theshiftpattern   Because manuals and wagons.

As I’d mentioned in my last post I spent my time up in Massachusetts around Labor Day doing a whole lot of nothing. I did, however, get off the beach long enough to go check out my Uncle Dick’s ’72 Datsun 240Z that has just been painted. It was still in the shop and the guy painting it was doing the final buffing when we visited.

This is a car that I’d found for him last year on Bring A Trailer. He won the auction and I picked it up here in Louisville, where it was being sold, and towed it up to him in New Hampshire during one of our semi-annual trips up north. Uncle Dick got it running right (carbs needed some fiddling) and then drove it around a bit while fixing body imperfections and some of the rust. It was then prepped and ready for the paint shop.

Being an original California car, it had minimal rust, and was pretty much completely unmolested. Uncle Dick wasn’t too fond of the color and wanted to paint it orange. I said “no way” and jokingly threatened his life, so with that he made the smart decision to keep the original color. The guy who was to paint it agreed. It would just be a crime to change the color of such an original car and not to mention a real pain in the ass too. It would pretty much have to be stripped to a bare shell.

My Uncle Dick (left) discusses the paint job with the body man.

What’s amazing is that so many parts for these cars are still available from Nissan, brand new. As someone who primarily plays with Saabs, that’s only something I can dream of. Uncle Dick told me that he was able to get brand new side mirrors and door/hatch seals from the Nissan dealer. Amazing.

I’ll be sure to follow up on this car when it’s done. I can’t wait! And seeing it with nice fresh paint, Uncle Dick now agrees that the original color is actually pretty cool.