My New 240K Parts Car

**Alfadog** · 10-14-2005

This is my parts car I got about 2 months ago but then went on holiday for a month etc. and got carried away. Anyway, got around to taking pics finally. It's a beast and really dodgy, don't be deceived by the pics.

I picked this up at about 1am on a Thursday night. I left for Ireland on Friday. So I really didn't have any idea what I had until I came home a month later. Thanks to 440k for giving me the tipoff about this car! It was a big adventure with my mate, but was lots of fun and nothing bad happened. It's alright, it runs. It's just rusty and uncared for. Not beyond restoration, but you'd have to be pretty dedicated. It was apparently bought by his father in 1979 (2 years since new) and kept in the family all these years. For a car in this condition it's not exactly a selling point as it just shows the family suck at basic car-care rather than bringing forward a sense of trust. Anyway, why did I buy it? Well, scroll and find out

Again, don't think the paint looks nice and metallic like Kyteler's and don't think that it doesn't look rusty. It's bad. The front left stainless trim was held on by a lump of BONDO. Real pity about the smashed in rear. The boot trim looks reasonably straight apart from that... that's one part I'd really like. The boot is full of crap. The badges look like they would crumble into a thousand small pieces upon the lightest touch.

**Alfadog** · 10-14-2005

See in the first picture from that lot all the cracked paint, and spray paint down near the bottom? That's all bondo under there I guess. Has the original stylish (cough) steel wheels though. The spot just behind the side glass on the right was no more than a bubble when I first attacked it with a screwdriver. 3 minutes later I decided to stop before I start peeling the side of the car off. The inner skin appears reasonably solid though. All the scratch marks on the bodywork are not from my mad hacking away at the rust hole (which was incidentally not without a strange sense of enjoyment), they are just bad preparation with the bondo. In fact, the hardest part of making that gash was getting through the inch thick layer of bondo. It's the same all along the side gutter. Weird place for a car to rust I would have thought, but perhaps it has just been sitting collecting crap in there for a few years at some stage. Bonnet isn't too bad, reasonably straight, but who knows how much of it is metal. By the way, all that light brown on the bonnet, roof and glass is just dirt. washed on from being under a car cover and being rained on. Onwards!...

**Alfadog** · 10-14-2005

The interior stinks like petrol. The cause of this I took a picture of and will explain in a moment, but basically after taking these pictures my eyes really sting and are starting to go red. If you hit the seat, it will expel a cloud of dusty smoke that has an odour not dissimilar to my grandma's (rest her soul) closet, except about 50 times as concentrated. When I got the car, there were floor mats (3 of them on each side) and a small collection of shells. Also a rather large collection of beer bottle caps. I have since thrown this all in the bin. The mats made an odd squelching sound when I peeled them off the surprisingly decent condition floors. The dash looks as though it may have been an attempt to model the Grand Canyon. Luckily it has a blue mat to cover it. Yes and the seats you may have noticed... well yes I can now confirm that the seats from a Clown Car do fit the seat rails of a 240K. No but seriously, they're just recovered originals. The seats had 2 seat covers on each. I also took these off and into the bin, as they felt like you were sitting on a stray cat while driving. The bits of broken shell underneath the covers acted as the cat's claws! I have not been so brave as to take the second cover off the rear seat yet, because frankly I am scared. The seal between the side windows has deteriorated and some Einstien decided to seal it with silicone. Or snot maybe. Oh yeah, and it's manual! Haha! If you hadn't guessed already, that's the reason I bought it.

**Alfadog** · 10-14-2005

Engine bay shots! Yes under all that dust, mud and oil is a fire breathing monster. Actually the car doesn't run all that badly. It just makes you cry from the fumes. It is bodied KHGC110-015654, which is about 12,000 cars after the other one. Just goes to show what a bit of continuous care can achieve. It's four years newer. I included a picture of the fuel pump just to show the amount of crud in the engine. I'm not sure but I think there may be a stalegtite forming there. Oh and make sure to click on the second last picture - that's the exhaust system there and a clue as to why the text looks blurry right now. Later models have all this pollution control stuff you see including a tube from the exhaust coming back into the inlet. I have a feeling the guy who had the snot idea came up with the idea of disconnecting that. Oh yeah and the radiator... hey, what radiator??

OK that's all for now. It's probably not as bad as I'm making it out to be, but it's pretty bad. I'll be hopefully swapping the transmissions, and then trying to sell it to someone with a better tolerance of petrol fumes than me. If I can't do that for a decent price, I'll part it out (oh boo hoo) then give it to a wreckers. So, anyone collect beer bottle caps?

**Gav240z** · 10-14-2005

After looking at those pics I felt so unclean that I had to look at your GTR replica just to feel a sense of cleanliness again

**Mr Camouflage** · 10-15-2005

Like Pro240c said. why doesnt this stuff come up for sale in WA?

