Looking for 240/260/280 Z first project car

[Kush K]

Hi all,

I've done a fair bit of research and have decided that I would like the 240z (series) as my first project car.

I'm looking for basically a rolling chassis, but with minimal rust. As I've seen on the forums its hard to come by one with minimal rust, and if you do, its likely been done up and restored already (costing £30/40k).

I'd like to do mechanical work myself, so a non-starter/poorly running engine, worn clutch, missing/damaged panels, rough interior etc would be perfectly wanted, but any subframe/metal damage wouldn't, as I'm not looking to get overly involved with fabrication. I'm also not looking to drop a whole new engine in, as I don't have the sort of equipment needed for that type of work.

I've seen a few online between 5-10k in decent condition with various issues, and would be alright to spend that sort of money as long as the chassis was good.

Regarding LHD/RHD, I'm not too fussed, but an RHD would obviously be preferred as I'm in the UK.

This is my first post on the site, so I'm keen to hear back from the community, any tips/advice would be more than welcome!

Kush

 

[Mark N]

Welcome to the forum.
You may have to increase your budget a bit if you want a car with minimal rust issues.
Decent cars at the top end of your budget are few and far between and are usually found instead of advertised.
Also, any decent looking car you see on eBay for a "Buy it now" price of five grand is going to be a scam.

 

[Mr Tenno]

For the car you want, you need to budget 15-20k.

Recently a completely dismantled LHD 280z that was missing it's engine went for £14k

No £5-10k car will be a good project. If it was, someone on this forum would have found and bought it before you.

 

[Albrecht]

No £5-10k car will be a good project. If it was, someone on this forum would have found and bought it before you.

Word.

 

[Kush K]

Dang, thats a shame, but thanks for realistic replies! I guess I'll come back to the 240 later (assuming the prices haven't trebled by the time I get to back to them...)

I guess I should look elsewhere for my first project... speaking of.... does anyone have any ideas given my criteria? Was thinking of some air cooled 911s, or old mercedes/bmws, but they may be a bit optimistic again...

 

[Mark N]

You'll be able to get an air-cooled Volkswagen but certainly not a 911.
Have you thought about any other Z cars apart from the S30 series or even other Datsuns/Nissans?

 

[Wally]

Dang, thats a shame, but thanks for realistic replies! I guess I'll come back to the 240 later (assuming the prices haven't trebled by the time I get to back to them...)

I guess I should look elsewhere for my first project... speaking of.... does anyone have any ideas given my criteria? Was thinking of some air cooled 911s, or old mercedes/bmws, but they may be a bit optimistic again...

E30 325i would be a great project.

 

[Bazzateer]

E36 M3 will only go up in value but can be found needing some work for under £15k.

 

[Mark N]

How about a first generation Celica coupe (TA22) or an early Supra?

 

[Kush K]

I forget to mention in my initial post; but I am looking to roughhlyyy break even/make a profit where possible - even if I don't end up selling it, hence the classics.
--Because of that I do like the idea of the e36 and e30!

I like the look of the s13 (not so much the pop up headlight one), and I'm aware this is becoming a car classic quick, so would be interested in this as well.

I've also seen some American muscles pop up here and there with little work needed as well? I love the look of the old 'stangs but don't know enough about resale to make a decision yet.

I know by making all these boxes to tick I'm probably narrowing down my options a fair bit but I guess I'd rather go through the hoops now and do my research before committing to a car, I'm quite young so defo want to make the right choice here!

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

I forget to mention in my initial post; but I am looking to roughhlyyy break even/make a profit where possible - even if I don't end up selling it, hence the classics.
--Because of that I do like the idea of the e36 and e30!

I like the look of the s13 (not so much the pop up headlight one), and I'm aware this is becoming a car classic quick, so would be interested in this as well.

I've also seen some American muscles pop up here and there with little work needed as well? I love the look of the old 'stangs but don't know enough about resale to make a decision yet.

I know by making all these boxes to tick I'm probably narrowing down my options a fair bit but I guess I'd rather go through the hoops now and do my research before committing to a car, I'm quite young so defo want to make the right choice here!

If you're looking to just make a profit, doesn't matter whether you're looking at a 240z or runner beans, you need to know more about your chosen avenue. There's loads of flippers in the s30 community, you could spend a few days doing some digging and easily work out what cars cost them and what they sold them for.

 

[Jay.]

I forget to mention in my initial post; but I am looking to roughhlyyy break even/make a profit where possible - even if I don't end up selling it, hence the classics.
--Because of that I do like the idea of the e36 and e30!

I like the look of the s13 (not so much the pop up headlight one), and I'm aware this is becoming a car classic quick, so would be interested in this as well.

I've also seen some American muscles pop up here and there with little work needed as well? I love the look of the old 'stangs but don't know enough about resale to make a decision yet.

I know by making all these boxes to tick I'm probably narrowing down my options a fair bit but I guess I'd rather go through the hoops now and do my research before committing to a car, I'm quite young so defo want to make the right choice here!

I think the issue is if you are looking at restoring a classic car to make a profit then your workmanship will have to be very high, as most classic car buyers are very particular. These cars take a lot of hours to do right, which is why a good restored example appears to be very expensive and therefore an easy profit relative to the rust bucket examples.

