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Best way to power up a 70' 240z?


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The vin is 02764 pics later today

 

Wow, that is a pretty early 240Z. it's the 2764th one ever made. You will lose a lot of it's collector value if you do anything other than stock mods. You should think about a cam and maybe some other common early Z mods like disc brakes, but get a wooden crate and keep all the parts you take off it. that will help preserve some value. though really a 1 owner car like that is super rare, and would be a shame to see it get chopped up. it's your car though, just know what you're doing. That low a VIN it really could be worth 20K to the right person. Clean it up and put it on Ebay for 18K n see what happens.

 

Can't wait to see the picts. Really a restore would be the best choice, but it's up to you. There's a lot of other cars out there that you can chop up and mod the heck out of.

 

thanks.

 

Phar

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what is consider early? i have #6016. a friend of mine has #230

 

my friends car is smashed up on the driver side.

 

my car = still don't know what i plan on doing to it.

#230 is considered REALLY early - that one would have a 1969 build date. Can't really comment on #6016, since I don't know. I'd say it's pretty early, but nothing like #2764.
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Wow # 230, that's EARLY How smashed up is it? Sucks to hear about one injured, but it happens.

 

6016 is still very early though it's above 5000. I forget how many were built in 1969 and how many in 70' the 1969 ones are a lot more collectable than the 70's but any under ~10K are definitely sought after.

there was a site that talked about them, let me look :

 

http://www2.zhome.com:81/

 

according to that, the first 500 vins were 1969 cars and then above ~5200 were 1971's so that makes ~4500 1970 240Z's out there, and how many are left after nearly 50 years? Hard to say, but really I would doubt there's that many, that's why we make such a big deal about the early VIN S30's...

 

So seriously, how bad is the damage on his #230?

 

Phar

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according to that, the first 500 vins were 1969 cars and then above ~5200 were 1971's so that makes ~4500 1970 240Z's out there, and how many are left after nearly 50 years? Hard to say, but really I would doubt there's that many, that's why we make such a big deal about the early VIN S30's...

 

So seriously, how bad is the damage on his #230?

 

Phar

#5200 would be made in/around April or May of 1970. From what I've seen, they started to title them as '71 cars around the 9000-10000 range, probably later. I recall seeing a '70 car for sale that was #106xx.

 

And +1 on the damage on #230. If all it has is a little front end damage, it should definitely be fixed, and not scrapped.

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I can understand persuading people not to heavily mod an early 240Z for the sake of money, but I don't understand it practically.

 

The Z cars are not, and will never be, a mustang. They will probably never be worth more than the average house in an urban area. I don't ever foresee them being a "rich man's investment".

 

But maybe I'm wrong.

 

IF you're an investor, don't touch it. Clean it up, get rid of rust, and vacuum seal it.

 

IF you're a car guy/hot rodder, do what ever you want. It's a car, it's meant to be enjoyed.

 

 

THAT being said, you can get 200na HP out of those engines easily enough on a reasonable budget, and about 250 if you want to spend some doe on having the head well built. 200hp in one of those will scream like a bat out of hell. I wouldn't use the stock L24 for that build though, so that if you DO want to sell it, you can drop it back in. This also saves your high dollar engine for another car if you plan to buy another S30 down the road.

 

But again, if you don't care about the value, and just want to have fun (like most of us on this board) do what ever your heart desires.

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Oh yea, i forgot about this option...

 

Find a Z purist. SELL IT for a sizable amount to this sucker. Then go buy a 74/75 for $500-1000 nearly rust free AND a donor vehicle for what ever engine you want and STILL have money left over...

 

That's IF this 240Z is in good enough shape.

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#5200 would be made in/around April or May of 1970. From what I've seen, they started to title them as '71 cars around the 9000-10000 range, probably later. I recall seeing a '70 car for sale that was #106xx.

 

And +1 on the damage on #230. If all it has is a little front end damage, it should definitely be fixed, and not scrapped.

