Steve's 260z 2+2

Nexussteve

Nexussteve

Well-Known Forum User
Hey there,
Figured I'd introduce myself with a good old re-build blog!

My name's Steve - I've been Z Car crazy for years and always wanted to get a 240Z. :bow:
I always thought the car would be out of my reach (mostly due to price) - until recently!

A couple of weeks ago I picked up my first Z car! A 260z 2+2!
(Please excuse the dreadful wheels...)

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(Ok, so it's not a 240, but I'm still over the moon about it! :cheers:)

Basically, (long story short) the previous owner was restoring it and unfortunately died during the rebuild. Afterwhich, the car went to a friend who had it in his back garden for 6 years. Needless to say, it did not do the car any good. :( It did, however, allow me to buy it at a good price and I will now treat it as best I can! :thumbs:

I've been tinkering and will probably bore people to death asking for advice!! But you guys should know best! ;)
 
Nexussteve

Nexussteve

Well-Known Forum User
Ok, so first thing's first - I had to remove all the parts that were stacked up inside the car so I could see what was what. Some of the door glass was at the bottom under the carbs and allsorts! :confused:

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So, the bad bits:

Next, I took a look at the floor....and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be replacing these.
(Annoyingly, it's only really bad where the passenger's footwell is. The rest doesn't seem too bad)

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Wheel well has gone
(Cant see this one being an easy job)

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Worst part of the car was the sill and lower door skin
(usual places, but luckily passenger door was in good nick!)

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Little bits of rust on inner wing and boot slam panel

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Guy had welded a patch on the back, but didn't bother to grind it, but instead thought it would be appropriate to just fibreglass over the top :confused:
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Nexussteve

Nexussteve

Well-Known Forum User
The good points:

Brakes have been uprated to (I think) 4-pot Hi-Spec calipers and vented discs.
This is probably the reason for the hideous 19" O.Z. wheels he's got on the car (Which I have no locking nut for! DOH!)

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Engine Bay is very clean. Just needs a few parts, like the crossmember, shot-blasted and powder-coated.

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Engine and gearbox were apparently running well before rebuild and has been turned over by hand frequently since then. It also has apparently 50K miles on it? How genuine that is, I can't be sure, but I'll probably be stripping it down anyways.

The car had been stripped back and resprayed to the rolling shell it is now. Paint is no longer very tidy, so will be re-spraying but at least I know it's relatively flat and all the lines of the car are true.

All original parts came with the car too, so I can always revert back at any time! (I'd rather have the steel wheels on than these particular alloys!!)
 
Z

z32bolt

Well-Known Forum User
Is the rolling diameter way off? Looks like it's sitting very high. Congratulations on finding yourself. a winner.
 
Nexussteve

Nexussteve

Well-Known Forum User
z32bolt said:
Is the rolling diameter way off? Looks like it's sitting very high. Congratulations on finding yourself. a winner.
Click to expand...

I noticed that with the height too. especially at the back. Figured it was because of the fact it was just a shell and no weight, but perhaps not?

I know the profiles on the tyres are stupidly low, but I know what wheels I want, and I'll be going back to 15s! :)
 
Z

z32bolt

Well-Known Forum User
Easy enough to work out, find the stock wheel width and tyre profile, pop your wheel and tyre profile into a calculator, it will tell you how far off you are.
Then again you have no engine trans etc... Worth checking though I recon.
 
Nexussteve

Nexussteve

Well-Known Forum User
pmac said:
The OZ superlegerra is neither vile or hideous. OZ are a quality wheel maker and the design
has proved to be popular.

They dont suit your car tho
Click to expand...

That's exactly it. They look terrible on this car.
I'm sure the dubbers would love these when I eventually get them off and sell them!
 
Nexussteve

Nexussteve

Well-Known Forum User
TomZupra said:
Be good to see it restored, you going to keep the car black?
Click to expand...

At first I wanted to keep it black, but all the cars I've had have been black, or silver, or matt black...so I'm going to go for something a little bit more interesting! :thumbs:
 
A

andrew muir

Club Member
Glad to see another 2+2 getting worked on!!
You have got a fair bit to go but, it'll be worth it in the end.
I got mine rebuilt 2 years ago be carefull to get all!! the rust out.
Good luck!!:thumbs:
 
toopy

toopy

Club Member
Another 2+2 brought back to life, good for you, doesnt look too bad at all compared to how mine was!

Mine seems to ride high at the back as well, all the 2+2 ive seen that are unmodified look similar. I will hopefully in the near future replace the springs with something a bit lower, along with new shocks.

http://www.willtheyfit.com/ to check your tyre/wheel sizes

Anthony


Zfrontview.jpg

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Zrightfloorpan.jpg

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Nexussteve

Nexussteve

Well-Known Forum User
That was a lot of work Toopy!

My original plan was to shotblast the whole thing and red oxide it, but I was told (By a very good restorer friend of mine) that I should proly just sand down the original paint rather than open up a whole can of worms!
I'd like to get this car on the road ASAP, but at the same time, I wouldn't want it rusting from the inside out!

Any advice for the rust? Best way to remove etc? I've been flap-disc-ing the rust back to bare metal, but there's got to be a better way? (sorry the pics aren't better - had dust flying around the workshop!)
 
A

andrew muir

Club Member
Hi, I am afraid they do rust from the inside out!!
Mine wasn't as bad as Toopy's but it was pretty bad, replace 2 x rear quarters and 1 x door, 1 x sill complete and part of floor and chassis rail.

Look closely at the chassis rails where the front and rear sections join, and also the inner front arch "air tubes".
Basically if you can see any signs of rust flap wheeel it back to bare metal and zinc prime, some rust you may be able to treat with a rust converter but I am afraid its loads of hard work with the flap wheel which is best.

Can you weld? If not be-friend a good welder.:D
 
toopy

toopy

Club Member
I'd like to take the credit for doing all the work myself but sadly, and expensively it was done by others :unsure:

Suffice to say, although it was pretty obvious that my car needed some major work, you wont know for sure until you have poked, prodded and cleaned every inch of it, especially underneath! mine was bad but a lot still looked ok until it was stripped back properly.
Chassis rails especially can look ok from the outside, but as Andrew stated, these cars rust for England (or should that be Japan!!) from the inside out so be thorough when looking for corrosion.

Unless your lucky enough to get a rot free shell from abroad, or you know for sure its history in the UK, you cant take the look of the car at face value.
Spending time and being thorough now is the best course of action, being impatient, repairing the worst and glossing over the rest to save time and money, will undoubtably come back to bite you hard in the a*$e at a later date! Probably sooner rather than later as far as structural corrosion is concerned :eek:
Oh, and cavity wax everything possible when your done!

You seem like you know what your in for, so best of luck with it :thumbs:
 
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