acf321

For me the choice is simple ... the car costing me a total bomb ... and to finish it and put cheaper watanabe knockoffs would be a somewhat futile exercise.. Having said that, I will have to wait some time before I can buy them... I have written to watanabe in the US and I will post the response of my findings when they come through. FWIW, if anyone is interested in buying these rims as you say you are, perhaps I will enquire about buying 'several sets' and see what form of discount might apply in this instance, particularly from the perspective of shipping. I'm thinking about buying mine in the new year anyway, so plenty of time. cheers

Just emptied the vomit bowl .. Agree Lurch watanabes are exxy ... no argument here ! I'm actually yet to find anything on a 240Z that is not ridiculously overpriced.

oops... just checked my last quote ... it was on the wrong side of A$3500 !! apologies.

Thanks NZeder ... good photos there. Ok. I spoke to Alan last night and he suggested the wheels on the silver car (and I concur) are; Watanabe RS R-Type 15", with the front most likely being 8*15 (zero offset), and the rears being 9*15 (-13 offset). To me, the orange car might have 16's ... as the rear wheel arch is just all rim there, but it does look excellent. For what its worth, a smaller rims weighs much less, and tends to carry less weight in rubber also (especially on width). I personally think the 15" looks the best rim size, however requires the car to be lowered to just the right height so as to have the rim/tyre nicely fill out the arch. On this site, www.aerodyne.net, there are some very good pictures of Watanabe styles, and colours, as well as tables of all the available sizing. If you look at it, these 15" R-Types are only available in 2 offsets, so we are getting closer. Alan suggested its smarted to err on the side of conservatism also, so as not to have a problem of the tyres rubbing on the inside of the wheel arch lips or front valance. Also, the wheels that Aerodyne has listed for the 240Z include the following varieties; 1) R-Type, 2) F8, and 3) F8F, and 4) A/B Type. Also, the R-type and F8 are available in Aluminium, and magnesium (just in case you're feeling very rich). Another point, you can order your Wat's with 'machined' lip or with full colour across the whole rim. The colours (shown on Aerodyne) include; matt black, grey, silver, gold, blue, red, yellow, chrome, zinc, brown and one or two others. Gotta say, the Watanabes look SO damned good on a well sorted 240Z, its pretty hard to go past them. Now ... where is that A$2500 I left lying about ?

Hi Mossy .. no he just said 15" R type .... thats a really horny car that one you posted and its good to see it in orange too So ,,, what are the offsets then team ? Mossy .. do you have a contact for the owner of that orange car?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EKuXCTq4Hc&feature=related In this video you'll see what is one on my favourite 240z's. I wrote to the owner and he tells me the wheels are 15" Watanabe R-Type. What he cannot tell me (as he english goes only so far, and my Japanese stops at 'Honda' and 'Nissan') is the offsets. I can see that the front is narrower than the rears (from the lips). Can anyone identify what the actual offsets of these wheels are, as I am looking at potentially buying wats for the hornet, however I want to be sure I order the correct size. Cheers Adam

Sorry Lurch ... I think I meant to say flat-top pistons. Yes Mike, they are 45mm OER's, which also are available in 47mm and 50mm. On another note, MIA just called to tell me the engine looks to be 'very good' and appears to have had little use. The inlet and exhaust sides have both been well ported, which should save some billable hours !! So it appears at least the engine is not the heap of sh%t the body was!

Week 12... Nat's away again, but I called them mid week and Mike told me they'd been "a grindin' and a hammerin' all week" .. Surely its GOT to be getting close to something resembling a car by now.. more photos next week. In the mean time, I bought an L24 (P30 & E88) and am having it sent to M.I.A Engine Services today. Like the car, its a sight unseen jobbie, so I have prepared myself for a less than spectacular outcome. However, James will be boring and shaving the block for the new overside domed pistons, and the head will be completely worked inc; valves, springs, porting, shaving etc. We'll be running 11:1, so premium unleaded sounds like it'll be necessary. Just bought a set of 'O.E.R racing carburetors' from the US and matching alloy inlet manifold (see pics). From pretty much every source I've spoken to, the OER's are a very high flowing carb, that as one member suggested flowed up to 17cfm more per port than a 45mm weber in tests. In case you've not heard of them, OER started when Mikuni bought Solex in the 1960's and later changed the name to OER. They use weber jets and tubes (so are very tunable with lots of available parts). They are very similar in design to the Mikuni, but have aluminium bodies for 'added lightness' and are fully adjustable externally. Here's some photo's ... pretty aren't they! Cheers Adam

240Z new OEM boot lock mechanism is still available from the US ... I bought one recently, as are the OEM door locks ... Boot lock is about $US140 and the doors are $120 or so a side ... very exxy, but they are OEM and new. The door locks are not worth paying the freight for, but the boot lock is very smartly chromed.

