Woody928

Thank you for all of the kind comments! I'm really hoping that she is as clean as the photos suggest and a very sorted base from which to start. I hadn't posted any further as I wanted to confirm all of the details before really relaxing and keeping everything updated. I returned the Bill of Sale which I'm waiting to be notarized before issuing the final payment to release the car and then arrange for the car to be collected. Cheers bud Thank you, your advice has been very helpful along the way. Hopefully you can enjoy the ride as well, I'll try and keep the forum updated as to how I progress and am sure will continue to ask lots of questions :-D Fingers crossed :-) Short of the engine block being non standard, I'll be a happy man when its on the way. I must admit I've spent more than I was thinking I would (especially given the change in exchange rate), that being said if its as good as it looks then I should be a very happy man. Out of curiosity is that price fairly average or towards the higher scale in the US? Thank you though, it should be a great project! ;-D

Hi Andreas, thank you for taking the time to post the information. Unfortunately being a series 2 car this wouldn't have been for me, however thank you for taking the time to share the information and details with me. Cheers, Mark

My apologies for the lack of response and activity on this thread, I've been away to France for Le Mans over the weekend and haven't had a chance to get online since. I've just agreed to buy an early series one car in 918 orange with the seller, just arranging deposit, shipping and final payment before the car makes a long journey from New Hampshire back to the UK! The car has an L26 engine but we decided it ticked too many boxes to ignore it and its possible that long term an L28 could be dropped in :-D Here she is for those interested, a big thanks to everyone's for their advise on here. I plan on just getting it back and just using it before working out what choice modifications to perform on the car to get it to where i want it. Over the moon right now. I'll keep you all updated as to how things go. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1971-Datsun-Z-Series-/162012786167?cp=1&sojTags=exe%3Dexe%2Cext%3Dext&ext=32580&exe=12792&euid=0d2d3317e6dc471c851c656ace5e51a6&nma=true&si=bjszkkxYzeXwHPFMEx9gZmSRxWs%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Have you got any more details of the spec? and a price? Also is it a series two car?

Cheers man, much appreciated. Nice for some, sounds like great fun! I'll wait to hear further from you... Ok I'm glad to hear that, I'm assuming if its mot a mad or blatantly obvious modification then it'll be fine. Makes sense, I want to keep it period looking anyway so it'll be stock bodied with a few extras but they can always wait until the UK.

Bump anyone know of a car?

I take it your planning on bringing that car back to Scotland then Blue? Looks pretty cool, what are your plans for it?

How available are cars? and what sort of prices do they fetch? I must admit I'll likely get one from the US as its closer for shipping and going over there if needed, would be interested to know though as RHD is obviously appealing!

Hi Mike, Thanks for the info! I tried subscribing to the UK site as well as this one at the same time, however I never got the confirmation email so didn't really follow it up, I also thought the guys in the US would be closer to the action, albeit with less info on the export front. So far everyone's been brilliant. I'd love his details if he's got a few cars for sale, would be interested to see what he's stocking. As you can see from my above requirements though I'm after quite a specific spec. Your car looks gorgeous, it certainly seems to be the way to go if you want to get your hands on one. Useful to have the import info, I was hoping that would be the case. Do you know how strict they are about the unmodified bit to comply with the rules? Oh really, are there ever any meets or anything? I've never seen one locally....

Hi all, As above I'm looking for a series one Datsun 240z in 918 orange, the car can be either 1970 or 71. I'm looking for a car is good condition it does not have to be concourse standard however it should be complete and in a good driving condition. Please show me what you've got, I have money waiting for the right car.

Its definitely my favorite colour (color) on the 240z closely followed by Red, it fits the period and styling so well and I've always wanted an orange car. The Lime green/yellow one is definitely unusual and certainly suits the car, its a shame you don't really see that colour (color) these days. That being said I've only seen one Datsun 240z on the road in the UK in my lifetime! so its hardly hard to to see that colour (color) around. Haha keep working the wife, a man would never willingly surrender a possession like that without good cause. Its always good to keep a project.

