gilltech

Bloody hell, that's impressive.

Kids seem to enjoy classic cars simply because they are different looking to the common rather bland homogeneous styles of modern cars.

Perhaps before we close on this trolling post 'Looking for a Z project' we should hold a vote on his percentage chance of actually getting what he wants given the limitations already discussed. I would suggest low single digits.

Ditto what everyone above says! Well done. Oh gawd, don't start him off, he's already got enough of them, surely...

BTW, with that Sydney car, what's with those little scoops on the 'C' pillars instead of the badges? Red interior, nice. Looks like Globe wheels. Front strut brace. Some kind of aftermarket sports steering wheel.

What, my Zed or my Mustang? Or both? Thanks, I'll keep you in mind Greg!

Ditto. Me too! Damn, maybe it's time to build myself that 6-bay garage I've always wanted. Three Zeds, three Mustangs...

I don't think any of us understand your propensity to blame everyone else and publicly attack in particular Zed vendors for your inability, thus far, to obtain a Zed within your below-current-market budget range (you said max $10K for salvageable rusty and up to max $20K). Surely the penny has dropped by now that you are most likely about a decade too late with that budget and left well behind. They've obviously been a pretty darn good investment over the past decade. But you say you don't see the value in Zeds any more. Well looks like you're on your own there if that Sydney vendor has been inundated with interest and already has bids for what looks to be a very rough and risky prospect that is sitting under a pile of s**t and little attempt has been made to present it nicely for sale. Which just underlines what the rest of us have been saying all along. You might be right, the classic car market might soften as it did during the GFC, but that scenario didn't last long. If prices slip back it actually makes the cars more affordable and collectible so more people who still have the means get into the market and prices rise again due to demand. Simple market economics. So, either up your budget and have money ready to pounce and consider it an investment, or walk away and find something else that takes your fancy. Good luck.

It's his car, he is under no obligation to you, he's entitled to sell it off any way which suits him. He's been inundated with replies, so in actual fact a limited auction is the fairest way to ascertain the market price so the car goes to the keenest buyer who is prepared to take the greatest risk. You call him a 'dirty seller', why? just because you don't like all the competition? yet you're considering playing dirty yourself and stuffing him around? Pot calling the kettle black. He may need to get shot of the thing, but if it were me I'd sit on it for another year or two, it'll be making better money that way than the money in the bank earning less than 2% interest.

What hate mail? You're the over-opinionated one. Members are taking the trouble to put forward opinions and advice as to a suitable budget and car values but clearly your mindset is firmly closed and you are rudely refusing to listen to owners of Zeds who have long experiences with the cars. And who are the best sources of information in what is quite a limited field and community when it comes to finding Z cars and parts for them. You've talked yourself out of buying a Zed as you think they are over-priced, your budget is insufficient, so why are you still persisting in this conversation which you have hi-jacked from the OP? Time to say goodbye.

And how's the OP going, any good leads? Happy hunting, be ready to move fast or you'll miss out.

Same as the one my mum had. Went quite well but a bit under-powered compared to my SSS. Good luck finding parts for that, I suspect rust and the crusher took care of the vast majority of those.

No offence taken naturally. Good luck in your search though, hope something turns up for you soon. And for the OP not forgetting him.

Well we'll have to agree to differ on some matters. I'm not saying they are not worth restoring or cost effective, not at all. If you want one today, then you either stump up the money for either a good working car or a sound project car as suits, or walk away and buy something else that takes your fancy. The good cars that are sensibly priced do sell from what I've observed. 'Overpriced' ones - where owners have tipped a lot of money in and naturally want to get most of that back - will take longer and many owners are happy to sit on them meanwhile as prices come up if not forced to sell urgently. That's their choice, doesn't mean they are wankers as you put it. You would surely do the same were the roles reversed, no-one wants to 'do their dough' although in the automobile world it's easy to do. It doesn't take long to tip K$40-50 into a car, a decent paint job can cost K$15 plus never mind all the body work prior. If you do go down the USA-source route remember that their cars are LHD with all the implications of that. Their 260Z and 280Z are also different in many details, take the chunky MPH bumpers for starters. Best of luck in your search. One never knows what might pop up in a fire sale; just be ready to move very fast on it as you're not the only one looking. The 260Z 2+2 prices usually lag behind the 240Z/260Z 2-seater prices so that's been a sensible and practical option for a lot of Z owners.