 

My dad had a '70 that was 10,xxx, I wanna say 10,3 or 10,6 but thats little more than a guess.

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Oh yea, i forgot about this option...

 

Find a Z purist. SELL IT for a sizable amount to this sucker. Then go buy a 74/75 for $500-1000 nearly rust free AND a donor vehicle for what ever engine you want and STILL have money left over...

 

That's IF this 240Z is in good enough shape.

 

Gollum,

 

Fully respecting your opinion here. Just wanted to say that I disagree with you (on it not ever being a Mustang, or whatever). Mustangs are MUCH cheaper to restore, and don't have near the rust issues of the 240Z. However, the Z is the first Japanese sports car ever to go big and open the door for the rest (Mustang has a similar claim, I know). I foresee more of a chance than you in these cars bringing Mustang money in a decade or so. It's not uncommon for a really nice 70-72 to bring $25k or so. But rare is the one that really (really) has a restoration done on it well, unlike the Mustang. What I'm trying to point out is supply and demand. While at any moment there might be 50 people willing to pay $70k for a perfect 67 Fastback, there's probably one nut who would for a 240Z that he considers to be perfect. But this guy would have to look high and low for one of this level, whereas the 50 Mustang guys have 100 to choose from.

 

I hope I'm right (not that I ever intend to sell). I'm literally betting you're wrong!

 

Take care.

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I actually agree and could see the early, mint Z's or fully restored examples going for some cash in the next decade or two.

 

Well, look at it this way. It's one movie or trend away from being tossed into the limelight and there being a craze over it. Look what happened to the late model Toyota Supra and the Trueno AE86. The Trueno was "just a corolla" before it went popular.

 

Mind you, I hope it never gets to that point just for the hobby's sake. But it's not unrealistic to think it could happen. I think they're priced perfectly at the moment based on the condition of the car.

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Exactly. And (I'm really taking a step out here) it looks like pop culture might be going back in a nuevo-80s fashion sometime. For easy example: Kanye West is now growing his hair slightly out, wearing big "Oakley Frogskin" sunglasses and Bill Cosby-esque sweaters. Really. Then you have musicians going huge like Sam Sparro with a Duran Duran feel. If this is the case, built on an already strong platform of JDM coolness, I could see 240Z stock going up substantially. Nothing has this style that is made right now. Even (or especially, depending on how you look at it) the retro American cars don't do it.

 

I seriously predict (and, as I said in this post, I buy and sell for profit too) that 70s cars will get popular soon. I'd love to have a badass Pontiac Bandit ala Burt.

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I knew there'd be people who'd disagree, and that's ok.

 

But here's why I think what I do. Most Z owners own them BECAUSE they're so affordable. When they loose that factor then there will be tons of people who will loose interest in them, and the supply will go up, while the demand is fading. Then the value will go down, and some of those people will buy them again.

 

Z guys are cheap. Even most of the purists I've meet are freakin' penny pinchers. That alone will ensure they stay a low value classic imo.

 

I might be wrong though. I'm not going to say it's not possible I'm wrong, that's for dang sure. I don't tend to create beliefs out of every opinion that comes out of my mouth.

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Rock on.

 

I will try to offer a positive perspective on this.

 

Being also in the Porsche world, when I go to a show and talk to all the guys with the $100k sixties 911s, I tell them that I have the 240Z and they all go gaga over them. I think that real car collectors will be on these soon. Just my thoughts too.

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My dad had a '70 that was 10,xxx, I wanna say 10,3 or 10,6 but thats little more than a guess.

 

I was just going off what that site I'd quoted had said. Though modle years and actual years do vary. if your dad had a '70 with Vin 10,xxx then I'd be more likely to believe you. but read that site, it's interresting if nothing else.

