MrKaos

Thank you all for the advice and opinions, this has helped me assess my options. Apologies for the delayed response. @AndBir - I missed that ad. I've gone with @gav240z's value suggestion as a basis. Thank you. Learning that "Laid up" insurance is available is something that I'll apply to Z366. @TobyMyers - others suggested this and after talking to the police it looks like this is the most appropriate course of action. It was too hard to prove mens rea or actus rea (guilty mind, guilty act) for malicious damage however the burden of proof for theft is possible so criminal charges are an available option. @gilltech, @1600dave and @C.A.R. - taking no action is a valid course of action, at this stage I am still considering what action I will take. > You'll spend years in litigation, the lawyer(s) - if you can find one to take on the case That's true *if* I take civil action. Another option is the small claims court where I don't need a lawyer and time frames for settlement are 6 months at a maximum claim of 20K. > move on, no guarantee you'd be ultimately successful The process of moving on is assessing my viable options so that once I do take actions I can accept that I did everything I could to avoid having any regrets. The destruction of Z48 meant I've avoided a violent confrontation and eliminated any doubt that my brother's diagnosed and medicated mental health issues continue to worsen. So keeping my distance was a good decision and in itself is a successful outcome, even if I don't like it, however I haven't defined what a successful outcome is in this context. > Nothing good will come of it. Good has come out of it. The very act of assessing my options has opened other options which lands somewhere between doing nothing and having charges laid. I am now in a much better position to decide what I am going to do as I plan the next steps. Once again thank you to this community for the perspectives, I'll post the outcome here when the time comes.

> BTW sorry for splitting hairs but you mention taller strut towers, but i think you mean taller struts, whereas strut 'towers' are the housings built into the bodywork All good, thanks for the clarification. That is what I meant. > What I'm still not clear on is what happened to all those many parts So am I @gilltech. I know the effort it takes to unpack and pack it.

That about covers it. I had parts like fuel tank, seats, bumpers, cowl cover in the rafters above the car also itemised for the rebuild. I appreciate you all checking it out and I hope that helps with your opinions on what the vehicle was worth complete and in this state. Cheers John

For the ancillary parts for #Z048 I had put everything into boxes and stored nice and dry. Window winders, box of window parts and air flow meter for the L28: Brake parts and lines, those thinner front panel bolts, bonnet latch, door hinge, linkages: Gear Stick levers and gear box pin: Electrical parts, wiring harness, speedo cable, regulator, indicators stalk and wiper control, fuse box, twing choke panel, ignition keys (original key), I think that is the car manual wrapped in plastic, some other parts: Wiper bottles and pumps, water lines, Wiper motor and Wipers: Original door parts, handles, window winders, trim clips, door screws, locks, fuel gauge Sun visor, air ducts, windscreen defroster vents, more duct parts: Head lights, vent parts, blower motor, front vent duct, handbrake cover (I was keeping part I knew I may have to have remade): Master brake actuator, fan thermostat, top diff mount, gearbox diaphragm mount, brake vacuum one way valve: Rear quarter window and frames: Rear tail lights, license lamp and wiring: New quarter window rubbers, tail light gaskets, Instrument lens: distributor, cam towers, oil pump, oil sprayer: There are other photos, possibly of the chassis that I still haven't found yet. This covers most of the ancillary parts.

Now for the parts I had of Zed #048. They are all laid out on a Tarp and I've taken a photo of each half from two angles, which was an easy way of keeping an inventory. From back to front of the first half: F/R Suspension components, springs, 2 * axle half shaft, rear drum brakes, R180 Diff, L28 Turbo, 6 pistons and conrods, 3 A frames, early 5 speed gearbox, F/R sway bars: and back: Next I had: 2 Oil pans (note in the front the modified Oil pan made for the dual oil pickup ) and timing cover. 4 Rocker covers (1* 2400 OHC), rocker cover at the front has the cam in it, oil sprayer, the other two oky strapped together contain other engine parts like rockers and springs. Wiper bottle, two injected heads (E28 if I recall), rusty crank is L24, twin SU carbs, another oil pan, Second front cross member, Original exhaust manifold and 6 propeller shafts. and back again shows also a L28 injection manifold and also the SU velocity stacks of the intake box. 90 degrees of front shows Starter motor, cam and cam towers in rocker cover and rear engine cover, alternator mount: 90 degrees to rear, 2 more cams one was a real screamer, another starter motor and the diff mount. That covers the bulk mechanical part. Next post is the smaller mechanical parts.

