LEE240ZPERTH

Hi Datfreak Glad you liked the oil painting analogy:classic: Don't really know what you were trying to say regards the Porsche but please don't tell me you would rip the heart out of a classic porsche as well:stupid: You have my assurance that as soon as my car is restored I will be blasting it up the freeway every day, I do not believe that cars should be locked away, they should be driven as they were intended. Regards Lee

Datfreak If you were in the market for a 1970 240z but didn't care if it had been modified or didn't have its original engine etc, what would be your reason for wanting a 1970 model in the first place? Why would anyone deliberately look to obtain a series one car if they didn't care about originality (unless you were looking for a Targa Tasmania car) You also said you wouldn't care about originality, wether you were spending $2k or $15k, whilst I agree that if I only had a budget of $2k I would have to accept a degree of non original parts on an early car, if I was spending $15k on the other hand I would be looking for a 100% original car. Simple economics with regard to early zeds is that a mint condition original car is always going to be worth more than a mint modified car, the older and rarer these cars become, the greater the price difference between original and modified. I personally would not even contemplate selling my car to someone who was going to modify it beyond redemption. I you were going to buy an expensive oil painting you would buy it and enjoy it in it's original form, you wouldn't get it home and look to improve it, or would you? Regards Lee

Hi Guys Car was still there at 5.30pm tonight, was on the train and only saw it at the last minute, train was moving too fast for me to see if it was a 240 or 260. Anyone got a cop for a mate ?:classic: Lee

Hi Steve Details on my car: 1970 model year, manufactured about 6/70 (best estimate) HS30 - 000306 L24 - 25670 Original engine (Will need to confirm engine number as car is at a workshop some distance away undergoing full restration) Colour 905 Red Rest of the car is original except wheels Regards Lee

Just a few words of warning on cars of this age that don't look as though they have much rust. I bought my car, also a 1970 model #306, the car had stood in a dry barn for several years and having owned 240's before was very careful and took my time going over the bodywork, I went under the car and had a look at the floor's which were dry and didn't have any underseal left on them, everything looked great including the seams. I did all the other checks in the normal places and everything looked pretty good, the interior carpets were glued down so I started to pull part of them up, the mistake I made was that I didn't pull them all up! I bought the car anyway with the intention of restoring it at some point. When I got it home I gutted the inside to get a real good look at the floor, this revealed that the rust was rotting the floor from the inside out, by the time I had finished with the wire brush I had holes in both sides of the car. I am now having the car restored professionally and although I am still well please to have a pretty original early Zed there was far more rust than was visible at the time of purchase. There is also rust in the firewall, not much,but I would never have seen it unless I took the scuttle off and got in there with a torch. I don't mean to rain on your parade and the car is certainly worth going for, just dont be afraid to take your time and get the carpets up even if they are glued, what you find may not put you off the car but it may help get the price down. BTW my car has Nissan OHC on the rocker cover which is on the original engine, a mate of mine has a lower car number than mine also with the same rocker cover, I would therefore suggest that your's is probably correct. Good luck with the car, keep us informed of your progress. Regards Lee

I for one have found this post to be quite addictive so thanks to all who have contributed. I have a couple of comments which are quite insignificant considering the amount of information that has been provided during the course of the many threads to this post, but I'll make them anyway. Firstly I have never seen the Handbrake (E brake) as anything but a brake to be applied when parked or as an aide for hillstart's. I have been driving 240 Zeds (RHD) for many years and despite my being somewhat larger than I would like to be, I have never had a problem with the positioning of the handbrake or even thought about it until seeing Carl's comments. There were many good points raised in the many threads of this post but one has stuck in my mind, Carl's comment that the 240 Zed was an American Sports/GT car made in Japan seems to me to be a little arrogant, surely the correct statement should be that the 240 Z (S30) was a Japanese car made in Japan with the HLS30 simply an American specification, a variant of the S30 series of cars. I would also suggest that on the "evidence" the original design s looks to have been based on the RHD form, this is not to suggest that the Nissan marketing team were not planning a major offensive on the American consumer at exactly the same time with the LHD form the first to be exported on mass. The information from Katz show's that both RHD and LHD were in focus at the same time but the overall layout does seem to point to the initial design thought being based on the RHD car, Carl's arguments against Alan's comments on this, to me, do not hold water, hence my aforementioned comment regards the Handbrake. Whilst the largest potential market for a great value, well equiped fantastic looking sports tourer was indeed the US, I would suggest that the S30 series of cars were designed ultimately for sales in all markets, hence the number of varients. Afterall if Australia had in excess of 200 or so million people in 1969 all of the information today would be on the HS30 and it's sales into Australia!? Just my thought's Regards Lee

