Oiluj

Everything Carl said. Don't give-up your leverage with the insurance company! Worry about health first, but I hope you get what she is/was worth.

Interesting..., With exception of the 550, I never followed much Porsche history and would like to hear more about this. To be clear, I never intended to suggest that our inexpensive, Nipponese, everyman's sports cars were in the same class as the "highest-end" cars of the day. Just that they were more than competitive when compared to their immediate rivals. That means cars within the same category. That's why we have sports car classes that limit competition between cars of similar displacement / power. What was the price differential between the our little, tinny, upstart Z's and to what you refer to as Porsche's "finest" road cars? 2X? 3X? I submit that these cars were not direct competitors, any more than a 911 compared with a supercar like the Veyron. So I respectfully submit that within their class, the early Z's did, in fact, kick arse. Not to mention that they also did very well in the marketplace... That's why I logically infer that a major competitor like Porsche would take notice and review the performance of their product offerings in the low-end sports car market. I think there is validity to both our positions and I do respect your posting. I'm really not trying to convince you of anything, just stating my singular opinion. If we have a difference of opinion, that's OK.

From a recent R&T article: "at the SCCA’s 1970 American Road Race of Champions held at Road Atlanta (the precursor to the Runoffs), Morton’s C Production BRE Z won easily, defeating the likes of Bob Tullius and Lee Mueller in Triumph TR-6s, Alan Johnson in a Ginther-prepared Porsche 914-6 and Bob Sharp, who was building 240Zs out of his shop in Connecticut. Quite a debut for the BRE car and the sleek new Z in general, which swept the top three positions that fall day at Road Atlanta. And the following year, it seemed that the harder the Zs pushed, the more the Triumphs and Porsches broke. At the 1971 ARRC, two BRE 240Zs (Morton and Dan Parkinson) were on the front row, alongside Sharp. Allan Girdler, reporting in our March 1972 issue, described Morton’s winning drive: “[He] put on an exhibition, leading all the way in his routine madman style and power always fully on, into each corner at seemingly impossible speed, out with wildly spinning tires, using all the road in the process.” All told, Datsun Zs went on to win 10 straight SCCA C Production titles" I'd say that says it all...

Oh, the humanity! That's a complete bummer and I know *exactly* how you feel. I chipped the paint when installing the rear tail-light facia and had to do a touch-up. Also put two scratches in my freshly painted engine compartment that I can't touch-up. I've come to think of them as my "personalization" of the car. Hopefully the chip in your hood will touch-up & buff-out OK.

Our 240Z's had matching paint in the engine copartments. However, many domestic cars of the same time period had matte black engine compartments, regardless of the exterior paint color. If I recall correctly, for some "show" Mustangs, the paint shop has to replicate the correct amont of black overspray at the base of the firewall or they lose points. Also, exterior paint surface finish is supposed replicate the correct amount of orange-peel.

No first hand ownership experience with Bimmers. However, many of my friends and co-workers own or have owned one. They drive very well, but without exception, reliability compares poorly to our older Lexus's and they seem much more expensive to maintain. In fact, in 2007 Design Engineering magazine, a cover article showed a picture of a 1997 Lexus ES300 with the caption": "Why does a 10 year old Lexus have better reliability than a brand new BMW?" An iInteresting read.

Having been a big Brit car fan when I was younger, I always thought the TR6 & GT6 to be lovely. I never really liked the early 70's 912/911 styling. Can't say why, but I was attracted to the boxy look of the 914. However, to my eye, compared to the lines of the 240Z, none of the German designs measured-up. * This was 8 years before I got my first 240Z. Today, I prefer the look of the Cayman over the "bigger" Porsches. Just looks and feels more like a "sports car" to me. In terms of performance, I think the Z is what inspired Porsche to increase the performance of thier cars. Nothing like getting your arse kicked by a cheap, tin Japanese upstart to make a world-recognized sports car manufacturer improve their designs...

Yep! Before next Spring I plan to install my rebuilt 5-speed. It just needs to get a bit warmer before I want to lay on my garage floor.

After 17 years of ownership of my 60' MGA, I made a few bucks when I sold it, but basically broke even. I've probably got more $ in 240Z than I can expect to get for her in probably 10 years. However, that's not why most of us own these cars. Like my MG, (but more so), I expect to get more than my investment back in the sheer enjoyment of driving my classic Z.

Stephen, Thanks for the compliment. Our cars are almost clones! Looks like you have the same Panasport rims as mine. I just painted them with Duplicolor urethane, metallic charcoal from a spray can, then gave them a coat of matte clear. Trick is to clean them well and wipe down with acetone before painting. It was really quite easy. So far they are holding-up well with only one chip, and that's where I dropped a wrnch on one... (don't ask).

Ah-mazing car, but $50K? Hope he gets it, but I think it's unlikely...

I agree. 1" to 1.5" improves handling and appearance without creating other suspension problems. 2" and lower starts to look too "high school" low-rider.

Unless you are going for originallity, you can go with the blue strip. On my previous Z, I just peeled-off the remaing chrome and polished the blue plastic. I thought it looked pretty good! Eventually, I did cover it with self-adhesive, iron-on RC model "chrome" mylar. It actually worked very well. Still, when I was done I didn't think it really looked any better than the polished "blue".

It doesn't have to be "pretty" to post pics Cozeye. Most of us with "pretty" cars started where you did! Even a dented, primered Z is pretty to my eye, so don't be embarrased to post pics. Mine wasn't a bad 50 footer when I bought it, but it had lots of "huge" warts when you got within 10 feet. And mine was pretty darn nice compared to most un-restored cars.. So please share a few progress pics. You will find lots of support here.

Not only that, too much advance and pre-ignition, (pinging), can ruin your engine! Stick to around 5 degrees BTDC.

A little too "ricer" for my taste, but a nice looking car.

Yep! Just finished watching that same episode. It's an S30 race car, but I couldn't see enough to tell more.

Some can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the aftermarket, cast aluminum "racing" mirrors installed by Datsun dealers were also used on the Mustang. Attached is a pic of my car that has said mirrors.

Arne, I fully understand and agree with your rationale. When I do have to drill holes, I make sure the edges are sealed as best I can, but it's very difficult to effectively seal a drilled hole edge in sheetmetal. As you've seen in my other posts, my Z is allergic to rain. Only because I plan to keep mine out of the rain am I not adverse to drilling additional holes. Means I can't drive it approximately 3+ months a year here in the SF Bay Area, but that's OK with me.

I have a set of the 1970's "dealer option" aluminum louvers with the curved ends, as well as the lighter, MSA aluminum inside-the-window mounted louvers. I'm in the camp that likes the function and look of louvers on cars with no rear spoiler. I prefer the look of the curved=end, screw-on spoilers and have no qualms drilling into the hatch. However, to my eye, they visually seem to "clash" with my rear BRE style spoiler. I'm still stuggling to decide if I'm going to install either of them...

Cool! That's the type of exposure that our S30's need to gain more recognition as classsics.

Yep. I used a 5 lb dead-blow hammer to loosen mine.

I'd like to see them a bit less protrusive, but they look great! Very nice job.

Like the stripes, the help to show the lines of the car. The 1973 Z I bought in Dec 1978 had stripes.

I don't know if this is the "right" way to do it, but this is what worked for me. Before the door seal was on the car, inserted the door frame into the door, window-down. I closed the door to give me a guide to general position of the frame to the chassis. Then I opened the door and aligned the frame "tilt" to match the window rail. It seemed to work fairly well.