1970 240Z in Moriarity, NM

[Zak's Z]

Is there rust near the battery tray? Hard to see in the photo, but thats a bad area to have rusted out. It just might be paint or dirt, I cant tell because my work monitor is crappy. How is underneath the car? Pull the carpets back and look at the floors, and look under at the frame rails, are they rotted? How are the wheel wells?

I bought a z that was in decent shape other than it needed floor pans and rails. It turned out to be a pain in the a$$ to fix, and for the money I could have bought a better Z.

Im not trying to sway you from a diamond-in-the-rough, just have a real good look at it again. Pointing out rusty battery trays and floors and the like might also get you some leverage in getting a better price.

Zak

[BD240Z]

Galaxy,

I always ask to see the Title for any used car I buy before I make an offer. I'm looking for any inconsistencies and to confirm the numbers match. I also want to see who's name the title is in before I hand over the cash.

If they balk at me seeing the Title, I usually head the other way.

Good luck with your decision!

Bruce

[Galaxybj]

Good advice Bruce. After doing some zooming on a couple of the pictures more questions have come to mind as to what year it really is. In particular the photo that has the dash and console area in it. The dash appears to have a hole where the lighter would go and there appears to be a pin on the upper right side of the console in the area where the fuse cover would go. Which I assume would mean the fuse cover is hinged, which I am guessing the 72Z is. With this and what I have noted above, there may some fishy dealings here. Maybe someone in the past had a 72/73 that they used parts (LOTS of them) on this?

Carl, your one comment (Maybe there is a reason it's missing it's engine data tag. ) made me look over the pictures closer (zoom) Thank You!!

-Bill-

[dzrt1st]

Carl, Where on the firewall? I guess I don't recall the VIN being on the firewall.

FYI, Here is a picture of the VIN location on the firewall.

Todd

[Carl Beck]

Hi Bill:

Actually it was Enrique's comment about it being a Series II car.. that got me looking more carefully at the pictures.. then things didn't add up.

Series II cars entered production in Jan. of 71... and there were still a few Series I cars produced that month as well. So there were some crossover parts on the Jan. production cars... But not in 12/70 and not in the 17,000 VIN series that we had ever found...

So thanks really go to Enrique...

If you go back out to check the VIN stamped in the firewall - it's actually above and to the left of the brake booster on most Series I cars (but dzrt1st's picture is most helpful) .. and sometimes you have to pull the vacuum line aside... and clean the area to find it.

If it looks like it's been cut/pasted into the car (metal not matching up correctly or weld lines hidden around it etc) ... or it it's a different VIN - you'll know that something is out of wack... stolen maybe and VIN swapped...

FWIW

Carl B.

[Art@NissanSport]

That Z seems to be over priced for this area.

A lot of surface rust for a NM car. Some of my Z's have sat outside for years and never looked like that.

Where are the bumpers?

1K for a non-running Z in NM is $500.00 too much unless the vin number was super low and the car was completely in tact (bumper to bumper).

With that much neglect, I'll bet the dry rot on all the rubber is through the roof.

[agemeansnothing]

Hey Galaxybj, Moriarity is down by Albuquerque right?

[Galaxybj]

Yes, Moriarty is to the east of Albuquerque, about 20-25 miles.

Art: The bumpers are on a pallet close to the car. I have to agree with your thoughts on the price, but the seller said that is the price....period! If he doesn't get the price he plans on parting it, IF he can get enough people lined up for parts that equal/exceed what he is asking for the car as is.

[Art@NissanSport]

He'll have a hard time selling it for parts as well.

The sheetmetal is subpar (for this area). The interior is shot. The glass might be clean, but you can get that at the u-pull-it for almost nothing. The wheels are nothing special.

The only thing of real value is the SU's and the bumpers (if they are in good condition). And maybe the gas tank and hood have some value.

It would cost quite a few bucks to get that car back into decent shape and to start out 1k in the hole just doesn't make sense to me.

Something tells me he will settle for less once he finds out that he will never get the 1k he is asking for it.

[EScanlon]

Galaxy, if you can get a picture of the VIN Stamp on the firewall.

That is important to put the question of a Series II body in December 70 to rest.

[Arne]

Well, as the current owner of both a early '71 Series 1 and a late '71 Series 2, I'll add my thoughts.

The engine number is a good match to the 12/70 date and VIN on the plate. But everything else I see is wrong.

I'm ignoring the horizontal defroster, as enough of those rear windows have been replaced over the years to make that inconclusive.

But the steering wheel is definitely not Series 1. And Galaxybj noted that both the dash and the console appear to be from a later car as well.

The original color (seen in the dash picture just under the windshield) appears to be the later blue to me. But that's hard to tell from a picture. But it is blue, and the picture of the doorjamb plate shows the wheelhouse vinyl as either dirty white, or off-white. Blue Series 1 cars had either black or blue vinyl. White was matched with blue in '72, and off-white in '73.

There are too many emissions stickers on the underside of the hood for a '71, too.

The doorjamb VIN plate appears to show red paint across bottom from poor masking during a repaint. But there is no sign of red paint anywhere else on the car.

So my best guess is that it is a '72 or '73 with a late '71 engine and the doorjamb VIN plate to match. I'd also love to know what the stamped VIN on the firewall says.

Probably can't blame the current owner, I'll bet that engine swap happened years ago.

[Galaxybj]

Not sure if I will get the opportunity to get a photo of the VIN on the firewall or even get to look at the car again. Called the current owner and shared some of the thoughts here and asked if he had checked the VIN on the firewall yet (I had mentioned that to him last Friday or so) and he said he hadn't. I mentioned the price was a bit high and he got quite upset and hung up. So.....if he parts it out, as he did mention that today again, I hope he advertises, as I want some of the parts - if he is reasonable on pricing them.