They were asking if the end of August or September was the preffered date, I opted for September in the hope my car's restoration would have been completed, looks like I'll just have to go along and admire everyone else's Zed:( Lee

There is an article on the 350z in today's motoring section of the West Australian. The article is written by Johnathan Hawley of The Age who starts his well researched view by stating " The Nissan 350z that went on sale a month or so ago carries a lot of baggage, mainly centered around four or five models carrying the same Z in their name. (good to see that his extensive research enabled him to know when the 350z was launched here and how many cars had the letter Z in their designation:stupid: He then goes on to say that some of these Z cars were ok,(something of an understatement Johnathan! have you ever seen a 240z or read any of it's history) some reportedly were frankly horrible. The comment on the interior reads " The interior does all the right things by the driver but the look is mainly dull grey plastic (what car isn't mainly plastic in this day and age) he also comments that it wasn't very exiting (a bit like your article mate, what were you expecting, disco lights, cinema screen, spa bath?) I finished reading this article and couldn't help but wonder if this guy knew what a 240/260z looked like or that the 350z was even inspired by the classic 240z in many respects. Whilst the article does sing the car's praises on many fronts, it would have been nice to read something from someone who appeared to have at least some knowledge of the car's lineage. Lee :disappoin

Thanks for the info Alan I saw the car about three years ago, it's good to keep track of it's progress. Regards Lee

Alan I don't know if you know him personally or not but while I was living in the UK I met up with Kevin Bristow and James Morris, well known Z car people in rally circles, anyway I took my z to his property to collect a seat I needed and he showed me a works car he had purchased a few weeks before, he had it stripped down and had started a nut and bolt restoration job on it. I was just wondering if you knew of the car and if so have you seen it, would also be interested if you have any thoughts as to what you would have to pay for a works car, even one in need of a full resto job, I guess it would be hard to put a price on something that hardly ever surfaces though! Regards Lee

If you can get them at a reasonable price I'll take one too Lee

Might be worth trying for plate 240 ZED you might expect it to be gone already but I picked this plate up in Perth a couple of months ago. A mate of mine has plate 24T Z Lee

Thanks Joseph It was good to know that these hubcaps had sold, it saved me wasting my time sending further e-mails. A response from Rick would have been helpful. I would have liked them for my 240 but hey someone has to get lucky, so well done. Lee

Hi Rick Please advise if the hubcaps have been sold, if they are still available please refer to the personal e-mail I have sent you. Regards Lee

Z Kid I know the model you refer to, I saw one in a Perth model shop a couple of years ago, it was more than $160 so would suggest that is not a bad price, I didn't buy it cos I couldn't get my brain past the fact that it was nearly $200 bucks of plastic!! I don't go mad on models but have a couple of Kyosho 240's and a 1/24 scale Burrago model which is mint boxed and was manufacured in 1972, crap compared to models of today but a nice early model all the same. Regards Lee

They fetch big money thenLOL Lee

Can anyone give me an idea of what an original Hitachi radio is worth, I know it's really worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it and how much they want it but any feedback would be helpful, also how hard are they to get hold of? I have a chance of getting one which is one of the few non original parts I need for my car. Regards Lee

Hi Mr C Compliance plate was not on the car, just the i.d plate Z home listed the changes and dates for both HLS & HS cars and cited an official Datsun manual as it's source ( could still be wrong though) Lee