> Sequential body serial numbers were assigned in a linear fashion for each prefix ('S30', 'PS30', 'HS30', HLS30' etc), so 'S30-00123', 'PS30-00123', 'HS30-00123' and 'HLS30-00123' would all have been made, but not necessarily within the same time period as each other. > I'd urge GREAT caution in assigning too much trust to stuff written on local documentation after import. Yeah, that makes sense @HS30-H that their production line functioned that way and how the car is most likely 1970. @gav240z, that's Z048 after the first damage, thanks for your insights into the car's value. As I said to @AndBir I've finally located some photos of the car: First shot here of the roof undamaged. I built a rig so that I could swing the rear end around easily. At this point here I was on the last step of fully striping the chassis and only had the two bolts of the mustache to remove before soda or other blasting. From #366 I learned that those two bolts in early cars need some patience to extract so I had been spraying them with silicone for some time ready for the day I go to take them out. You'll also note the later model 1/4 panel I replaced that was damaged, the way it had extended strut towers it looked like it was a rally car once upon a time. So I'd completed the major repairs and also stripped the floorpan both sides preparing for stitch welding: In this photo you can see the other quarter panel replacement on the other side of the vehicle. I'd kept the original rear window with the Datsun sticker and stainless. At the bottom of the photo you can see the replacement strut towers: The build number stamp: Frame rails on both sides were good: Dashboard was cracked but undamaged, a reskin and galvanise the frame. Door hinges were good and you can see where more under body work was stripped. You can also see the fenders are pretty straight: Here you can see where more completed repairs with the welding done. The only remaining metal work was the cowl: Here you can see that the bonnet was straight, the grill needed a bit of work. I had two sets of doors amongst other panels I'd been collecting from from donor cars: This essentially shows the work I'd done so far. I knew that I could incorporate repairs to the roof into the next steps after advice I got when I posted the photo of the roof damage (I could not find the link). I'll post photos of the parts next.

> Sorry to hear about the loss of the car. I had a similar thing happen to me many years ago, so I can kind of imagine how you feel. Thanks @HS30-H it's a very odd kind of loss. The connection to history, previous and future owners. It is a very unexpected kind of feeling. With the exception of this forum and other car restorers "metal as art" and the time and dedication it takes to complete projects like this is something few people understand. The planning, preparation, paint, panels, perspiration and pure persistence is like being a part of that history, which I find appealing. > I'd tend to err on the side of caution and call 'HS30-00048' a mid-1970 build. Cross-referencing the manufacturing dates and quality control stamp dates on the components of the car (if any are still to hand...) would help to pin it down a little more closely. I wish, though I have the rego papers for #366 and it says it was first registered in 1969, which I found confusing until you mentioned the non-linear construction of the vehicles. > Doesn't change the valuation much in my opinion. 'Low number' cars have an undeniable cachet and HS30 #48 is pretty low, so it would make it more desirable to a particular cohort but it is difficult to quantify. I will find the photos eventually in my archives. The car was complete and had some very unusual things happening. The height of the vehicle was raised with elongated strut towers - suggesting it was once rallied. The L24 Engine had non-standard thinner rings and dual oil pick-ups and a modified oil pan. > Hope you get the result and justice you desire. Good luck. Much appreciated and as I gain more information I'll know better what sort of outcome can be achieved and I'll communicate that back to this forum.

> The key take-away from this is always have "laid up" insurance. I did not even know such a thing existed @AndBir > Most would have laid up insurance to cover the unlikely risk of a fire if stored in a garage etc. but in this case it was theft. This seems to be more the case I am dealing with. > Pity they have not been able to source the chrome trim for the rear hatch glass rubber. This I also had in storage and was considering 3D printed replicas. Perhaps someone has already thought of this. I've had several 3D parts printed so far.

> Your brother sounds like a nasty vindictive piece of work, a complete sociopath. He is conflict driven, co-morbid and diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar affective. Whatever else is going on with him I stopped caring a long time ago and have been gradually getting him out of my life. > Surely if a person has an item destroyed that doesn't belong to him then that's outright theft and the police would have to get involved? It was a great perspective @gilltech and one I'll be following up with the Police later this week. > If that's not malicious intent then what is. Unfortunately he is also extremely intelligent and calculating. I can't prove mens rea or actus rea to meet the appropriate level of evidence to prove malicious intent. > And how did he get it there anyway? It was stored at my fathers place and well, let's just say that destroying Z048 wasn't the worst thing he's done to achieve this outcome. > That's great that you have photos as they will clearly show what has been stolen from you. I've been going through my archives to find them, found lots of photos of #366 in the meantime.