Thanks for the info, still a bigger fan of 918 orange imo, that being said it looks pretty cool and colours go. I saw one being auctioned in this colour earlier this year in the UK having undergone a full restoration. It looked absolutely immaculate! Useful knowledge to have. If anyone knows of or see's any cars they think I may be interested in then please give me a shout! I'll definitely let you guys know how I get on. I've arranged to go and see a Datsun specialist just down the road called Fourways Engineering who seem to be very well respected in the UK so I'm hoping they'll be a big help to me. They've got two 240's undergoing restoration as we speak so they should be very interesting to see.

Nice ride Mike! Sounds like a nice early and unusual spec car and looks the business. Fortunately emissions won't be an issue for me once I get one back to the UK. I may need to start looking into having some custom straight pipes fabricated

Wow, that's a seriously low numbers car! Is that in 920 Gold though? Looks like someone's spent a lot of time, effort and money getting it into that condition!

Lets hope so! there's a really clean looking 1970 car in red on ebay at the moment that looks fantastic. Shame its the wrong colour for me though. Good question, unless I'm mistaken and please feel to correct me however I thought series one cars were either 1970 or 71 with the 240z emblem on the rear pillars? which changed on the later cars to a circle emblem with a Z that was also a side vent? Personally I much prefer the 240z emblem found on the earlier cars and believe that the early cars potentially stand to hold slightly more value longer term. Like Datsun's by the sounds of things, MK2 MR2's have be split into five generations (not by Toyota) by the the community. It all sounds very similar to me in that respect. Fantastic link, only read a couple of the top posts but just the sort of thread I was after! I'll read more later when I get a chance, and so some searches based on your suggestions Also your car looks right up my street from your profile pic Got any more pics or info? Always keen to see and hear about more Z's

Useful information to have, is there anywhere that details the differences between the earlier and later cars with the revisions made? I'm still waiting patiently searching for the correct car, if anyone sees a series one car in 918 orange then please let me know. There's cars appearing in different colours, or series just never the right match for my requirements, I'm definitely going to be following the advice of buying the best I can afford following advice from numerous people, seems to be the best way to start the project and journey

When you say the fenders have been cut, would replacement wings be required to bring it back to stock? I guess this would only work for the front, and a bodyshop would have to rework the rear arches if I wanted to remove the arch flares? Thanks for the post either way

Thank you all for the further replies, this is all really helpful great info. From your comments I've spoken with my dad this evening (bearing in mind this is half his project) and we've decided to slightly narrow the search criteria looking at we we want to achieve form this project. With that in mind we don't want to compromise on a series one car, purely on the basis of that's where it all started design wise and is a bookmark for the vehicle and the colour is important to me suits the car so well so 918 orange will be the second sticking point. We're going to drop the matching no.'s requirement as a couple have rightly made the point that absolute originality isn't vital for this project. We will be searching or a near complete car with a lot of the work done as it gives a better starting platform to work from and also hopefully saves us a bit of cash which can be put towards mods and other bits. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I'm now slightly gutted that two months ago now I actually passed up on an opportunity to obtain the car I have just specified above which was rejected at the time due to a non standard engine. That being said it proves that with some patience and lots of trawling there are cars like this out there! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1971-Datsun-Z-Series-/162012786167?cp=1&sojTags=exe%3Dexe%2Cext%3Dext&ext=32580&exe=12792&euid=c657013ea86d48e2b8fe02cdfe69056e&nma=true&si=bjszkkxYzeXwHPFMEx9gZmSRxWs%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Jim & Patcon thanks for the further info on the series one cars, that's really useful to know. The transmission weakness I'm less worried about as the plan will be to get a five speed transmission to go in there so that solves any potential issues there, however I'd like to know more about the potential for electrical gremlins and structural improvements? Would I notice a serious difference between a series one and two in that respect? Patcon thanks also for the respray figures, its nice to have a ball park figure in the back of my head in any event!

Thanks for the honest feedback chuck, I really appreciate that. In that case given that I can't easily inspect it myself I think I'l just have to pass it up and go for something that's more complete. Sounds like I need to start playing a waiting game looking for a car that meets my three requirements, I think if I compromise on one point then the engine sounds like the most obvious from a cost perspective. What sort of budget do you think you would need to do a bare metal restoration on one of these in that case? My $30,000 suddenly seems potentially inadequate... Can anyone give me a rough ballpark figure on a full strip down and bare metal restoration?

