I recently found a 240z with an lt-1 vette engine swap (350)
headers electronic ignition. quadrajet 4 bbl. carburetor 202 FI heads; road race hydraulic cam, koni coil-over adjustable suspension,
needs speedo cable, cooling fan needs relay, gas gauge needs sender, weather stripping needs replacing. drivers door rust at bottom has new door for it, windshield cracked and roof has dent from damage.
Is 3k a good deal for this car? Im thinking about pulling the trigger and am hoping it doesnt have floor rotted out hidden. Wanted to ask you guys before I pull trigger and go see and purchase it.

with these cars it all depends on what you really want. parts wise, the car is a good deal. if you don't know how to work on the car yourself it is not, as it will turn into a money pit when you have to hire someone to turn wrenchs at 75- 100 per hour. did the person put it together right, or just throw it together, does it have much rust, is it driveable? these are all questions you have to ask yourself. are you going to be committed to the project, or will it be another unfinished project left to rust in your back yard? you can't think this can be a daily driver, as it can not, it is almost 40 years old. you will have good backup from the club on all questions, as there is hundreds of years of knowledge between us. if you get stuck on the project and can't do it yourself, we have our resident mechanic, vinnie, you can hire to finnish it. as for parts, everyone has parts for sale in the club, such as i have a windshield for sale, and our brother in r.i. always has parts, and our brother in rockland always parts cars. good luck and let us know what your doing. mike

Good advice Mike!

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

i wouldn't call my car a daily driver but definitely a driving work in progress. i think it's possible all depending on the car. but if your looking to have a show car or a nicely restored project then yeah it won't be a daily driver off the bat. mine i just did the things to get her on the road first. i'm driving it now and still have all the original worn out bushings and shocks and springs, hoses etc etc. i replace that stuff as i go along. heck i bought my car non running, two flat to the rims tires, sitting in a rock quarry for 500 bucks. was it a good deal? of course the car is worth more than that in parts. i just weighed the pros and cons. it was 5 speed with only 104,000 miles on it. the drivetrain is worth more than 500 bucks. but just to get the car in the state it is in now i have already invested over 1,000 bucks maybe closer to 1500 and that is not counting all the free parts from fellow club members. so if you are committed to the project go for it. i love every minute working on my Z!

Someone Beat me to the punch! A deposit was put on it on saturday.
I have a lead on another Z...Anyone got a computer and wiring harness for an l28et? I am mechanically inclined. I did a motor swap on a 91 mr2 turbo, and have been looking forward to trying my hand at bodywork lately.

Eugene, just a quick word of consolation about losing that V8 Z:

I suspect you would have found a LOT wrong with that car if you had bought it.

Most of us consider the 240Z with a powerful V-8 to be the ultimate driving experience, with Cobra-like performance. Guys have spent fortunes trying to duplicate the old Scarab V8 Z cars of the 1970s and 80s. Their results were seldom safe enough to trust on the road. The first guy who tried to stuff a Chevy small block into a 240Z described his result as "a freaky mess that cost me a fortune" (his words). He went on to create Scarab Engineering, who professionally put SBCs into 240Zs at their Oklahoma plant.

A new Scarab cost an owner nearly $20,000 back in the '70s (including the cost of the car). That was a staggering amount for the day, and the cost of professionally-done V8 240Zs has remained very high over the years. Some good wrench-turners have managed to engineer their own versions of the Scarab in their back yards (ask Clive), but it generally ends up costing them a ton of money (ask Clive) and they never consider the cars 'done' (ask Clive).

So for all the time, labor and expense normally put into a V8 conversion in a 240Z, for someone to even consider selling it for $3,000 makes me suspect there must be something wrong with it. Maybe the car wasn't yet roadworthy, or even safe to drive.

We have a handful of V8 240Z owners in this Club, and none of them would ever think of selling their carz for anything close to $3,000.

Hey Clive ~ how much of your EVIL-Z can I buy for $3K?

Hmmm, $3k can buy the wheels!

