gav240z

In terms of single post members they start from here: http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php?action=mlist;sort=posts;start=3510 I can do an SQL query to find out exactly. I suspect lots!

Who owns the white Z with Watanabe's? They look like 15" wheels is that correct? Love it. Looks like some great cars, shame I couldn't be there for it.

Yeah I agree I don't want to discourage anyone, but we have to be realistic also. Finding a good Z was hard 10-15 years ago, now it's slim pickings and I've noticed people asking a lot of money for what is essentially a rusty bucket. I was thinking of a 240z in relation to the original post more so than other series I have to admit, but yes a 2+2 or later ZX is not a bad idea if you can find a clean rust free example. I will see what I can do about creating an FAQ - help from members in putting it together would be greatly appreciated though! I am but 1 man after all.

Hi mate, I don't recommend this as a first Z, after reading about the work it requires - thanks to information forwarded to me I don't think it's worth anywhere near the asking price. This car needs a lot of work to make right. If you look at the front bonnet you'll see it has a 'bow' in it, indicating a front end smash at some point. I'm told the front rails are not true and when you consider the quality of the paint work I would not be surprised to find lots of bog hiding under it. It has rust in every panel and that's the visible stuff. I'm sure there is more to be found. Looks like it might have originally been blue. This model is not meant to have storage bins behind the rear seats. So either it's been cut n' shut with another shell or someone has cut their own storage bin holes. (I suspect the latter) If you still want to take a look I might have time to go with you, but unless you have very deep pockets, a desire to own 1 of the earliest cars and a lot of time and expertise I don't recommend this Z. If you've been restoring cars for some time or have the means to learn and do most of the body work yourself then I'd offer him at most half of what he's asking. I'll be in Melbourne this weekend for the Christmas BBQ you can call me on 0434 520 498 if you want to chat about it? Or come down to the BBQ and meet the group. You might even find a Z or 2 for sale?

Different strokes for different folks. I like it because it's not something you see on many Zs and it's period correct. I personally dislike the massive air damn's on Zs because I think it destroys the flow of the front end. So a small lip spoiler like this is the look I like. But the only draw back is having to drill holes in the lower front valance panel - since mine is pretty straight and there are not many good ones left.

Maybe... but perhaps we should write an FAQ on this topic? So next time it comes up we can direct the newbie to the FAQ?

In your position with the general cost of living in Australia and the cost of fixing up an old car with limited skills, tools and money. I'm going to say a 240z / 260z isn't a good idea, I bought my first 1 about 16 years ago. Back then you could find a 240z for $2k in rough shape. They were rusty back then, now even more so. I couldn't really afford to run 1 back then and I really struggled as a student trying to fix up Zeds, but I loved them and didn't listen to anyone. My advice having been there and done that is to buy a daily hack and then save your money to buy a good older Z that you can work on without rushing (have a garage etc.) and generally restore over time. If you want to have fun now? I would say the following cars are good to buy now. 1. Early gen Mx-5 with pop up lights NA6 and NA8 models. 2. Early RX-7 with no rust in original condition. But a little heavy on fuel. (To me this was the 240z replacement of the 80s) - the 280zx was more of a cruising / touring car than a sports car like the 240z). 3. Older MR2's non turbo or even later MR2. - These are quite cheap. My pick would be the early gen MX-5 as you get a lot of car albeit with not much horse power but it doesn't appeal to boy-racers and therefore you'll generally find they haven't been abused like 180sx, 200sx, Skylines etc.. If you really want a classic Japanese car, I think the Toyota Celica TA22 is still relatively cheap - although plagued by rust also. 240z's are now difficult to find at rock bottom prices. Every so often a 260z 2 seater will appear for 7-8k but it's gone quicker than you can pick up the phone. I think in the not too distant future it will make sense to start importing them from the US, but I've noticed even over there that prices are starting to rise.

Yeah looks different to me also. Gareth - where in Japan did you source it?

I get the car back Monday / Tuesday - hopefully with no more vibration and true rims. I'll be in Melbourne next weekend though for the Auszcar Christmas BBQ. But if you want to go for a cruise just let me know? You've still got my mobile number right?

Oh how selfish of me, here are more photos of that car. http://tailoutsx.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/z432/

Hi guys, I've seen this before on Japanese market cars, this lower lip is like a cross between the BRE developed spook and the OEM one that Nzeder was asking about recently. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,13366.0.html Has anyone ever seen these for sale? Or know if it's a Nissan OEM design or aftermarket?

