New to the forum from Lompoc, CA

[mark belrose]

Hey all, I'm Mark Belrose, and have been lurking these forums for some time but decided to finally get off my butt and register.

I've got two 1970 240Zs. The first is a nicely done VIN 72XX car with an L28 block, flat head pistons, .480 lift cam, and E88 head with big valves feed by stock SUs. The suspension consist of Ground Control coil-overs, bigger sway bars, etc... I've got vented rotors on the front and a disc brake conversion on the rear, and an R200 LSD. Its also got a fairly fresh bright red paint job done by a guy who has painted various award winning cars displayed in hot rod magazines. I used to autocross and open track it, and the nice paint quickly got dinged up following Porsches with steam roller stickies kicking rubber and rocks up onto my immaculate car.

Hence, the second 1970 240Z, vin 81XX. On my various work-related travels throughout the country, I noticed an old beat up 240Z with SCCA decals on it in an auto repair shop's parking lot in Ridgecrest, CA. I'd seen it for several years and had been leaning on the shop owner to sell it to me. It belonged to a marine who had since transferred to Guantanamo and hadn't been heard from in numerous years. The shop owner finally acquiesed and sold me the car with title and the old SCCA log book for $2k. The car looked ugly and my wife didn't like it in the garage. I'd told her I was going to part it out, but after a couple weeks of feigned sadness, she relented to my desire to restore and campaign the car.

It turned out to be a major find. I sure had not idea at the time. The car was originally raced back in 1971 at Riverside and Willow Springs by Bill Martin. It was once rolled at the Springs and the old bondo on the car's roof is very cracked after sitting for decades in the desert. The car had the following: original ARE magnesium rims, triple 44 PHHs, 1961 corvette cross-flow radiator, and most of the parts BRE sold back at that time. I've since sold the rims to Ron Carter for his beautiful BRE replica, as I was pretty nervous about going 150 mph at California Speedway on 35 year old mags. He also purchased that car's original motor. The current engine compartment is shown within the Racing Photos section shown on this website. If my wife knew the actual cost of developing the car, there's a distinct possibility I'd be single right now. The car is currently campaigned with the Vintage Auto Racing Association which runs at tracks in CA, NV, and AZ.

[ChrisA]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the club officially. From what I've heard from Ron Carter and John Coffey (sp?) you've got some nice cars.

Regards,

Chris A.

[Ron Carter]

Hi Mark...

This is a good group. Glad you found your way over here. As you can see by the post above your reputation precedes you.

R

All of us on CZC promise not to tell your wife what you have spent on your cars

[Carl Beck]

Hi Mark:

Good to see you here, and I'm sure you will have a lot to contribute.

Aren't you glad you didn't sell that car in 2000?

kind regards,

Carl

Carl Beck

Clearwater, FL USA

http://ZHome.com

[Chino 240Z]

Mark, though you loose a little seat time, but you can gain it back in her agreeing to new parts, hoods, paint, tires and more events if you get her behind the wheel! Worked for me.

[DatsunZGuy]

Nice to see another Z guy from Lompoc on the forum.

Have we met?

[mark belrose]

Nice to see another Z guy from Lompoc on the forum.

Have we met?

I don't believe I've seen your car or met you, since I usually keep my eye out for 240's in the area. Is your car being driven?

I showed my race car at the Ryan Park car show a couple of years ago, but other than that my car doesn't get a lot of local exposure. Some kiddy-car dragster with a stuffed bear in the driver's seat beat me our in the Competition Car category. Most likely you might have seen my bright red 240Z with Centerlines, which is my semi-daily driver.

Mark

[DatsunZGuy]

Weren’t you the guy that dragged me up Figueroa Mountain road in near 100 degree heat on a bicycle ride last month?

Cheers!

Ed

The guy who can't draft to save his life

[=Enigma=]

Welcome to the fray. Let's see some pics! Sounds like you've got some nice rides.

[jmortensen]

Mark's street car is amazingly clean. His race car I haven't seen yet...

Nice to see you here Mark.

[Ron Carter]

Having seen BOTH of Mark's Z's I can tell you that they are both beautiful cars in their own way. His early series one red Z is one of the cleanest cars I have seen. His race car, while not as pretty, certainly makes up for it in handling, power and speed...

[mark belrose]

Thanks all for the nice comments on my cars. I'll try to make some time this evening to upload some pre-restoration and current photos of my race car.

Weren’t you the guy that dragged me up Figueroa Mountain road in near 100 degree heat on a bicycle ride last month?

Cheers!

Ed

The guy who can't draft to save his life

Ok Ed, you got me on that one, hiding behind your screen name and all. If you'd actually gotten off your butt, finished your 240Z and gotten it out on the road, I'd have taken notice of your car immediately. hehe

Mark