I'd call dibs on the shell, its certainly repairable, but not worth the $1000 it would cost to transport it to WA.

Alfa. If it were me, i'd keep ALL the spare parts off it. just in case.

**The C110** · 10-15-2005

Good find, shame about the damage/old person smell/decrepid body et. al. In any case, arent there ANY panels that are worth salavging? Look forward to hearing the progress on it. Cheers,
Tom

**Mr Camouflage** · 10-15-2005

Originally Posted by The C110

Good find, shame about the damage/old person smell/decrepid body et. al. In any case, arent there ANY panels that are worth salavging? Look forward to hearing the progress on it. Cheers,
Tom

It's a parts car Tom.

Alfa plans to rip out the pedal box, gear box and clutch stuff and put it in his GTR look alike. No restoration planned for this one. Looks like its at the end of its life, unless someone buys the what's left of the chassis after Lachlan has stripped all the parts off it that he wants.

**Mr Camouflage** · 10-15-2005

Original wheels too.

**zman525** · 10-15-2005

grr it kills me to see people using these rare cars as parts cars but i am a victim aswell... i would be very thankful to have that car in running condition, living in new england and all...

**440k** · 10-15-2005

Excellent, Lachlan!!

If you do part it out, I call dibs on the engine and front stone tray / radiator support and beaver tray (heck, I'll take all the panels just in case)

The rust looks bad, but it's always repairable. It's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of sheet metal and a mig (or oxy welder).

How's the glass on it? Worth keeping that too.

Oh, those wheels are original C210 skyline wheels, and look great on a 1600. You should be able to sell them for a few bucks if you ever need to.

Look forward to seeing it when I get back. If you haven't already done the conversion by then (Jan) I'll give you a hand with it.

Peter

**Mr Camouflage** · 10-15-2005

Originally Posted by zman525

grr it kills me to see people using these rare cars as parts cars but i am a victim aswell... i would be very thankful to have that car in running condition, living in new england and all...

Consider it revenge for all the 240z's that you Americans cut up for parts. Cars that looked perfectly restorable, cars that an Aussie would have no choice but to restore.

**240K&Beyond** · 10-16-2005

Hi Lachlan,
You might try looking in the boot around the fuel tank, it often the source of cabin vapours. I've found pin holes in the tank, cracked breather lines and even disconnect tubing before. Either way, lets hope your not a smoker !
If you decide to go down the path of "parts a lot", if you could spare the side window cromes and the butched console, I would use them to complete my Lilac Coupe as they are the parts I'm missing. Cheers.

**73skyline** · 10-16-2005

hey lachlan....you know i need parts...please let me know as well if you start to part the car im sure you know what i need still.

ps.

did u get my email and pictures

mikey

**Alfadog** · 10-17-2005

Originally Posted by Tom

Good find, shame about the damage/old person smell/decrepid body et. al. In any case, arent there ANY panels that are worth salavging? Look forward to hearing the progress on it. Cheers,
Tom

Panels? Yes, I think the front left fender is reasonably straight and without rust. The roof is also good. Like I said previously, the bonnet MIGHT be good too. Just need a lot of sandpaper.

Originally Posted by zman525

grr it kills me to see people using these rare cars as parts cars but i am a victim aswell... i would be very thankful to have that car in running condition, living in new england and all...

Hey Zman, I know it is sad, but these cars simply aren't worth enough for this to be used for anything but parts. Like Mr.Camo said, if this was a Z, it would be a restoration project.

Originally Posted by 440k

Excellent, Lachlan!!
If you do part it out, I call dibs on the engine and front stone tray / radiator support and beaver tray (heck, I'll take all the panels just in case)
The rust looks bad, but it's always repairable. It's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of sheet metal and a mig (or oxy welder).
How's the glass on it? Worth keeping that too.
Oh, those wheels are original C210 skyline wheels, and look great on a 1600. You should be able to sell them for a few bucks if you ever need to.
Look forward to seeing it when I get back. If you haven't already done the conversion by then (Jan) I'll give you a hand with it.
Peter

Hi Peter! I will make sure to reserve those things for you if it gets parted out - but it doesn't have a stone tray. What is a beaver tray? The glass is good actually, just the seals on the rears that are dodgy. I certainly hope to have done the conversion by January but thankyou for your gracious offer nonetheless!! You never know, I had planned on having it converted by the beginning of this year. Are you in America now? Hope you're enjoying it!

Originally Posted by 240k&beyond

You might try looking in the boot around the fuel tank, it often the source of cabin vapours. I've found pin holes in the tank, cracked breather lines and even disconnect tubing before. Either way, lets hope your not a smoker !
If you decide to go down the path of "parts a lot", if you could spare the side window cromes and the butched console, I would use them to complete my Lilac Coupe as they are the parts I'm missing. Cheers.