I will be in Melbourne next weekend, willing to take a look if you're still thinking about it? I was thinking of taking a look anyway. On the surface it seems like a good car, but never know till you've seen in person.

Sounds plausible to me. It is the inner edge of the wheels that were buckled. As my g/f said if that's the only problem you had after shipping it, then you're lucky. I guess she's correct.

Hey Adam, It was great to see your car and James' car (again) and of course meet you. Car is looking great. Here is the video I took, unedited and raw, but the quality is pretty good apart from the noisy skyline on the rollers in the background. You can see the back fire through the carb if you look carefully at the second carb. As I said in person the colour looks even better in person than the photos or video for that matter. I would call it almost yellow, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Yeah thanks mate sounds like a good idea to get them to check the alignment because if it's off I'll get uneven tyre wear which I don't want. I'm now trying to figure out if the vibration was there in Ireland and I just didn't pay enough attention or if it's since it's been imported. What's interesting is that if was the front left (passenger side) and the rear right (driver side) wheels that are out of whack. The front left I can understand because that's where they damaged the car in that corner when it was stolen, but the rear right I'm not sure about... Anyway I knew there would be more to discover after fixing this car. I think it goes back to when it was stolen (but I guess it could also be from shipping etc..), they were only slightly buckled but it was obvious once it was rotating on the machine they weren't true. Looking forward to it being smooth again. It really is a pleasure to drive at speed.

LOL - why read instructions when you can dive right in and make a mistake? Whilst men might not read instructions, women are terrible with maps. It's just a fact.

Just visited a tyre shop today and we discovered 2 of the wheels are slightly buckled. So I left the car with them and it's getting repaired. Guessing it happened way back when it was stolen. It will cost about 125 each wheel. Sound reasonable?

Hey mate my gf has work tomorrow so I have a free day perhaps I could come down and take a look also. PM me if you want? Hope it doesn't rain

2 of the best looking zeds in Australia. That paint was a great choice.

Must be happy to have a good sound body on it and no moon roof .

From memory 1 of the threads on the flutes has snapped off - due to age and the plastic being brittle. Just another reason I hate the bloody things. So it's not fixed on all 4 corners on 1 of them I think. I painted them black - they were red at 1 stage but I did a shocking job on that too lol..

I have a later fluted bonnet on my car, I hate them (the vents that is). Would prefer a 240z style bonnet. Only problem is mine is painted to match my car. http://www.viczcar.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=10002&pos=-801 How desperate are you to get 1? Is it urgent? It's very straight (no accident damage), it was painted poorly by Zworx many years ago. It wasn't stripped to metal so no idea what's under the paint, but I have no reason to suspect she's bogged up etc.. What does your 240z style bonnet look like?

So a slight bump in the road, after talking with the supplier he informed me that getting the pressed vinyl look would be more difficult than doing diamond stitching. This is because the pressing is done at the time the material is made and I'm not sure they are equipped to do that directly. However they are looking into this for me and talking to material suppliers about it, I'm going to guess that everyone would like the OEM look replicated and wouldn't be interested in a stitched version? I am also aware that there is some suppliers in the US who can already do these vinyl kits (reproductions), so I would either need to match price or be able to demonstrate superior quality, otherwise it wouldn't be worth while. They have said determining price before they have a sample to work from is difficult, but I'll ask if they can give a price range of where they will expect it to sit. The more interest in terms of numbers here will obviously help. Alternatively if the supplier falls through I'll investigate getting a group buy discount from some of these US suppliers to see if we can do a better price. PS: I've also found a potential supplier of RHD Door mirrors (this is a reproduction unit) - same as the ones our AU market cars would have had. Not the US LHD version which has a slightly different stalk angle. I've personally been looking for 1 for ages with no joy so I'll be looking to get 1 myself.

Yeah I've not seen a 240z on the road in Sydney yet either. Only a 260z 2+2 - that 1 with the v8 that was for sale recently - in dark charcoal colour.

Nope those are the choke cables for the SU's. The black box looks like an aftermarket alarm siren. It would be pretty rare for a car of this age not to have had a repaint, but the missing badges would say to me that they were either removed - because it was cool to do, or because it was repainted and never put back on. Rear tail light garnish is also black instead of OEM grey. Looks like it has electronic ignition also. Good luck if you decide to look at it.