pete280z

I kept waiting for someone to say "Dude, I'm NOT your brother!"

That seaplane is (was?) a speed record holder. I'd imagine it was built for exactly that purpose. Fast and beautiful.

Good catch. My 76 FSM notes the offset as "15mm (0.95 in) offset." I used 0.95" rather than converting for myself. I knew that didn't sound right...

Factory wheel size for 280's was 5J-14 with +15mm offset. That would put stock backspacing somewhere in the neighborhood of 4", probably slightly less. I haven't done it myself, but the consensus seems to be that you can fit 15x8 with 0 offset on a stock suspended 280z.

v24 Fiat / Miacchi MC.72 Seaplane?

Moto Guzzi?

Wow! Congrats on the find. There are probably a ton of guys here in Fort Worth that are kicking themselves for missing out on such a deal. And yes, pics. Lots of them.

Go for it. Especially if it's a flat-crank V8 (I've got no idea). The sound of that engine in a Z would be fantastic.

The question posed by the thread was "What would you pay?" And that's how most have been answering. eBay or any used car transaction is always a buyer-beware situation. I know this firsthand from buying a Z that wasn't what the seller represented. In this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=112565 HS30-H points out that a 1971 Fairlady 240Z is an exceptionally rare car. It would be a good sales tactic to document that right up front. That's also an impressive list of parts. They're likely worth quite a bit of money. Scammers frequently post auctions for things they don't really have using images they've "borrowed" from other sites. I can't blame someone for disregarding the auction based on the borrowed pics.

And why not list the VIN in the auction as is typical in an ebay motors auction? Using borrowed pictures from vendors is poor salesmanship. If the seller is cutting corners on selling the thing, where else have corners been cut? For the record, I never accused the seller of anything.

Not much. That's an impressive list of parts, but hardly any photos that really back it up. Most of those photos look like the photos from vendors websites. No VIN to backup the claim of the chassis being a Fairlady 240Z? I've been burned on VIN/title problems before. I wouldn't go near it.

Looks great from here. The color is striking, even if it wasn't what you asked for. I love the combination of the body color with the flare color.

rudypoochris - I should have checked back on the forum before I went back in the garage Anyway, I searched -gasp- and learned that the Z wheels are all lug-centric so a spacer should be no problem. I was worried that I was overlooking something about solving the hub bore problem with a spacer. After searching and much thought, I am no longer worried about it. It takes at least a 0.2" spacer to clear the stock springs. 0.4 - 0.5" would probably be safe with tire. Photos at .2" spacer:

Well, the fronts didn't go quite so smoothly. The hub appears to be app. 2 7/8", but the opening in the wheels is only app. 2 5/8". And it looks like the wheel would hit the spring perch anyway. The spring shouldn't be a problem since coilovers are going on the car before the wheels anyway. Would a small spacer to get past the largest part of the hub be safe?

A higher offset moves the center of the wheel out, effectively moving the wheel farther in when mounted on the car. For a high offest like +35 you'll definitely need a spacer. I'm not sure on the details about the Rota D2. I'm pretty certain that they're 17", but I don't know the offset or width. Dana just said that he had some that would work with our cars. http://www.autornd.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=14_8857&products_id=170 It sounds like between this thread and auxilary's there are a few people interested. If more people post I'll get the details of the group buy and post in the Group Buy forum.

BRNZ TRZ ZPEEDY (Maybe it's a stretch from Speedy Gonzalez, but hey, it's a mouse) RATZ (Screw it, go for the big block!)

Mine just came in today. I couldn't wait to see what they would look like so I tried one on the back. It looks like these might actually fit with stock suspension on a 280Z. I couldn't get one on the front tonight. Hopefully tomorrow. BTW, backspacing measured to almost exactly 5". This vendor has two other wheels that could fit our cars. They have offered to do a group buy if enough people are interested: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=112295 and http://www.autornd.com/catalog/images/BLACKD2.JPG Gold rocker trim! Pimp, ain't it?

Pulling from an old thread: DHOC From a F355 in town: ID WIN Read this over the radio, officer: NWMWN Along the lines of NEZUMIZ: MOUZE

http://www.419eater.com/

IMO, you'll get quite a bit more for it if you can finish it to the point that it's roadworthy. Your list of things to do isn't terribly long, and my gut tells me your sale price will go up a lot more than the cost of the parts to complete. Wild guesses here: As-is: $5000-ish, complete: $8500

There's definitely 'profiling' going on. When my 240 was still on the street, I was running an open 2.5" exhaust on a N/A engine (Loud!). I live a block from a police station. I was never hassled about it. Harley riders run around with open pipes and don't even get a second look from cops. Integras and Civics with exhaust half as loud are getting tickets for it. Are the Integra and Civic guys adopting an image of someone who is likely to be breaking the law? Yup. I suppose me in my Z and the investment-banker/outlaw-biker types aren't as likely to be doing anything that's illegal besides running loud exhaust. I don't know, it still seems questionable. Honda guys are getting tickets that may or may not be legit while I know I'm violating noise ordinance. I guess the cops are writing the tickets to justify pulling people over speculatively.

No problem. Glad to have helped.

Since you're in texas, try here: http://www.allzcar.com/

I chose suspension first. Mostly because the suspension in my car was the area most in need of attention. It had two blown struts, bushings were in bad shape, and undersized tires make it look like it's on stilts. The engine leaks some fluids, but is basically competent. Think about it this way: a decently handling but underpowered car will be fun for a little while, but a poorly handling overpowered car will be scary every time you drive it.

http://www.dimequarterly.com