260Z Project - 260Z GT-R

[Ian]

But its the only way I can be sure there is no rust anywhere?

I am considering just blasting the inside an underneath, the other areas will be damaged by this, but nothing I would think that can't be fixed by a full sanding back. I would think if there was rust on the body it would have made itself known by now?



But then I still get back to this:

But its the only way I can be sure there is no rust anywhere?

 

[240Z Man]

Reading what you have done to the car so far, it appears to me you have done all the hard work on the front end already, and I wouldn't see anything to be achieved by sandblasting it and starting again. I would go down the route and strip the car completely and just do underneath the car and inside the floor pans with sandblasting, then perhaps get the garage to take it completely back to metal on the body work and this will show up any rust perhaps in the body. You say you are having problems finding a good body shop, I use my local BMW dealer who are real car enthusiasts and like a challenge and have all the right facilities to do your car right. They did my mustang which was a complete bare metal respray a couple of years ago, and they will be doing my Datsun in the near future. As for price they are realistic and they were cheaper than back street garages and you get the peace of mind that it is being done right and in a sensible time scale, not where you give your car and you are lucky to see it back again. Less than one month to complete my Mustang

 

[Ian]

Yeah, the front end won't require blasting again, the body may be ok also, but the underneath and inside could do with blasting. Not sure the BMW garages here would be the same standard as yours, most are pretty basic.

 

[240Z Man]

Yeah, the front end won't require blasting again, the body may be ok also, but the underneath and inside could do with blasting. Not sure the BMW garages here would be the same standard as yours, most are pretty basic.

If you decide to bring your car to the mainland, I will pass the phone number on to you and you can speak to them directly. You will find they are extremely helpful and will definitely do a good job for you.

 

[Ian]

So, update for the New year soon to be upon us. After lots of saving up this is finally booked in for a full makeover in April, can't wait to have it done, get it built and be driving it again.

Plan is to keep the style the same but make sure the whole chassis is mint and rust free, add some more strength to the chassis (frame rail extensions etc.) some improvements to the engine bay (pretty much all cosmetic only) it will be rebuilt with some upgraded parts and I also plan to remake the interior wiring that goes to the rear and tidy up the front harness side of things better than I left it after the conversion.




Was planning on leaving the style alone but every now and then I question myself should I add flared arches (would make wheel choice much easier) should they be the bolt on style or the same shape but fully smoothed in and made from metal? Thing is if its not done now it never will be. My main reason for doing it would be performance, not cosmetics.

Also need to decide if the underneath should be done body colour or black, I certainly want the wheel wells in black but not sure on the rest.





Got this to remake.

Got sound deadening ready for down the line

Some new parts, not sure why T3 don't make all the parts the same colour, I'll probably aim to fix this. Still got to decide if I want the undercar parts to be gunmetal grey or black. I'm thinking grey if the floor is black and black if I go body coloured.

Car is pretty much ready to go, just got to drop the diff and thats all thats left to take off with still leaving it a rolling shell:

Carbon hood fits well (it wont be staying that colour)

Also need two new wheels, will probably stay the same, but was debating Watanabe R Types, but can't be sure they will fit, at 16x8 ET0 running 225s they will be quite far to the edges, especially as I would need a 4mm spacer on the front to clear the brakes thus making them -4 offset. Standard Watanabe F8s should fit better but I don't like the look as much and can't be sue they will clear front or rear brakes. I would like to experiment with a drag setup running 8.5" Watanabe F8s in +15 offset allowing me to fit Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres in 245/40/16 under stock arches.






Will be so nice to finally driver her again late in 2019 hopefully, once on the road I need to sort out my over-boosting problem so I can run full boost again, been stuck with low boost for a while now. Luckily shes still a lot of fun even on low boost.

 

[Woody928]

Wow, sounds like super exciting times ahead with lots going on. I love the attention to detail with the smaller parts!

I'd be tempted to just go black on the underside as you'll never see it but that's just me....

