$450 1970 240Z

[Dirk Diggler]

Thanks to my friend Danny (crawlin40) I picked up a 1970 240Z yesterday for $450. The history I know of it is: It has been garaged since 1982 and was hardly touched since (I found a copy of the San Francisco Chronical from May 31st 1981 under the passenger floor mat and receipts from 1980 in the glove box), and as far as I can tell it is still all original minus the new quarter panel and hood, even has the original Shelby Cal. 500 wheels with the Shelby center caps. I cleaned it up a little today, polished up the paint, and started to check out the damage (it has front end damage). We found that the uni-body support in the front passenger wheel well is pinched pretty bad, make the front right about an inch further back than the left. Im planning on calling some shops tomorrow to get some quotes to have it pulled out, hoping its not too pricey. After that is fixed, it should be smooth sailing to getting it to be my daily driver.

 

I do need a front bumper and some other front passenger side body parts, although I already have a new quarter panel and hood. Also looking for an original wood shift knob for a 4 speed and a mechanical fuel pump.

 

This is what it looked like when I picked it up yesterday:

 

This is what it looks like now:

 

The seats were just re done, there is one small crack in the dash but other than that the headliner and everything else looks awesome, still has the original wheel!

[RadioRedline]

HOLY Fuck is that ever nice. YOu should call that color Ron Burgundy Brown!

 

Radio

[hellamikey]

Wow, nice score!

 

How about some pics of the damage?

 

Its hard enough finding a '70 let alone one in good shape. (or the original hatch for that matter) most of the early 240s have long rusted away. How is the rust situation anyway?

 

Does it still have the tiedown straps across the floor of the hatch area?

 

 

Just so you know, I'm damned jealous.

[Bob3]

.

 

MORE PICS !

[fisch]

Holy crap what a before and after shot!!! Looks like a great score. Quick, show us how bad the damage is so we won't turn into green monsters!

[dennis]

Great deal, nice car, you scored big time with that.

[datrod]

$450.00 Shit the rear hatch is worth that. Frikin great score. MORE PIC'S :D

[greengo]

U made that shit shine...very good buy! Needs to get lowered and it would be a 10

[Dirk Diggler]

Thanks guys.

 

I was thinking boogie nights brown or rootbeer brown, but I like Ron burgundy brown better lol.

 

Pics of the damage will be up later today if I make it home before the sun goes down.

 

There are a few minor spots of surface rust that can easily be sanded off, nothing bigger than a penny and no rusted through spots at all.

 

It does have the cargo straps, the ugly black plastic peice that goes on the back hatch window (just have to pick it up from the seller), even has the original jack with Japanese writing and wheel chocks behind the passenger seat. The only missing interior part is the radio.

 

I haven't found anything that does not work yet. Antenna, lights, blinkers, gauges, even has factory A/C, and they all work. The only thing I haven't figure out is a toggle switch on the right side of the wheel above the hazards toggle switch. Any ideas on that?

 

I will also take better pictures of everything inside and out and post them at some point.

[Dirk Diggler]

When I first picked it up, the seller was convinced the paint was done for. Luckily, I do detailing so I was able to tell right away that the paint could be salvaged. At first it looked like a lot of oxidation, but when I rinsed it off and got a good look at it, I realized it was paint overspray. Im assuming something was painted in the same building it was stored it, because it had paint on every surface, even the windows. I gave it a good clay and wash, and a 4 step polish and got it to where it is now.

 

Well anyways, here are some more pics for you guys:

 

This is the toggle switch I was asking about in my previous post

 

Here are some pictures of the damage

 

Here is a video I took with my phone, ignore the bad resolution

[fisch]

Again, such a great score! I don't know what the body work will cost you but you will still come out golden on this one!!

[MicroMachinery]

You scoundrel. Unbelievable. :cool:

[jputz]

Damn thats a nice one. I saw a nice black one today about that year while I was at work. Tried to run outside and get some oics and talk to the owner but he was gone before I got my break. Anyways nice score looks amazingly clean for a 40 year old.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

wow, love your build! keep up showing your progress :)

[Dirk Diggler]

So not much progress on the Z lately. I only have time on the weekends, and needing body work is really setting me back. I am at the point to where I cant do any more work on it until I get the unibody straightened, and I cant get the unibody straightened for lack of funds being christmas and all. I am hoping to have it in a shop within a month, then after that all i need to do is install the cooling fan and find a new grille, front turn signals, and the lower right turn signal valance. After that, she will be completely road ready and will become my daily driver.

