How much would you offer? Chevy 350 / Turbo 400 1972 240z

[Xhifer]

I've been looking for a ls1 pre 1975 datsun (pre 75 due to California smog exempt) but I didn't have more than $10,000 to play with, so no luck with that.

I posted a WTB ad on craigslist and someone with a v8 350 / turbo 400 swap emailed me. The car sat for most of its life in a shop. The car has no rust at all. 30k miles on body. It was originally yellow but repainted light blue in 1973-1975. The paint still shines but has some chips that shows the old yellow paint underneath. The interior is still in great shape with roll bar and everything. The motor, transmission, and rear end has 5k miles since the swap. I'm sure it has aftermarket suspensions because its stiff and looks a bit lowered. He can't remember what he put in LOL

Here is the info the owner gave me. He is a great guy and owns a mechanic / body shop. I trust him.

"I have a 1972 240z with a chevy 350/turbo 400.  Professionally built and custom. It has a rollbar, engine chrome, custom seats, autometer guages, 370 gears, etc..  One of a kind.  I dont think u will find another like this one.  The engine has dome pistons, 202 Dart heads w/ I think 72cc combustion chamber, giving a probably 10 to 10.5 compression, roller rockers, solid lifters, hooker headers, HRE rims with Perelli, dual piston calipers, slotted rotors."

I saw the car in person and I noticed a leaky differential. I think a gasket change would fix that. Also the ignition was busted but he just ordered the parts. He jumped and started the car for me.

Honestly, I've never worked on older carb'd engines. I had a 98 z28 with ls1 which is the only V8 motor I've messed with. The owner predicts the car is a 12 sec car in a 1/4. It has some 255 series tires and it breaks loose when changing gears.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. How much would you pay?? I've never bought an old car with swaps so I don't want to offer a ridiculous amount. Thanks!

[300ZXttZMAN]

Hmm idk it looks nice though. It looks like a good propper swap.

[evildky]

what's it worth.....to you?
These swapped cars can be anywhere form $2000 to $25,000, it's not a difficult swap so the value depends largely on the parts used. an LSX swap is gonna bring more money than a carb'd junkyard 350. A car with willwood 6 piston brakes is gonna bring more than a car with toyota junkyard 4 psiton brake swap. A car with a CLSD R200 will bring more than a car with a stock open R180. A good solid chassis is worth a couple fo grand by itself, I would expect somethign like this to bring between 5-10k but you never know. me I'm cheap and I'd look for this car to be closer to the 5k than 10k

I very highly doubt it's a 30k chassis and with that aftermarket odomter there is no way to verify it, if you can find previous transfers you can follwo themilage and get a better idea

Also that looks like the scarab engine postion, the JTR position is preferred and places the engien lower and further back, you cna change it but the driveshaft will need to be shortened.

if you prefer injection see if he wants to keep his engine and sell the car as a roller, then go buy your LS and swap it in, there are only a few changes you'll have to make, and then you can run a stock hood (that hood if fugly IMHO)

as for performance, 350 whp is easily achieved with a 350sbc, and will get an s30 deep in the 12's with propper tires and suspension, but unless he has a timeslip or a dynosheet you just don't know and neither does he no matter what he says, untill he proves it it's just a guess.

and are those wheels HRE or ARE? I know a guy with a set that look just like that and they are ARE, nothing wrong either way HRE's tend to be more spendy but I'm no fan of HRE since they got banned form road racing for a couple of years when they sold a bunch of junk wheels that broke in races.