Hello from the Bay Area!

[misscourtneymae]

This is my very first forum post... ever. Yeah, I know. I've scoured forums before for information, but never actually registered or posted! So here I am. My name is Courtney. I'm a freelance photographer here in the SF Bay Area. I mostly shoot automotive material, along with events, weddings, etc. I'm also a huge car enthusiast, and my soft spot sits with Japanese classics. My boyfriend bought his four door 510 about a year ago, and I had been searching for my dream car for about that amount of time. Fortunately, I now own it! This is my 1973 240z.



To make an extremely long story short, all I can say is that this was one of the most stressful car buying experiences ever. If you want to read the entire story, please check out my website's blog, found here: Courtney Cutchen's Portfolio - Blog - Chasing A Dream: My 1973 Datsun 240z

It covers the whole experience, and has lots of photos.

I really only had a few requirements for my new car. It had to have minimal rust, had to be running, and it HAD to be a first gen. It took a lot of searching, and a lot of patience. I had dead ends and scam ads on CL that left me discouraged. But I can now say I own my dream car! It's in beautiful condition, and I'm a diehard fan of the classic, clean, stock interior. Regardless, I'm excited to start modding! My goal is to get it in solid running condition before any of that fun stuff, though. A couple weekends ago, we did a rebuild on the dual Webers, which was a success for the most part. They just need to be fine tuned, as I think the mixture is just a little off. I think there's also a little hiccup in the ignition timing, so I'm going to address those problems this coming weekend.

I'm working on building my profile, and I look forward to reading about your builds!
Cheers,
Courtney

[EhlersRS]

Courtney,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on obtaining such a beautiful car! I really enjoyed reading your account of the trip to Oregon and the mishaps along the way. I can relate (as many here can) to the excitement of buying your first 240Z after months (or years) of saving for the car and weeding through all of the classified ads. When I met the previous owner of my car in person, we both knew the car was meant to be in my care. Thankfully we didn't have any mishaps on the trip home.

You'll find a wealth of knowledge and experience here, as those with the same passion for the early Z are always willing to help. Congratulations again and I look forward to seeing more progress and photos of your car!

Robert S.

[tlorber]

Looks like a nice car-especially in front of that Steinbeck Impressionist mural (very Central Valley). I'm not generally a huge fan of downdrafts on these cars, but that's good if you got them dialed in.

Welcome to the disease, and sorry for your affliction.

[Oiluj]

Nice looking Z! IF you need any technical help, there a quite a few of us classic Z owners in the bay area.

You might want to check out ZONC, (Z Owners of Northern California). It's a club for al years of Z's, mostly made-up of 350's, but there are quite a few very nice S30's like ours.

Enjoy the new ride!

[LeonV]

Welcome! Good to have another SF Bay Area member.

[tamo3]

Welcome to Z community.
Glad to see more people join from SF Bay Area.

[gogriz91]

Great photos, great story, welcome to Z car ownership, looking forward to the next blog update.

[gwri8]

Yep, that Z is a looker! Welcome and keep the pics coming.

[jfa.series1]

Sweet looking ride! Welcome to your next addiction (and to the group).

[Scarlette]

Hello misscourtneymae - if you are ever in the South Florida area, please come and take a picture of my Z for me!

[misscourtneymae]

Thank you so much, Robert! I'm definitely excited to start my project with such a great platform. It seems that so many Z owners have funny or unique stories of how they got their cars, so I guess I'm just another one for the books. Haha!

Cheers!
Courtney

[bartsscooterservice]

Hi Courtney,

Welcome to the club and the Datsun virus

Cool story on your blog !

My advice ( if you like originality ) would be to get everything back to stock ( su carbs ( better fuel mileage ) and oem mechanical fan ), also tune up and replace as much wear items as possible. Been there done that.... I thought my car was good, until I changed for almost 10 grand on parts to get it reliable !

Like Robert says you'll learn along the way..

Gr Bart

[bpilati]

Welcome to Classic Z Cars, Courtney. I think you'll find we're a fun group, and serious about our Zs. Enjoy!

[EhlersRS]

Thank you so much, Robert! I'm definitely excited to start my project with such a great platform. It seems that so many Z owners have funny or unique stories of how they got their cars, so I guess I'm just another one for the books. Haha!

Cheers!
Courtney

Courtney,

I was able to talk to all of the previous owners of my car, including the original owner. Knowing the history and past experiences of the car doesn't necessarily increase the value of the car, but it does bring to life the unique character of each one. Your orange Pumpkin is my favorite color on an early Z. I ended up with my second or third favorite, Sunshine Yellow. Not having named my cars before, I'm not sure what I would name my Z?

As Bart pointed out, don't get discouraged through the process because we are all still learning. Some people are just farther along the journey than we are.

Robert S.

[Hardway]

A big congrats Courtney on your new Z! I loved reading your story and seeing the great pictures you took to document the event. Your experience reminds me of several that I have had over the years of buying cars. Like you, my Z was several hours away and despite the many possibly challenges in getting it I knew it was the one. I ended up renting a F-150 and car hauler from U-Haul for around $250, gas and all. Once I got the car home I was really glad I did not try to drive it as it had 2 pin sized holes in the radiator there were not seen by me or the seller when we had it on a lift looking it over.

We have all been there and a big thumbs up to your friends helping you keep the dream alive. All this stuff happens for a reason and I am sure you feel even more attached to your Z now that you are invested in it. Keep us posted on your progress and I will be checking out your other photos from CATuned.