Rust to Rally

[Chris159]

Hi all, After acquiring my 260z last year I have been keeping somewhat in the shadows on here until now, after meeting some of you guys over the last couple of months when acquiring parts I thought it would be good to get a proper build thread on the go. Back in 2018 I had been looking for the right project for over a year when I decided to take the plunge and acquire a rusty UK delivered 260z that had been off the road for some time and needed some serious attention, and as with all projects as you look deeper the more you find, this became apparent earlier this year.



My plans for the build are to create a usable but period in keeping rally car that is close to the privateer and works cars seen in the era, the goal is to make the build eligible to allow me to take part in regularity rally reliably or even tarmac rallies in the future with a good base car. I know this won’t be easy but I’m up for the challenge.

After getting the Z home and oust my dad’s Mini Cooper out of the garage that I’ve spend to long underneath getting covered in rust and fighting BMW’s first attempt at a mini, I started striping it down to the shell over the winter months while bagging and marking all the parts that came off as my memory is rubbish and I know from experience in a year or mores time I will have forgotten what bolt goes where.



After getting it down to a shell, mounting it to basic rotisserie and sending it off to a local media blaster in April the list of work I needed to undertake needed become longer.



Since then I planned out what needed to be done to get the shell sorted and started acquiring as many prefabricated panels so I could use to get my Z back on track. In May I made a very productive trip north up to see woody and get some great panels he is producing to help sort out the majority of rust eaten shell.



Earlier in June I then made another trip south to see IbanezDan51 for a massive time saving and originality bonus to help out the patchwork quilt front end of my 260z with a front end cut of a 73 240z imported form the US and then continuing down to see Mr.F to pick up some US repair panels I can massage in to shape.



My next step is strengthen the shell and making a full chassis jig for the shell to sit on, measured fully allowing for the removal of parts like the chassis legs as there will be a lot of cutting and fabrication to the front of the car. After following some of the other amazing build and peoples dedication on here I’m looking forward to getting started on mine and sharing the rest of the journey from rust to rally with you all.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Well you seem to be going about it the right way.

I'll follow with interest, thanks for the Thread.

Good luck.

 

[Chris159]

Thanks Rob. Right first time, or trying to at least.

 

[Makesy]

Happy to see you've kicked the thread off! Looking forward to seeing how this progresses!

 

[candy red]

Good luck with the resto it looks very similar to what mine is ,lots of work to do there are you do it yourself keep the pics coming

Derrick

 

[Chris159]

Thanks Makesy, took me long enough to start the thread

 

[Chris159]

I've been following yours closely Derrick, like you say very similar projects and you have shown what can be done, keep it up!!

Due to the quantity of work required to get a good strong shell I'm going to be doing it myself, or attempting to at least!

Plenty of pictures to come mostly where steel once resided ...

 

[Chris159]

Since the front of the car will be mostly cut up to make way for the much cleaner original front cut pieces as well as the new chassis legs in the process, I don't want to lose any form of alignment as the body structure currently is straight and true after some quick measure from some chassis drawings found over on HybridZ and Classic Z Cars forums.

This meant having some fun with my basic skills picked up in a resent college course to creating a CAD model for a jig/frame that I might make to support the shell before going anywhere near it with any cutting tools. The inspiration came from Vord.net and mine will also pick up from some key structural alignment features like the front chassis legs, front strut top mounts, transition cross member and rear strut tops. Still being a work in progress I need to investigate the best way to make the support features detachable but still accurate to allow for access requirements when working in certain areas.



To make sure the frame will be safe and has sufficient strength for the shell I did a quick FEA, mainly for fun and a bit of practice.



With time I will look at optimising it but it's a good base point to evolve the frame to work for my requirements on this project with some key reference points already inputted.

 

[uk66fastback]

How are you getting on Chris? Any more news or pics?

 

[Chris159]

Been some time without posing myself but due to the current climate, like others, I have had a little more free time available.
Since drawing the frame design last year I’ve finished my apprenticeship at work but also changed job roles making it hard for 6 months to find the time to get round to making it, alongside the need to practising my welding skills. What I have been able to do it get some mechanical bits and bobs together in the background.

Acquiring a nice set of 1980’s Enkei Compie 14" from IbanezDan51 as well as a 3.9 ratio rear differential that should help for achieving a good balance between drivability for test/stages and also long road cruising sections at this stage in the build. Planning at looking into a 4.3 ratio in the future depending on the direction I go with engine and transmission rebuilds.


I’ve had to go and get a replacement L26 block annoyingly as one of the previous owners has drilled and taped some lovely screws into the areas around the freeze plugs allowing for bolts to be used to support the plugs and stop them falling out (my best guess is due to them being installed correctly). This hopefully gives me some spares too play with when building or modifying the engine in the future. Also have to thank Minksport for helping with this and some other small bits that I had missing.


Trying to keep the project as a homage to the Z rally cars run in period I stumbled across a set of US sport option triple Mikuni 44’s PHH and Mikuni manifold, they might not be the correct early s4 type but I will more than settle for these S5’s but may change the manifold for a Mangoletsi intake to get closer to the period style and better flow with the longer manifold. Unlucky as I am, I found an issue with one of the carbs. A previous owner had drilled a small hole drilled in the middle carb casting to give some form of vacuum feed but I have since been able to track down a replacement casting.


Eventually getting to some body work over January as my workload dropped off I discovered yet more thin steel within the inner sills and as I don’t have the tools or the skills yet to fabricate the relevant sections/panels the body work went on hold till I do or can find some good replacement panels as I don’t want to cut any corners.


Ready for this summer a friend was upgrading his seats in his track mini so I was able to acquire some half decent Bride Zeta 2’s that should, at least for the short term, mean I have somewhere to mock-up and sit until the need for an FIA pair.


While chatting about our project cars with some friend at work in January and discussing storage, lockup’s and summer events the conversation drifted on too getting a group cheap track toy. This then spiralled in to me nearly part owning a Mazda Eunos that had been sat for 3 years in a field but actually turned in to me purchasing a beaten up, 3 shades of blue Porsche 924 with my dad that I then prep’d for an historic regularity rally in 5 weeks. Oh, and it basically had no front brakes, ran on maybe 3 cylinders at best and the gauges didn’t work alongside a whole host of little things.


Being the first event I have driven and with my dad navigating for the first time in 18 years made the event more interesting, if we made it round that is. After some overheating issues in the morning and finding out the electric fan connector was broken on the motor (fixed with some spare speaker wire scavenged from the 924’s mains harness at the lunch stop), actually finishing the event made the dark, wet and windy nights on the driveway rewarding and worth it even if we came 4th in class out of 4. Plenty of practice to be had before the Z is ready!

 

[Turn & Burn]

Fixing freeze plugs in with small bolts used to be really common on Ford Motors such as Crossflows and Pintos. The core plugs used to walk when the motor really starts to spin. Don’t know if it’s required on a Nissan 6cyl as they’re so much smoother. I wouldn’t write off the block because of it though, you could fill the holes with chemical metal or studs and I imagine and they’d last forever.
The corrosion on you car looks very similar to mine, ur latest discoveries on the B-post and the patches on the air tubes are identical. Good luck with the restoration, you’ll have a loads more skills by the time u complete!