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The Brown Hornet - as NEW 1971 240Z - SOLD


acf321

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Tin worm in there alright - have Nat check the A piller also - I have seen rust on this sort on zeds with that much rust elsewhere.

 

As you well know - you will have rust free shell at the end and it will last another 30-40+ years and if well looked after (which I am sure it will be) it could be handed down to grand child via your own child :)

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Tin Worm really did take a bite out of your lunch there. As funny as this may sound I was going through the same process about 5-6 years ago.

http://www.viczcar.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=199

 

My biggest single regret was not seeing the project through. I sold the shell on to a mate who still has it. He has been too busy to finish it as he already has another 240z he is working on.

 

I want to offer to buy it back off him. He already said he wants to hang onto it for now though :(.

 

Really looked forward to more progress on this car though. Should be aweome!!!!!

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Thanks Gav ... appreciate the feedback and will be pasting up the new shots weekly.

 

Nat is having the new floors delivered on Monday and they'll be featured in next weeks downloads. Suspect he'll be working on the dog legs also and will remove both side rain gutters as a precaution to ensure no rust in there.

 

As for your old car, I sold a 504 peugeot and regretted it, and more recently sold my 930 porsche ... which is still hurting big time !! Having said that, why not tell your mate that you will pay him back what he paid you, then you complete the car and offer him the first option to buy the car back in the event you sell ... that way the car actually is completed and driven. At the mo its just a piece of scrap in someone's shed right !!

 

All the best.

 

Adam

 

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Thanks Mick ...

 

You're now the 3rd guy to now congratulate my perserverance !!! This is starting to be a little alarming ... I mean does this Z look THAT bad that I've got a bulk of the guys on the club telling me i'm a nutter for carrying through with it??? All I know from speaking to Nat is that we're getting there and the body will be perfect once I complete it. (I HOPE!!)

 

What I paid for the car I think reflected the fact that it needed work ... I'm not sure what my options are now, as in I'd be mad to pull out now ... so my only real option is to soldier on !!!

 

Spoke to Nat yest ... he got the new floors from Warren and then discovered they are 3 inches too narrow and too short for the appertures that now exist in the body. Nat was stitching a 3" rim right the way around Warren's panels and then will install them!!! As I said, it'll be a 2010 model before I'm finished.

 

I'm still clinging onto the fact that the motor looks hot (with lots of quick bits on it) and the suspension appears to be Koni and King Springs... I think as NZeder said, be content that it will cost me some dosh, but should theoretically be one of the better bodies out there once finished. One thing I do know is I've totally lucked out finding Nat to do the work ... he is very passionate about the project and knows his stuff. (in hindsight he's probably grinning knowing he'll be leaving for a month in Aspen once finished this car ... funded by yours truly  :-[)

 

More photos this weekend !!!

 

 

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Spoke to Nat yest ... he got the new floors from Warren and then discovered they are 3 inches too narrow and too short for the appertures that now exist in the body. Nat was stitching a 3" rim right the way around Warren's panels and then will install them!!! As I said, it'll be a 2010 model before I'm finished.

 

That's odd...

FWIW I just fitted a new PS floor to Bruce's 240, that was from Rare Spares.

They fitted fine; the pressings were in the right spot & the inside edges were just a little oversize which allowed me to trim them back as required...

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Spoke to Nat yest ... he got the new floors from Warren and then discovered they are 3 inches too narrow and too short for the appertures that now exist in the body. Nat was stitching a 3" rim right the way around Warren's panels and then will install them!!! As I said, it'll be a 2010 model before I'm finished.

 

 

Do you know what the exact length and width sizes were, I'll check the measurements from my pans to see if they will fit my z.

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Thanks Mick ...

 

You're now the 3rd guy to now congratulate my perserverance !!! This is starting to be a little alarming ... I mean does this Z look THAT bad that I've got a bulk of the guys on the club telling me i'm a nutter for carrying through with it???

 

Nah I don't think your mad. I would do it if I lived closer to the z gurus. As others have said it's great you're bringing another 240 back to life. It's the kind of car you keep forever once it's finished anyhow... so who cares what it takes!  :D

 

I chose the zedx because it was close by, had no rust, and it was a roller. If I were back in Sydney again and had a great big f'ing garage.... I'd have an s30 in a flash, regardless of condition!

 

 

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Week 4.

 

Arrived extra early this morning as last week I was late and Nat got very busy ... needed as much time as possible to ensure we covered off on all the things Nat's done .... and NEEDS doing! Bottom line, Nat's been chewing up more grinding disks this week... on my 240 !!.

 

When he was telling me about the Muira's and Countach's he once used to restore, between slipping in the bit about how he helped build two D-Type replicas, he did admit this was the worst car he's dealt with from a rust / fabrication perspective. There you have it ... I'm man enough to admit i've bought a complete piece of steaming poo.

