Weaverhead's RB 260z Restoration

[Weaverhead]

Right then, as promised this is the start of my quest for perfect Z ownership. After my 2+2 260z garage find turned out to be the most monumentally f***ed motor I'd ever come across I was determined to find one that could be restored.

With the chaps at Retropower already lined up to do the difficult work I set about sourcing a rolling shell for the madness to commence. My criteria were simple: 2 seater, all steel, very few previous repairs, lots of the original metal (need good patterns for replacement metal), cheap as possible and any additional spares would be nice.

So on the 20th April I collected this rather shabby looking 1974 260z rolling shell together with replacement tailgate, replacement bonnet, a bunch of repair panels and a replacement roof and carted the lot over to Retropower for work to begin.

 

[Weaverhead]

First things first, lets get it pulled apart!!

 

[Weaverhead]

Now it's off to be blasted and zinc primed for the metalwork to begin...

front end pretty good, bar the inner wing reinforcers and front x-member - a few more 'frilly' bits than we might have hoped for, but all-in-all not bad

Pretty rough on the back end but this was expected. I have repair panels for the worse bits. A little rot to sort on the corner of the quarter panels

Arches, lower rear quarters and fuel filler are shabby but there are plans to customise most of this anyway so really it's less to cut out

Over rear axle is good... we'll move on to the floors next

Floors are shot and will be replaced

Rotten chassis rails. Will be fabricating new, stronger rails to cope with the increased power anyway.

Still plenty left though

 

[Weaverhead]

Now the real fun starts and metalwork genius Stu at Retropower gets his hands on it.

The back end is all rotten and knackered

So it's chopped out!!

Rear cross member is really rough too

So that is cut out... and while we are there we'll lose that spare wheel well too...

And a new cross member is fabricated and welded in

The underside

More metalwork pics to follow...

 

[atomman]

Been following this on facebook, like the fuel filler idea.

Alot of work to do but well worth it in the end

 

[Rob Gaskin]

I'll enjoy this thread

I think you may find out that it's going to cost more to repair the shell than import one however that wouldn't be of so much interest to us.

If the shell could talk it would be thanking you I'm sure!

Inner sills look sound.

 

[Wyn]

Good luck

 

[Weaverhead]

Meanwhile... I've sourced an engine donor vehicle!!

Tidy RB25 unit running plenty of sensible aftermarket upgrades, and a load of value in the parts to be removed from the car. Bought for the grand total of £1900 off flea-bay and at the time of writing this I've made £1890 selling parts with a stack of smaller stuff left to sell. £10 isn't bad for an engine & gearbox

That's what we're after

Wheel it in to the workshop and get it stripped!!

Out and ready for storage until it finds its new home in the Z

 

[Weaverhead]

Back to the metalwork!!
Here we have some old metal removed and new hand made repair sections fabricated and ready to go in

This also needs to come out

Replacement section made up..

and in it goes with the corner repaired too

Same on the other side

Rear valance repair panel wheeled flat to remove indents where the bumpers would go (we won't be needing those) and welded in to place. It's coming together nicely

 

[morbias]

I'm just tackling this bit of my Z too, I think I'm going to extend the drip rail inside the tailgate opening all the way down to exit above the lights, it should stop this area rusting away again in the future. A bit of a functional design oversight imo! Maybe it's worth considering while you're at this stage also. I have to say, they are making epic progress!

 

[Ian]

Lots of work there but seems to be going well so far. I like your plans for this.

 

[Ian Patmore]

Good luck, nice bit of fabrication

 

[Rob Gaskin]

............ I think I'm going to extend the drip rail inside the tailgate opening all the way down to exit above the lights, it should stop this area rusting away again in the future...........

I think 'on the face of it' that seems a brilliant idea.

I wonder why it did stop short - spolier bolts?

 

[Weaverhead]

Now for my favourite piece of customisation to date...

What to do with the nasty rotten fuel filler section??

Should probably follow the recurring theme across the rest of the car and cut it out!

Panel made up to blank out the section...

Then pop the new section in place. The join has been spot welded to minimise distortion, and will be lead-filled to seal it up and avoid cracking. Nice smooth lines on both sides

The fuel filler will be relocated to the rear to be hidden behind a flip-down number plate. Slam panel and hand made fuel filler panel tried out for size...

Testing the look with the original light units...

New rear panel sections all offered up to check alignment. The rear lamp cut-outs will be finished once the 240Z lamp units have arrived

 

[richiep]

Some fantastic fabrication going on here. This combined with Morbias' thread really bums me out - I wish I could do that kind of stuff.

 

[Weaverhead]

Some fantastic fabrication going on here. This combined with Morbias' thread really bums me out - I wish I could do that kind of stuff.

I wish I could too!! I have felt the same looking at other build threads in the past, my only solution was to save a ton of money on top of a small redundancy fund and outsource the job to some very skilled people.

 

[candy red]

Looking good can't wait to see it finished my 280 wasn't quite as bad yours but i fabricated and welded everything myself very satisfying once I got the hang of it, see my thread in general discussion forum under Candyred resto


Derrick

 

[rageness]

just wow, cant wait to see this finished!!

 

[racer]

Any updates on this?

 

[johnymd]

The skill of the fabricator just blows me away.