1973 240Z Restomod Project

Garaculas

Club Member
So after many years of wanting a 240Z I've finally decided to take the plunge and here she is! The car is a 1973 import from California with 44k on the clock and has been off the road since before i was born! It has an L28 engine, 5 speed gearbox and, as you can see, a couple of things missing... Thankfully the majority of the bits that are missing don't bother me too much as i'm not after a concourse original car!

The plan long term is to have a car which has the style and beauty of a classic Z but the underpinnings of a newer car. Coilover suspension, RB engine swap, welded in cage and a fresh paint job are all in my minds eye but these are plans for the far distant future as I aim to keep the car for many, many years to come! I hope that anything i buy for the car will be applicable for both the short and long term plans but we'll see how we do!

Genesis

After driving over 1000 miles in 2.5 days the collection from Scotland was a success and we have her home in the Shire!

The aim for the short term is to get her registered, road legal, reliable and semi presentable. She won't be seeing any roads until spring time next year which should give me plenty of time to source the parts i need, get her running reliably and give everything underneath the car a good coating of POR-15. Really excited to start working on her so let's get this thing under way! Watch this space :D
 

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johnymd

Club Member
All looks good. Very nice Bonnett fit and the rear arches look the right shape. What year is it? She'll looks late but it has an early centre consul. Just curious as I'm still not sure what a US series 2 car looks like.

Good luck with the build.
 
All looks good. Very nice Bonnett fit and the rear arches look the right shape. What year is it? She'll looks late but it has an early centre consul. Just curious as I'm still not sure what a US series 2 car looks like.

Good luck with the build.

you mean a later car? :thumbs:
 

Ped

Club Member
The car looks pretty sound from the photos. As others will vouch for on here, that's more than half the battle. Good luck, look forward to seeing updates in due course.
 

Garaculas

Club Member
All looks good. Very nice Bonnett fit and the rear arches look the right shape. What year is it? She'll looks late but it has an early centre consul. Just curious as I'm still not sure what a US series 2 car looks like.

Good luck with the build.

She's a 1973 and one of the last ones by my brief research

Looks fairly sound on top - are the floors and supports okay?

The floors are pushed up from when she was lifted with a forklift while being imported (idiots) but thats the only problem beneath the skin really. No rust, really solid shell. The paintwork leaves a lot to be desired but i'd rather have a Datsun on the road looking ratty short term than the other way around :D

Thanks for the feedback guys, looking forward to getting started :)
 

SacCyclone

Club Member
So your 73 Zed has a early center console, round top SU's instead of the factory flat tops.

Since your going with an RB engine, the 2.8L will be an easy sell there in the UK along with the 5 speed.

Looks a nice solid car.

Congrats...
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
So, domed SU carbs, not the flat tops, vertical rear window demister and early console - are you sure this is a '73?

Sure the hatch could have been changed out and the carbs are a common change but the console as well?

Hmmmmm ,,,

What does the plate say inside the driver's joor jamb?

Do you have the original front bumper?
 

richiep

Club Member
So, domed SU carbs, not the flat tops, vertical rear window demister and early console - are you sure this is a '73?

Sure the hatch could have been changed out and the carbs are a common change but the console as well?

Hmmmmm ,,,

What does the plate say inside the driver's joor jamb?

Do you have the original front bumper?

It could be that a load of stuff was swapped off an early-71 (vertical demister, non-vented hatch, early console, etc). Worth checking though. Is the gearstick straight or have a dogleg in its shape? Also, the design of the gearbox crossmember would be a telltale (early bolts up vertically, later with horizontal bolts).
 

Garaculas

Club Member
I do indeed have the original front bumper, the plate inside the door states the VIN (which matches the title and where it says it elsewhere on the car) along with 5/73.

Gearstick has a dogleg in it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Ian

Club Member
Welcome to the exciting world of Z ownership.

Good luck with your project, sounds like similar plans to what I had.
 

Sylv1

Well-Known Forum User
You can easily recognise a 73 by the brake circuit and the rubber for isolating main harness from firewall

that are stuff that are not easily swapped :p
 
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