'74 260z project

Wow, that's looking good. Liking the valve cover, wasn't sure at first when you mentioned it but now I've seen it it's something a bit different and will definitely go well with the colour of the car. Good call!

cheers buddy :cheers: (and other, pipe up or remain anon if you wish :))
 
Got the dogleg welded up. It wasn't even close to being the right shape and needed a ridiculous amount of persuasion, even had to completely flatten out the folds at the bottom and move them about 10mm. After doing that it meets up to the indent in the sill perfectly :hurray:

shame nobody will ever notice lol

Didn't turn out as neat as I was hoping but a skim of filler will sort it. Also, it doesn't meet up to the lip of the original arch but oh well, all that will be cut out later any way!

POR'd all the bits that won't get hot, weld-thru primer was sprayed on everything after this
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could have been better but ho hum
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Door sits a bit proud, couldn't be assed to fix it yet, it'll be coming off and put on again several times yet...
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Cut out the knackered frame rail and what was left of the driver side floor. Got the replacement one welded in, frame rail still needs to be fitted then will have to get started on the passenger side. The passenger side looks in better nick so should be a bit easier.

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Cheers guys :)

No hanging about now! This car needs to be done sooner rather than later as my job has gone pear shaped. My working hours have been reduced by 60% already and I'll be unemployed in July; probably going to have to move out of Southampton as a result as this place is a total employment vacuum.

Too far into this to not finish, failure is not an option!
 
morbias said:
Cheers guys :)

No hanging about now! This car needs to be done sooner rather than later as my job has gone pear shaped. My working hours have been reduced by 60% already and I'll be unemployed in July; probably going to have to move out of Southampton as a result as this place is a total employment vacuum.

Too far into this to not finish, failure is not an option!
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Really sorry to hear that. I had the same thing happen at the end of last summer:(

However it does all work out one way or another.
 
Seems a common thing for lots of people recently, nice to know I'm not alone (misery loves company eh!). The way I see it I now have more time off work to get the car done, and an incentive to get my a*se in gear!

Takes some of the fun out of it though. The worst thing is I'm on a diet of Tesco value spaghetti until next payday which is still 4 weeks away :ack:

And Pete, if you're reading this then worry ye not, I have that money I owe you - I just need to get to the bank which for some b*stard reason is right across the other side of the city.
 
morbias said:
Seems a common thing for lots of people recently, nice to know I'm not alone (misery loves company eh!). The way I see it I now have more time off work to get the car done, and an incentive to get my a*se in gear!

Takes some of the fun out of it though. The worst thing is I'm on a diet of Tesco value spaghetti until next payday which is still 4 weeks away :ack:

And Pete, if you're reading this then worry ye not, I have that money I owe you - I just need to get to the bank which for some b*stard reason is right across the other side of the city.
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Times might be hard but horse meat on pasta!?:eek:
 
Sorry to hear about the job side of things mate. I do like your positive attitude to the work though, I know a lot of people would be depressed about it but glad you see the possibility of getting more.

As for the car, nice work. Good to see it coming along.

Enjoy the donkey meat.
 
My front wheels turned up at last, yay!

BUT... (why is there always a 'but')

...they're a completely different colour to the rear ones :(
Whoever was on paint mixing duties was obviously having a bad day, one of the perils of buying budget wheels I suppose. Might have all four powder coated the same colour in the future but they'll have to do for now.

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Rear: 17x9.5 -20
Front: 17x8.5 -10

Thinking about 245/40 on the back and 225/40 on the front, which should keep the speedo around the same ratio
 
Sweet. ZG or just generic / universal ones? Will you be cutting your arches?

Have you tried the wheels on yet and did you ever figure out the maximum width/offset you can get on an early 260 by the way? I came across a few of your posts re. lower spring perches and your lowering spring nightmare whilst searching stuff. I have tentatively arrived at the conclusion (after losing an entire evening to the internet) that there is maximum backspace of 4.5" on the front and 5" on the back. Making me think your 8.5" -10 must be pretty damn close if you're still running the stock struts?
 
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Nice wheels I looked at getting a set of those, I ended up getting some 15" steels banded into 9's and 10's,

How much of the arch do you think your gonna have to cut out ?
 
Tim Jewitt said:
Sweet. ZG or just generic / universal ones? Will you be cutting your arches?

Have you tried the wheels on yet and did you ever figure out the maximum width/offset you can get on an early 260 by the way? I came across a few of your posts re. lower spring perches and your lowering spring nightmare whilst searching stuff. I have tentatively arrived at the conclusion (after losing an entire evening to the internet) that there is maximum backspace of 4.5" on the front and 5" on the back. Making me think your 8.5" -10 must be pretty damn close if you're still running the stock struts?
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Standard ZGs which I believe belonged to Mr. Kiddell.

Haven't sorted my spring situation yet, will do it once the car is back together and all the weight is there. Mike F sorted me out with some progressive springs which means I should be able to cut them down and still retain enough length when unloaded to fit between perch and top hat.

Yes, I think 4.5" is the maximum backspace, but the early 260z has lower spring perches on the front struts than 240s which could pose a problem with wide wheels. However, as the wheel itself is much bigger in diameter at 17", the spring perch will be positioned well within the rim itself and the angle of the spring should clear the rim and tyre easily. I hope. :D

At least, it seemed to work out okay when I was calculating it. I am thinking about using 10mm spacers on the front as the wheel might not fill the flare and look a bit strange, that should also let me use centre caps too rather than having the centre of the hub sticking out. Not sure how much the extra scrub radius will affect steering input though.

Fairly certain I have seen people use 8J wheels with 0 offset on early 260z stock suspension, so 8.5 -10 should have even more clearance.

atomman said:
Nice wheels I looked at getting a set of those, I ended up getting some 15" steels banded into 9's and 10's,

How much of the arch do you think your gonna have to cut out ?
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A fair amount, probably about 3" on the rear, haven't had time to measure it all out yet. Oh joy, more welding(!)

15x10 must be a b*stard to get tyres for!
 
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