Carl Beck

Hi Genhis: It would only be a dumb choice - if you don't know what you are getting into. If you fully realize that any "custom" of this nature may carry with it a lot of "Risk" - expressed as a lot of "unknowns" - and you are willing to deal with them if they are realized - then it is a reasoned choice - not a dumb choice. As people have mentioned - the Z wasn't designed to be a convertible so there is a risk associated with chopping the top off. The car has recent paint - and you don't know what short cuts the builder took under that paint. Not much risk associated with the engine, drive train or suspension - as they are usually solid and easy to fix if they aren't. Some risk in the wiring of any of these old Z's.. so I'd look that over carefully. If you like the looks of it - and like driving it - $5700.00 wouldn't life changing - as long as you don't wind up putting another $5K + into it. It is just the old "look before you leap" thing.. FWIW, Carl

IN the pictures he does show - it looks like that top -sits folded on top of the trunk area. Does that top fold down behind the seats - out of sight and out of the wind? Past that - for $5700.00 if it runs and drives out as it should - I wouldn't be afraid to buy it for fun. You could expect to have to spend more money on it somewhere.. All depends on how much you are willing to pay for "fun". Personally - I wanted a convertible - but it had to have great A/C as well for the Summers here in Florida. Spend just a little bit more {+$3K} - and bought a 1998 M/B SLK 320 with a retractable hard top. One owner, 50K original miles.. Not a 240Z but amazingly close in over-all size and performance.. Plus it was in "like new" condition all around.. Mecerdes Benz SLK 230 Sport I think I'll be able to get my money back out of the SLK - All depends on what you want. Always easy to buy stuff - but sometimes not so easy to resell later.. FWIW, Carl B. Actually the SLK is quite a bit faster than a stock 240Z.

Cheetah perhaps? Carl B.

Hi Guys: Anyone close enough to this Z - to go personally inspect it? I have a friend that is interesting and willing to buy if the car checks out to be "as advertised". I'm sure the seller is honest - but it is always good to get an independent set of eyes and hands on the car - before traveling half way across the Country. The buyer would be willing to pay a fee for the service. Please E-Mail me if your close enough and willing to help. beck@becksystems.com Just put EBAY Z in the subject line.. thanks, Carl B.

Hi Anton: What is the original engine serial number for your Z? From my notes I'd say your car was most likely built in 09 or 10 or 1970. Engine Serial Number should fall in the range of L24-17xxx to L24-21xxx. FWIW, Carl B.

Did not see this Post weeks ago.. For others that might read it in the future. When the steering wheel moves side to side as first described - at low speeds; or when the rear of the car moves side to side at low speeds {aka Duck Walks} - it is often an indication of radial tires suffering from tread separation. The easiest way to check - is to jack the front or rear of the car up - and spin the tires by hand - watching the center of the tire - as the treads roll by. If it is a tread separation - you'll see the treads wave side to side as the tire spins by - and often you will see a budge in the treads as well. The tires may feel pretty smooth at higher speeds - but don't drive on them - as at higher speeds the tread can completely separate from the body of the tire.. and do a lot of damage to the sheet metal around the wheel openings. FWIW, Carl B.

Looks like a beauty! That's the way to buy them..!! I'm sure you will really enjoy driving it… take a long weekend, and take it on a long trip - and use the secondary roads.. Carl B.

You said S30 - so I'd guess you are thinking about maybe finding a 260Z or 280Z in that price range. I would think that would be possible even today. If your thinking $7K to $10K - I wouldn't advise even thinking that way. If you do, you might wind up buying "price" rather than "quality". You would be far better off thinking "$10K" - and then find the best example you can find for that amount. It seems that almost every time anyone tries to save a couple thousand - on the initial purchase price - they wind up putting twice that amount into the car after they buy it. I'd look for cars advertised for $12K to $15K.. then if I found a really really nice example - I'd try real hard to buy it for $10K. A lot of people are dreaming on their "asking" prices - and after trying to sell the car for 6 months or a year - they will usually grab a reasonable cash offer - it the money is standing in front of them. Just my opinion.. Good luck - Carl B.

ZCarFanMan - #8992 is right in the middle of a series of A/T Z's… Look the car over carefully for signs of it having been converted to standard trans. Transmission Oil Cooler fittings in the bottom of the radiator, no support on the firewall for the clutch line, maybe additional weights on the rear of the differential, two sets of point in the distributor.. Doesn't matter - other than it would be interesting to know if they slipped a couple standard transmission Z's in the series of A/T's they were running. Carl B.

