Luke's 260z restoration

[luke-260z]

Hi all, this is my first post so il introduce myself!
I'm Luke from Cheltenham, I'm a mechanic and mot tester by trade.

A good friend of mine has a fully restored 260z 2+2, a 240z and until today a 2seater 260z. I say until today because he's given me one free! Also has another 2+2 of which I can use for spares.
The car does need quite a lot of welding but it's definately worth saving, the engine was re built 5 years ago and until today it hadn't been started since. All it needed was some new fuel and a battery and it fired up and purred.

Here's some pictures

I'm not going to undertake the welding work myself as I don't have the time or the skill it deserves! A good friend of mine is a welder by trade and is ace with a tig welder so in the next few weeks the car is going to be left with him to work his magic on it.
My future plans are to keep it fairly standard inside and under the bonnet but I want it to be low and bloody wide so I will most probabily be importing some rediculous wheels in the future.
Any modifications I do carry out I want it to easily be returned to standard.
As I'm new to these I will be asking you all lots of questions so be patient with me!

 

[Wyn]

Brave man to take that on
But for free why not
Best of luck

 

[datsfun]

brave man to take that on
but for free why not
best of luck

+ 1

 

[Rob Gaskin]

From the limited pictures - I have to say I've seen a lot worse. I was sceptical about Dan's car but look what he's done with it.

 

[moggy240]

you lucky man !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it does not look too bad either

 

[johnymd]

The harder they are to find, the most viable it is to restore. The trouble, panel costs are high or not available. So even if your getting the welding done cheap, it still costs a big lump of money to get a solid shell. This can cost as much or more than a rust free import.

Alway good to see a z saved though so good luck and keep the pictures coming. Is your friend a Zclub member? He should be as he seems to have a few.

 

[luke-260z]

Yeah he's did a lot of work on it about 5 years ago then parked it up outside until now! I don't think he is a member but yes he should be! Hoping to move it in the next couple of weeks so there will be plenty more pictures!

 

[luke-260z]

Also it's got a sunroof of which I'm guessing didn't come as standard? I don't like it though

 

[IbanezDan51]

Unfortunately they came with the option of a sunroof....fortunately my car (although much much more rotten than yours...) didn't have one lol.

 

[luke-260z]

Ahh I see. It doesn't look to be fitted from factory, il try n get a pic. Either way It looks awfull

 

[Mrs HollowPoint]

Big free toy with access to spares? Yes really lucky!

 

[Stockdale]

I have no recollection of 'factory-fit' sun roofs. In the 70's there were more 'sunroof fitting centre's than there are nowadays pizza take-aways'. It looks retro-fit but frankly the car appears really good anyway. Paintwork was always (from the factory) an issue. I remember having my Z of the time re-sprayed in 1982 and just couldn't believe how porous the original paint was at that time and the extent of 'rusting' at the base layer without any impression at all that rot was in progress. Do keep things as standard as you can. For me silly body/engine mods will tend to devalue. Hope all goes well and look forward to seeing progress.

 

[Albrecht]

.....I have to say I've seen a lot worse.

.....and it does not look too bad either.

.....frankly the car appears really good anyway.

Are you guys looking at a different set of pictures to me? Exactly what part of this car looks "really good"?

It looks like something of a horror show to me. The red paint might be all that's holding some parts of it together. I can't see how it can possibly be worth spending any time and money on it, even if the car does come for free.

Unfortunately they came with the option of a sunroof....

The was NO factory option of a sunroof on any S30-series Z.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Are you guys looking at a different set of pictures to me?

Ooops, yes for some reason I could only see the first two pictures.

I did say 'From the limited pictures'.

Yep lots of work there.

 

[Stockdale]

The 'really good' is in context. The car cost nothing at all! Having seen images of some of the dreadful potential 'restoration' examples eulogised on here (which seem to be missing bumpers, dashes, engine bits and lights) it is 'really good'. Not sure why it need to be 'worth' spending time and money on. Surely restoring a Z is about a little more than than a financial return.

 

[datsfun]

Not sure why it need to be 'worth' spending time and money on. Surely restoring a Z is about a little more than than a financial return.

These cars are not that rare that one "ignores" the financial sense and makes decisions with the heart. I appreciate that most of us who own classics do it for the love of the car rather than economics but sometimes one has to sit back and evaluate whether the proposals make financial sense

 

[luke-260z]

Thanks for all the comments. I wasn't asking wether you guys thought it was worth saving as I'm big enough and ugly enough to make that decision for myself.
I'm going to try and move it Friday using my recovery truck so I will try and upload some more pictures for you all to make some 'useful' comments on

 

[Huw]

Nice. Looking forward to following your restoration Luke and seeing more pics.

Huw

 

[richiep]

Given you are getting it for free, at least if the final judgement is that it is too far gone, there's plenty of decent looking bits for you to make a few quid on.

I think the big worry has to be what things like that big hole in the bulkhead (ouch) and at the bottom of the rad support indicate. Plus the rear quarter. Get underneath as soon as you get a chance and start poking forcefully!

 

[Albrecht]

The 'really good' is in context. The car cost nothing at all!

Putting aside any question of what it cost, I'm judging it on what it appears to be. I still don't think it is "really good" in the context of what is - or is not - a 'good' base for a resto project.

Having seen images of some of the dreadful potential 'restoration' examples eulogised on here (which seem to be missing bumpers, dashes, engine bits and lights) it is 'really good'.

With respect, you are describing missing / shagged out components. These are a moveable feast and can often repaired / fettled and/or replacements tracked down. 'Part Number One' is the bodyshell. If that's shagged then you are starting off at a great disadvantage to the average project that has a reasonably repairable ( ie rust in all the usual places ) 'shell, but with components missing / needing repair.

This one appears to be a lot worse than average. I fear ( and I really hope for the OP that it's not the case ) that this one has the 'usual' rust in all the 'usual' places, but also has unusual rust in unusual places. That firewall rust looks like a real nightmare, and looking lower down in the photo I'm sure I see a kink in the ( probably rusting on the inside ) chassis rail too. Look at that roof to rear quarter join too. My experience is that when they are this far gone they are very difficult to bring back to life in any economic sense.

Not sure why it need to be 'worth' spending time and money on. Surely restoring a Z is about a little more than than a financial return.

The OP brought the subject of 'worth' up, here:

The car does need quite a lot of welding but it's definately worth saving...

No offence to Luke, but my opinion ( for what it's worth ) is that this car might not actually be 'worth' saving.

We very rarely broach the subject of cars that have gone through major reconstruction. It's clear that there are many ways that such a restoration ( resurrection.... ) can be tackled, and the end result may also vary. Sometimes cars are brought back to almost factory-fresh condition, and sometimes they end up being a patchwork quilt of let-in patch panels fashioned from old washing machines, held together with hundreds of metres of MIG wire.

My feeling is that fellow owners - as a 'peer group' - really ought to counsel such projects, or at least be realistic about the base vehicle and the end product. If this were a house refurbishment the local council's Building Control Services staff would be wanting to inspect the damp course for the new extension and whether the right size joists have been used in the loft conversion. A vehicle only gets judged ( at MOT time ) after the process, and can hide its history and repair methods under shiny new paint. How do we place a comparative value on such a car?

My feeling is that the car in question might be a better proposition as the RHD component donor for a ( much more solid ) LHD import, which will be a quicker to do, less expensive project and - arguably - leave the OP with a better and more honest end result.

The above comments are an attempt at being truthful, realistic and 'useful'....