gav240z

No I shouldn't blame Zshop you are right. I guess when you get a bad batch of something its easy to point out that the whole lot are rubbish, when that isn't necessarily the case.

I went to Lindsay a couple of times to get work done on my Z, generally he was ok to speak to and he did help with a couple of small items. My experience though was that he charged me alot more for parts than say Zworks (Zfactory). I was quoted $400 for a 260z 2+2 1/4 rear panel. Zworks at the time was offering me one for $120. Sure supply and demand and I accept that. My gripe was with the little things, like the alternator he personally sold to me which as my auto electrician put it, was just polished on the outside and not reconditioned. Yet he sold it to me for $130 + as a reco unit. Being the broke student I was at the time, trying to fix up an old Z and not making much more than $200 per week, you can see why I might be a little ticked off. It didn't stop my passion for Zeds and if you ask me this forum has done far more for Z owners in Australia than any Zshop has, plus I don't charge anyone for anything. I ask for donations but that's besides the point. As a final gripe about Lindsay and his so called wonderfulness. I happened to have met one of his apprentices Costa Kiskiras, you may or may not know him. All I can say is he's a slippery snake and can't be trusted. Obviously I can't blame Lindsay for his actions, but it doesn't say much for Zshop. So if you can show me how great Lindsay is, I'll apologise and retract my comments, but until then I've not had any reason to promote his business. I would also like to say that this is just my experience and I encourage others to share their opinions and experiences. After all if I'm wrong surely others will speak up.

Dude I just read your last 3 posts. Have you got anything constructive to say? By the way you spelt dumb wrong!

Yeah and require a deposit of at least 10%

How long is a piece of string? It all depends on what you mean by reupholster. Do you want to do the whole interior? Do you need to recover your seats only? Do you care if its OEM gear or aftermarket? There are many items that could be included depending on the condition of the car. This will have a huge impact on cost. Also going with OEM (original equipment manufacturer) will cost you more also, but generally the quality is higher. Also having a more meaningful subject heading than "price" will help others browsing the forum to respond. An example of a better subject would be: Reupholstering your 260z 2+2 cost? If you haven't done so I'd recommend having a quick read of the forum rules and guidelines. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,1402.0.html Cheers, Gavin.

I don't think anyone should feel excluded from the forum based on chassis prefix. However I do think its more tongue in cheak or at least just getting a point across, rather than a cheap shot. However this isn't really the thread for the discussion so if you like start a new topic in general discussions.

While I would like to see Z values rise. I do think we need to be reasonable when it comes to asking price. I have seen some nice early 240z's sell recently for 18K in much better condition than this. Rust free is a bit bonus, but the interior and engine bay look a little messy not to mention some missing pillar badges and the fact that it needs a bit of work to be more 'original'. The Z is a great value sports car, always has been and I hope it always remains that way. However OEM parts are going through the roof so perhaps values will shoot up. It would be a shame in a way as one of the reasons I got into Z's in the first place was the low cost of ownership.

I guess as moderator / webmaster I perhaps should refrain from judging cars and how they are modified. I don't want to scare people away from joining the site and I certainly don't want people to feel that I am overly critical of any car. I know myself it can be hard to find a very true original car in top condition, it took me 4 years to find my current car and its by no means a perfect car either. I also know that not everyone wants an original vehicle and that there is nothing wrong with modifying a car. I hope I haven't upset anyone with my comments and I think in future I should keep personal opinions to myself - I don't want people to be afraid of submitting their cars to be featured on the site after all .

Amir it is not naive to want to give it a go and learn more about cars in general. My first car was a 240z and it has taught me many things. The great thing about a Zcar is that they are relatively simple but at the same time require a bit of knowledge and understanding. There are some excellent books you can buy to get started and if you get stuck everyone on the forums is usually more than willing to lend a hand. One thing I find about Z owners is that they have usually been there and done that, so they will be very willing to help. Restoring a car requires patience, help from others and determination, oh and a fair bit of coin too . If that sounds ok to you, then you should be fine. Welcome to the club!

I think I am being harsh, but also realistic if I was looking to buy the car myself that is. Personally I wouldn't buy this car. That doesn't mean its not nice, its just not the car for me . When I bought my Z a few years back I paid $7,500 I think I got a bargain but then again its not perfect either. I guess it is hard to buy a decent Z for $12k now as it seems there are less and less floating about. Its a shame in a way cause I want another one some day .

