GK510

I would tend to agree with what many others have said based on the fact that you seem to be heading down the path of keeping the car original. If the car is going to be used as mainly a weekend cruiser with maybe the occasional spirited drive, I would vote use the original engine to make the car complete. Particularly if you are ever planning on having the car on display at shows etc. When your standing there beside your pride an joy, and someone comes and asks you about the car, how much better will it feel to say that it's all original, matching numbers etc, rather than saying, "it's all original except for the engine, but I do have that hidden away under a bench somewhere at home." If you plan to regularly give it a hiding on the track,then I would go with an alternative engine, but it would have to be L series of course!

260Z 2+2 in Lilydale for $600. http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/melbourne-region/cars-vans-utes/datsun-260z-2-2-6-cyl-coupe-/1048335842 Looks to be well rusty but may be worth look at that price for anyone chasing a few bits and pieces. Looks like to original twin carbs are sitting on the back seat in the last photo.

I've always has a soft spot for early Celicas too. If I hadn't have got a 1600 as my first car, I dare say I quite likely would have ended up with a TA22. I was actually eyeing off that white one in SA just the other day while doing a bit of random browsing.

Nice one. Good to hear you took it out for a squirt. I hope you got some pics of the 240Z amongst all the other machinery. Having only just joined the forum, I read through your whole build thread last night. What an epic journey. I can only imagine how over the moon you must be with the results. The car looks mint! Although currently living in Perth, I'm originally from the northern beaches in Sydney and know James, although havent been in touch with him for quite a while since I moved to the other side of the country. Good to see the quality of his work is still top notch as it always has been. I suppose if you were ever feeling disheartened during your build, you could have just dropped in and had a look over James' Z and it would have given you all the motivation you would have needed to keep going. I was with James when he first took has car to the Datnats at Goulburn in 2005 I think it was, and I remember all the comments and praise he was getting about the car. You would most likely be getting similar praise now whenever you take the car out. Cheers, Graham

I assume you're referring to the 240 in the link I posted as an example of the reserve prices on ebay rather than the 260 that this thread was originally about? If so, there is something potentially "interesting" going there. I saw the gumtree ad you mentioned at $19k. This ad seems to no longer be listed. But I stumbled across something else interesting while browsing other ads on ebay. If you have a look at the ebay links below which are for 4 different vehicles, you will notice a common theme if you look through the photos. They either have photos that have been taken in the same under cover car park, or if you look in the background of the photos, you will see some of the other cars that are currently listed on ebay. Maybe I'm being cynical and reading too much into it but you will also see that the listings on ebay are listed under 2 different user names. Not sure why you would do this if it was the same person selling the vehicles. I think it might be a case of someone who is doing a bit of buying and reselling to try and make a bit of profit. Perhaps they contacted the original seller of the 240z and offered higher price than your $10k d3c0y, which the seller agreed to hence the backflip (not cool in my books if they had made an agreement already to sell it but unfortunately not illegal) And now the new owner has stuck it straight onto gumtree at the $19k price and then onto ebay. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Datsun-240z-Sports-1972-2D-Coupe-classic-collectors-MUST-SELL-/231241817163?pt=AU_Cars&hash=item35d7161c4b&_uhb=1 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1969-holden-ht-kingswood-sedan-/231241778418?pt=AU_Cars&hash=item35d71584f2&_uhb=1 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Datsun-120y-2-door-coupe-manual-WOW-with-TURBO-A14-/171342606343?pt=AU_Cars&hash=item27e4d0b007&_uhb=1 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/datsun-120y-fastback-2-door-coupe-RARE-with-AIRCON-WoW-/171342609029?pt=AU_Cars&hash=item27e4d0ba85&_uhb=1 Just a bit of food for thought....../takes detective hat off.

As mentioned by Gav above, it is an early build at #319 but doesn't have a matching numbers engine. In my opinion, the body doesn't present as well as you would expect given the asking price and the wording of the ad refers to it as being "immaculate". Considering it has apparently been stored indoors for the last 6 or so years since the body work was done, I expected that the standard of the paintwork would be quite a bit better. While I'm no paint expert, it appears to have been painted in acrylic rather than 2k. I think it may be reasonably solid in some of the more rust prone areas but it was a bit hard to tell what may be hiding under the body work that has been done to date so I have arranged to have another look at it in some better light. In my opinion, from what I've seen so far, it still has quite a bit of work and dollars to go into it to bring it up to the standard of the advertised price. Feel free to PM me if anyone has any other specific queries and I'll try to answer them if I can.