Condition is what determines if a car is a good buy or not. If it actually looks like a very well cared for 72 with an actual 60K miles and not obvious rust issues and most important - unmolested - $12,500.00 would be a give away price. if the paint is faded and the interior is sun baked..it might be a little high… At any rate today - if he advertises it and holds out for the money - he might be something closer to $16K. Carl B.

Your Web Sites says "out of stock" - are you saying you now have more of them? thanks, Carl

Looks pretty nice - what is it? and Why did you want that specific one? Carl B.

http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/fusiblelinks/index.html http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/open-s30-z-discussions/42383-what-my-engine-bay-missing.html

Hi metalmonkey: Great Buy - I would have snapped that up in a heart beat for grand. Do you mean that the chrome covers over the vents are missing? Or do you mean there are no holes in the deck lid for vents? The 240Z's had vertical strip rear window defroster lines - up until the first few months of 1972. So that doesn't really tell you much… BTW - # 2562 was reported owned by Classic Z Car forum member: er34gtt2000jp Anyway - good luck and enjoy the process. Carl B.

Looks great Steve - but what is that Stereo on the shelf in the background? Is that circa 1972 as well? Keep at it - and enjoy every step - keep the pictures coming.. FWIW Carl B.

Hummmm….to each his own - I guess. I would not expect that from Hot Rod Magazine. In the 50's the guys in my home town that assembled Hot Rods out of junk yard parts - actually took pride in their work - tried very hard to put something of obvious build quality together. I didn't see anything in this effort to be proud of ... Carl B.

Pictures???? Something is wrong… The original box should have a Part Number - what was that? Carl B.

If there is no frame damage? Looks like the entire front section is smashed. No wonder he won't show a single picture of the frontend damage. It's a Parts Car for sure.. and being a 260Z the desirable or valuable parts are limited.. If you paid $500.00 for it - you would be doing a lot of work saving parts - for very little money in the end.. FWIW, Carl B.

If I put - strike that - When I put all that work into repainting the engine bay, I decided to go with an Optima battery.. Just couldn't stand the thought that a liquid filled battery might ever leak, outgas etc - and eat my paint. Expensive - Yes. Piece of mind - Priceless. {a plus is the Optima's seem to hold a charge forever!}. When your changing the battery cables - go first class with large stranded copper and gold plated terminal ends. Corrosion will be a thing of the past.. Some of the best money I spent on the Z. good luck with project.. Carl B.

Hello 1970240z.. Sound like a very nice 240Z to which you have some personal connection - how lucky can you be? - Personally, I'd keep it pure stock including the A/T. But that's just me.. We had a long discussion about what to do with a Z that has been sitting a long time - this tread might be very useful to you http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/introductions-z-stories/22619-waking-sleeping-beast.html#post184082 good luck, Carl B.

Who knows - you might see it listed again with good clear pictures.. You can't edit a listing once bidding starts, but you can cancel the listing and realist it later. When it comes to 240Z's around here you can't find anything but badly rusted, ragged out junk for $5K. FWIW, Carl B.

I wonder - how many guys/gals here have actually re-worked the timing curves on a stock, points type distributor. For several years, I tried to find a shop that still actually had a Sun Distributor Machine {SDM}. The first step in the process.. finding and documenting the baseline curve. NO LUCK around here - no one even has a Sun Distributor Machine even sitting in storage. I'm sure everyone is aware that the L24's/L26's and L28's all run quite different distributor timing advance curves when stock. So even when swapping a more modern "electronic" distributor from a newer L28 into an L24 stock or modd'ed - it can easily result in a loss of performance because of the mis-matched timing advance curve.. Next - I watched EBay for years.. A few SDM's showed up - but in very poor condition and thousands of miles away. Bummer… So even with various springs of differing rates in hand, or modifications to the advance weights - and given the work of taking the dizzy apart etc - you just can't dial the optimum advance curve in. A programable distributor is a brilliant solution - and at $550.00 it is far less expensive than owning your own SDM or paying a performance shop to do the work {if you could find a performance shop that still deals with mechanical distributors - }. thanks to Mike W for bringing this to our attention.. Carl B.

Today - I wouldn't sell it for a penny less than $14K {if it is as solid as represented}. Very poor pictures will hurt the sale.. unless a local buyer can go look it over.. On EBay - today - $10K to $12K will most likely be tops, if it sells for less than that - it was given away. Carl B.

Another great "Z" story.. Also good to hear you are doing this with your Son. Carl B.

Thanks Guys… Carl B.