-=Urgent Help Needed=- or How to Resist Temptation?

FricFrac

Imagine yourself in a position to test all the possibilites presented in this thread with the woman of your most lustful thoughts and the temptation associated with performing/not performing those said deads. Take that temptation and multiply it by 370 (gotta keep it 370Z related you know).

I've just been put in that position (the x 370 one - or is that 370ZX ;P ) A 1972 240Z complete ground up restoration to its original condition from its 1973 race breed (a little history there but it had/has tripple Mikuni carbs, header, ported/polished heads, LSD - rare!) along with some minor tweeks (new 2 1/4" header/exhaust, cam, etc). I can go on and on but lets just suffice to say its essentially a new Z car from 1972 teleported to 2009. The guy is asking $11K. BUT I just bought my 370Z less than three months ago and while its no financial burden I'm trying to be finacially responsible pay the mortgages down, etc. I keep trying to push the thought back in my head that I'll never see this kind of car for sale again or that there are lots of nice tricked out 240Z out there......

How the heck do I walk away from this one? What makes it worse is my wife says go for it. ACK! Opinions welcome.... sigh....

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'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //

Modshack

Listen to your wife! She is a wise woman...
Sounds like an awesome opportunity and one I've thought about pursuing..

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zZSportZz

Wow...the wife said go for it? Thats an omen right there!

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--Rick

Mike

At that price, go for it.

Being someone who has had several early Z's, they are fun, but only on occassion. The memory of what they were is much better than the reality of driving them today, especially compared to a 370. That being said, at 11k, its a heck of a bargain, and you should be able to sell it for much more if you decided you didn't really want it after a few months or years.

My last one, I bought for 4500 and then decided to sell 3 years later (last year), and I hadn't realized how much the values went up. I posted it for 5500 and it sold within 5 minutes. It had a few mods, but was nowhere near what you describe, and several folks told me I could easily have gotten 8000. Plus, is that 11 in Canadian? If so, its a really awesome deal.

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NISSAN: 75 280Z / 86 300ZX GLL /87 Sentra SE / 03 350Z / 23 Z
Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968

FricFrac

Fail - resistance is futile....

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'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //

nogoodname

omg...go for it, the boss gave the OK.... do it

FricFrac

Warning long story ahead....

This is so crazy. I've been a Z car fan since I was a little kid. I've always loved the early Z's. When I turn 16 I have an old beater pick up truck as my daily driver but I start looking for a car and of course I look for a Z car. The Z32 is way out of my price leauge but I've sworn to get a new Z (which happens 20 years later) but to tided me over I start looking for a 280ZXT. There are none that are in good shape so at the same time I look for a 280ZX. I find one and buy her (Kayla) and after a long loving relationship (and some major hidden rust in the front strut towers - evil mechanic previous owner puts the thinest sheet metal over it and undercoats it to hide it - another story)... anyhow long relationship my car is stolen and for the last eight years I've held out until I could get my new Z car. Timing really is everything and the stars and the moon line up and the 370Z is released as I'm ready to buy. I get my 370Z and every day I open the garage and can't believe I actually have it. 20 years of waiting tends to make you either very grateful or very disappointed - mark me down as estatic.

My Dad is a fantastic father but mechanics were never his thing. Trucks broken take it to the mechanic and get it fixed. He's worked hard his whole life and didn't have time for stuff he wasn't already knowledgeable about. So while I'm scored highest at any of the College placement exams in spatial perception and mechanics always intrigued me I never had the oportunity to do any wrenching. My son is seven now and I love cars and thought maybe it would be a good thing to do together and he loves cars to and he's crazy smart. So I start looking for a beater Z to fix up. Then I come across this add last night for a restored 240Z. Of course I start reading and drooling and e-mail the guy right away. I call him today a couple of times but he's working. Meanwhile a buddy of mine who is a serious 240Z nut and an incredible source of information gets my e-mail asking him what he thinks about the car. Turns out my friend knows the guy who has restored this car and tells me not only is this guy extremely talented at restoration but the car has a pretty cool past. I'll post the story once I have it from the horses mouth but basically three friends buy identical 240Z in Seattle and bolt identical performance parts on them. Triple Solex carbs, headers, LSD, etc. They race the cars for a year and two of the guys who are also pilots and are also dare devils try and fly under a bridge clip the tail and crash. This car gets sold and driven around for a short period of time then this one is stored for 16 years. Gets bought by a friend and this guy restores it after almost three years to its current condition. We take it out for a test drive and the thing is basically a 1972 modified track car in its original (if not better) condition - its like a new car. Its a different beast than the 370Z but its amazing in its own right. The L24 just purrs at almost every RPM and the sound of the exhaust and carbs truely brings tears of joy to the eyes!

