OutaTimeTuning
Club Member
Hey There!
I'm James, I have just joined the club. Apologies for the long post but there is a lot to tell!
I have a 1972 240z. I bought it from a chap down in New Milton in Feb this year. It's a New Mexico Car, and I've had a bit of a rollercoaster with it so far!
I bought it because being a desert car, the shell is amazing rust-wise. Likewise the history is excellent, a large pack of original dealership paperwork, including the '72 dealer bill of Sale, made it an attractive option!
The car had new polybushes throughout and apparently new shock absorbers, along with some nicely painted up underside parts, and a new coat of underseal. The seller had had the engine bay freshly refinished in the correct silver colour, with new hydraulic components for the brakes and clutch fitted.
It all looked great, and honestly you really couldn't tell what was hiding in that engine bay, it looked fantastic from all angles.....
However!
Upon getting the car back home, I immediately began stripping it down for paint, when upon removing the drivers side wing(Left- It's a LHD!) I noticed some irregularities. It soon became clear after removing, in places, 10mm thick filler from the chassis legs, that the car was only perfect from the bulkhead back. Some measurements confirmed it had had and accident, and some poor repair work in it's life. I was absolutely devastated.
Initially my only thoughts were to sell the car on at a heavy loss. However after some more careful checks and measurements, I decided some jig work and a new pair of front chassis legs from Andy at APS would be the order of the day!
The last two weeks have seen me rent space on a proper car repair jig from a chap called Alan at A&B motors in Portsmouth. With Alan's extensive accident repair experience to guide me. I carefully re-measured the car with all the proper kit, pulled her back to the correct dimensions, and replaced the chassis rails. In short, I now have a dimensionally perfect and rust-free 240z with new re-inforced chassis rails. Or in other words, I'm about where I thought I was when I first bought the car 4 months ago!
I'm a car restorer with a historic motorsports prep background, so I wasn't going in totally blind. Only the best will do for this car, it is, as I keep saying, "My Mona Lisa", I've wanted one for so long!
Engine wise I have an L28 Block, L24 9mm rods, LD28 long stroke Crank and E31 Head sat in the garage waiting it's turn for hybridisation! I plan on 87mm pistons to keep some cylinder wall thickness and give me approx a 3L engine.
Look forward to sharing the rest of this journey with you all, and meeting some of you when we are allowed to do so again. Although it might not be in the z for a while.
I also have a '96 Toyota Supra, and a Triumph Dolomite with an MX5 Engine and Gearbox. So I may have to bring one of those.
Plenty of parts needed so I'll be haunting the wanted section soon!
I will upload a selection of photos of the build and repair work so far.
Cheers,
James
I'm James, I have just joined the club. Apologies for the long post but there is a lot to tell!
I have a 1972 240z. I bought it from a chap down in New Milton in Feb this year. It's a New Mexico Car, and I've had a bit of a rollercoaster with it so far!
I bought it because being a desert car, the shell is amazing rust-wise. Likewise the history is excellent, a large pack of original dealership paperwork, including the '72 dealer bill of Sale, made it an attractive option!
The car had new polybushes throughout and apparently new shock absorbers, along with some nicely painted up underside parts, and a new coat of underseal. The seller had had the engine bay freshly refinished in the correct silver colour, with new hydraulic components for the brakes and clutch fitted.
It all looked great, and honestly you really couldn't tell what was hiding in that engine bay, it looked fantastic from all angles.....
However!
Upon getting the car back home, I immediately began stripping it down for paint, when upon removing the drivers side wing(Left- It's a LHD!) I noticed some irregularities. It soon became clear after removing, in places, 10mm thick filler from the chassis legs, that the car was only perfect from the bulkhead back. Some measurements confirmed it had had and accident, and some poor repair work in it's life. I was absolutely devastated.
Initially my only thoughts were to sell the car on at a heavy loss. However after some more careful checks and measurements, I decided some jig work and a new pair of front chassis legs from Andy at APS would be the order of the day!
The last two weeks have seen me rent space on a proper car repair jig from a chap called Alan at A&B motors in Portsmouth. With Alan's extensive accident repair experience to guide me. I carefully re-measured the car with all the proper kit, pulled her back to the correct dimensions, and replaced the chassis rails. In short, I now have a dimensionally perfect and rust-free 240z with new re-inforced chassis rails. Or in other words, I'm about where I thought I was when I first bought the car 4 months ago!
I'm a car restorer with a historic motorsports prep background, so I wasn't going in totally blind. Only the best will do for this car, it is, as I keep saying, "My Mona Lisa", I've wanted one for so long!
Engine wise I have an L28 Block, L24 9mm rods, LD28 long stroke Crank and E31 Head sat in the garage waiting it's turn for hybridisation! I plan on 87mm pistons to keep some cylinder wall thickness and give me approx a 3L engine.
Look forward to sharing the rest of this journey with you all, and meeting some of you when we are allowed to do so again. Although it might not be in the z for a while.
I also have a '96 Toyota Supra, and a Triumph Dolomite with an MX5 Engine and Gearbox. So I may have to bring one of those.
Plenty of parts needed so I'll be haunting the wanted section soon!
I will upload a selection of photos of the build and repair work so far.
Cheers,
James
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