Thanks for taking the time to have a look chuck, these were the questions I asked and the responses I got are in bold. Would you say that this damage would be a show stopper so to speak if this was you? Sorry If I wasn't clearer, the plan is to purchase the car is the USA, most likely have it transported to San Francisco (owing to my contact) where the car will be restored before shipping the completed car to the UK that's ready to rock and roll. I don't necessarily need the car to be a runner when its acquired as the plan is to send it straight from purchase to local z specialists and/or workshops to have the car worked on and restored to my specification.

Ok so a bit more about me then, I'm currently 21 about to be 22. Mechanical wise all I know if what I've seen read and done to my MR2's over the past couple of years. I'm more than happy to have a go at most things where possible and have done things like brakes, suspension, servicing, replacing exhausts etc on my MR2. That being said I i usually defer to those more experienced for the more technical jobs when it comes to things such as engine work, body work and electrics. I wouldn't say I'm incompetent but certainly not a t a level where I could rebuild a car myself if that gives you an impression. The plan will be to have the car garaged on its return due to the climate, and I have plenty of driveway space if needed. Specialists wise there is a place called FourWays engineering just down the road, no more than 1 hour away who are one of the UK's leading Z specialists and can do all manner of work and I know another classic car specialist that can assist with everything that has recently purchased two 240z's themselves. Disposable wise I have anywhere between $700-1100 a month that I can spend on anything whether that be the car or anything else, so I'm not too worried about running costs, particularly when these will be split between my dad and myself. I have one Ace up my sleeve in that I have boos on the ground in San Francisco, which is where I plan to recover the car to in order that it can be worked on and restored to my taste. He will be able to inspect the works as they progress and feed information back to me. Siteunseen do you know anyone going to ZCON 2016? From a quick google it looks as though its being held in Canada? DatsunZGuy nice Z and MR2! The 240 is in the best colour (color) as well imo. Looks like a revision two MR2? Is it an NA or Turbo? looks to be in very clean original spec. Looks like you've got my ideal two cars sitting in your garage at the moment. I've attached a photo of my dads Healey with my MR2 last year, and an up to date photo of how the MR2 looks now. Long term I think the MR2 may go back to standard bodywork with a nice set of rims but can't decide. I've come across a car on craigslist that has peaked my interest. Its at the lower end of the budget end of the scale and will require a full respray imo but that's fine by me. To provide some extra info from the owner, due to the multitude of colours I asked for the reasons why. The car was originally orange, I've been told that the front right panel was hit by a tractor while the car was stored in a barn for 20 years. The headlight bucket and hood were both replaced (280z hood added at this point). No photos of the interior, I've been told minimal rust but without seeing can't say. I've also been told that the engine is not matching albeit I havent found out what it is yet. Obviously from your comments swapping the engine for an L28 for example wouldn't be the end of the world, however I still can't make my mind up on this point. http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/sop/5604697427.html So what are ou thoughts? I'm going to try and make some calls later today but what would you expect to pay for a full strip down and bare metal respray? as that appears at least in this case this would be essential and good to know for reference. Sorry for all the questions again.