Thanks for the tip Bruce, I think it's just the disconnected pipe on the headers that's making a stink, and the car is probably running very rich. Will have a look at the tank too though.

Originally Posted by 73skyline

hey lachlan....you know i need parts...please let me know as well if you start to part the car im sure you know what i need still.

ps. did u get my email and pictures

Hey Mikey, yep I wouldn't dare give anyone the glass before you! I did get your email, I will reply soon!

**sakijo** · 10-18-2005

I just paid Y8,000 ($75.00 or so US) for that 5 speed shift knob. They're really hard to come by here in the Homeland. There were several color combinations - Red: GTR; Blue: GT and Gold: GTX. A bit of sandpaper, stain and oil or varnish should bring that knob up to snuff. Looks like a lot of usable parts on that car . . . .

**440k** · 10-18-2005

Hey Lachlan,

The stone tray is the panel under the front bumper, visible in the front shots. Mine is badly damaged (as you have probably seen) and fixing it may take a little more magic than I'm capable. The beaver panel is the same panel at the back (I believe this one is spot welded in).

Yes, I'm in America at the moment - West Virginia to be exact. Let's just say it's an experience

. Heading off from here in about 6 weeks, and coming home via Europe (about 2-3 weeks touring around).

**v12horse** · 10-18-2005

Congratulations on the find Lachlan. Your going to love the 5 speed trans. Good luck with the project and keep us posted like I know you will.

Take care,
Ben

**Alfadog** · 10-18-2005

Thanks Ben and Miles for the positive comments

Will definitely post the progress as it happens

Originally Posted by 440k

The stone tray is the panel under the front bumper, visible in the front shots. Mine is badly damaged (as you have probably seen) and fixing it may take a little more magic than I'm capable. The beaver panel is the same panel at the back (I believe this one is spot welded in).

Yes, I'm in America at the moment - West Virginia to be exact. Let's just say it's an experience

. Heading off from here in about 6 weeks, and coming home via Europe (about 2-3 weeks touring around).

Sorry Peter! I thought you meant splash pan - now I know and yes of course, the front is pretty good but I don't know how rusty the rear one is.

Glad you're having a good (?) "experience" over in the States. Europe will be fantastic too, though mostly pretty cold this time of year !

**Mr Camouflage** · 10-19-2005

Dont apologise Alfa you are right. A Stone Tray is the thing that bolts under the engine to keep the stones out. Sometimes called a splash pan, or sump guard.

The Bit your reffereing to isnt called a stone tray. Haynes manual calls it a front apron.

**440k** · 10-19-2005

Originally Posted by Alfadog

Sorry Peter! I thought you meant splash pan - now I know and yes of course, the front is pretty good but I don't know how rusty the rear one is.

Cool. Yes, these things are calles lots of different names - even STONE TRAYS. Sorry for the confusion. I guess we don't always sing off the same sheet of music, hey?

Glad you're having a good (?) "experience" over in the States. Europe will be fantastic too, though mostly pretty cold this time of year !

Mostly good, but frustrating as hell at times. They do some things a little differently over here. Not to worry - it's a good challenge.

We're spending christmas with relatives in Finland, so that'll be nice and cold (inside the arctic circle). Hubba Hubba!!

**Mr Camouflage** · 10-29-2005

Hey Alfa,

The Tail lights you have on ebay, you say :
"These bolt straight into any 240K (sedan or hardtop)"

Not so sure that this is true for the Sedan. They might bolt in, but wouldnt look right unless you changed the rear panel, as the sedan had the same diameter lights, and the coupe has smaller diameter inner lights, and a different panel to match. Also the coupe rear panel wont fit on a sedan.

**Alfadog** · 10-29-2005

I believe that is incorrect. The tail lights themselves are exactly the same - the big chrome outer ring on the coupes make the inner lights appear smaller. It's true that the two beaver panels wont interchange (I thought they would have, but Tom proved that wrong the hard way when he tried - the sedan is slightly wider at the back), but the lights will still fit if I'm not mistaken.

However if you still are doubtful I can take some quick measurements so we can compare?

**Mr Camouflage** · 10-29-2005

So are the lights the same diameter? the inners looked a little smaller in the photo.

**The C110** · 10-29-2005

Finally selling them eh?

I wish i had the right money at the right time for items like these! Correct you are lach, they will fit on a sedan with the stadard sedan rear panel. Here:

**Alfadog** · 10-29-2005

Yeah mate, you're correct though Craig in the photo it does appear as though the inners may be a bit smaller. Blame the perspective on the digicam for that though! They are the same. Here's what they look like on a Hardtop without the chrome rim.