 

Separately I too believe these cars will definitely apprieciate as a whole, since every year so many or them drop off the planet due to accident/cannibalism/rust though likely they will never reach the popularity of the Mustang, though a Z can whip a Stang anyday... hehe. there is a lot to be said of the mustang guys, they pioneered a lot of the resto methods we use. Z's are definitely more rare than mustangs. I think the 66 model year production surpassed the entire Z production for all S30 years. probably for each year passed too.

 

This accounts for the mustang popularity, since so many people had them as young people, then as they get older they pine for the days or their youth, and fun time in their old car. there's a mentality you'll see especially at vintage car meets. Aside from the oohs and ahh's you'll see a lot of people in dreamlike states remembering good times.

 

But I digress, the S30's likely will gain value, though it's doubtful it'll be a lot only due to the lower popularity they had as new production cars. As he said too, a mustang collector may have 50 to choose from, but a S30 collector may have less than 5. just look on Ebay, you'll see what I mean.

 

OP: I'm glad you're not going to chop it up. It's your car so do what you like, we'll help however you decide. Just keep your old parts in a crate somewhere. You won't regret it.

 

oh and yeah photobucket or anywhere you can post pictures is good to link from...

 

Also, how bad is #230?

 

thanks

 

Phar

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I was just going off what that site I'd quoted had said. Though modle years and actual years do vary. if your dad had a '70 with Vin 10,xxx then I'd be more likely to believe you. but read that site, it's interresting if nothing else.

 

Separately I too believe these cars will definitely apprieciate as a whole, since every year so many or them drop off the planet due to accident/cannibalism/rust though likely they will never reach the popularity of the Mustang, though a Z can whip a Stang anyday... hehe. there is a lot to be said of the mustang guys, they pioneered a lot of the resto methods we use. Z's are definitely more rare than mustangs. I think the 66 model year production surpassed the entire Z production for all S30 years. probably for each year passed too.

 

This accounts for the mustang popularity, since so many people had them as young people, then as they get older they pine for the days or their youth, and fun time in their old car. there's a mentality you'll see especially at vintage car meets. Aside from the oohs and ahh's you'll see a lot of people in dreamlike states remembering good times.

 

But I digress, the S30's likely will gain value, though it's doubtful it'll be a lot only due to the lower popularity they had as new production cars. As he said too, a mustang collector may have 50 to choose from, but a S30 collector may have less than 5. just look on Ebay, you'll see what I mean.

 

OP: I'm glad you're not going to chop it up. It's your car so do what you like, we'll help however you decide. Just keep your old parts in a crate somewhere. You won't regret it.

 

oh and yeah photobucket or anywhere you can post pictures is good to link from...

 

Also, how bad is #230?

 

thanks

 

Phar

 

Good post. I agree totally.

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I was just going off what that site I'd quoted had said. Though modle years and actual years do vary. if your dad had a '70 with Vin 10,xxx then I'd be more likely to believe you. but read that site, it's interresting if nothing else.

 

I've browsed the site before (many many times, zhome is one of the oldest dat-spots on the 'net)

but I went ahead and hunted down the data you were referring to, just because I wasn't 100% clear on it myself.

 

from http://www2.zhome.com:81/History/1970or1971.html

Some Interesting Facts and Figures:

 

It would appear from our records so far, and supported by the research of others, that approximately 10,000 Series I 240Z's were imported and sold as 1970 Model Year cars. The remainder of the 19,000+ units were sold/titled as 1971 Model Year cars.

 

Z Car HLS30 11618 is the latest VIN that we have found which was sold and titled as a 1970 Model Year car (built date 10/70 and Sold/Delivered 12/70)

 

Z Car HLS30 05504 (build date 06/70 and Sold/Delivered 08/70) is the earliest car found so far that was sold/titled as a 1971 Model Year Car.

 

You can see that there is an overlap in the build dates and VIN's of the first two "Model Years", however for the most part, cars built on or after 09/70, with VIN numbers above HLS30 010031, were sold as 1971 Model Year cars.

 

FWIW. No data here to contradict that quoted statement!

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