3k for a LT1 powered 240z is very low. Like Frank said, who knows how safe this car was and the real shape of the body. I also know it is much better buying something someone else lost interest in or a finish product. The time/cash that goes into building any car really can get out of control when you are building your dream car.

I see LSx Z cars for sale @ the $10k-$15k mark and I think they are a steal! I think so because I built my car 1.5 times already and like Frank said...they are never "done".

_________________
Clive Bogle President - New York Z Car Club - NYZCC.COM
1971 240Z - LS1/T56
1974 260Z-L30
1976 Fairlady Z

The first question I would have asked is in what part of the country did
the car spend the early years of its life? That would have told me a
lot right there, even if not conclusively.


FWIW,..........~Rick~

_________________
All Z Best,.......Kathy & Rick

1969 Z.CAR (#00013 10/69) 8/30/76
1969 ITSA.Z (#00171 11/69) 8/24/73
1970 OLD.Z (#06289 6/70) original owner
1971 510 2dr since 12/31/75
1969 1600 rdstr (our 160-Z)
1971 (#19851 1/71) sold
1975 75.Z (#01343 1/75)

I found a nice Z in the south....but need to figure out how to get it up here! I dont have a truck or trailer. Toyota rents trucks, but some of the dealers only allow a 500 mile radius and have tracking on them and charge if you go over. The other dealer I called said unlimited mileage but not sure if they have a tow hitch for my "rack that hooks into the hitch" that im going to get from uhaul to bring my car back up to ct. Any other ideas on how to get the car up here from the south?

Train.

There are services which will take your Z to the local train yard and load it onto a northbound flatcar or boxcar and bring it all the way up here to CT. Cost is reasonable. Time is the problem ~ they don't move the flatcar until it has enough cars on it to be profitable for them.

Depending on where the car is, you could talk to AmTrak about the cost and the time.

UHaul rents trucks with hitches on them, as well as wheel dollies which fit on the hitch. You would want the smallest truck they offer, since you're not hauling any real freight. You should discuss what would be cheapest for you, either traveling down to the car by bus and renting a truck and dolly there (they would arrange it to be waiting for you), or renting the whole mess up here and dragging the empty dolly all the way down there. If you opted that way, I would suggest putting the dolly into the truck rather than dragging it empty, bouncing around all the way down there.

There are also transporter companies which will load the car onto a car carrier (along with other cars) and bring it up to a common drop point (NYC is a usual point). Then you would have to decide how to get the car home from there.

If the car is drivable, you can get yrslf down to the car, register it with a temporary transporter tag (requires insurance) and try driving it home. Most fun, if nothing falls off along the way.

Frank

Open trailer, car hauling companies, typically charge $500-$700 from Florida to New York. It takes about 1 to 2 weeks from arrangement to delivery. That is a small price to pay for a rust free Z car. Don't haul it if it's not truly rust free. We have plenty of those here.

_________________
-Dave
76Z Turbo'd
72 In Progress---DONE!

I was going to rent a truck up here from toyota. Then rent just the dolly from down in south at uhaul. I also need to full trailer car carrier because its a rear wheel drive car dont I? That wont fit in a uhaul truck. Problem with Uhaul is that they charge enormous ammounts for mileage. Not bad for an in town move but almost more expensive than a shipping company if your driving about 1k miles each way like I would be. 600 in mileage fees plus gas plus rental fee. I think I have my plan I just need to finalize it in the next few weeks. You would think there would be a company that offers an economical solution for people to rent a truck and dolly to transport a car or boat yourself across far distances.

We agree.
One of our long-range goals is to have a sound, reliable car trailer available for Club members to haul their Zs around on. For a Club with no dues, you can sort of imagine how long that's likely to take us.

Wrong!

You might check w/ Penske Truck Rental. I used them to move up here from TX and there was no milage charge. The trailer they gave me would've easily handled my Z,but I used it for the Blazer and the Z went inside the 26' truck. (Don't tell them if you're going to do this) I did need a loading dock to get the car on/off the truck,tho. If I recall,it was just a few hundred $,not including diesel.