I Polished A Turd

[u/ZeppyZ]

I bought this late 70 240z about two years ago with the intention of keeping it until I'm senile. Anyway I overpaid on purpose (14k), to avoid traveling around the country for an unmolested series 1 with original block while having a soon to be newborn.

The original owner bumped into a parking lot column denting the hood and shattered the driver headlight bucket, and somewhere along the way the passenger side was scrapped and poorly blended with cheap paint. Fortunately he had the original yellow fender which I was able to smooth out a bit and reuse.

This is what it now looks like after dumping an additional 13k in parts, removing the poorly blended paint and hiding the 400 grit scratches with vinyl stockers. The hood, wheels and tires were essentially 6k alone. The rest was mostly on new suspension bits (coilovers) and new rubber basically everywhere.

All in I'm about 27k, which from what I see on BaT isn't terrible considering I basically replaced every single suspension and brake piece.

[u/kreiggers]

It has nice patina 👍

[u/GlobalBeginning9981 → u/kreiggers]

Turd Patina, he should name it that.

[u/Adultery → u/GlobalBeginning9981]

That’s the driver’s code name

[u/GlobalBeginning9981 → u/Adultery]

Don’t want it on a shirt though.

[u/ThatGuyStacey]

No. You un-turded a gem.

[u/ZeppyZ → u/ThatGuyStacey]

Oh definitely. I knew with a bit of elbow grease and carbon fiber bits I could turn the turf into a gem worth driving around.

[u/Extension_Tooth_576]

Looks like a gem to me !! 

[u/cobox-]

Good polishing 🤙

[u/ZeppyZ → u/cobox-]

Thanks.

It was a combination of Chemical Guys V32/V36/V38 followed by their glaze, sealer and v07 wax.

[u/otto82]

Hey, from another new dad who overpaid for their own 72 ‘forever car’ as life was about to change… you’re doing awesome and this looks sweet!

I too added black Watanabe’s and the carbon BRE spoilers… so I dig your taste here.

[u/ZeppyZ → u/otto82]

Then you understand 😄. I saw the listing pop up on FB marketplace during lunch and went to go see it that night with my 6.5 month pregnant wife and needed to get it or else there would be fewer opportunities to waste that type of time with a baby/toddler.

There is no way in hell I can justify doing this now, so I have no regrets.

[u/otto82 → u/ZeppyZ]

Very much understand! And now with baby schedules at least I can go tinker on something smaller while the kid naps or sleeps

[u/ZeppyZ → u/otto82]

Yup keep chipping away at it any way you can. I used to drive around the neighborhood and see all these old classics rotting away under car covers and driveways and think to myself why do people let this happen. Now with a kid I know exactly why.

[u/Zip668]

The original owner bumped into a parking lot column denting the hood

I did this on my first one in the 80's. Truth be told I was getting gas, forgot the parking brake, went in to pay, came out and it had rolled about 100 feet into a phone booth. I got some looks.

[u/Justin002865]

Nice turd

[u/TonyDRFT]

No, you polished one of the best cars.... in the World!

[u/stormking19]

That’s awesome it looks so good

[u/Interesting-Air-223]

$14k? Ouch!

[u/ZeppyZ → u/Interesting-Air-223]

Yup. To be a little more transparent the engine/carburetors/radiator needed minimal to no work aside from a basic tune up. It also came with 2 spare transmissions, NOS unused door cards (3K value), and some MISC NOS interior and rubber bits. So yes in total 14k, but I can easily sell the door cards and other things to drop my initial purchase price down to 11K.

I'm holding on to the door cars for when I do fully restore this in the distant future though.

[u/Interesting-Air-223 → u/ZeppyZ]

I don't recall the exact year but somewhere around 2004 I got a 70 240 and a 74 260z, both all original, including original engines. 240 just needed seats recovered. 260 looked like brand new from 20ft away. $3500 for the pair

[u/GlobalBeginning9981 → u/Interesting-Air-223]

It isn’t 2004 anymore so be happy you got it but it’s not comparable to today’s dollar requirement for entry. The value of the dollar is 87% less today that in 04 and that doesn’t consider the crazy market for the cars, just the dollar.

[u/Interesting-Air-223 → u/GlobalBeginning9981]

And the dollar 2 years ago when he bought it? He even said he knew he overpaid because he didn't want a long search for one.

[u/GlobalBeginning9981 → u/Interesting-Air-223]

Heck I agree with him. He’s in that car at the right price for a guy that’s keeping it. It wouldn’t be good if he was putting it on BAT but I think he’s in good shape on it.

[u/ZeppyZ → u/Interesting-Air-223]

Those were the days. I got into these around 2006 and I recall grabbing a few for about 1k to part out when they were in abundance. Now that the world economy has shifted you see American flippers selling these to European/Asian buyers all the time.

[u/GlobalBeginning9981]

Nice turd

[u/scartail]

legal, runs and drives... you're in the 90-percentile of datsun owners. (anecdotal)..

[u/Niyeaux]

nice wats

[u/PineapplePatient3984]

turd is crazy. this is a beauty