72 rb25 240z

[JSM]

Keep your car and buy the S30!

 

Does your car have A/C? Does the Z have A/C? If your car has A/C and the Z doesn't be prepared for a shock. Z's to me are not cool temp wise inside and plus your in Texas. Then there is the fume issue and women do not like exhaust fumes, at least mine doesn't.

 

The other thing to consider is maintenance. It something goes wrong with the RB your ordering parts. Not that the RB is not reliable, but you can't predict the future. The Chevy you can go anywhere.

 

Definitely find out how long it has been painted. If it was recent, see if he has pics showing before. These cars are notorious for rust.

 

Try and make your decision on facts, not emotions. If you have the cash to buy it outright go for it.

[DINOSAUR]

My car has everything hooked up for ac, need a new compressor though it went out on my right before this last winter.

I didn't really notice any fumes when we rode around in it, but then again that was only for ~15 minutes, windows down.

 

as far as body work and the engine swap, he did it all himself. Someone that he knows, could be his father, I'm not too sure exactly, has some sort of shop they did this all in. It really was a very clean car. He did also mention it had a lifter tick, as we know it's usually on start up, and when it gets to operating temperatures it slowly fades away, but we both drove around-about an hour to meet up, so I wasn't able to hear anything.

 

Also, you're very right about the whole rb shenanigans. If anything goes wrong with my Ls, well hell, I'll just make a quick trip to the parts store. Rb land... Well, guess we'll have to get overnight parts from Japan!!

 

Thanks for the serious input, will be looking into it in more depth.

Edited June 6, 2012 by DINOSAUR

[LoneStarS30Z]

An s14 even with an ls motor is not particularly rare, that coupled with a stock interior, a stock motor sans tune and intake, and quite a bit of body damage really doesn't put it at it's asking price.

 

My honest opinion? Check it out a little more than pull the trigger. The 240Z will only appreciate in value, while the 240sx will only depreciate.

 

 

My thoughts exactly. RB parts aren't terribly hard to find, Zilvia usually has numerous used parts, and check rawbrokerage.com, they special in everything RB. Coming from someone who used to own a S14 (granted it wasn't LS3), who now owns a S30, I wouldn't hesitate if the S30 is as clean as it appears in the picture. They're so much more charismatic than a S14. I beat the the poo out of my S14 and loved it, but it never put the smiles on my face like my rumbly S30 does. In the end, I don't think either choice will disappoint.

[Pharaohabq]

If he rebuilt it, Did he add camber plates for the towers? How aboutr the undercoating, Did they respray that? It sounds like he cut a couple minor corners, but at the same time your car isn't perfect either. Really is the car worth it to you? It would certainly save you a lot of wrenching hours to build up another car like this S30, if you went with this. Seattle had a point about the Value apprieciating, Though a Modified Z, won't necessarily apprieciate like a clean stock S30 would.

 

Are your tire sizes the same? maybe keep his rims and swap in your tires. or better yet, tell him that if he puts new tires on it, then it'll be a deal. What else are your drawbacks on the trade? It sounds to me like you're definitely interrested. Just is it worth it to you is the only questions you have to ask.

[Gollum]

Seattlejester makes points that I could very well find myself saying. That said though, nobody gets out of their car what they put into it. At least not 99% of us.

 

It looks like most of the work done to the S30 was done with zero labor cost, just energy. I bet there's less than 10k invested. The RB25 isn't exactly a super expensive motor to get, and there isn't any go fast goodies added on. But, a low rust chassis is worth something. And a low rust chassis that's been gone over is worth a bit more to the right person. I don't like that it doesn't look like they completely stripped and then painted the inside of the car. Stripping the down the car to a bar chassis from the firewall back is 10 times more worth than from the firewall forward, so I can understand if they just didn't want to do the work. But they did so much, and to just leave it looks like someone lost energy/momentum and just wanted to get it done. Hopefully it's because they didn't find any rust and decided it was fine, because there's also the offshoot chance they found more work than they wanted to deal with and just put it all back together ignoring the extra hundreds of hours of labor left.

 

I'd be more inclined to fallow JSM's advice. Just buy the car outright. It sounds like the S30 owner is now dead set on getting your S14, but having both might not be so bad. But maybe it's you that's really bitten by the trade idea. I personally would only pay 7-8k for that Z. But I'd also only pay maybe 10k for your S14, just being honest. The Z has a nice chassis, but that's about it. Let's be honest. The engine isn't worth that much. There's no suspension work of notoriety. Interior isn't WOW. No fuel cell. No big brakes. Cheaper 17" rims. Worn out tires. Go down the list. The selling point is the chassis. You have to decide if that selling point is worth it. You might never find such a good deal on a nice chassis, who knows. Every year these cars become a little bit harder to find in good shape. 10 years down the road we might be laughing at what we wouldn't pay for a restored Z chassis... But in today's market, I just don't see anything of "wow" value in that car. It's a solid project that was heading in the right direction, but for some reason the owner decided against pursuing further. The lack of engine upgrades almost scares me, like he got the motor in just to sell the thing....

[Alonso*]

Keep the kouki. Those are the rarest of the S-chassis here in the US. S30s seem more common than them

[Richs72RBz]

find out how much he wants for it cash and then sell yours for 2-3k more and problem solved.

[ZStew]

If you dont decide to buy it please send me the guys info! Thanks