G'day @gilltech - yeah I've got plenty of photos of HS30-00048 archived somewhere as I was in the preparation stages of the restoration based on what I learned from restoring HS30-00366, which was my focus at the time. @AndBir thanks for letting me know that the site admin has a similar vintage car would that be gav240 or Toecutter? You raise an interesting possibility of having the car reported as stolen so I'll check into that as well. I did check with the police for malicious damage charges but he was smart enough to avoid consequences there so my only remaining option is a civil suit. Basically my brother was trying to provoke a violent confrontation with me when he smashed the roof in. I played it cool so I could get the car out of there and when I didn't fall for it this is what he did to increase the amount of provocation. As for the resale value, that an incentive to destroy it as it causes more distress - which is his goal. Cultural vandalism of this kind, even more so. I rang the tip he claimed to have sent it to and spoke to the tip manager. The tip manager did have a recollection of his staff discussing a 240Z being destroyed sometime last year and that it would have been treated as scrap metal. I confirmed the timing by looking at satellite photos of the property where I could see the car outside and then gone around the same time. I'm trying to get an increased frequency of photos to nail down the timing.

Thanks @AndBir. I had trouble with the first link and have reached out to the site admin. Got into the next links ok and will get in contact with those owners. I could probably provide some photos of 366 for this list as well. Much appreciated.

Greetings Aus Z Car, I write to announce the untimely demise of HS30-00048 a 1969 240Z. After having the car in storage at my fathers place whilst restoring HS30-00366 my mentally ill brother decided to stamp the roof in then push HS30-00048 car out into the rain to provoke a confrontation during covid. When I didn't respond he had the vehicle towed to a vehicle crusher and destroyed sometime last year. I only found out about it a week after my fathers funeral whilst commencing administration of his estate. He kept the destruction of the car a secret. After taking the matter up with the police for malicious damage I was told it was impossible to prove malicious intent or action so a criminal option was ruled out despite that being clear from knowing him. I am still gathering evidence here in case some more arises according to police instructions. On advice from the police I'm now investigating civil damages however the issue I have is I am unsure just how much the vehicle was worth so I can determine which court (district or local) to file the proceedings for damages. My understanding is the first 36 Z cars were crash tested which made HS30-00048 the 12th Z car to hit the road. It was approximately registered around 1969 based on HS30-00366 being first registered in March 1969 (according to 366's rego papers). The lawyer suggested putting these questions out to this forum before proceeding. My questions are these: 1. Does anybody in the forum know a civil damages lawyer who has handled a case like this before? 2. It was stored dry and all panels were mostly undamaged. Welding work was complete and the floorpan had been completely stripped. What would the approximate value of HS30-00048 be in that condition? 3. I have a track record of restoration projects (5 now) and HS30-00366 is nearing completion. I had aimed to have HS30-00048 restored to concourse condition based on what I had learned by doing Z366. Would anybody have opinions about what HS30-00048 would be worth in concourse condition? 4. Would anybody know of existing assessor qualified opinions of the value of similar vehicles that I could present to the court? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. Sincere Regards John

It's been in (is in) storage at the moment as my final restoration project. Currently I'm doing up another Z (#366) so I'm also figuring out what I want to do with this. When I first drove this thing it was an absolute rocketship. The (messy) car is complete and disassembled, the only thing missing is the motor, which I had and was damn interesting for an L24 (like really thin rings and a drilled block that allowed a dual feed oil pickup from one sieve, a modified sump to accommodate the hardware) when I rebuilt it and put it in a skyline I used to have, it revved so high. That fat assed auto skyline had heaps of power with this thing's zed motor - alas to metal heaven it has gone. My main focus has been to keep it dry and straight and it has mostly been that until recently. I was gearing up to do work on it pre covid lockdown but I haven't been able to access it since lockdown started. It's had a rallying history and the suspension and engine modifications show that - so does the replacement of both quarter panels. The car is stripped of tar sheets ready for seam welding as I thought I'd tighten it up, remove the quarters and the cowl and strip it to bare metal, maybe cold gal the inside. I'm not sure, suggestions welcome on how to prep the body as I'm in the planning phase of the 48 resto (which includes sale as a potential option). How about I turn it into a convertible? I think that it would be really interesting I'm info gathering at this stage, assessing options for a project plan. I appreciate you all being interested. J

Thanks heaps for that guys - I was a a bit bummed out by that, it used to be perfect. FYI it is HS30-00048. Additionally, I found https://www.panchkits.com/ will make a carbon fibre roof for a 240Z which I hope helps someone if they need it. Cheers John