 

So since my last post, I have been mainly cleaning up the inside, and I polished up the aluminum wheels. I have a paint sprayer coming soon so I can start painting the whole car, which will be a lot of pics later. One thing I was really excited about was I ordered a couple things and they finally came in. Theyre little, but they were my first new parts for my Datsun so I am excited about them.

 

 

These are the main things I ordered haha

 

I also installed a new fuel pump and took out the shitty electrical fuel pump the last owner installed. Im thinking of useing the fuel pump he put on and turning it into a flame thrower, which will require a whole other thread...

 

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Well I got sick of not being able to do anything on the Z with the weather and lack of funds. I was reading a thread in the how to section about how to paint your own car, so being as bored as I am, I headed down to the hardware store and picked up a few cans of paint. I already have one fender off the car, so I decided to experiment on it. It has been raining since last Wednesday, and is expected through Saturday. Great beach weather. Ive always loved the BRE paint styles, and I have never seen a BRE 240z in person, other than the actual BRE car at JCCS, so I decided that is what I would try. Keep in mind I have NEVER painted anything other than a few bikes when I was a kid.

 

First thing I did was pull the fender out of the rain and dry it off. I hit it with an orbital sander to get it all smoothed out.

After I had it all sanded down, I brought it into what little space I have in my garage and layed down a peice of tape of where I want the red to meet the white. After that, I used a straight edge and a pencil to mark out the side stripes. I went with 3.75" wide stripes, with a 1" gap.

 

Stripes all taped up

 

After I got my lines all taped and made sure I had everything covered, I shot it with some red and some blue. Normally I would have done the entire fender white first, then sprayed the red and blue over, but I only have 1 can of white and this is just for fun.

 

I have hit it with 4 coats now. After this last one dries completely, I will tape off the red and blue and shoot the rest with white. I have been sanding lightly between each coat to keep orange peel out, and after my final sanding I will polish it then spray a few coats of clear the same was as the colors. Im expecting this to take until tomorrow, Im not working because of the weather so I have nothing better to do. More pics will follow as I progress

[dat77sun]

you gogt one hell of a deal on that car, the 240z is a car ive always wanted

[Dirk Diggler]

I really did. I didnt know how much of a deal i got until I started to really check it out after I bought it. I thought that for $450 I could buy it even if it was a piece of shit and flip it and make some money for a nicer z, but after inspecting it, this car is worth around 3-4 grand in my area (early z's are few and far between here. I have the only 70 I have seen, the closest other is a 73.) It has EVERY factory add on available, even factory A/C which still works. Ive decided that since all it needs is a little body work, Im going to keep it and put a little money into it and Ill have a really nice Z.

 

Anyways, pulled off the tape this morning for my stripes. Im surprised at how well they came out with just using spray paint.

 

Then I taped them up to get ready for the white

 

And shot my first coat of white

[skunk]

haha, nice. i knoe that fealing.

"damnit i want to work on the car... what to do what to do. i know i can paint somthing!!"

[bonvo]

lol i do the same thing skunk

[dat77sun]

how much for your old shift knob?

[Dirk Diggler]

Im actually going to hold onto it. Its just a peice of wood right now, there is no shift diagram on the top, and half of it looks like it has been burned. You can get a new one like I got from thezstore.com for $17

[Dirk Diggler]

The sun is out! The sun is out!

 

I got some more peices painted up today. With it being warm, I was able to paint the whole hood and cowl in about 5 hours. Nothing is clear coated yet, and what you see is prior to the final sanding and buffing stage before clear.

 

I fucked up on the fender and taped off the blue stripes before they were dry. I swear I felt them and they were dry, plus it was sitting over night, so who knows what happened. The tape left texture in it, and the news paper stuck to some parts. As of now, Im not sure I want to do the whole BRE thing anymore. Its a lot of work, and would be much easier to do just one color. Im thinking of doing all the red like I have been using, what do you guys thinks?

 

Cowl Painted

 

Everything I have painted so far, placed on the car, but not mounted.

 

 

[Bleach]

I want that rear bumper :)

[Dirk Diggler]

Im taking off the rail if youre interested, I dont like them personally