Hi, new to the forum and just signed up to the club, but don't even have a Z yet! The long term aim is to renovate an early 70s 240Z to compete in historic endurance rallying.
So how to get a car? The advice on here and elsewhere is not to bother with UK RHD cars, get a cheap(er) LHD low rust vehicle and convert / restore it.
I have quite a bit of car build up experience as I built a CAV GT40 replica (high end monocoque design from S Africa) from boxes of bits a few years ago and have access to a full workshop. So I'm okay with stripping down the car prior to the body refurb, and handling restoration of the mechanicals, BUT I'm no use at bodywork or paint. So the game plan would be to acquire the car, strip it out, then outsource the body refurb and RHD conversion (the body elements, in any event) to one of the specialists such as Fourways, ZFarm etc.
So my questions right now are:
So how to get a car? The advice on here and elsewhere is not to bother with UK RHD cars, get a cheap(er) LHD low rust vehicle and convert / restore it.
I have quite a bit of car build up experience as I built a CAV GT40 replica (high end monocoque design from S Africa) from boxes of bits a few years ago and have access to a full workshop. So I'm okay with stripping down the car prior to the body refurb, and handling restoration of the mechanicals, BUT I'm no use at bodywork or paint. So the game plan would be to acquire the car, strip it out, then outsource the body refurb and RHD conversion (the body elements, in any event) to one of the specialists such as Fourways, ZFarm etc.
So my questions right now are:
- Does this sound like a reasonable plan, bearing in mind I'm not in a rush?
- Do any forum members have practical experience of buying a car from the US? How did you go about it, in particular how did you make sure the vehicle is as described and you don't get sold a pig in a poke, eg did you get someone to inspect it for you? It's the actual buying that I'm intimidated by, I think I can handle the shipping and import process okay.
- Can any forum members comment on their experiences of doing something similar, in particular where were the unforeseen pitfalls?
- It is also worth looking at The Netherlands for cars? Seem to be quite a few around, but pricy - maybe too pricy?