A&Q about 350Z
Q:
I'm off to have a look at this on Tuesday, as I work about 45 mins from it. ANything I should look out for? I've no idea what would be good or bad.
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VIN plates...
Rust if it's a car without underseal on it.
Condition of shocks which could be well old
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its been relisted with a few more details be worth asking to see any receipts for work done if he`s got any or a build sheet,some more pics would be handy,race rear axle?
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I had a look at this, and it seemed wuite nice. Took it for a short drive round th eblock and it seemed ok. Braked hard, and it didn't pull at all.
However, when I asked about receipts, he said they had gone up in flames when his friends house burnt down.
The car report is a bit more worrying to me. The car is registered as silver, so it's been resprayed (obviously). This would hide any rust/fixes. He also said he has only had it for a couple of years, but the last registered change was in 2000.
Has anyone heard of Mike (I think) Green Motorsports in Banbury? He is supposed to have built the car.
Is there anyone that lives near Bedford, or is willing to come with me from the Warwick area, that would be able to give the car a once over for me? I'd be eternally grateful, and also buy you a couple of beers or lunch at a near by pub.
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Did you check the chassis plate on it?
I could be interested in once-overing it. Are you able to set anything up for later this Sunday afternoon?
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Nope, was too busy looking at stuff I didn't understand.
PM sent. Thanks :-)
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Righty ho then. Paid a visit to see this car with Sparrow today, and it's the real deal.
99% sure it's an ex-Quantum series car, as per pics on p1 of this post.
Aside from big bumpers/90-spec arches and M3 mirrors, this has to be one of the most unspoilt ex-race type Mk2s I've seen. Or race Mk2s, period.. Don't be distracted by the superficial " stylin' " !!
Full trimmed, still has Rainbow interior for GpN spec series.
Zero underseal (off production line early, pre-waxing), blank chassis plate on scuttle, seam welded shell from front to rear, literally everything seamed, neatly.
Definitely a race shell, rather than rally, since no provision for a race passenger seat to be fitted (standard pass seat was still in, on OE rails).
Took a few pics of the fancy bits to share - a few gems in there.
Proper multipoint bolt in cage….
Top of A-pillar/screen rail:
Top of B-pillar, driver's side:
…with turret links…
…and some really nice cage design:
Check the cross bar to the floor:
And a steel cage too - not an old alloy one.
Nice alloy footplates for driver – just a proper install, none of this chequer plate nonsense:
Strut brace incorporating top mount brace plates – not stitched in.
Quick fill tanks - took £20 of fuel said the chap, so guess half usual size:
But professionally done with fuel guage in dash (right):
Sensor for fuel pressure, on OE-quality braided/swaged pipe
Edit: that's be the fuel press gauge:
Studs – looked good quality:
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And, saving the best ‘till last….
I believe an uprated metering head, and quite possibly the elusive part number for those famed VW Motorsport / Volvo items.
Part nos:
Could this explode the myth?
The bloke who was selling it had a Golf history - he had Simon Davidson's old VW Junior Rally Team car and did the Safari rally in it at some stage with the car. Car's in South Africa now he said...
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Alex - just noticed the wheels have changed from the original eBay ad (were they the same on Tues?). Also the steering wheel was a different one. Gawd knows why.
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So how much is he willing to take for it (do I really need 4 cars?!)
Sounds like he might be stripping a few bits off to sell separately, if it's not going to make the money he wants. The lack of pics + info on the second advert would suggest he's getting ****ed off and just wants rid... go in with a low offer and it could be a bargain!!
Looks v tidy... I wonder what gearbox it's got in it, and if it's still got the proper engine?
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Nice one Chris, would be an excellent track day car or even could be used for sprints etc. All at a damn good price!
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Oh, Sparrow's bought it as of this afternoon, but is yet to collect.
Gearbox was said to be standard (no LSD) which would tie up with the GpN series it ran in. Possibly a lowered final drive, but it wasn't obvious whether the original 'box was still in.
Engine would be a blueprinted motor for the original series (informed guess on spec), so no lumpy cams etc - although it did look neat and orginal in the bonnet.
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His ebay ad reckoned it had 'race cams' whatever they are... Maybe that was all he could think of to try and sell it. I was thinking of making him an offer, based on your views.
Looks like a really good basis for a track / tarmac rally car. I look forward to seeing it in 'members motors'
I'm sure you're too much of a gentleman to say...but how much did he pay for it.
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Nice one Chris for checking it over for him.
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Looks like an interesting car, looking forward to more pics!
One question - what is the little brake pipe looking bit sticking out from under the centre console in this pic for? A brake bias valve or something like that?
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Looks like an interesting car, looking forward to more pics!
One question - what is the little brake pipe looking bit sticking out from under the centre console in this pic for? A brake bias valve or something like that?
possibly plumbing for fire ext system,looks like he`s got himself a nice track car,noticed the metering head earlier,what was the deal with the race rear axle?
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cant see any external cut off switches! maybe deleated when resprayed and road registered !!!