Took a look at the winery sprints today (could have done with it being a bit less than 41 degrees) saw a couple of reasonable zed's and a really grim looking 260 (sorry if that belongs to any of you guy's) I had a look at the 240z entered for the sprint and owned by a guy called Rich Davies, he entered the car as a 1970 240z and has completed many rallies in this car with this production year listed (although this is the first time I have actually seen the car), does anyone else agree with me that it was a 1971 model, ie no rear hatch vents, holes in the steering wheel,speedo starting at 0 instead of 20mph etc, etc Would be interested to know if anyone else had a good look at the car? I believe the build no was 696 or something close to that, Z home lists production changes occuring in Jan 71 starting with HS30-506 I think. Lots of other nice car's there, but none to match a good 240 Lee

Congrats on getting a 240 I know you have been looking for a while. How did you come by the car, was it from the metro area. More details required Mr C:classic: Would be great to see the pics when you have them. Regards Lee

Great car but if we had a poll regarding the thing on the hatch, it would be the most one sided poll in the history of this site, do the car a huge favour and chop it off!! I think the guy you swapped with is in need of a physcological assessment Lee

Hi Guy's There are still some good plates left, I recently picked up plates for my car, got plate 240 ZED which is period (black lettering on white plate) As you may have guessed plate, 240Z went a long time ago, wish I new who owned it. There are still some good ones left though so worth checking When I checked a while ago plate 350z was available, I decided to buy it for the sole purpose of selling it later (hopefully to make a good profit and then spend the proceeds on a real z car) anyway waited a couple of weeks and then rang to see if it was still available, it was but you can't secure them over the phone so thought I would wait a few more days until I had a day off, unfortunately waited just a little bit too long and someone else beat me to it (such is life!!) BTW the plate ZZZ240 that is for sale in the quokka started off at $1000.00 and was on a 240 advertised last year in the safety bay Regards Lee

Welcome W.A Zed I'ts good to see another Zed fan in Perth, congrats on getting your car, I also saw the car when it was being advertised by the lady in Safety Bay, bye the way, she told me she had the original Hitachi radio in her shed, did this find it's way to you from the guy you bought it from? I have bought quite a few spares recently but had to get them via eastern states. Rare Spares in Osborne Park carries a few bit's and pieces (mainly windscreen seals etc) could be worth a call depending on what you are looking for. It would be nice to know where you W.A guys are, you never know we could be around the corner from each other, I'm in the new suburb of Butler (known to most people as Brighton) I've seen a few 240's on the road including a nice early Blue one in good nick, anyone know who own's that one? I am having my car restored starting late Jan/early feb and will be having it painted it's original colour, that really rare colour called Red (so no more bad press against red Zed's guys, I was starting to get depressed reading the threads. I have just managed to find a 240 engine with an E31 head for a friend of mine, complete engine and head for $150.00 not bad eh? He has a very early car #99, car was original apart from the head which was nicked while the previous owner was having some engine work done years ago, needless to say he is well pleased with the new head. It would certainly pay for us guy's to communicate on a regular basis, I am sure we could help each other out from time to time when it came to finding cars for sale, parts etc. Anyway welcome again W.A Zed Regards Lee

The car I had in the uk was also 110 red with the off white interior, (#1570) 1972 If anyone is a member of the british Z car club, there is a picture of it in the 25th anniversary edition of the magazine. Wish I'd shipped it back to oz. Lee

Hi everyone My name is Lee and I live in Perth, Western Australia I am 37 years old, married with two son's aged 17 and 9, both are Zed fans (a great help when it comes to getting more money out of the wife) I have been mad on most sports cars since I was seven or eight years old. I can remember looking at 240 and 260's around that age and promised myself I would get a 260 one day (working on the assumption that the 260 must be better than a 240 because it had a bigger number, well I was just a kid) Well, I never got the 260 but I am now on my third 240 (one 72 model and two 1970 cars) My current 70 model car is just about to go through a complete restoration, should start later this month. I also love motorbikes and currently ride a Honda Blackbird (well I had to have something to get to work on without getting stuck in traffic) My wife says the bike has to go to finance the zed restoration, I naturally agreed but told her I needed to get the zed underway first (he he he) It's great getting a bit of an insight into the people you often communicate with (and those you don't) Keep the threads coming Happy new year to everyone Regards Lee