The reserve isn't listed for all to see, but if someone does enter a bid and it hasn't met the reserve, it will say "Reserve not met" underneath the current highest bid. If you have a look at this 240Z ebay ad you will see what I'm referring to....http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Datsun-240z-Sports-1972-2D-Coupe-classic-collectors-MUST-SELL-/231241817163?pt=AU_Cars&hash=item35d7161c4b&_uhb=1

While it does look neat and it is tempting to chuck a bid on it, I would take a punt that it has a reserve price of substantially more than the starting price of $15,000. But I guess we won't know until someone does put a bid on it. Hmmmm.......I wonder how much transport is from Kurri Kurri to WA?

Spotted this on Gumtree a little while ago. Looks like theres a fair bit of work to go into it but may be worth a look or enquiry if you happen to be down Hobart way. http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/blackmans-bay/cars-vans-utes/datsun-240z-/1047947219

Hey PB, as far as budget goes, it obviously all comes down to the individual car that may be on offer as to the sort of money I would spend. Just as a guide and without laying all my cards on the table, I wouldn't be adverse to looking at cars that I think are worth $20-$30k. Noting that not all cars being advertised with asking prices in this ballpark are necessarily worth the asking price. But I would also look at cheaper offerings that may require a bit more work to bring them up to scratch. It would also be preferable if the vehicle was in WA for obvious reasons but realise it's highly likely that I will need to travel to inspect cars interstate. Here a couple of pics of the 1600 as requested. These were taken just after I had unearthed the car from being stored. Hopefully it's not sacrilege to post these on a Z forum. I did recently start a thread on Ozdat for the 1600 so I won't go into too much detail here but the plan is to just tidy up a few things, maybe some period mods, but generally keep it original looking.

Hi all, My name is Graham. I like going to the movies, eating at nice restaurants and going for long walks on the beach. But on a serious note, I thought I should probably do the right thing and introduce myself as I have been "lurking" on here a bit over the past few weeks. While I'm not an overly "cashed up lurker" , I have recently started actively looking at getting myself a Z. The forum does have a great amount of info and links to other sources which have been invaluable to broadening my knowledge as far as Z's go. It's good to see there is still a core of people that are active on the forum given that bookface now seems to be the preferred method of communication for many which has seen the demise of a number of other forums.After reading through many threads, it seems there is a few on here that appear to have an encyclopeaedic knowledge of the Z car. While I've not had a Z before, I have had the Datsun love for quite a while, mainly revolving around 1600's. I had a '69 model as my first car which ended up having an NA FJ20 installed, I also had a '71 model auto as a daily driver for a while, and currently have a 70 model all original stocker that I am currently getting back on the road after it has been stored for the past 5 or so years. I come from a mechanical trade background but haven't been swinging the spanners for a living for a while. Now office based But its well and truly time for me to get back into it after hours as far as Datsuns are concerned and what better way than buying myself another one, in the form of a Z, to add to the collection. I'll probably start a wanted thread but I am in the market for preferably a 240Z but would consider a 260Z (not 2+2), doesnt need to be an immaculate original restoration, but I would like it to be L series powered, with a body that doesn't immediately need to be stripped, media blasted and repaired for fear of it falling apart. But if there was something that has already been "restored" out there for sale, I would consider paying the money required for a good example. Hopefully It won't be too long before I can post a "build" thread due to finding a suitable car. Cheers, Graham.

You were spot on in regards to the knob. It is indeed for A/C. Does anyone happen to know anything about this car? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/240-Z-/301194038916 Ebay item number: 301194038916

Hmmm......I spotted this earlier too. I am in the process of arranging to go and have a look at it. I shall report back regarding the number once I've seen it. I agree re the price being top dollar. But as you say, it will all come down to how the good the body is and how negotiable that price is. If the pic of the centre console is anything to go by, I'd say the interior still needs a fair bit of work. And it definitely needs some new shoes! Just don't tell anyone else about it until I've had a look OK