That may be your impression but it's not at all accurate. The reality is that the Zs were not built in large numbers to start with, and too many have succumbed to rust and neglect over many early years when they were, in hindsight, very much under-valued simply because they are Japanese cars. How things have changed. My long-term-owned and as yet un-restored RS30 has easily tripled in value over the past dozen years. So has everyone else's. Having restored several early Mustangs, I can tell you now that it costs a lot more and is a lot harder to restore a Z than an early Mustang simply because, unlike the Mustang scene, parts are scarce, there is very limited and spasmodic support from the aftermarket, and so few parts are being re-manufactured. Makes it hard and time-consuming to restore a Z when one has to fabricate so much from scratch. I expect that many of the more expensive S30s on the market, the good ones which have undergone at least some if not total restoration, would in fact owe their owners a lot more than the asking prices. That's the uncomfortable reality. It's a case of supply and demand at the end of the day. My 2c worth anyway.

It looks like a very good candidate for a resto judging by the photos. Way better than some of the horrors that some Z owners have tackled on this forum. What year 260Z is it? It's been cared for at one time, retro-fitted with round-top carbies and an alloy radiator.

Ah OK. Good luck with your search then. I hope you have all the wiring loom to the steering column, and the headlamp switch which complements the indicator switch?

It's just an old rear valance rubber blanking grommet, as others have said, that's been painted over at some time, and the back face is coated with road grime. The blanking grommets fill valance holes for those markets that didn't require provision of retractable impact bumpers. Not very pretty so they are prone to being painted over.

Some 260Zs missed out on the passing flasher button, possibly just the early ones as my early '74 didn't have it. There are several different loom/plug arrangements across the S30s so if you source a switch from a different year car it may not be plug'n'play. You haven't said what exactly is wrong with yours. The turn indicator switches do simply wear out over time, therefore are sought after as used parts. So you may just have to get one from whatever model S30 you can and match up the wiring to suit. Some owners have been able to recondition their switches, may be as simple as re-soldering on a wire.

Sure is. And there are people on this forum who have restored some very rusty cars indeed. Be sure to post photos along with your questions, it helps a lot when people are trying to diagnose issues from a distance.

Just to clarify, by 'exhaust header' are you referring to the factory cast iron exhaust manifold or are you actually looking for a set of aftermarket headers?

Thanks for that, much appreciated! Yes this is for a 2-seater.

Can/did you buy the Kia seals new or are they only available second-hand? What year(s)? I've already put new repro S30 door seals on my 260 as the originals were perished, but they're too fat and haven't squashed down, PITA as after two and a half years I still have to slam the doors hard to get them to close.

PM'd you on Tuesday.

But where's the emergency keyhole, is it hidden under the driver's door handle or somewhere? Not wanting to steal one, just curious. Not sure that this has much to do with long life spark plugs. But the subject of car owner/driver hands-off technology has come up at home with a friend buying a brand new car which appears to us to be not just automated but almost robotic - keyless, fully auto, automatic lighting, automatic wipers, self parking, etc etc. We're not sure that the friend has to do any more than just get in and aim the thing down the road. Which in his case being non-mechanically minded is perfectly fine, and he'll be paying someone else to service it and fix it when it breaks down. Being a dinosaur with dinosaur cars, I'm left well behind with new technology much of which I regard as being very much unnecessary and removing of the driver experience and stunting development of any real driving skills... and I like to service my own cars... but that's just me.