Newbie looking for a car

briany

Club Member
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:
  1. Does this sound like a reasonable plan, bearing in mind I'm not in a rush?
  2. 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.
  3. Can any forum members comment on their experiences of doing something similar, in particular where were the unforeseen pitfalls?
  4. It is also worth looking at The Netherlands for cars? Seem to be quite a few around, but pricy - maybe too pricy?
I'm not asking detailed questions about costs here, as there seems to be reasonably up to date info in other threads on the forum. I know restoration work is pricy, hence the plan to only outsource what I can't get done myself. However I'm assuming that a decent LHD base vehicle can be had for not more than around £10k, let me know if you think that is unrealistic, also any other words of advice form someone who has done this before would be very welcome!
 

Ian

Club Member
Welcome.

Your plan sounds solid, getting a decent car from America and converting it seems the best way to go these days and can be had easily for under £10k as long as it doesn't strictly have to be a 240Z. Resto work is expensive but if you can pick up a decent shell then there shouldn't be many rust repairs to carry out leaving mainly the RHD conversion so costs so be in control.

The mechanical side of the S30's is simple so you should have no trouble there.




There are many on here who have imported shells, some have even imported upwards of 5 I believe.

Likewise others have experience with Fourways and other specialists.


Hopefully some of them chime in here.



Good luck.
 
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:
  1. Does this sound like a reasonable plan, bearing in mind I'm not in a rush?
  2. 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.
  3. Can any forum members comment on their experiences of doing something similar, in particular where were the unforeseen pitfalls?
  4. It is also worth looking at The Netherlands for cars? Seem to be quite a few around, but pricy - maybe too pricy?
I'm not asking detailed questions about costs here, as there seems to be reasonably up to date info in other threads on the forum. I know restoration work is pricy, hence the plan to only outsource what I can't get done myself. However I'm assuming that a decent LHD base vehicle can be had for not more than around £10k, let me know if you think that is unrealistic, also any other words of advice form someone who has done this before would be very welcome!

The CAV replicas are great, any pics? I looked at doing one of these but was swayed by Gardner Douglas.

Fourways would be a great shout.

The best LHD donors will cost more than £10K. If you're rallying why not leave it LHD?
 
Hi, thanks for the input guys. You're right, it doesn't have to be RHD.
As to the CAV, it's off topic but here are a couple of pics, as you asked......View attachment 41720 View attachment 41721 , I have many more.....

Looks great!

Surely it’d make sense to stay lhd as it’s a race car(I think with a road car it does also!), save the money towards getting a great start point and modifying your suit your needs?
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
Welcome. If you're not in a rush and can pick and choose your shell from the US or elsewhere then you're in a good position. Saccyclone (Mike) on here is in the US and has sent a few cars over to forum members I think own the years.

There's a wealth of experience on this forum to gather info from on these cars - it's helped me no end.

I'd keep it LHD if it were me as labour alone for a RHD conversion is £10k (without parts) so forum rumour has it ... !
 

Garaculas

Club Member
Welcome along! Absolutely love the look of the CAV GT40, is that another car you compete in or just for the weekends? Your Z plan sounds good but as others have said save yourself a lot of time/effort and keep the car LHD if its strictly going to be a rally car. I've heard similar numbers to the above that the specialists you've mentioned are quoting upwards of £10k for a conversion plus you have a number of rare parts to find such as dashboard, pedal box etc etc.

I helped Jay on here import his car from the US and i'm sure he would give you any advise that you require along with many others who have done the same thing. You're in the right place, look forward to seeing what you get :)
 

briany

Club Member
What rules will you have to comply with? Will you need to get an FIA Historic Technical Passport 'HTP'?
Still finding out some of this, it seems to depend on the event. For example, The Peking to Paris rally is organised by the Endurance Rally Association and they have their own rules. Broadly, however, the cars are divided into classes based on the model production years, and there are not too many mods you can do whilst staying rules legal. Again very broadly, performance upgrades are not allowed unless they were available in period, however underbody protection, strengthening, extra tankage, safety improvements etc are all okay and are encouraged. As an example, here are the HRCT rules for the 240Z http://hrct.co.uk/category-2-datsun-240z/.
With respect to model year, again rules vary, pre 1975 (just, ie 74) seems to give the most flexibility as it puts you at or near the most recent end of the class so you are largely competing with older and maybe less developed vehicles. Pretty much all of the successful endurance rally Zs seem to be 240s
 

Nigel Brook

Well-Known Forum User
I have a RHD 240z rolling shell which I'm going to sell. Built specifically for rallying. It has new floors, fully seam welded, all new Bilstein suspension, rebuilt steering rack, strengthened cross member, loads of other new bits and I even have an excellent dash.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
I have a RHD 240z rolling shell which I'm going to sell. Built specifically for rallying. It has new floors, fully seam welded, all new Bilstein suspension, rebuilt steering rack, strengthened cross member, loads of other new bits and I even have an excellent dash.

Yes I've seen it - good call. :driving:
 

Nigel Brook

Well-Known Forum User
The CAV replicas are great, any pics? I looked at doing one of these but was swayed by Gardner Douglas.

Fourways would be a great shout.

The best LHD donors will cost more than £10K. If you're rallying why not leave it LHD?
I have a load of pictures on my old computer. I'll let you know
 
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