Avocado Green 1972 UK RHD 240z Project

Rushingphil

Club Member
Better to have a semi decent un-restored UK Z than one that has supposedly been restored but with no photographic evidence of how well it was done.

Get it blasted and you'll see what you are working with.

Hi Ian,

I've read every post in your amazing thread - truly inspirational, and was my go-to thread for the RB26 project - in fact one of the reasons I decided it was a step to far for me! Many thanks for all the work and effort to keep the thread going :bow: I was so gutted for you when you had the shell blasted - :mad:

Getting my shell blasted is not the way I'm going to go at this stage. I've read too many threads where people strip them down up front, and then take years and years to get them back together again! I'm going to start with the easy to do, little bits and pieces first and see how I get on. My initial plan (maybe still is?) was to just get the car in a drive-able state. ie. sort the brakes, clutch, cooling system etc. I appreciate that I will end up doing the jobs twice, but I'm happy with that! However, I now think I need to concentrate on what the priorities are with regards to the condition of the car, so it doesn't deteriorate any further. ie, treat all the surface rust on the exterior and look into the structural areas on the chassis.

Another reason for me to not strip the car at this stage, is that we are potentially looking to move house in the not too distant future!

Hope your shell is progressing well?

Phil
 

Ian

Club Member
Thanks, good to know some people enjoy the thread.

RB swap can be a lot more simple than mine if you wanted, can also be done much cheaper, just that I decided to go the hard way and have everything top level, custom made and cosmetically as perfect as I could get it.


Certainly worth you doing some little bits first, but I can't recommend going too crazy without starting from the ground up. I wish the first thing I had done on mine was a full dry fit to work out modifications to the metalwork and then straight to a bare metal restoration, would have been an easier way to do things. But then again, I never expected the shell to need such work.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.



No progress on mine, waiting on parts, work should start again some time in January, not a huge rush anymore as I need to save up more to be able to get it 100% finished anyhow, would love it back on the road for summer but I think the best that I can hope for now will be to have it back with me by then and start to slowly finish it from there.
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
Thanks Ian,

Your build certainly comes across as a no expense spared project - something that I can no longer dream of - I'm a poor pensioner now :-(
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Phil, your car is a good base and is a completely different base than Ian's. Ian has done a great job on his car but started with a 'restored' car which unfortunately had a lot of hidden (by filler/paint) issues. You can see your areas for attention.
 

johnymd

Club Member
As far as I'm aware, only very early cars were not undersealed. All the UK cars I have ever seen were always undersealed, hence they were overpainted at the factory.

Do not disturb any of the interior paint on the floors. You will never get it looking this good again. Just strip the body paint, repair and repaint the outside.
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
As far as I'm aware, only very early cars were not undersealed. All the UK cars I have ever seen were always undersealed, hence they were overpainted at the factory.

Do not disturb any of the interior paint on the floors. You will never get it looking this good again. Just strip the body paint, repair and repaint the outside.

Excellent, many thanks for that John - exactly what I wanted to hear! I can't see any point in taking off original paint / sound deadening etc if it's in excellent condition.
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
Great buy! A real diamond in the rough. Love it.

Thanks for the photo of the underside of the glovebox liner. Saved me having to ask you for it. Lovely H-QU ENG! That lineworker almost wrote 'HL...', but then corrected himself.
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
Great buy! A real diamond in the rough. Love it.

Thanks for the photo of the underside of the glovebox liner. Saved me having to ask you for it. Lovely H-QU ENG! That lineworker almost wrote 'HL...', but then corrected himself.

Thanks!

I've read a little about the writing on the glovebox liner; do the letters actually signify anything useful to us, or was it purely for the lineworkers info please?
 

IbanezDan51

Well-Known Forum User
If it were me I'd try and just blast the areas that look particularly bad and try and do local high quality repairs rather than cutting out large unnecessary sections. Be nice to keep as much of the original metal as possible.

Id have bought this if I had the money in the bank, worth every penny if you ask me.
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
If it were me I'd try and just blast the areas that look particularly bad and try and do local high quality repairs rather than cutting out large unnecessary sections. Be nice to keep as much of the original metal as possible.

Id have bought this if I had the money in the bank, worth every penny if you ask me.

Aye, exactly my thoughts :thumbs:
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
Thanks!

I've read a little about the writing on the glovebox liner; do the letters actually signify anything useful to us, or was it purely for the lineworkers info please?

Not for us civilians. Purely for administrative purposes. Just a note of variant ('HQU' is UK market 240Z factory type code) and destination. Good to see the delicate chalk/grease pencil marks in such nice preserved state.
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
Interested to see why the front slam panel and headlight bowl attachment panel is so covered in 'stuff'.... BUT

I am going to go out on a whim here and say you've probably managed to acquire one of the better/best UK cars that I've ever seen, I should expect quite a few envious readers looking at this....including myself.

Good luck with the restoration, looking forward to it!

Dan

Had a quick looksee and scrapped off some of the 'stuff' to see what was going on. Basically it's just a thick layer of underseal and the metal underneath is sound - job was probably given to a first day apprentice :rofl:

DSCF2963.JPG
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
Also found a sticker on the front bumper stay - surely that can't be original, and were replacements at some time?

DSCF2959.JPG
 

s2k_adz

Club Member
Hi Chris,
Many Thanks! Yes, I will be keeping to the original colour which I like a lot and suits the car. It has had a quick blowjob at some stage which isn't the same colour and will be corrected !


Nobody likes an incorrect blowjob. :unsure:

I personally think you have had a pretty good buy! Its also my second favourite colour for a 240Z! I shall be keeping an eye on your thread!

As a guide, your car looks probably slightly better than my 260Z was when I got it and I spent 8k on metal repair getting it all done by someone else to a high standard.
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
Nobody likes an incorrect blowjob. :unsure:

I personally think you have had a pretty good buy! Its also my second favourite colour for a 240Z! I shall be keeping an eye on your thread!

As a guide, your car looks probably slightly better than my 260Z was when I got it and I spent 8k on metal repair getting it all done by someone else to a high standard.

Yes, I can easily see where £8k can go if someone does it for you. However, I'm planning on trying it myself :eek:
 
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