Z value, 240Z w/ SBC

[RoadRace]

Always a good topic. i made a deal to buy a car. i love it, its all i think about lately. i had to buy it. but did i let my heart get the better of me?

 

it is:

 

1971 240Z, series 1 car, build 3/71. owner bought the car new, had all documentation. spare never been used, 40 year old air in there.

he never drove it in the winter, never in the rain.

 

then came the need for speed. in 89, he hired a professional shop to put a 350 and M21 4spd in the car. he had the car painted and bubble style flares put on, smaller - hardly noticeable on the front, rears are quite nice. its got 14 x 7 AR slots. he had a LT1 355 made up - with some normal stuff, 4 bolt, steel crank, alum torker intake and 650DP carb, and some quite rare speed parts, 7qt Vette oil pan, ported angle plug 64cc heads, roller cam and most interestingly, a front mount distributor. the guy wanted a car that would handle well, so the shop put the entire motor behind the front axle and put a front mount distributor in. they used a close ratio M21, Tilton hydraulic release bearing and tilton clutch with steel lakewood bellhousing. Custom made headers, oil cooler, 4.11 LSD, Mulholland front and rear bars, koni inserts, coil overs and camber plates. 4 pt roll bar. the dash has no cracks, the car has really low kms on it.

 

he parked the car 10 years ago and it hasn't turned a wheel since. this is how i bought it. i'm not going to say what i paid for it, i'd like to know what the collective thinks it should trade for. the car was dusty, but the paint was like glass, rubbed out properly. i looked hard a did not find the inner seam where the flares were put on - really first class work. keep in mind that it hasn't run in 10 years and the deal was made without hearing it run - usually a bad sign, but i checked it out and its all first class. i wanted to drop the tank and clean everything out 100% before i fire it. all the tires were flat. the only rust on the car was on the drivers door jamb - and was probably from sitting. he didn't know about it until i starting looking. it was not a hole, i tried...

 

thanks!

[lil89ram50]

can e get better pics of that motor?

[Zfighter76]

priceless.

cant put a price on badass

[qwik510]

Seems like alot of money went into building that car. You didn't mention anything about the suspension or brakes. If neither were upgraded, they will both need work to handle the power of the V8.

 

Since the car is not running and will need lots of work to get it back on the road, the it is hard to set a value. A used built engine that is not running is probably worth $500 for all the goodies it has on it. The M21 another $500 and the nicely flared Z car shell with rust visible rust maybe $2500. So in my opinion about $3000 - $3500 but I would want it for less.

 

BTW, that rust looks like a hole to me. Funny how it rusted right next to a plug where they applied rust proofing . If you can see that much rust, there is more hidden.

 

Looks like a great project. Keep the updates coming and good luck.

 

David

[RoadRace]

well david, you and i are on the same page, i started at 3500, but that didn't quite work the way i wanted it too...

 

before he parked it, he had the front end rebuilt, ball joints, all brakes, rotors, pads hoses - but they are still OEM 240Z. i did mention the susp mods! the rear bar mount is still cad plated.

 

motor has forged pistons, 10.5:1, dyno'd at 425.

 

pics as requested:

 

[MikeRL411]

Putting thousands of dollars into a car does not make it worth that much more. 1971 240Zs are a known factor and readily valued. If this were an original "Scarab" conversion, there is a defined baseline for that car and the value can be found on serious collector, and probable NADA, sites. As it is, it's worth whatever you desire to pay for it.

[thisismatt]

The shoddy flat black engine bay paint would have me worried. Hard to say with the dark pictures how good anything looks...

[Dirk Diggler]

Sorry to say that's not a series one. The series one can be identified by the vents on the rear batch, and the outer c pillars have 240z emblems, not just a z. Still a good looking car though. If it is running, there is a 73 that has a sbc in it for $7500 on the local Craigslist.

[RoadRace]

thanks Dirk, et al. well, im glad i found out now. i thought cars built before 6/71 were series 1. this is 3/71. oh well.

 

There's no rust on the front rails or anywhere in the engine bay. the black paint is really bad, its flaking off in big patches all over the engine bay. Under the car the paint/coating is flaking off everywhere as well, most likely from sitting for so long. thanks for the replies i appreciate the input, i paid too much. but i'm never selling it so i can't lose!! i love this 240Z28!

[datrod]

thanks Dirk, et al. well, im glad i found out now. i thought cars built before 6/71 were series 1. this is 3/71. oh well.

 

There's no rust on the front rails or anywhere in the engine bay. the black paint is really bad, its flaking off in big patches all over the engine bay. Under the car the paint/coating is flaking off everywhere as well, most likely from sitting for so long. thanks for the replies i appreciate the input, i paid too much. but i'm never selling it so i can't lose!! i love this 240Z28!

 

You just answered your own question. Your happy that's all that matters. :)

So I'm guessing you layed down about $4500-$5000.

 

It will be a nice car with some work. That rust is bad but not the end of the world. Just make sure that you check it all over like all Z's that shit hides on you.

 

You really need to up grade the brakes first. Big power and 40 year old brakes just don't work.

 

And also do you know if they beefed up the frame rails. if not you might want to check into that as well.

 

Now get that thing cleaned up and get us some good pictures. :P

[DRIVEN]

You really need to up grade the brakes first. Big power and 40 year old brakes just don't work.

 

And also do you know if they beefed up the frame rails. if not you might want to check into that as well.

Yes and yes. Thick sway bars and heavy engines will eventually tear the rails where the bar mounts. Ask me how I know <_< . You also never hear anyone say, "I would have totally missed that tree but my big brakes were working too well."

[ktm]

And also do you know if they beefed up the frame rails. if not you might want to check into that as well.

 

Exactly. When my ST bars were installed, I had the rails opened up and tubing installed internally between the top and bottom. I then asked Bad Dog to custom fabricate a set of is frame rail reinforcements that were a U/C-section instead of his L-section.

[RoadRace]

thanks again! i'd like to see how you did the frame connectors. i've got the 280ZXT front brakes - hoping that will suffice.