260z Project

[Arius]

Hey guys!
For a while now I've been viewing this and other Z forums for tips.
I've made this thread so I can personally see how my car progresses throughout the project and thought I'd share it with you guys. I'd love any input you have as I go along as this is my first Z.

A little bit about myself; I'm a 21 year old classic car engineer mostly working on MG's from the 70's, Triumphs etc.
Almost all of the work the car needs will be done by me or my old man.
I've owned the car for almost 3 months now so I have quite a lot of pictures to post up before I catch up with the project.

Now, I'm going stop blabbing. On to the pictures and story!

Bought the car in March of this year, seller said it needed fuel and a new battery and it'll run.

Some fuel, spare battery I had and clean spark plugs and it rumbled into life.

That same night however I started to strip it down

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[Arius]

A restoration isn't a restoration with a lot of rust!

Something about the rear quarter was bugging me but I couldn't think what, so I decided to strip the paint. Not only did I find the rear arches have been replaced but I realised what was missing - The rear badge/air vent on the drivers side.

Then my spider senses went off again about the rear something didn't look right. Thanks to my 10 year old sister for crawling under the car shouting "There's a huge hole here!" bringer of bad news eh?

Took the fuel tank off to find...
It had been rear ended.

The repair work someone had done was shocking.

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[Rob Gaskin]

So if it was a 'B what would your next move be?

The problem with these cars is that when they rust, or get damaged the parts are not available. However they are considered too rare and valuable to scrap so someone bodges them unless they are prepared to spend a fortune.

If they have a fortune to spend they would have bought a better one to start with (or got duped).

 

[Arius]

If it was a 'B I would be tempted to part it out but I've repaired this as best I could.

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[Zed-the-red]

If it was a 'B I would be tempted to part it out but I've repaired this as best I could.

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Good on you carry on... get it back on the road..

 

[Arius]

Good on you carry on... get it back on the road..

Yeah a certainly plan too.

Like I said, I've owned the car since March and have been working on it every weekend since so these photos are a few months old.

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[Wyn]

Good luck with the project ...​

Be good to see another 260z when done ​

 

[moggy240]

these cars can be a labour of love sometimes

 

[Arius]

Ah moggy!
Enjoy your roll bar bushings

Thanks guys

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[Arius]

And to carry on!
I won't show you all the boring patches of welding I cut out and replaced with yet more patches. I'll just say I'm came so close to bolting the car all back together and just selling as an unfinished project or parting the car out.
However I carried on and have gained loads of experience doing so.

Painted the underneath of the car 5 times in Grey anti rust paint we use on B's, no idea what it is. Comes in a plain white tin but I can't fault the stuff.
Then sprayed on underseal and painted over that twice more.

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[Alphabettispaghetti]

So if it was a 'B what would your next move be?

The problem with these cars is that when they rust, or get damaged the parts are not available. However they are considered too rare and valuable to scrap so someone bodges them unless they are prepared to spend a fortune.

If they have a fortune to spend they would have bought a better one to start with (or got duped).

If it was a 'B' you'd walk away as there's 1000's of them for sale and full panel sets etc.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

If it was a 'B' you'd walk away as there's 1000's of them for sale and full panel sets etc.

Exactly, hence the question and that's why you have to be so careful when buying an S30 Z. They usually need bodywork, have had some or both.

The body-shell on it's side looks a bit precarious.

 

[Arius]

It's okay trusty cable ties will hold it up!

In all seriousness I had fixed on two posts one you just about see at the rear of the car and one I fixed onto where the door bolts to the body. The car was perfectly safe in my opinion. If I could do it any other way I would have designed a jig to properly get it on its side and hold it there but I didn't have the materials.

Continuing on with the project, while I was waiting for all the paint to dry I started cleaning up the suspension, drive shafts, different etc and got a few coats on them.

And once they were dry started bolting stuff back on + new brake and fuel lines. I also relocated the electric fuel pump from the engine bay to beside the fuel tank as it was a push pump and someone had it configured as pull.
I kind of like the contrast of black and grey. But will it work with my choice of body colour? I'm not too sure.

While I was putting some of it together something came in the post!

As well as brand new track rods and ball joints.

So I put it all on!

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[Arius]

Been a while but I'll get right to the project!
Struts on!

Offside wheels on!

And its on all 4 wheels!

In my absence from the forum I have done a lot to the 260.
Fitted the doors and stripped them down to find loads of rust

Added the wings just to see what I'm dealing with

Oh crums.

"I'll come back to that later" I thought.
To keep my motivation going I made myself a little present

Andddd added steering column plus brake lines so I can put the engine in soon.

More to come!

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[Alphabettispaghetti]

Looks interesting underneath, how much extra metal is plated all over the front chassis legs/floor support rails?

 

[Arius]

Hey guys, been a while.
A bit of news, with this project I was cutting corners by plating metal over old rusted junk thinking it was sorted. In a rush to get the car on the road and actually drive the thing. Until I got to the point where I had to stand back and think would I feel safe driving this in its current condition. The answer? No.

Round two and this time do it properly. Most would of parted the car out. Maybe because it was my first Z and I've loved these cars since I was about 4, I just couldn't get rid of it.
I didn't take any pictures of this as I was going back on myself. I stripped most of the underseal and paint away and cut out the floor rails + badly welded parts of the floor. Replaced the floor rails with a one piece metal rail on both sides and took my time with the welding. It looks half decent now and I am much happier with the outcome.

 

[moggy240]

Its getting there, I have seen cars with worst rust welded up ,its just time at the end of the day

 

[Arius]

Been a while but I'm still still around, had a few injuries this year which has ruined progress on the Z but it's still going. Not on the road yet as I've only just gotten the bodywork and paint finished. The car's had a heart transplant and a skin(?) transplant
As it sits now.

I'll go through the other things I've done throughout the year once I've sorted the pictures.
Thanks!

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[Arius]

Not completely happy with the paint job but I'm friends with the body shop and have a five year warranty. Once my car is on the road it'll go back to have a few things sorted out.
Got the block and gearbox in at the weekend now the weather is warming up I better get a move on.

Got the boot glass in, that's a 240Z glass right?

Anyone have tips on getting the chrome trim in? Tried half a dozen times and I've started damaging the rubber seal around the opening for the trim.

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[MaximG]

I recently did my front screen trim and its a total ass. First I put talk on the rubber to help things slip a little easier. I kind of came up with technique whereby I would seat the trim on the out side for a few inches. I would then use a old thin flexible blunt butter knife and slip it between the trim and rubber on the inner edge, then fold the lip of the trim out using the knife. To be honest it was quite successful I managed to do a far better job then the chap who fitted the screen. His technique was to use soapy water and a screwdriver. Put it this way I ended up using my spare screen rubber after the first failed attempt. Oh and start at a corner. Was a total killer on the fingers.

Mike