Paul Henley
Club Member
I thought it was about time I started a thread on my 240Z restoration, but first a little history and background on the car. I started looking for a Z to restore in the mid 90's first joining the Z Club to help find one and meet other enthusiasts. I had little success finding anything both affordable and salvageable, I did buy one in the Southampton area only to tow it all the way home to Cumbria to find when I stripped it, that it was a complete rot box.
In 1998 a friend of mine in the Z Club, Steve Bicknell called to say that he was going to view a Z in New Deer (near Aberdeen) and planned to break his journey from the South with an overnight stay at mine where I could join him on his visit. When we arrived we met the cars owner Anthony Hedges how had owned the car for 22 years after buying it in London from it’s one previous owner when it was 2 years old. Anthony had ran the car for a few years then stored it with a view to refreshing it. Unfortunately he didn’t have the time to do this so the car was up for sale. Although the engine was seized from standing and the outer panels showing corrosion, it was quickly evident that the basic shell was in extremely good original condition and well worth a restoration. Steve bought the car and we set off back to Cumbria where the car would stay until Steve could arrange to transport it home south. Fortunately for me that night I was able to persuade Steve to resell the car to me and therefore save him the hassle of transporting it so far. I now had a Z.
I set about dismantling the Z and put it into a rotisserie that I then had, so that I could totally strip the shell. I removed all the underseal from the under floors and was delighted to find the floors, inner wings, front/rear panels, chassis legs etc were in excellent, original unwelded condition. There was some corrosion on the rear wheel arches and “thinning” of the metal around the exhaust outlet at the bottom of the rear panel but nothing major. I painted the underneath with a rust inhibitor and set about looking for a body shop to do the repairs needed and paint the shell. I found a local garage that was prepared to undertake the work on “fallback work “ basis. This suited me as it would keep the price down and give me time to source new parts. This was around 1999/2000. Last summer (2012) the garage owner admitted that although his garage had done some repairs, he would be unable to complete the work and the shell came back home to me and I started to source another body shop. I have to admit that although I would periodically enquire about progress, I never pushed the work as my own family were growing and my priorities had changed. By 2012 my sons were now grown up and my priorities and finances had changed to allow me to progress with my restoration. My time had not been wasted however, despite leaving the “Z scene” and Z club, I had been amassing parts from within the UK across the Atlantic for when the work would resume….
In 1998 a friend of mine in the Z Club, Steve Bicknell called to say that he was going to view a Z in New Deer (near Aberdeen) and planned to break his journey from the South with an overnight stay at mine where I could join him on his visit. When we arrived we met the cars owner Anthony Hedges how had owned the car for 22 years after buying it in London from it’s one previous owner when it was 2 years old. Anthony had ran the car for a few years then stored it with a view to refreshing it. Unfortunately he didn’t have the time to do this so the car was up for sale. Although the engine was seized from standing and the outer panels showing corrosion, it was quickly evident that the basic shell was in extremely good original condition and well worth a restoration. Steve bought the car and we set off back to Cumbria where the car would stay until Steve could arrange to transport it home south. Fortunately for me that night I was able to persuade Steve to resell the car to me and therefore save him the hassle of transporting it so far. I now had a Z.
I set about dismantling the Z and put it into a rotisserie that I then had, so that I could totally strip the shell. I removed all the underseal from the under floors and was delighted to find the floors, inner wings, front/rear panels, chassis legs etc were in excellent, original unwelded condition. There was some corrosion on the rear wheel arches and “thinning” of the metal around the exhaust outlet at the bottom of the rear panel but nothing major. I painted the underneath with a rust inhibitor and set about looking for a body shop to do the repairs needed and paint the shell. I found a local garage that was prepared to undertake the work on “fallback work “ basis. This suited me as it would keep the price down and give me time to source new parts. This was around 1999/2000. Last summer (2012) the garage owner admitted that although his garage had done some repairs, he would be unable to complete the work and the shell came back home to me and I started to source another body shop. I have to admit that although I would periodically enquire about progress, I never pushed the work as my own family were growing and my priorities had changed. By 2012 my sons were now grown up and my priorities and finances had changed to allow me to progress with my restoration. My time had not been wasted however, despite leaving the “Z scene” and Z club, I had been amassing parts from within the UK across the Atlantic for when the work would resume….
