievable-condition-suit-easy-restore-not-240z-not-280z-/272130391400 Current bid: AU $1,963.00 8 days to go...

You would wanna be keen on smoking. http://www.ebay.com/itm/69-70-DATSUN-240Z-SERIES1-FAIRLADYZ-VERY-EARLY-CENTER-CONSOLE-ASHTRAY-/201521836782 Starting bid: US $550.00 and buy it now at $750 USD

Topic split to keep the gearbox thread tidy and on topic.

I noticed he has an Alfa Romeo Montreal, I reckon that will be a car that will make a good investment. Not many of them about, I saw 1 in Sydney not long ago, bit quirky but a cool little car.

By the way when I saw the ad he was asking 20k not 25k, not sure if it was revised?

E31 head L26 block. Sounds good.

Just get a proper S30z one, they can be had and are not that expensive.

Just looking at all the Rust Repair photos, awesome work that Rob at Zfactory does. You don't fully appreciate how good the work is until you have given it a go. Seen the car in person also. Fantastic looking S30z. Got a short video of it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_tGt5V5rGDVZU40a1IyY2I1Y3c/view?usp=sharing

I did some more research into this and found that early 260z door trims use these part no.s 80900-N3600 (Black) Right Hand Side. (up to 07/76) 80900-N3601 (Brown) Right Hand Side. (up to 08/74) 80900-N3603 (Beige) Right Hand Side. (up to 07/76) 80900-N3604 (Dark Brown) Right Hand Side (up to 07/76) 80901-N3600 (Black) Left Hand Side. (up to 07/76) 80901-N3601 (Brown) Left Hand Side. (up to 08/74) 80901-N3603 (Beige) Left Hand Side. (up to 07/76) 80901-N3604 (Dark Brown) Left Hand Side (up to 07/76) It looks like brown was only available for 1 year (1974).

I'm not saying this particular car is worth asking price, but I think we're all going to have to get used to the idea that even a car needing full restoration is someday going to cost $25k. This is the case with many other marques already. Example many Targa Top Porsche's are already there....and they were never my favorite... http://bringatrailer.com/2016/02/08/matching-numbers-running-project-25k-1972-porsche-911-targa/ Even though if you look in the comments section there is many dissident voices stating it's unfair. It's just the way it is when demand exceed supply and you have something in very limited numbers left. This is no offhanded go at current owners of 240z's (my own car is in the list of early girl's needing love) but if you look at the Early Girl Bingo thread, how many 'good' early 240z's are really left? If you want an early car you have to take what's out there when it comes up. Beggars cannot be choosers as it were.. What's funny is that reading through the classifieds section I went back close to 10 years worth of cars advertised here and on eBay, Gumtree etc.. What was interesting was the price movement and what people thought of cars and their values at the time. In 2015 2016 they look like absolute bargains. It's very hard to say where values will go in future but I'd be surprised if 240z values flat line for the next 20 years. Just some food for thought.

No problem merged in Off Topic Youtube thread.