1971 Datsun 240Z L24, twin SU
A 240Z with its floors photographed before anybody asked
Overview
Compiled by Kept from the seller's intake answers, the documents supplied and published records for the model. The seller does not write or edit this section, and nobody from Kept has inspected the car.
This 1971 Datsun 240Z is finished in 918 orange over black and is offered from Edenvale by , its third owner and the keeper of the car for twenty one years. It carries the L24 straight six on twin SU carburettors through the four speed manual and shows 118,400km.
Rust is the only question that matters on a 240Z and this listing answers it before it is asked. Both floor pans and the battery tray were replaced in July 2008 at 71,400km during a bare metal respray in the original colour, the invoices and the photographs of the shell in primer are published, and the repair sections are photographed again now from underneath and from inside the cabin with the carpets lifted.
The engine is the original L24. The head is not: an E88 unit was fitted in 2013 after a valve seat failure and the original head was kept and comes with the car. The rear hatch surround has been repaired at some point and reads thicker than the rest of the car on a depth gauge, which the seller measured himself and published rather than leaving for a buyer to find.
Every question put at intake was answered and nothing was declined. The remaining flaws are two cracks in the dashboard either side of the centre vents, which are common and have not been repaired, and a sticking choke linkage on the front carburettor. Both SUs were stripped, rebuilt and balanced in August.
Model background
The 240Z arrived in 1969 and ended the British sports car. A 2.4 litre overhead cam straight six, independent suspension at all four corners, a proper five figure production run and a price that undercut everything it outran. Nissan built it to take the American market and it did, then it took everywhere else.
It rusts in a documented pattern and everybody who knows them checks the same five places: the floor pans, the battery tray, the frame rails, the dog legs and the rear hatch surround. A car that has been repaired in those places is not a bad car, because almost all of them have been. A car whose repairs are photographed is a different proposition to one where the same work is under fresh paint and unmentioned.
In South Africa the Z has a following out of proportion to how many arrived, and the local club scene has kept knowledge alive that has been lost in bigger markets. That is worth something to a seller here, because the people bidding know exactly which photographs to ask for.
Essentials
- Lot
- KPT-101
- Year
- 1971
- Model
- 240Z L24, twin SU
- Mileage
- 118,400 km
- Transmission
- 4-speed manual
- VIN
- HLS30-31847
- Location
- Edenvale, Johannesburg
- Seller
- edenvale_240z
- Seller is
- Private, third owner, 21 years
- Watchers
- 286
Seller interview
Before the car went live, the seller answered a standard set of questions plus a set our tools generated for this model from its documented failure modes. The full transcript is public, including anything they declined.
10 of 10 answered. A high score means the seller told you more, not that the car is better.
Inferred from the seller's answers and this model's known failure points. Nobody from Kept has inspected this car.
Known flaws
The seller's own list of what this car needs money spent on.
- 01Both floor pans were replaced in 2008 and the repair sections are photographed from underneath and from inside the cabin
- 02Battery tray was replaced at the same time and the area around it treated
- 03Engine is the original L24 and the head is a later E88 unit fitted in 2013, the original head is included
- 04Rear hatch surround has been repaired and the paint there is thicker than the rest of the car on a depth gauge
- 05Dashboard has two cracks either side of the centre vents, common and not repaired
- 06Choke linkage on the front carburettor sticks and needs a nudge from cold
Service record
Documents & what's included
What physically comes with the car.
- 01NATIS registration certificate, in edenvale_240z's name
- 02Invoices for the 2008 floor pan and respray work, with photographs of the shell in bare metal
- 03Invoices for every service from 2008 to 2025
- 04Photographs of the floor repair sections from underneath and from inside the cabin, published
- 05The original cylinder head, retained and included
- 06Two keys and the original tool roll
- 07Roadworthy certificate issued within the last six months
Note from the seller
The seller's own words, published as written. The only copy on this page they control.
I bought this in 2004 from the second owner and I had the floors and the battery tray done in 2008 when I found them, along with a bare metal respray in the original colour. I have the photographs of the shell in primer and they are in the documents.
What I would want to know: the head is not the original one, it was replaced in 2013 after a valve seat let go and the original head is in a box that comes with the car. The hatch surround has been repaired by somebody before me and the paint there is thicker, which I measured with a depth gauge and published. The dash has the two cracks these all have.
There was nothing they asked me at intake that I could not answer, because I have owned it for twenty one years and I did most of the work myself or paid for it. That is the only reason I could answer everything, and it is worth saying rather than taking credit for being honest.
Comments & offers
6 comments · 2 offers
Nothing to argue with. He found the rust, fixed it seventeen years ago, kept the photographs and published the depth gauge reading on the one repair he did not do. That is what the top of this site should look like.
Twenty one years, work done and invoiced, nothing declined. The dash cracks and the sticky choke being on the flaws list at all tells you how the rest of it was written.
Casting date is photographed in the gallery along with the block number. The original head is in the box with its own photograph, and both come with the car.
E88 head on an L24 is a normal and sensible repair and keeping the original in a box is the right call. Worth checking the casting date on the E88 for anybody who cares about that sort of thing.
Publishing the depth gauge reading on the hatch surround rather than waiting for someone to bring a gauge to the viewing is a level of pre emption I have not seen on this site before.
Floors photographed from underneath and from inside with the carpets up. That is the exact pair of angles anybody who has owned an S30 asks for and it is usually a two week argument in the comments to get them.
Comments & bids
6 comments · 2 offersThe crowd checks the report. Offers post inline, and the seller answers directly. Most recent first.
Nothing to argue with. He found the rust, fixed it seventeen years ago, kept the photographs and published the depth gauge reading on the one repair he did not do. That is what the top of this site should look like.
Twenty one years, work done and invoiced, nothing declined. The dash cracks and the sticky choke being on the flaws list at all tells you how the rest of it was written.
Casting date is photographed in the gallery along with the block number. The original head is in the box with its own photograph, and both come with the car.
E88 head on an L24 is a normal and sensible repair and keeping the original in a box is the right call. Worth checking the casting date on the E88 for anybody who cares about that sort of thing.
Publishing the depth gauge reading on the hatch surround rather than waiting for someone to bring a gauge to the viewing is a level of pre emption I have not seen on this site before.
Floors photographed from underneath and from inside with the carpets up. That is the exact pair of angles anybody who has owned an S30 asks for and it is usually a two week argument in the comments to get them.