 

[uk66fastback]

I think if the wheel arches are black, the underbody should be too.

 

[Ian]

Wow, sounds like super exciting times ahead with lots going on.

Yeah, Can't wait to get into it, finally.

I love the attention to detail with the smaller parts!

I love stuff like this, want to have everywhere on the car as detailed as possible. I'm making so many tiny detail changes in the engine bay which I spent many hours thinking about but I think will improve the overall look. Likely few will even notice any of them though.

I'd be tempted to just go black on the underside as you'll never see it but that's just me....

Well, actually, I'd be the only one who sees it.

I think if the wheel arches are black, the underbody should be too.

I was thinking that, but this build looks good with both. The main reason I don't want colour in the arches is because I don't like the way it shows up behind wheels, I much prefer black there to keep it all hidden.

I have found the set of wheels I want to run, not sure I'll be getting them right away as they cost a lot, lets see how much money is left once its on the road again. I'll be getting the rears in 8.5" so I can run 245s if I want, however I am not sure I will as there is a very limited choice in 245/45/16 and I would have all tyres the same on my main set and don't fancy running Trofeo Rs all the time. If I would be getting another set of rears for track/drag it might make more sense to go to 17's and then I can run 255's. Anyone know of a good 245 16" tyre I could possiby run thats not too hardcore for the road?

At least this means I am likely to keep the arches stock as being able to run 245's should give me enough traction. Especially as I'll get a 255/40/17 set eventually for some track tyres. Does mean I might have to buy another S30 sometime so I can have one with flares and one without.

 

[uk66fastback]

I think the set-up like those pics above is perfect - colour everywhere BUT black under the wheel arches. Please do show these little improvements you're doing in the engine bay - they are the details that go unnoticed and appreciated but some require a fair amount of thought in their innovation and execution. I did a couple on the Mustang I had, small touches but just neatened things off. Be interested to see what you have done to the Z.

 

[Ian]

I think the set-up like those pics above is perfect - colour everywhere BUT black under the wheel arches.

This is likely what I will go with.

Please do show these little improvements you're doing in the engine bay

Sure, I'll make sure to do before and afters on them.





Actually one major thing I need to decide on is the colour. Ideally I would leave it exactly the same, my paint is meant to be Datsun 307 Metalic Blue however its actually quite far off this paint code so not sure I want to use it. This fact is another contributor towards me getting the whole car redone. Now it is possible to have the colour scanned but then Its always going to be a custom colour which is just a pain and could cause issues down the line.


So, its has to stay blue in a shade pretty close to how it currently is.


Things I have thought about:

Actual Datsun 307 - I beleive this wil be too light for me.

Other Datsun colours - 115 Blue Metalic (too light I think) , 903 Blue , 072 Blue, theres also apparently Grand Prix blue, but I can't find a code for this.

Porsche Sapphire blue metalic - I think this is also too light

House of Kolor have a large selection of blues - could use one of these close to the current shade

Aston Martin Ming blue



I really like the Ming blue so will test this and perhaps actual 307 and see how they compare beside the current colour.



The problem with the lighter blue colours is that the shade various a lot depending on the light so every photo you see of a car with certain blue looks different. And with the Datsun colours its hard to find good photos with a of the colours with a definite identification.




I did quite like the star road blue, although its possibly to dark and too bright.

and the Blue on the JDM Legends car, this is pretty close to mine and I really like it.

Problem is I don't know the colour codes for either. Does anyone know what colours they are, especially the legends one?

 

[IbanezDan51]

Can’t help with the legends colour but I love your car.

The best blue colour I’ve seen is on a car I have, my mk4 R32. It’s deep blue pearl and it’s absolutely stunning in person:

 

[Mark N]

What about Bayside Blue, as a nod to your engine?

 

[Wally]

I'm thinking of blue when I get mine. I keep looking at the new Ford colour, Desert Island Blue. Not sure if it's too modern of a colour though.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[uk66fastback]

Colours, colours! Far too much choice nowadays! House of Kolor do some stunning pearlescent colours. Lots of dark undercoat beforehand as well in the application ... they come out looking stunning.

