BenJammin

Well written, lol ! Been there but usually will do a search of the bathroom waste basket for salvagable tissue (or at least not too gross already for the purpose)before choosing to forego the whole process. Which brings up an old joke about a dude doing his business in the woods and having nothing to wipe with.... his friend shouts to him "try a dollar"... dude comes out from behind tree with crap all over his hands and his friend says didn't you try using a dollar? He says sure, but do you know how hard it is to wipe with 3 quarters, two dimes and a nickel ! ... now what was the topic of this thread again ?

I think the op was just defending something we all love. I view Barris' comment kinda like if someone said your girlfriend /wife was ugly, it may not affect your self esteem but you are still going to stand up for what you care about (or maybe not... "yeah you're right, she could use some plastic surgery, eh? lol )

Went by the storage facility and told my '72 "Look baby... I'm just going thru some tough times trying to get everything lined up... the 620 is just a physical thing, I haven't forgot about you and we will be cruising together one day". We cried and hugged, then I shut the rollup door and drove away. [queue melancholy music]

They do have an allure, congrats on seeing the light ! My Z is in storage. Although I have just about everything I need to put it together, it took a backseat to the 620 pickup which is nearing completion. Was just working on the brakes today. I basically took apart a wrecked 2001 Frontier and jammed it inside the 620... KA motor, auto trans, wiring harness, plus all around disc conversion and coilover conversion. I took it down to the frame and had the bed and frame sandblasted and then POR-15'd everything. It's running and just a few odds and ends to get it all back together. Looking to get it painted by the end of the year and then post a build thread over on ratsun. It's taken awhile but at least it has moved forward. Now aren't you sorry you asked !

Thanks, but wait a minute ! You sold your 240 in favor of a 370Z, correct ? Did you end up missing the classic and get another one ?

No offense, but your post is full of contradictions. You lament the price yet point out the crappiest repros are still expensive and that "reproducing them won't be... cheap". Also 280 euro tails are one thing, 240 another entirely as for availability. It all boils down to these things commanding a certain price.

Unfortunately it appears simple market forces are at work... The potential sales of reproductions (and originals for that matter) of the JDM amber tails are to a very limited and select group that even appreciates what they are buying. Also don't forget the market we are talking about here... to repeat an often quoted adage... "copper wire was invented by two Datsun guys fighting over a penny". That said, with every 'tool up' and production there is a cost involved that must be recouped and profited from if it's going to be worthwhile. Which means to do it right, you have to do it professionally, factor in the potential sales and set pricing accordingly. Based on what I've seen thus far that price works out to about $800 plus. Those links above are very labor intensive just to get one item produced (and we are talking three different colors just for the lens) and I would challenge anyone using that process to produce a decent (and DOT approved) tail light that looks professionally done. And just think about that further if you were to do a run of say 10 ~ 50 ? It comes down to if you want to play you have to pay, despite what you might think is fair. For what it's worth I paid the $800 for my repro jdm tails.

EDIT - Sorry folks, didn't realize I was necroposting from 2005 There are R180 finned covers for sale on Ebay now. Says it's for a late model Subaru but I assume these would fit all R180 (?) Not much more pricewise than what people are getting for the Z31 r200 covers these days, plus it's new. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perrin-Subaru-Impreza-WRX-STi-08-09-10-R180-Rear-Diff-Differential-Cover-BLACK-/260896792169?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item3cbea91e69

House being reposessed maybe ? Or has plans on changing the floor anyway? Pretty cool in a "I just don't give a ****" kinda way.

Nah, too old. I suspect I know what you are looking for. Pics or the 'as-is' disclaimer. I can't personally remember either, but I get the point.

Unfortunately way too late to file a claim (which I believe I would have won, the parts were faulty to a point that could be proved as fraudulent not just 'normal wear'). I realize at this point that any resolution in my favor is pretty much a dead end, but this unofficial poll was intended to see how others would comment with their take on the seller's sense of responsibility in the deal. A less than productive exercise I know, but just humor me if you can.

Okay, so I bought a set of the Modern Motorsport CV axle adapters on Ebay (the seller is also a member here) 10 months ago. I never looked at them closely and shelved them for later. I assumed they were good since MM seemed to have a good rep, but recently thought about trading them for some other parts. Upon further inspection I realize one of the adapters is welded off-center to the original hub flange. So I contact both MM and the original seller. No response from MM after multiple tries. The seller finally responds [after having to bug him several times] and says "he had no problem with them" and "it's a joke that I bring it up 10 months later". Okay, these may indeed pose no detectable problem from the driver seat because the CV will compensate somewhat for the out-of-roundness, but I am pretty sure it is a stress the CV doesn't need and will lead to early failure. Besides, no one should have to be stuck with something as obviously screwed up as this part is. The seller has pretty much convinced himself it's not his problem, but I am stuck with $175 worth of parts that no one wants to lay claim to. I'm not asking anyone for a hug or anything, just wanting the popular consensus... is this a crappy thing to do? I know someone will say the same as the seller about the 10 months, but does the time really matter? Does it make it any less shitty from day one ? Granted the seller may not have realized it either, but shouldn't he be responsible enough to take them back and deal with MM himself?

Word of warning to anyone going for the Modern Motorsport adapters. MM is near impossible to get in contact with.