Rev ,,, its worth more than $12k mate ... its beautiful. Someone told me today there is a 260Z for sale in Sydney at Lee's asking $48,000..... good luck with it all. Adam

allocate the wrong side of $30k to do the job properly .. however, I suspect that a very well sorted and largely original 240z will escalate in price in the next upswing. I recently read an article from Jay Leno who suggested that series 1 Mx5's and original 240z's are seriously lagging their European equivalents and should justifiably appreciate strongly as teh GFC subsides and collectors / investors look for their next 'bargain'.

mmm ... i love these posts about "don't care about condition" ... just try to restore one properly on a small budget!! Not trying to be a smarty pants, but bad zeds are really really bad !!

ditto !

I'm going to need one of these 280ZX dizzy's for the brown hornet .. Can anyone tell me if they're avail new, and what is the price? Cheers

Thanks again Pauly. Anyone else have a set of front bumperettes to sell me for a 240z? I am looking for a set for my project. I'm in Sydney. Cheers Adam

Week 11.. Did not see the car as Nat's away, but they've done a lot of work apparently. Went down to see James Flett (MIA Engine Service) today to talk the spec of the motor. As you might have seen, I'm sticking with an L24 (albeit in name only). Today I bought a block and head (P30 and E88) and work will begin once I get it (hence the reason for the sale of my L26). James (and others) have suggested that the free revving character and flat torque curve of the L24 is very often overlooked by the outright pursuit of CC's. I've been in a few L28 cars, and while I was not left wondering about the torque, revvability (is that a word?) was not really a feature of these cars. The L24 with be a peaky high RPM device sure to put a grin on my dial. Some of the ingredients we've agreed will include; US Cam (not sure of make, but could be Rebello), total head port, value job etc, much lightened flywheel, balanced everything, custom flat-top pistons, O.E.R 45mm side-drafts, Custom headers, elec dizzy and ignition, and 8,000rpm capability. We'll be looking for 100hp/litre, so doing the maths, added to a 950kg or so body, she should be able to show a pretty clean pair of heels to .... literally anything should I feel the need. FWIW, this car should have an 18% better power/weight ratio than a 930 porsche!, or be in line with a 996. Here are the photos of James' car .. I was absolutely gob smacked by how beautiful it was in the flesh. I love the colour, and given my car was orange from new, its a fair bet i'll be using this same colour. James has 15" panasport's with Dunlop Formula-R semi-slicks. The overall condition and build quality of this car frankly is beyond anything i've seen. It really has to be seen to be believed. Can you believe he offered me a drive and I said no!!! Wife was waiting. rgds Adam

Car looks absolutely fantastic 240Zoom.. Do you have a name of that colour and code? You mentioned Platinum & Chrysler is it off a 300c? Really going to look awsome with those Wats as well. Cheers acf321

Thanks Pauly & Mike .. Appreciate the assistance. Pauly, give me a bell if you have them and I can shoot over tomorrow some time if that suits. Mike, I'll see how things end up and let you know if I need them. Cheers

At this stage, it does not include the gearbox, as I am likely to need this for my L24.

I'll bet there are a stack of these things sitting round some garages .. I need two front and two rear bumper bar over riders. It they have the rubber pads on them thats even better, if not, still let me know. I'm in Sydney. Cheers Adam

Ok .. been to see about my new motor. I will sell my complete engine with the triple 40mm italian webers, genie extractors, elec dizzy, asking $2000. Engine is located in Sydney. I reckon thats about as good as a deal as you could get. PM if interested. Cheers

I have a matching set of three 40mm Italian Webers that I am selling. PM me if you are interested.

I have a set of Genie 6 into 2 into one, which I am told are a good setup for the L24. Drop me a PM if you're interested. Rgds Adam

Now Galderdi, how are 'our' prototypes coming on ?? Any pictures or updates? I think I counted about 60 orders there ,,, just wait till the Yanks get a hold of them !! Cheers Adam

Look, the whole lot can go and I'm reasonable on price, but I'm waiting to speak to my builder tomorrow to get his quote on my L24 ... If like Mike said, we can use any of this for my new motor, then i'll let you fellas know what I can part with. I know what I was quoted for 45mm webers, so if you are genuinely interested in my 40's and inlet manifold (that is "CANNON" brand stamped) then drop me a PM. I'd prefer to sell in one lot though as the engine is a genuine goer. At the end of the day, it'll probably be the lot (assuming I do not recycle anything) .. so if you have genuine interest, just drop me a PM and tell me what you want and what you want to pay. I should have more clarity on my L24 by Friday (and again if I want to keep anything) Also got a very cool front f-glass spoiler, 15" performance alloys with rubber (see my pics on 'the brown hornet') and probably good nick OEM steering wheel that i'll be moving on as well.