5k: Two Forte Zest: 1971 240Z w/ 350 Chevy V8 Swap

240Zs with Chevy V8 conversions are neither rare nor unique, but finding one that looks like a decent all around package is pretty tough. Anyone that has gone through the process of getting it right is likely to hang onto it for some time to come.  This 1971 Datsun 240Z w/Chevy V8 seems to be one of those exceptions and is currently available on ebay with 7 days left to run and a $7500 buy it now. (update – someone just hit the buy-it-now!)

We all know the drill; ebay and craigslist are littered with the evidence of how frequently the matrix of possibilities for good/bad combinations of engine, install, interior, body and paint end up with a wonderful running but atrocious looking Franken-Z, or a gorgeous car with a horribly cobbled up engine bay and transmission tunnel, where the owner is desperate to recoup some of the $$ that his wife has noticed missing from the Pizza Hut fund.

This one appears, from a distance, to be a relatively happy marriage of decent (albeit mild) LT1, which has been nicely incorporated into the original engine bay without the usual scars of missing fender aprons and the addition of monstrous hood bulges.  The paint is respectable, but the interior is probably the car’s strongest suit.  All the original Z-bits appear in remarkably good shape considering this is a 42 year old car.  The seats look absolutely natural in the car and the seller reports that they are out of a BMW.

A couple of short videos of the car running, without moments of hillbilly hoonage lend to the impression that the owner takes the car seriously.  We don’t know whether it will reach to its $7500 Buy-it-Now, but if anyone has ever contemplated building one of these, this might be another example of how much one can save by having the previous owner deal with all of the issues of a prototype install.

Does this 240Z have the right stuff?

See a better example? Email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com