Okay I stand corrected, the reference I had was my 12/71 production 240Z with the smaller one (and the supposed 260Z one I bought that didn't work out). Here are the part numbers from RockAuto, so apparently there were splits from 71-72 and again in '73 (not in '74 on the 260z like I thought). They don't list the booster for the 260Z, but the part number for the '75 280Z booster is the same as the late '73 240Z. 535245 70-71 535246 72-73 (7 inch) 535104 73 8 1/2

You sound picky AND cheap! Good luck with that when looking for a pristine console. ( Just giving you a friendly hard time, don't get mad or report me! ) Fyi, I paid $80 for a decent used one and the only thing I've seen better were the new ones people have already pointed out to you on Ebay. I know they are pricey, but they are truly rare so you have to grab them when they come up (and the 72-73 does show up from time to time).

240Z booster is smaller in diameter than 260/280 and bolt pattern is different too. I have one from a 260Z that was holding good vacuum, should be the same as 280, I'll get you some pics up this evening.

Yeah, just because you get an RB25DET into a Z and get it running doesn't mean it's worth a fortune. If every hose/wire/bracket is mounted with zip-ties, all the weatherstripping is hard and cracked, the paint sucks, the spoilers mounted with whatever various mismatched screws/bolts you had laying around, the doors don't close right, the window regulators are bad, the hatch support doesn't do it's job, the interior shows all it's 30+ years of age, nah, it's not going to be worth $14k. And even if all the above is correct, it's not going to bring $30k+ unless EVERY BOLT, NUT, RUBBER, etc is restored and all the rest done right with no shortcuts and then somebody sees the car, loves it, and has the spare cash laying around. $50k is a pipe dream regardless of how delusional some people may be about their early Z cars. Even if it happens, it would be a huge anomaly. I'm speaking objectively about this. I've watched Ebay, Craigslist, ClassicZcars.com, Zcar.com, and this site for 3+ years and think I've got a pretty good pulse reading on the market. I have about $16k into my ride that's still on furniture dollies, with many more dollars to be spent on the horizon before it's done. Do I think I could recoup that? No way! It is strictly for my own enjoyment and knowing I'm doing it right. No one else will respect that and will lowball the F**k out of me if I want to sell it.

Okay, it was lot#319 last year and the price was higher than I thought, but only $16k A search for "240Z" at their site only returned up a handful of early Z's and the highest was $22k (a 'performance restoration' i.e. heavy mods and show car level restoration). Everything else went for $16k or less. Here's the search: http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/archivecarlist.aspx?year=&make=datsun&model=240z But I would be very interested in seeing a link that shows a Z went for $50k [...and not an original JDM low production ZG like your link referenced]

A few spiked sales won't affect the overall market. The 'market' is only what people are willing to pay, no more/no less. Knuckeduster's car was very clean and the conversion looked practically OEM (well except for the radiator hose having to cross back to the other side) and someone simply wanted it bad enough to bid what they did on that particular day. Anyone see the totally cherry original low mile early Z on Barrett-Jackson early this year (or late last year - my memory is slipping with old age)? It only went for around $12k, so I don't think the mainstream collector value for Z's (even RB-Z's) is in any danger of going thru the roof anytime soon! I think it's pretty rare for anyone to get out of their Z what they've put into it, unlike the classic American muscle cars where you can buy a rusted shell for $10k, put another $30k into restoration and still profit from it at Barret-Jackson or just on EBay. Then you have idiots like the guy on Craigslist here in San Diego a few weeks back trying to get $50K for his 1981 Turbo ZX! Yeah, they can be nice but I don't think there's a sucker out there dumb enough for that deal.

Agreed, almost as bad as searching "240Z" on Ebay and getting pages upon pages of radiators or other parts that are for specific cars but have "240Z" cross referenced in every listing description. Yes, one can eliminate those from the searches by un-checking the box that say "search descriptions", but certain parts I want to see are for 300ZX, 280ZX, 280Z, 260Z, etc. and only have '240Z' in the description as a possible x-ref, and I want to see them. If those sellers want to list a separate ad for every specific part they have, then why put every other available application in every ad? In that case, just place one ad for "RADIATOR" and then put every car you have one for in the description. At least with Ebay I can eliminate those sellers from the search criteria specifically by name, which keeps me from seeing ANY of their ads! Too bad for them though if they actually had something I might want.

Hey Mack, no problems here on your price. Would I like to see it cheaper? Of course! But I know what it takes to make something quality (and make it worthwhile to do so). I wasn't stomping on the pricing, I just know how people on the boards can be sometimes and didn't want to get flamed just for letting people know. Actually, with the stock ones going for over $400, and RIPZ pan going for more than yours, I think you aimed at the middle pretty good.

Well, maybe someone started a new thread or something, but I'll necropost here on this one... Anyone see McKinney's site lately? He's listing the new custom rear sump pan for the conversion! Don't kill the messenger when you see the price ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (EDIT: which is not too bad considering stock pans going for over $400 and other custom pans going for even more) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (at bottom of linked page) http://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/prod_240+260+280Z+parts

Yeah had me all excited! Thought MSA started making repro roof skins until I checked the link

Yeah, truthfully that left me scratching my head. With all the recycling centers available nowadays( I presume in Oz too since it's not REALLY a third world country - ), was thinking that it would just be terribly lazy and nasty to do such a thing. But I guess he 'got' me. Cheers!

Are you serious?