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OK, maybe time for an update. Purchased a second hand SCA sandblasting booth. My DIY effort at a booth is bigger, but the SCA one works. An important aspect. 😎 (Though I do think DIY special tools are one of the fun parts of auto mechanics, this is I think my first failure…?). Cleaned all rear suspension and diff, which is from an auto model and is 3.5 by my calculation. However, rather than buy a 3.9 for my manual conversion, I think I’m going to replace the 195/70/14 tyres with 185/60/14. And then the ratio after the gearbox is the same as a normal manual. However, interested in any significant negative aspects of that maybe I’ve missed! Stripped down both doors, and realised there’s some seals here I don’t have, and also need the handles to open the doors from the inside. Didn’t actually find much more rust than I didn’t know about, don’t believe the skins need to come off. Wick Humble’s book was very helpful for removing the glass, I remember this being a b*tch of a job on the 1600 and N13 Nissan Pulsar. It did take about 30 min for the first door to get the glass out because I didn’t understand what the internals really looked like. Second door was about 3 min. It’s actually a very easy task. I did find once you have removed the two bolts holding the front guide for the glass in place, tipping the entire door 90 degrees on to its front edge so the glass falls forward helped a lot. Then pulling the rear edge of the glass up and rotating out the gap. And, we spent a bit of time estimating the budget for the restoration, adding up all the costs of parts needed to be purchased, labor I’m likely to require, and tools. It’s at about $30k already…. Cheers!

Well, some good progress: Front suspension, steering rack, cross member all removed. Rear suspension, diff, hand brake out. (Diff+remaining suspension all came out very easy, guessed the right spot for the jack, which was good because Wick Humble says have a strong helper and all I have is a Cavoodle and a Maltese Shih Tzu, neither with opposing thumbs). Just fuel lines, rear wheel brake lines to remove, simple but pesky grime covered bolts and screws. Think I'll take it too Northern Soda blast in Ringwood for blasting and priming (2k PPG urethane epoxy). Going to visit Saturday and have them blast the hatch first to test them out. Also did a bit of unpicking spot welds, using a combination of 3/8th in drill bit (possibly bigger than needed 🤔) and hand chisel (and need to get an pneumatic chisel (keep forgetting I now own a compressor... 🤷😆). Oh. And also bought a second hand rotisserie. Wife approved, but maybe there was a misunderstanding?? 🤔🤔🤔😆Paid $900 for 1800kg capacity. Could buy a 900kg item brand new for $880, but expect to transport on the rotisserie because the blaster doesn't have one, so decided the extra strength was worth $20.

I ran the group buys with the parts and panels supplied by Resurrected Classics in the USA as they were the only supplier at the time. It ended up being an expensive process. The prices listed here https://allmusclecarparts.com.au/datsun/240-260z.html are much cheaper. I'm not sure how much you'd save by importing them yourself, but best of luck.

Yep. Just as I remember it. Get the whole thing media blasted (by someone whos knows what they are doing) and locked up in Epoxy. Then start the repairs.

And here's the pictures of the remaining repairs:

Ok, some pictures of where we're starting from. This was @Linton's second car, that he'd started before his tragic accident. I realise now how much work he'd done. The roof has the worst surface rust, though a few spots on the bonnet might be worse. I think the roof is salvageable, based on no experience but just wishful thinking! 😎 Linton fixed some front end damage to both guards. Fitted a new radiator support panel. Made and installed new rust cuts under the battery, and to the LH side of the firewall. Repaired rust around the top of both taillights and the "slam" panel. (I'd call it the hatch sill?) He also did some repairs to the LH chassis rail, but unlike the other repairs which were highly documented I don't have any pictures of that apart from the very initial condition. So I'm not really sure how deep that repair went. Still to do: LH sill and bottom of the A pillar. RH bottom of the A pillar. RH rear of the door, and the RH dog leg. RH front of the door. Two spots on the LH door where I think a chrome trim strip was attached. Dodgy fibreglass repair to correct on the bottom of the LH guard. And the bottom of the support panel inside it no longer exists. Plus what I haven't found yet. I don't think the radiator support panel is parallel with the firewall. Not sure how or why, but we might have to install the bonnet to see what the alignment is actually like. So, that's the fun that awaits. Not sure what we can do ourselves, mig welding sheet metal is new. Ideally we'd practise on offcuts first, and non visible parts of the car. But next: media blast the whole thing and 2k epoxy is the guidance we've received. Cheers, Richard

Thank you Great advice as usual Worked a treat Door lines up really well had to grind a little off hinge Excellent OEM door Nick

i think i saw some 'group buys' on the forum in the past would people want any of the panels to share freight

saw that. appears to be 300%+ ,markup over the factory price. must be the shipping

Are the doors original or reproductions? Slot the door mounting holes in the bottom hinge to move the door in.

If you want china panels, you can get them here in Australia: https://allmusclecarparts.com.au/datsun/240-260z.html Do they fit? Yes. Are they OEM quality? No.

Stuff has started appearing on Aliexpress. Has anyone bought any of them and does it fit?

In the process of aligning drivers door can't seem to get the bottom 1/3 of door aligned Door sits out by about 8mm from sill and tapers to good fit above swage line Can't figure out how to pull in bottom of door Any advice? Thanks Nick

Measure the thickness of the original panel, then replicate in the appropriate thickness steel. 0.7mm & 0.95mm cold-rolled are both available from steel merchants.

Back from a break so back on this topic Need to make a couple of patch panels , presumably 1 mm and 1.2 are the way to go? When I measured up some of the parts, they seemed to be only0.7 to 0.8 though Presumably these are the standard sizes in Oz Cold Rolled Steel Sheet - Melsteel

Did you sort the dimensions? are the plans incorrect?

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It's on again! Date: Sunday 29th November 2026 Time: 11am Onwards. Location: Same as previous years, Gordon and Sharon's property in the outer East near Lilydale. Please prey for dry weather! PM me or @Gordo for the address if you haven't been before. Bring your Zed, food and Drink and a chair. The wood fired BBQ will be provided. Bring your Wives , partners and kids. All welcome!

Just media blast it or soak it in a 4:1 Water & Critic Acid solution.

Experiments in dealing with rust coming up. Chemical rust removal, chemical rust conversion (iron phosphate and zinc phosphate) and mechanical removal. Start with small less rusted parts. Any tips appreciated! Supplies and advice came from Milsome's Auto paints in Ferntree Gully, they seemed very good.

Will add this one to my list: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1967-datsun-411-sss-wagon/

AI can be hit and miss. I asked AI the length of the Z car bonnet, it said 2.4m. Ah, that’s the car length. Now it says 1.6m. I think it’s closer to 1.4. I’d assume you have some packages of hardware bolts, just try some and see what it is. Or take the handle to Bunnings and find some loose bolts to test. Actually, on mine, it looked like a pin was used, so AI is wrong again about it being a screw. Some probably are, but not all, I suspect.

not m4 as it says here? What’s the thread pitch?

Yeah neither of my shifters has them. I’d buy new anyway if I was you….