So the Z guru and I roll back up and there is the owner of the car and another buyer oogling the 370Z. They take the 240Z out for a test drive and come back. The guy who took it out offers to buy it outright asking price no problem (and duh its a mind blowing deal). Now I'm in a pinch. I never make split second decisions in big decisions so I like to think about it overnight. I know I can easily get my money back out but I'm still hesitant to buy it since I just bought the 370Z less than three months ago. I also know this car is rare and I really probably won't see one like this ever again in my life available to buy at this price.... Call the wife to get her to talk me out of it - she says go for it (but we ARE taking the kids to Disney Land next year . I say OK I'm interested now the guy who's selling it who just posted it last night for sale knows he could have asked way more and asks me what I'm willing to offer on the car. I say I'll give you asking price. The other guy says he'll pay $11,500. I say I'll offer $11,500 and now in the back of my head I'm wondering where this is gonna end.... Then the other guy says he'll pay $12K.... now I look over at the Z guru and he shakes his head. My mind is whirling. I tell the owner listen - I didn't come here to get into a bidding war. We were here first and I don't think its fair to be going back and forth. The guy is decent and says yea these guys were here three hours ago and the other bidder agrees so I end up buying this outstanding car for $11,500. I go grab some cash as a deposit and the Z guru and the owner start talking. Oh the car has a five speed which the 240Z didn't come with. So it seems odd that it has a 280Z or ZX five speed when its been setting for 16 years plus another three with the restoration. Turns out the car also has a Nissan Sport super rare five speed. Its going to be interesting to see what other secrets this car reveals....

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'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //

nogoodname

this Z is going to be a special car for you...nice

Trips

For your future sanity the Wife is right. If financially it can be done then what's there to think about. By the way personally I still own my 70' 240 after 25 years of ownership and 23 years of being married I haven't looked back. Look at it as investment . Good Luck on your decision what ever it is, by the personally the mikuni's got to go I'm partial to Weber's as you can tell.

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Mike

congrats on an awesome car and awesome deal!

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NISSAN: 75 280Z / 86 300ZX GLL /87 Sentra SE / 03 350Z / 23 Z
Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968

Endgame

Yeah... I would have pulled the trigger in a heartbeat!! Listen to the Mrs!!

Spikuh

Congrats on the beautiful car.

JB1

Congrats, great deal on a great car!

tolnep

my guess you got what is best described as a 'resto-mod'.

in the muscle car world, thats a non muscle car version of a muscle car, or a muscle car updated with current running hardware.. like you take an old 68 v6 camaro, drop in a 500hp crate motor, disc brakes, upgraded suspension, modern sound system and you end up with a fun car to drive, but not near the value of an original of course.

this sounds like what you have (I bet). someone has taken an old 240 and upgraded parts. I did this with a 240. And its worth doing.

for the price you got, assuming everything is ok, you got a steal, regardless.

the old 240 block was sourced originally from an japanese truck, at least thats what i read. nissan wanted a strong motor and thats what they went with. you can turbo the heck outta that car.. assuming you can find a very rare japanese crossflow head you can get even more hp...

FricFrac

Its actually a "mod-resto" because all the performance parts are racing bits from 1972 not 2009. Its been restored to its 1972 moded self not restored then moded.

Thanks for the kind words guys. I can't imagine the owner selling it but he's got the restoration bug and wants to move on to the next project. He says he's owned over 50 cars over the years and loves restorations then enjoying the car afterwards. He says its a real heart ache though to see the first door ding, the first scratch the first rust bubble.... so its bitter sweet for him.

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'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //