Uh, Frank? Your car is BLUE, not Copper. (Psst! Maybe you can tell him how your car turned blue? Your stories ARE interesting and well written.) Be careful though. You don't want your hat to get too tight. LOL.

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1985 300ZX- GLL Dark Pewter Metallic - Survivor

https://enchroma.com/pages/color-blindness-test

??

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- Seth
Current:1972 240z 5.3L
Former 73 240z LT1 owner

Haha! Yeah, I guess I skipped over a detail or two in that story.

When I sold the car in the mid-1980s it was falling apart; the hatch could be lifted off the car (rusted hinges), the driver's door was held closed by a piece of string, the clutch and brake cylinders drained themselves empty in an hour and the gearbox was stuck in 3d gear. Both rear fenders were bubbling rust and the exhaust had fallen off and been welded back up at least a dozen times. A jealous girlfriend had snapped the antenna off the car.

Sad to say I actually drove the car in that condition for awhile, using very creative techniques to start and shift without a clutch and stop with the handbrake only, dodging thru corner gas stations to avoid red lights, etc. When the gearbox stuck in 3d that was the end of it. I was moving up here and already towing a trailer behind my van so I couldn't pull the Z. I didn't have enough money to fix it so I sold it to a guy there who had been hounding me to sell him the car for years. As soon as I got up here I started calling back there in NC to buy the car back but he had already moved away and taken it with him.

My Z went thru 5 short-term owners, who stripped it of all the fancy street race stuff I had on it and pretty much abused it. The final owner took it home in trade for painting a shed and added it to his collection of 3 other 240 parts cars out behind the barn. He was a young Mercedes mechanic and decided to restore one of the Zs in his spare time. He chose mine (actually played Einie Meany Miney Moe). He did all the body work, rebuilt the engine, swapped in a 5spd gearbox and R200 rear, and tore out the interior. When he painted it he had access to several gallons of free Mazda Miata blue paint. That fit his budget so that's what he used. I found the car and bought it back shortly after he had repainted it.

I hated it when I first saw it and still want Jim Kinsella to paint it Pearlescent Pewter, but the blue color is growing on me and now, after 12 years, I might leave it alone. I've done a lot more work to the car and now have easily $20,000+ invested in it. Jim's outstanding paint jobs are close to $10,000 now, so maybe I've reached the input limit to improving the car.

It is very dependable (now that it has a new fuel pump) and as safe as a 50 year old classic can be, with many upgrades. New 200+bhp L-28 driveline, new radiator, new 15" wheels and rubber, full suspension and brake upgrades, restored interior, some other odds and ends, spare rebuilt original L-24 engine (now bored and stroked to 2626cc) and trick head, carbs, headers and exhaust. If I leave it alone now and just drive it I might focus on getting the rest of my time just having fun with it. Yes I would love to see it wear a beautiful Kinsella pearlescent paint job, but I could drive a lot of happy Z miles on $10,000.

PLUS: I just got the first of two new hips replaced so now I will be able to get into and out of the car without drawing a crowd with their cameras!

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1970 240Z

Hey Seth, just to follow-up on this search, Vinny Bedini just got a small cache of the old 5-louver inspection lids. They won't last long; 860-355-18-twenty-nine.
Frank T

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1970 240Z

Thanks for keeping me in mind Frank! I think I am all set now. Currently aiming to focus on getting the new motor mounted and running next

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- Seth
Current:1972 240z 5.3L
Former 73 240z LT1 owner