Join the club

Thank you all for the fast replies and fantastic responses! So when I say period style racer, to me that means how one of these would have looked if the owner had taken the car and tracked it in that period. I'm not talking full team sponsorship of anything, just how I imagine a privater would have turned up to a tack (this could be purely my fantasy though). In my mind I've got a BRE air dam, BRE spoiler, racing circle (vinyl in this case so its removable), centre exit twin exhaust, wing mounted bullet wing mirriors, clear headlight covers and racing wheels. I love watanabe wheels but they could be out of budget. Similarly styled in many respects to dave's car in the petrolicious video. Car would be colour coded factory orange with black detailing accents. Engine wise I want to remain true to the car, therefore keeping the L series engine and adding triple Webbers. What level of build I don't know, I've seen Rebello can take a L24 and claim to be able to take it to 270bhp with a triple carb setup, boring it out to a 2.7litre etc. In my mind I've got 230bhp ish as a starting point, I believe these engines are more about torque though which suits me as thats whats going to count on the road. Either way I'm after a car that will do 0-60 in six to seven seconds (closer to six the better), that can cruise nicely (guessing a five speed will be added) and most importantly is reliable. I'm not sure what sort of figures you would need to support the above performance requirements? I'm aware that the car in the petrolicious video has a Rebello build L28 bored out to a 3.1 rather than the stock L24, however I liked the idea matching numbers car as a heritage thing, and was thinking long term it could only help with value (not that I'm in this for the money). Whats the general advice with going from an L24 to an L28? I take it they perform better? do you think it will harm the value long term? Thanks for the ebay link and link to 'bring a trailer' (never heard of it before), the car on ebay certainly looks interesting! I'm glad everyone is saying the same message of watch for rust, rust and rust first. Everything else seems relatively straight forward. Have you got any links to any of the local Z clubs? I don't want to sound lazy, however using a UK search engine it always seems to prefer the UK websites! Are there websites for each region then? I really appreciate the offer Zedyone_Kenobi and will most likely take you up on your kind offer of asking questions and getting opinions on cars. Patcon thanks for the input, your thoughts were much the same as mine, I could see my budget melting away very quickly... That figure doesn't include returning the car to the UK, i have budgeted for that separately so it would be for purchasing and car and getting it worked on. Its good to have a rough idea of what to expect price wise to budget. What sort of respray would you expect for $7,000? I'm really thinking complete strip down to bear metal, cut out any rust and then complete respray. If needs be the budget could be stretched but thats my starting point an figure in my head, I'm very aware projects like this can have all kinds of surprises and extra costs.

Hi All, I'm saying hello from rainy England, and hoping to tap into this forum as a great resource of information and people. I'll start by saying that I don't own a Z car and never have although its been my dream classic for quite some time now. Ever since I saw the below linked video on Petrolicious (a couple of years ago now) I decided that I had to have a 240Z. I'm heavily into my MR2's with a 1996 gen3 JDM Turbo model which I've spent the last couple of years transforming my car from stock into a fast road car, and have loved every moment of it (most of the time :-D). This car continues to be used on a daily basis however I've been wanting to get into the classic/vintage car scene for a while with something of an older generation. Ever since I was a kid petrol has flowed through my veins with both me and my dad attending all sorts of car events and meets throughout my life, eventually getting my own hands on my own cars of which I am the current custodian. My dad runs a 1962 Austin Healey 3000 mk2a which inevitably got me into classic cars, we've both enjoyed that car for the last eight years and continue to enjoy it to this day, but I've decided its my turn to join the party so to speak. The 240z seems to be everything I want from a classic sports car with stunning looks, strong performance (for its age), reliability, JDM design etc. I've been saving money as and when possible, however we realized with the way values have gone that I'd need a helping hand to make the dream a reality, so we've decided to make it a father son project and go half's on budget. So what am I looking for? I'm being quite fussy but knowing the time, effort and money that we plan to devote to this project I want to get it just right. We're looking at mainly project cars so we can spec it to our preference, however if the right car came up then I wouldn't say no. The plan is to restore a car as a period styled racer albeit it will be mainly used as a road car. My main 3 criteria are as follows: - Series 1 car, wither 1970 or 71 - Original matching No.'s engine - Colour (Color), factory 918 Orange I'm not sure how many cars would have been produced to this spec, or for that matter how many are left like that however that's my starting point. I can compromise on colour (color) assuming the car needs a full respray however I would really like to find a series one matching no.'s car. I'm looking at West Coast cars and I've got a budget of $30,000 to purchase and restore the car to my spec car before arranging to have the car shipped back to the UK. So question time now to you guys, the experts. - How optimistic am I being with my requirements? - Is my budget reasonable? - Are there any resources I should really be reading? (other than general internet articles) - Are there any contacts worth getting in touch with to help with my search? - Where should I be searching to find cars? I've been trying ebay, craigslist, zcartrader.com, hemmings albeit with limited success. Sorry for all the questions and info at once but would really appreciate all the help and info I can get! Cheers, Mark