gilltech

So, red exterior with a green engine bay and a white interior... 240Z driver's door... wire wheels... that narrows it down for sure, anyone?... AFAIK it would have been unusual for an auto 260Z to have a R200 diff.

All the best mate. I admire your tenacity with your Zed.

Very true. From what I've found many suppliers are unaware of the variations across the S30 models. What they offer for a 260Z may suit a 2+2 but not a 2-seater, or an earlier car but not a later one, or vice versa, etc. C.A.R. is sure to know what you need and what's currently available and of what quality. What is in your front struts currently, still the original shocks or a pair of ageing strut inserts?

Be sure to check the length you need - early 260Zs use the taller front strut a la 240Z, whereas later ones - probably most - have the shorter strut.

Best brace the shell well - triangulate - before going any further, you wouldn't want any deformation affecting the window and door opening dimensions or you may have no end of trouble come assembly time.

Is the parts car roof fairly good? I'd be hoping to swap the whole thing in, pillars and all. Rather that than dissecting both roofs and assembling a new one out of bits and pieces.

Bloody hell! Yep that's bad, very bad. So what's the plan, can you cut the whole roof off and replace it with the one from the red parts car?

So where did this concept that the 'Z was designed for America' come from? I have still yet to see any period Nissan advertising material making that claim. What they did do, was ensure that the car could comfortably seat drivers of taller stature than was typically often the case with Japanese cars of the period.

Yes, my advice is to get the parts out and clean everything up the best you can if you want to get best $$$. The less people can see what they'd be getting the more risk they take on themselves so the lower offers you'd get, if you'd get any at all. Make an inventory of what is there and what is missing. Just from the 4 photos I can see a lot is missing, parts which may be lodged inside the car or they may not. When selling anything, presentation and condition is everything. PS. I meant to add, has the car any provenance? Evidence of previous registrations, is there an Aus-new ID plate fixed in engine bay, etc. If there is no evidence or govt records to show that the car was sold new in Australia, or had an import approval as a used car, then it may well be impossible to ever register it. Buyer beware and check before spending $$$ on buying let alone repair $$$.

Motorsport Auto Z Store in the USA, check out their website, very useful source for all the myriad of correct bits and pieces.

Yes the fenders are basically common to both. Although different sales markets dictated whether they had cut-outs for the side indicator and/or fender mirrors or not. The old repro fenders, a few of which may still be around, aren't a perfect fit and need a bit of tweaking to make them sit right. Better to fix what you've got IMO, keep as much of the original metal as you can. Patch panels are available for the lower portion of the guard.

Even if the floors and substructures are repairable I really think it's too far gone to be economic. It will be a massive effort and cost to repair, refurbish or replace everything, all looks very badly weathered and rusty. Much just won't be salvageable. As AndBir says, S30 2+2 parts that were once fairly common are getting really hard to find now. Reproduction parts are limited and expensive for a 2-seater, even thinner on the ground for a 2+2. Sitting outside with no side windows and an open roof (yay! big sunroof!) would have really accelerated the deterioration. As for the engine and gearbox laying in the dirt, well... The owner would be best IMO to at least unload all the parts and photograph them and the bodyshell and make an inventory of all the parts. Then advertise for offers and see what comes of it.

Call me picky. IMO it's more of a resto-mod than a 'restoration', as it's loaded with non-Nissan aftermarket components. What's with the 260Z door card, minus pull handle. Where's the battery gone? Other bits missing. Is that a 240K steering wheel? And why do people omit the rear bumper anyway?

I had the loan of a Volvo 240 in the USA many years ago. Looked like a brick but easily held all our backpacking & camping gear, and actually drove very well indeed. Great memories.

One needs to check the tip-to-tip dimensions against one's own Nissan original. I bought one several years ago as my original, which has already been re-chromed once, has rust breaking out in places. However, I found the new one was too tight across the bodywork at each end, so didn't proceed and it still hangs on the garage wall to this day. Nothing to say that my car is correct of course, that the guards shouldn't be pulled in a bit, although I think its original bumper fits pretty well. I must look at it again though, thanks for the reminder.

Correction! The 240Z, 260Z, 280Z, Fairlady, 432 etc etc, both 2-seater and 2+2, are all of the Nissan S30 family. Others may disagree but my observations over 37yrs of ownership and car club membership are that the 260Z is somewhat better built and more refined in several respects over the 240Z. To each his own. I like them all. Enjoy your purchase, you should have a lot of fun with it.

No A/C? My advice, keep the sunroof. Ha!

A preference of a 240Z vs a 260Z or vice versa can be due to personal taste. 37yrs ago I chose a very early '74 260Z 5-spd 2-seat (a fairly bare bones NZ car) over a couple of '72 and '73 240Zs of similar prices simply because I preferred the later car refinements. As we all know Nissan kept tweaking the cars year after year. IMHO the interior design, the dashboard, console, trims etc all seem far better integrated and make for a nicer cockpit. My 2c worth anyway.

Good luck with the Kia Sportage door seals, I was looking a year back and couldn't find any stock anywhere.

That's what I thought. Not my definition of 'original'. Reminds me of a Zed I went to see many years ago. It was advertised as a 260 2-seat but had 240 panels and parts, an amalgamation of two cars. Wasn't for me.

Interesting, I like the colour. Better priced now. Being picky perhaps but I wouldn't call it 'original' seeing as the original motor has been replaced with a 260 motor complete with flat tops. Why? Are new / repro consoles available for the '71? And is that front bumper off a '73? Looks wrong...

Ditto what AndBir and others are saying about black paint on the seat brackets and anywhere which isn't covered by carpet or trim of some kind. All so no body colour shows through. Pretty basic black slop it is. As per my early RS30 too, the black circles above the strut towers are behind the ventilation perforations in the plastic trim panels. There was a discussion thread earlier this year in which HS30-H and others clarified which panels were secured to or sitting on the shell, and which ones weren't, when the shell was painted. IMO Nissan did the minimum required and the easiest/quickest to suit them. We can do far better with repaints as those such as C.A.R. and others on this forum are demonstrating.

Can you put up some pictures? Maybe it's much the same as the earlier cars, ie. 240/260/280Z.

I've collected quite a number of '70s-era road tests of various S30s - by British, American and Australian car magazines - and the 'near 50/50 weight distribution' is often mentioned. But I have yet to find it in Nissan's own words as it were. Still looking!

I don't know that Nissan made parts available for the wet legs, apart from the gland nuts, as they offered their own inserts... CAF might know... Is one 'stopper' still intact, can you have a new pair machined up in a matching plastic or nylon, or maybe better yet in aluminium? Talk to a machine shop. Or some friendly DIY person with a lathe in their home workshop... There has been talk on this forum previously about spring non-capture when installing short springs to lower the ride height. Some didn't seem concerned, as you say just don't get airborne! - one even suggested wiring the springs in place; but others including myself considered it a safety issue and surely not roadworthy nor insurance compliant. Not to mention a PITA during front end maintenance. You say 30-40mm, that seems a lot - I once tried King Springs lows on my 260 and they were barely captured at one end and too short by about 12mm at the other so I didn't proceed.