Marty Rogan

Congrats! Especially on being able to do it on your own terms. I hope to do the same in another 4 1/2 years. We plan to move to a smaller house and a bigger garage. I hope to have space for at least 6 cars, so I will have room to do another restoration. I am hoping that Z prices don't get out of reach by the time I retire! Enjoy! Marty

I too got to be pretty good friends with Keith "2 Many Z's". He helped me out quite a bit with my '70 and '71 Z's. Being a Moderator, I think he got a little burnt out and got into a hassle with some people on the site and decided to stop coming here. The last I heard from Keith was about 5 years ago. He bought an old truck that he was working on. He still had his Z, but was not working on it much. Marty

It looks like it would be a good start to a restoration project. What condition are the frame rails and floor pans in? Do you have all of the interior parts, wiring , etc?

Did you leave the key on the "on" or "access" position, without starting the car? I heard that it can burn up a Pertronix. I went through 2 of them and switched to a ZX distributor and had no troubles since. Marty

Congrats!!! That's a great looking car. I love the color combo too. I have a soft spot for blue interiors, as I have a blue on blue '70. Enjoy! Marty

Hey Kmack, Good to hear you and the family are doing well. I went through a period where I did not have a Z for 11 years. Then the latent Z-Bug re-emerged and I ended up buying two of them. I suspect you will have another Z in your future at some point. I too was communicating frequently with Gary and Keith. I am glad to hear Gary is still kicking. I sent him a PM a while ago, but have not heard back from him. The last I heard from Keith was about 3+ years ago. He got dis-enchanted with this site for some reason, and we kept in touch through email. He still had his Z, but was getting more interested in trucks. He had injured his leg at work, which was slowing him down. As far as I know he is still living in Virginia. Stay in touch with us once in a while! Marty

Well, if you hear from Beandip, tell him I sent him a PM and would love to hear from him. Hope he is doing well. Marty

Does anyone know what became of @beandip? I used to talk with him a lot, but I have not heard form him in 2 -3 years. Marty

It's hard to tell from the picture, but my guess would be under-coating over spray. Have you tried gasoline on it. I believe that is what I used when I re-did my engine bay. Be sure to wipe it down right away though. Marty

Thanks Zedy. And it has your Momo steering wheel in it too! I would say your car turned out very well indeed.

Well he just bought the car and is very excited about it. I doubt he would sell it. Here are few pics of the Blue Z.

There's nothing wrong with the 903 Blue. I have a blue/blue '70 and I would not trade that for anything. If you need to re-do the interior, change it to blue! Yeah it's tough trying to buy a car long distance. Everything in the Midwest is usually very rusty, and you need to travel to get a good one. Except for that 29K mile one that a member here bought right in my back yard. I don't know how I missed that one.

Looks like a nice find Steve. Low rust is the key as you know. So it looks like you have a solid base to start from. The 903 blue is nice, but I like the yellow too. Can't got wrong with either. Enjoy the project. Marty

So, is your 280Z blue and needing paint? Maybe I saw you getting onto RT 53. I live right near Arlington Heights Road and Lake Cook Road. Marty

Where are you located? If you haven't already, join the Windy City Z Club. When they have their shows you can see plenty of nice Z's. I rarely see another old Z on the road. Just this summer I saw a 280Z a couple of times at Dundee and Rt. 53. I didn't get a good look at it, but it looked a little rough, definitely needing a paint job.

I know what you mean. I found my rust-free blue '70 in Cleveland. I had to go all the way to South Carolina for my yellow '71 and that was not totally rust free. Working on a rust free car is MUCH more enjoyable. Have fun with it.

Brookfield is about 30 - 40 minutes from me. Was it listed on Craigslist? There is a drain tube from the cowl area that dumps down at the rear part of the front fenders. It often get clogged with leaves and debris, leading to rusting out the lower part of the fender. Make sure that drain tube is clear. One of our members, Escanlon wrote up a fix to improve the drainage from that area. sorry, but I don't have time to search for it right now.

Dave, Congrats!! It looks like an incredible find for around $10K. I would say you did very well on it. I live in the NW Suburbs of Chicago. It is interesting that you found one so close to me. I would not have thought that there would be an original, rust-free 240Z in Chicago. What town was it in and how did you find it? Marty

The US cars did not have that feature.

It sounds like you are coming to your senses about keeping the Z. Believe me, if you sell it, you will be kicking yourself for years. I sold my yellow '71 Z almost 5 years ago, and I am still kicking myself. And I still have my '70 Z. These cars get under your skin. I have had 4 of them and would still like to get another. They are terrific cars for all the reasons stated above. Keep the Z and sell the roadster if you must.

I would agree with you on the Factory Five. I race with NASA and I see term at the track a lot. They are really fast and handle extremely well. The Owner of the Super Bird said that they made 1900 of them. There were only 600 of the Dodge Daytona version made, so it is likely that those are worth quite a bit more.

He is not trying to pass it off as an original. In fact he affectionately call it "The Phobra". Factory Five produces a VERRRRY nice product. The engineering in the suspension on that thing is impressive. It handles way better than an original would. He has a stroked 347 engine in it pumping out 425 H.P., that makes that car scary fast in 2,000lb body.

As the Captain said, it is not an original. It is a Factory Five Cobra with an enormous amount of details that make it look like an original. Although the Super Bird is the real deal. That's probably a $150,000 car.

Traveling Route 66 in your '71 Z back in the day must give you some fond memories. I hope to travel more of Rte 66, especially out west.