Realistically though, if you're starting with a rusty classic car (which your budget is indicating), you're going to be putting in several hundreds of hours of work into getting it correct. If you're paying someone to do this work then you'll be needing at least £20k to get the bodywork 'restored' - plenty of people on this forum have paid significantly more

You'll likely then have to pay a professional body shop to give you a good paint job. Add in some hard to find parts that will need to be OEM/original, which can run into the hundreds per item. If you're looking at an aircooled Porsche then budget an extra 10k for engine work. Suddenly you're in a car for £40k+ and that leaves very little for profit.. Checking out places such as Carsandclassic you'll often see £70-100k classic cars which have had (allegedly)£100k+ restorations.

I personally believe the only way to do this successfuly is if you set out to enjoy the adventure and have no 'end goal' of selling the car for profit.

 

[Kush K]

I personally believe the only way to do this successfuly is if you set out to enjoy the adventure and have no 'end goal' of selling the car for profit.

Its definitely a shame to hear, but great to know what my expectations should be REALISTICALLY. Its quite easy to see pro mechanics and YouTube channels doing up cars by any all all means necessary but definitely helps to have the advice of real people who have done the same as I'm trying to do - so thanks!

but the more research I do on project cars it does seem to be reinforcing the fact that they are money pits.... I guess I need to assess how much money I can really put into this over the years and see if this will be a restoration project or just my own project car (from what I've heard on this thread I'm starting the think the latter is more likely).

I think I'll try focusing on e30/36/46s for now, while keeping my eye out for that golden 240z.

 

[Jay.]

Its definitely a shame to hear, but great to know what my expectations should be REALISTICALLY. Its quite easy to see pro mechanics and YouTube channels doing up cars by any all all means necessary but definitely helps to have the advice of real people who have done the same as I'm trying to do - so thanks!

but the more research I do on project cars it does seem to be reinforcing the fact that they are money pits.... I guess I need to assess how much money I can really put into this over the years and see if this will be a restoration project or just my own project car (from what I've heard on this thread I'm starting the think the latter is more likely).

I think I'll try focusing on e30/36/46s for now, while keeping my eye out for that golden 240z.

Good luck!

I personally bought a mid-budget 240z and have had a great time with it. It's not needed a complete overhaul, as it wasn't a cheap car to begin with, but it's certainly never going to win any awards or be desirable to classic purists.. I think I'd probably get what I have into it if I wanted to sell it tomorrow. In my eyes, having had a fun car to tinker and learn and it cost me nothing is a great win

 

[Rushingphil]

Good luck!

I personally bought a mid-budget 240z and have had a great time with it. It's not needed a complete overhaul, as it wasn't a cheap car to begin with, but it's certainly never going to win any awards or be desirable to classic purists.. I think I'd probably get what I have into it if I wanted to sell it tomorrow. In my eyes, having had a fun car to tinker and learn and it cost me nothing is a great win

Not to mention that had you bought a half decent modern car, it would probably have depreciated £2k - £4k per year - plus the road tax and associated insurance.

 

[Kush K]

Good luck!

I personally bought a mid-budget 240z and have had a great time with it. It's not needed a complete overhaul, as it wasn't a cheap car to begin with, but it's certainly never going to win any awards or be desirable to classic purists.. I think I'd probably get what I have into it if I wanted to sell it tomorrow. In my eyes, having had a fun car to tinker and learn and it cost me nothing is a great win

Thanks! If you don't mind me asking, how much did you put in for the car itself, and what sort of condition was it in?

 

[Mark N]

There is another very cool 70s/80s Datsun two seater that can be had for between 7-10k when they come up.

 

[uk66fastback]

Is there a dislike button? I wouldn't be seen dead in that!

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

I think the issue is if you are looking at restoring a classic car to make a profit then your workmanship will have to be very high, as most classic car buyers are very particular. These cars take a lot of hours to do right, which is why a good restored example appears to be very expensive and therefore an easy profit relative to the rust bucket examples.

Realistically though, if you're starting with a rusty classic car (which your budget is indicating), you're going to be putting in several hundreds of hours of work into getting it correct. If you're paying someone to do this work then you'll be needing at least £20k to get the bodywork 'restored' - plenty of people on this forum have paid significantly more

You'll likely then have to pay a professional body shop to give you a good paint job. Add in some hard to find parts that will need to be OEM/original, which can run into the hundreds per item. If you're looking at an aircooled Porsche then budget an extra 10k for engine work. Suddenly you're in a car for £40k+ and that leaves very little for profit.. Checking out places such as Carsandclassic you'll often see £70-100k classic cars which have had (allegedly)£100k+ restorations.

I personally believe the only way to do this successfuly is if you set out to enjoy the adventure and have no 'end goal' of selling the car for profit.

I'm not sure how many on here who have spent £20k on bodywork? or significantly more?

 

[Kush K]

Hi everyone, I’ve got my eyes on a decent 260z for the price, but I’m worried that the level of rust, floors +smaller spots here and there may be too much for me as a first time project car owner? Engines in decent condition, will need paint but body is decent as well.

Thoughts on whether or not this is too big for my criteria?