 

We decided that at least we've identified all the problems and are a large part of the way through it. Nat was surprised by the quantum of 'dodgy work' that had been done to this car, again largely as a result of this leaky battery. The front left side frame rails, box section, floor, fire wall, and plenum chamber have all in some way been affected. The only good thing to say about it all is that we're progressively replacing everything. The issue with Warrens floors was not the panels themselves, but the fact that we had to remove an area larger than the panel's dimensions ... see in the photo at the right and top ... shiny stuff is the extras.

 

During the preview, we headed into the office to have a look at Gaijin's car ... to try to make myself feel more normal ... As I said to Nat ,, if you think my job is complex, have a look at this bloke!! even showed him the photo of the owner with all the tubes hanging out of him !! (don't think its as a result of the car tho ... and I hope you're making a fast and full recovery!).

 

Spent a good hour looking at colours and had a look at Milennium Jade, olive, green, blue and red ... still no decisions though.

 

Hope you're enjoying this !!!

 

Cheers

 

Adam

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Could only take four today !! I had to run out and vomit like they do in the movies after seeing all the damage !!! ... just kidding, the battery went dead after only four shots.

 

Nat is keen to get the engine started ... We might have a crack at that next weekend or abouts on the bench. He said he used to run the Lambo engines out of the cars as it was the best way to check proper running and made it easy to rectify the issues ... Sounds like a plan .. least then we'll be able to see what we have in this motor before finishing the body.

 

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This 240z that recently sold here in NZ for around $35K was found to be rusty so goes to show to can spend a lot and expect to get a good car and infact it can be in need of repair also.

 

I have been told this car has quite a bit of rust in it - does not look like it from these photos (I have more of this car).

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Thats the scary thing NZeder, you car buy a car that looks mint but you have no idea what the PO has done to the car, I'd rather buy a average car and have the rust cutout myself, anyway looking good Adam keep the pics coming.

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Well no updates this weekend of the car ... Nat had a show to go to, so could not see it. However, forever thinking of the best colour / finish combination, I got surfing and found this. Its a 1966 904 GTS, which you can see has a few similarities to that of the front of the 240Z. Perhaps this photo might have found its way into the design studio at Nissan all those years ago. Anyway, most porsche enthusiasts regard this as the most beautiful ever to leave the Stuttgart factory ... I really like the scheme, so any thoughts appreciated.

 

Until next week.

 

Adam

post-1307-144023525069_thumb.jpg

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That is a beautiful car, although I'm not sue I like the Silver / Red Combo so much. It works on the image you showed but I wonder on a Z if it would really work? Kind of contrasting colours. Unless you go for the additional old school livery and style.

 

That 904 GTS reminds me of the Prince R380

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_R380

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Week 6...

 

Nat was around this weekend so I trundled down there thismorning to find much had been done in the past two weeks. Aside from being a little distracted by the immaculate DB6 that Nat was doing some mechanical work to, the FX holden that appeared to be getting the same 'lightening' treatment that my 240 is well used to, and a fiat 124 sport that he was re-doing the suspension on, we did have a moment to have a look at the hornet.

 

I summary, Nat has completed all chassis sections, floors, wheel arches, and has now progressed onto the passenger side sill section ... yes the part that we said only weeks ago was 'fine and will not need any repairs' !!!!!!!

 

Bottom line, we're sure the drivers side is fine (no really we are!!), so now we need to complete the sill, rain gutters, and then beaver panel. Tried to get a feel for where we're at, and Nat says about 80% done ... Panels are still not back from the bead blaster with the GTS Monaro, given the rain has slowed down their progress .. (they don't like to play with bare metal in this rain).

 

Enjoy the photos.... sorry for the quality ,,, camera battery just about dead and lighting pretty average!

 

Rgds

 

Adam

 

post-1307-144023525536_thumb.jpg

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post-1307-144023525548_thumb.jpg

post-1307-144023525555_thumb.jpg

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Oh yes, we need to know if anyone makes new sills, and the rear section that the tail pipe goes through (under the rear bumper)?

 

Also .. if anyone has or knows where to get a beaver panel locally, that would be a nice find.

 

Cheers

 

Adam

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Week 7..

 

Today's update shows we're getting much closer to a completed body ... Nat bought sill panel pressings complete with end mouldings and is in the process of installing. These really look the part and will make for better panel fitment when doors come back from the blaster. We also have new doglegs that will go on.

 

Nat's been working on repairing the beaver panel section (see photos). As part of this work, they made up about 5 separate pieces and welded them all into the correct position, which looks really impressive. Also took a photo of the rear panels showing where they've peeled some of the paint off to check the body integrity. We scratched the paint back with a razor to see how many coats this car has actually had.. and counted 11 (its in the photo, albeit the quality is poor), including; base coat, original orange, four new orange coats, four separate undercoats, another red colour. The total thickness of the paint (see photo) is well in excess of 1mm (suspect in total there'd be over 20kg or excess paint yet to come off).

 

Only things to finish now include rain gutter sections, finish putting beaver panel back together, and complete fitting sills & doglegs. Once panels are back in the next week or so, we'll have a go at trial fitting them for alignment

 

Had a long chat about colours today. Nothing finalised here, surprise surprise!

 

Enjoy the photos.

 

Adam

 

 

 

 

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