At least you know you want it blue, which is a good start ...

 

[Ian]

Can’t help with the legends colour but I love your car.

Thanks

The best blue colour I’ve seen is on a car I have, my mk4 R32. It’s deep blue pearl and it’s absolutely stunning in person:

I'm thinking of blue when I get mine. I keep looking at the new Ford colour, Desert Island Blue. Not sure if it's too modern of a colour though.

Those are both nice colours, possibly too bright for what I'm going for.

What about Bayside Blue, as a nod to your engine?

I did think about it, but its perhaps slightly lighter than what I want, plus theres already a Z on here in that colour, might as well be different. Still one of my favourite blues though, and for me the only colour I'd want an R34 in.

Colours, colours! Far too much choice nowadays! House of Kolor do some stunning pearlescent colours. Lots of dark undercoat beforehand as well in the application ... they come out looking stunning.

At least you know you want it blue, which is a good start ..

Yes, so much choice and its very important one to get right. House of Kolour do so many how do you choose, although it has to be one that doesn't look too modern for the car. No joke, there are like 10 blues that look close to right, I can't test all of them and from a screen you don't really get an good representation of the actual colur.

My rocker cover is actually a house of kolor kandy red with gold flakes so I already have some of their paint on my car.


The problem is I need to actually see the colour in person, sprayed up properly to be able to compare properly, but I need to get my test list down to 5 or 6 to be reasonable.






Ming Blue, nice, but not sure its right for the Z, possibly too bright and too modern, whats the opinion?

 

[toopy]

Ming Blue, nice, but not sure its right for the Z, possibly too bright and too modern, whats the opinion?

Too modern! who cares, your car and all that

In all honesty, apart from it being flecked or flipped, or seriously garish etc.... whats wrong with it wearing a 'modern' colour, most people won't know, many more won't care anyway, and those that do?! ........ppffftt

By the way, the colour of your car as is looks great imho

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

Go metallic green or safari gold

 

[Ian]

Too modern! who cares, your car and all that

I mean too modern, as in it might not fit well with the style of the car, possibly?

In all honesty, apart from it being flecked or flipped, or seriously garish etc

No chance of that

By the way, the colour of your car as is looks great imho

I love it also, but unfortunately its not an actual colour that exists, I'll spray the colours it is meant to be next to my damaged panel to show the difference. No idea how the spray shop managed to get the mix wrong, using a scanning machine it still comes up as 307, but on a scale of 10, where 5 is spot on, mine was on 9 if iirc.

So, what I am really trying to do is find a colour thats really close to how it looks but has an actual colour code.

Go metallic green or safari gold

Not a chance, has to be blue, before I even got a Z I wanted a blue one, my personal favourite colour for them.

 

[Woody928]

Yeah, Can't wait to get into it, finally.

I love stuff like this, want to have everywhere on the car as detailed as possible. I'm making so many tiny detail changes in the engine bay which I spent many hours thinking about but I think will improve the overall look. Likely few will even notice any of them though.

I was thinking that, but this build looks good with both. The main reason I don't want colour in the arches is because I don't like the way it shows up behind wheels, I much prefer black there to keep it all hidden.

Not at all, its the little details that make a nice car a really special one! I love all the little touches when I notice them, down to door lock pulls, wheel air dust caps, stickers, quotes etc... You're right, most will never see them however those that do will really appreciate the effort that's gone into it

On second thoughts, black arches and body colour underneath for the win. I agree that I don't like the colour behind the wheels in the arches that can be seen. Colours I can't help with, its all very personal choice there! The metallic blue on yours really suits it though, even if I love pastel colours myself...

 

[Robbie J]

So I have a ways to go yet but Blue is the colour my son wants and the wife is OK with. I was thinking on white with the black fender flares, must keep the family happy
the JDM Legends one looks mice with the carbon hence grey flares, where do you get them from?