gav240z

Cool segment, the car came up looking great Dimitri.

It depends on the parts you're looking for, some parts are quite difficult to find and the price reflects that. I'm not a smoker so only want an ash-tray for completeness, but I only need the lid really. Problem is the lid easily breaks from what I've seen so finding a good 1 is tough. A lid went on Yahoo! auctions the other week for $50 odd. So if you're willing to shop around you can get stuff at good prices.

You sir are a legend.

Missed out on this. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Datsun-240z-early-fusebix-and-ashtray-/261445359542 Bid up to $125 for it and lost at $127 grrr.. Oh well, plastic printer to the rescue I think.

I'm surprised you recognised Dimitri's car from the engine bay alone. You must be more obsessed than I . I'm sure Dimitri will know when it will be aired and what episode (I think it's the first) but if not I should still have the guy's contact details and be able to ask him.

That's a shame, perhaps we can get more numbers for the next event and make sure at least a certain amount of people confirm? I should be able to make the next 1.

They contacted me a while ago looking for a 240z to feature from Melbourne and I put them in contact with Dimitri. Looking forward to seeing the Episode.

They don't pop up as spares often and when they do they are often water damaged and otherwise shagged with holes cut in then to fit a 80s speaker unit. But this is a LHD car and the door trims are different to our AU cars so you could probably find a good second hand set on eBay US. I actually like the tan interior but the easiest way to rectify it would be a can of black vinyl spray paint. If painted correctly it won't flake off etc..

Please contact me I have some news on this car. Gavindoolan@gmail.com 0434 520 498

Well done I'm very interested in this for a number of reasons. How do you find doing the design work? At Uni I used 3d studio Max for modelling I assume it is a similar process for this? I shall have to see if there is a 3d printer at a local library in Sydney.

Night and day, what a result. That is 1 of my favorite colours for the 2+2s. The other is the metallic green colour.

+1 - I'd love to see something that celebrates the unique models along with some of the significant race and competition cars. The North American market received some of the most bland offerings compared with what the other markets received. I'm not a huge fan of the 280z Zap or the Black Pearl editions. I think they're still relevant but compared to the earlier Z cars like the rally cars, the 432, 432-R, Fairlady 240zg which had unique parts and designs these were just a paint scheme.

Ahh you'll get used to Lurch, he's our resident grumpy pants. For him rust isn't an issue though, he repairs that stuff for breakfast. I think it's also fair to say that many Z's were not treated very well in Australia due to the 'perceived Jap crap' that the old Datsun's had associated with them. Which seems to have changed a lot in recent years. Many were cheap fodder for the playboy's of the 70s and 80s who couldn't afford a Ferrari, Maserati, or Jaguar of the same vintage at the time and bought these as dispensable play things. It's fair to say not many were kept very original, in the US though I see a lot of cars still in relatively original condition. I don't think it's the same people. Kristian and Craig I believe run http://www.ironblockimports.com/ for the US side of the business. $30k is plenty for a good Z imported. The upper price range for good Z's in the US seems to be $15-$16k for a good quality resto, but not a concourse car. But prices have been going up and demand recently seems to be pushing values higher. Sounds like a good plan, if you haven't tried a wanted add in the classifieds it's worth doing. If people know someone is looking for a Z and has a decent budget like you do, it might encourage them to offer you a car if they are thinking of selling. By the way did you see the red 1 on eBay I posted today? Could be a good car with a few things addressed.

Compe Handle Steering Wheel on Yahoo! Auctions Japan. http://www.buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/q19847059

71 240z on eBay. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Datsun-240z-Sports-1971-2D-Coupe-5-SP-Manual-2-8L-Twin-Carb-/251501609671

Don't worry Alan it will rear it's ugly head again in the form of an eBay ad that will read something like this: Of course the starting bid will be $80,000 USD, with a buy it now of $150,000. Feeling sick yet?

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,13761.0.html

@Yo-Yo - what is your current budget for an S30Z? Importing won't be cheap, there is broker fees, warf fees, GST, quarantine, shipping to port, shipping on boat, compliance etc.. I would factor in $7k as the potential cost on top of the purchase price of your Z. Also do you want someone to inspect the vehicle for you? Would you fly over to see it in person first? In terms of what needs to change when it gets here? Mainly the lighting like the rear lights will need to be the amber ones (not the red like US model) and the front lights will need to be changed for driving on the 'correct' side of the road . You don't have to convert to RHD but you may wish to in future, but buying a rust free Z will save you in the long run and conversion costs shouldn't be too extreme if you're willing to do some of the work yourself and source the parts. Bottom line is, I've thought about doing it myself but it might be better to find a local car that needs work and spending your money getting that up to your standard. Choices, Choices... if you're looking for an import broker I can recommend someone though.

Guys I would love to see a tutorial on reconditioning an original wiring loom and any tips and tricks you have in this regard. If either of you have the time of course.

I think you can still get the air-box that Gavin Strongman made for his Silver 260z. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,6061.msg53440.html#msg53440 PeterAllen on here said they were able to get 1 for his pommy friend Mike (context link here: http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,14071.msg148958.html#msg148958) before he left to return to the rainy country. So I'd ask Peter if he has the contact details of where he got it.

Another Z being saved, awesome. Good work mate.

Hi Peter, Yes he mentioned a date around the 30th as being the first class back, but there was some confusion about this. I haven't actually called to enroll yet, but when I do I should have a better indication of which night. It seems to be dependent on number of attendees as to weather or not they will have 2 classes or just the 1.

By the way I'm thinking of fabricating my own air box (out of steel) to look like the 240z S.U air box, but to suit Triple Mikuni's for my own 240z. The plan is to paint it orange also so it looks OEM. I'm not really that impressed with many of the aftermarket ones I've seen made of fiberglass etc..

I have a set of those K&N filters to suit Mikuni's. I think the issue will be the cam cover oil and crank breather pipes going nowhere (do you have an oil catch can in your car?) If you needed a 240z air box I could have lent you that for road worthy, but you have Triples

So I didn't get to finish the panel last night at the Tafe course, but I guess fabricating the panel is not that time consuming it's all the other fettling that needs to be done to make everything fit right and clean up the area. This is why buying panels off eBay is ok, but it's only part of the challenge, the real work is all the other stuff that goes on...Anyway some updates for you. So I finished cutting off the bottom section of the panel. Since it is folded over the piece of support metal behind it, you need to sand down the edge of the panel so you can peel the skin off the structure of the panel. I don't have photos of this step I'm afraid, but it's pretty straight forward. The next thing we did was glass bead blast the lower section which was looking rusty as you can imagine. Although not too bad, as you can see in this 'after' photo. There is a couple of small holes from rust. All the crud (that seal material that runs down the inner guard had to be removed and scraped off. The next step was to fire up the Oxy welder and fill in the holes. This was done by heating the metal and using some filler rod to replace the missing material. Then I sanded the area flat (well as flat as possible). Not shown in the photos, but I then painted over the top with weld through primer. Also prepped the new section with weld through primer also. and under the panel where the lip will fold. If I was going to get the instructor to weld it for me, he probably could have done it last night, but I wanted to give it a try and have him watch to make sure I don't do anything too stupid to mess it up. So we will resume this next class in a couple of weeks.