Hmmm having another look at it, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. The bodywork does look nice and I'd hope it certainly rust free and had a decent bare metal paint job (looking at asking price), but I'd have to remove the rear hatch mod and that alone would probably mean welding cutting and painting so to me it ruins the value of the car. That's the main reason I wouldn't want to part with more than $12k for it, but for someone who likes the car the way it is, maybe its not such a big deal. What do others think?

Never liked this mod myself. I was resisting commenting on this car based on the "if you got nothing nice to say, don't say anything principle". However I can't help myself. Its certainly not the worst Z I've seen and in many ways looks quite nice, but I definately wouldn't be paying asking price. $25,000 is alot of money for a "personalised car". I think the choice of L20 Turbo is a boring one to say the least and its certainly not an inspiring engine. I would much prefer a Triple carbueretted L28 in there. I could live with the Skyline C110 tail lights (might have got that wrong) but the rear hatch area just doesn't do it for me. I would be interested to know though if it cures the tail gate fume issue that the Zeds have. At the end of the day I haven't seen it in person so can't comment on the workman ship but I wouldn't pay more than $12k myself for it.

By worked do you mean NA or Turbo? I don't know why people think they have no bottom end power but I've driven a mean L28 that was NA on Twin SU's and it had plenty of bottom end power the thing was a torque monster.

Try take some photos if you can so we can upload them to the site.

I'll vote for a L28, built correctly it will put out a decent amount of power. Plus its the original engine and so you will spend far less and have less hassles with engineering and all the expenses of an engine swap. Its also easy enough to work on and leaves some cash for other cool mods. I personally think great brakes, suspension and an LSD will make the car alot more enjoyable. For me the stock brakes make me cringe.

Believe me I wanted to pull them out but didn't have the right tools. I tell you there is nothing more frustrating. I also didn't feel that safe under the car wrestling with the racket to try and get it out. They put those cars up on 4 old rims. I was also there to try and get a L28 long block for a friend but again didn't have the right gear with me. There were quite a few long blocks there (L28). But since I was also saving cash a the time for my trip overseas I didn't bother. If they were LSD's I would have done god knows what to pull them out .

So cheap especially when earning euro, too bad my rent is so damn expensive though. LOL. I do really like these wheels though.

I wouldn't feel guilty about putting a V8 or other engine in this car. In fact this is the perfect car for modification Good luck with it. Definately learn to weld (I did) and you should be ok. The worst you can do is stuff it up. Just cut that section out and start again till you get it right.

Came across two sitting in Z31's at centre road wreckers. Didn't have the right tools to pull the them out. Needed a breaker bar to undo the nuts and I didn't feel safe under them at the time so decided it wasn't worth it. Plus I was really after an LSD.

Sorry just read the posts above (I didn't read them before my first reply) and understand now. Oh well looks like I could tell it was a later 260z just by looking at the shell yay for me.

What a mess indeed Eddii. To be honest looking at your car I'm so confused, only explanation I can think of is the car was rebirthed. It doesn't look like an early 240z because the tool stowage area is there. You have a 240z dashboard, yet you have 260z strut towers (you can tell because they are longer) and it has the seatbelt retractors. The door catches appear to be later 260z type. Like a series 2 77 260z style latch. The fact that the RS30 number has been drilled into looks very suspect. Can't tell for sure but the struts look lower (perches) indicating a 260z also. Door trims are definately 260z type and the strut tower vinyls are also. If I was to guess I'd say your 260z is a later model 260z probably 76 / 76 series II and someone has gone to great lengths to make it into an early 240z. The early 240z was probably a car in a wrecking yard and for whatever reason (suspect or not) someone has tried to badge your car as something else.

Jump on the torrents and download a pack of fonts. Something old skool like the Fairlady Z badge would be best. I tried a while ago to find the original DATSUN font but couldn't find something close enough for my liking.

I thinks it more or less because we don't exactly know. We hear all kinds of rumours to be honest. As I said above I only met the guy a couple of times and I didn't have the best experiences in terms of service from the business, hence the reason I never recommended them. I will say he had to know his stuff, he had built some good cars and engines ( L28's ) but I think many will agree that they didn't have the best service from Zshop, while others did. I'll be the first to admit though I have no idea what happened but I've heard a few different stories, some involving health issues and some involving illegal activity. Due to the websites own terms and conditions we cannot speak about acts of criminal activity and we also cannot speculate without any hard facts. http://www.viczcar.com/Terms-of-Usage.html see number #6

Personally I only really had a couple of experiences with Zshop and lets just say they sold me a so called reco alternator that was "about as reconditioned as my a**hole". To quote my favorite Australian movie - The Big Steal.