The fire ext switch and leccy cut offs were there - holes in panel below screen rail. They'd been removed when it was sprayed, the leccy one was snapped and sitting flush with the metal, and the fire one was removed.
His ebay ad reckoned it had 'race cams' whatever they are... Maybe that was all he could think of to try and sell it. I was thinking of making him an offer, based on your views.
Looks like a really good basis for a track / tarmac rally car. I look forward to seeing it in 'members motors'
I'm sure you're too much of a gentleman to say...but how much did he pay for it.
noticed the metering head earlier, what was the deal with the race rear axle?
The guy who was selling it was in some ways odd. He’d got a rally Sunbeam sat there, he’d owned an ex-works Golf, he’d done the Safari rally in it (family member lived over there in Africa / South Africa), and could name drop 2 ‘below radar’ ex-works VW drivers.
Yet when it came down to the detail, he really wasn’t that on the pace (or not majoring on communication skills). The engine sounded standard, nothing lumpy about the idle, so no race cams. IMO if it was a Quantum car, it would have been blueprinted standard, with swung timing at most.
The clutch was snappy, so there’s something uprated there – paddle, who knows.
He knew about the metering head, but the rear axle story was cobblers IMO. There were no braces on it or anything, although the beam bushes could have been GpN rubber (invisible to the eye). But rear wheels appeared to be quite vertical, camber-wise. Toe, I couldn’t spot. From distant rumour, some of these one make series eg Polo G40, Quantum Golfs – were a minefield of cheating, and the rules stated that they had to run standard axles. “Fine” said the prep companies (Mardi Gras Motorsport, BRM etc), “standard it is then”, before putting an axle on a press or the like, and moving the standard geometry to what they wanted…
This isn’t to detract from the car – with 2 of us there, able to rake round the car, I felt it was easily £1k’s - £1.5k’s worth of basic shell there, what with the multi point, and the end-to-end seam welding. Proper, proper lightweight nil underseal, nil wax motorsport shell, with negligible signs of accidents.
I’ll leave the price Q if that’s ok – Sparrow’s call, not mine.
Looks like an interesting car, looking forward to more pics!
One question - what is the little brake pipe looking bit sticking out from under the centre console in this pic for? A brake bias valve or something like that?
possibly plumbing for fire ext system,looks like he`s got himself a nice track car, noticed the metering head earlier,what was the deal with the race rear axle?
Yep, in car fire extinguisher pipe work.
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sounds like you were getting a right buzz checking it over what wheels are on it now?looks like a GM marking on the pic shown?
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Some old Manta wheels...
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sparrow hope you get loads of fun out of this car, looks a good un. but get rid of those m3 mirrors, it dosent do the motor justice
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Whoa, lots of comments. Thanks guys.
Firstly a BIG thanks to Chris for the help with going over the car. I probably would have bottled it without his help. His knowledge about these cars is amazing.
I paid £2400 for it, which was a little more than I wanted to, but still less than he had in mind, and I doubt I would have got it much lower. And I would have risked losing, to put it in Chris's words, "one of the most unspoilt ex-race type Mk2s I've seen".
I suspect there are 1 or 2 porkies in the ad, but I can't prove it, and can't be bothered.
Plan for the car is to whip out the existing engine, as I have a 9A that's getting some special bits and a turbo, so I'll have a nice 1.8 engine for sale soon. Some new shocks are in order, although the 450lb springs seem fairly recent. It needs a few other bits and bobs doing to it before I can play with it properly, but I'll definitely take it to Donny on the 5th of November. Not sure about running it, as the exhaust is rather loud, and I don't want to lose £100 just for that.
The mirrors have to go, but they are not priority. I also have to sell my current Mk2 (the ex-Stealth Racing 1.8 turbo) before I can afford to do too much to this.
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Alex - just noticed the wheels have changed from the original eBay ad (were they the same on Tues?). Also the steering wheel was a different one. Gawd knows why.
The wheels and steering wheel had already been changed when I saw it mid-week. The pics are in a different place to where the car is now, so maybe they are just some old pics.
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Sparrow for about 10 quid you can hire the bookatrack sound meter inc post both ways to see if it's to loud for donnington. seems my suspicions were wrong about the car then
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Sparrow for about 10 quid you can hire the bookatrack sound meter inc post both ways to see if it's to loud for donnington.
£9 form their website. Learn something new every day. Will wait 'til I get the car, then give them a shout.
seems my suspicions were wrong about the car then
You would have been a lot more suspicious had you met the guy. As Chris says, he comes across a bit odd at times. Knows lots about rallying and golfs in general, but nothing specific about this one.
Apparently he had two of these, both from Keith Green Motorsport. He sold one, and kept the better of the two. If you had owned the car for a couple of years, and had the engine rebuilt 500 miles ago, you would know a lot more about it than he seemed to.
Luckily I'm not too interested in the motor, as above. It was more the chassis and the rollcage, along with the fact that it is already stripped and has a motorsport background, and appears to be in really good condition.
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Chris can you confirm thos p-no's for me - i'll check into them at work tomorrow