3 hours ago, Namerow said:

If, by 'damage', you're referring to the discoloration on the bumper face, it's caused by the fumes from the exhaust.

It looks bent around the exhaust pipe. Maybe backed the pipe in to something and it caused some damage.

Good

Not so good, but not terrible. The bumper looks a bit dinged up on the bottom too.

That seller 911r has legions of bat followers who droolover their driving videos and art pics. I haven't looked at the listing but I would guess no one has pointed out any of the issues beyond the mismatched paint work. Good from far...

Another reason to look @ a car before bidding/purchasing

Another VRP car. Already sold once for $101,240.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-380/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-93/

1 hour ago, Zed Head said:

Another VRP car. Already sold once for $101,240.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-380/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-93/

Missing dovetail on the passenger door, photo 150. Also the rubber weather strip under the door. They weren’t there in 2019 when it was last on BAT. I just remanufactured the early pre 1973 dovetails for my 1970/71 240Z as they were no longer available. Also did the plastic grease reservoir for the steering rack and the plastic cover for the battery. The Vintage Z cars were restored with parts that were available at the time, 1997/98; not always period correct parts but they did the best they could.

RESTORATION

Customer excitedly bursts into my now closed shop "Mike, you've gotta check out my 240 - I just had it restored". This is the same chap that wasted a fair amount of my time a few months ago when I explained the restoration process. At that time his only question was "why does it cost so much". That was followed, almost without taking time to breathe, "I don't wanna do all that"! Anyway, I go outside to check out his beauty only to find that it had recently suffered a rather cheap, glass-in, paint job, a new set of incorrect seat covers complimented with mags that are too wide sporting new tires - clearly not a restoration.

The industry recognized definition of a restoration is to first reduce the car to a shell with just enough suspension to roll the car around as required. Next it goes to a stripper who removes all of the paint, undercoating, sound deadener and rust to expose what I call the "sins". Sins are the holes in the body that resulted from the rust being removed by the stripping process and or repairs done to the body in the past that, in most cases, were poorly executed. Yes, one may strip the body by applying paint stripper and scraping the layers of old paint off but this takes way too much time and doesn't expose all of the sins. Of course, the chap doing the stripping MUST know his craft and apply the correct media otherwise there could be problems no one wants or needs. The pictured 510 wagon went through the stripping process using 2 different types of media. The fellow who did the job is very experienced and knows his craft. Many, many years ago I restored a 74.5 260 and an 82 ZX which were both stripped using plastic media. I was very happy with the results but plastic seems to have fallen out of favor as I couldn't find anyone to do the 510 with plastic.

The next step is body and paint. The body shell may be mounted on a a rotisserie which could make working on the body shell easier - each case is different. All of the unacceptable sheet metal is replaced with new metal which is carefully, and hopefully, done in a way to replicate the original process. Major ripples, dents and or unevenness are treated with hammers/dollies or rivets and pullers. Bondo or plastic filler is used to smooth out minor imperfections. Now we're ready for the paint booth. Interesting to note - about 90% of the dirt that finds its way onto new paint jobs comes off of the painter. Most painters now use a one time use suit and hood.

While the car is making its way through the body and paint shop is when all of the stuff you removed to reduce the car to a shell gets the business. Engine and trans rebuild, heater restoration, gauge restoration/repair, fastener replating, suspension powder coating, seat rebuilding, etc. Yes, the list is much longer than I've outlined but each system needs to be addressed and now is the best time to do it. Now is NOT the time to say "well it just costs too much to address X. NO, now is the time.

Just got a VERY important call so I'll finish later.