Tripz 1977 260z 2+2

[Triptych]

Well besides the current parts on order the zed is going to have to have to take a back seat for awhile. Basically I need to get my front fence and gates built as some junky fuck decided he was going to come into my yard while I was out and rip the copper pipe off my 6 month old hot water system (didn't even shut the water down) and cut a bunch of power leads from tools, my split systems, even the fucking tv antenna lead just for a tiny bit of copper.

 

He went through the zed and only tried stealing the rear dimister switch, also cut about 5cm of wire from the temp sensor in the skyline radiator because that was out of the car waiting to finish repairs.

 

He is known in the area and was already in the watch house for doing the same shit to another house about 2 hours after I chased him and made him drop all his shit (including his weed stash).

 

But anyway got an update from Jason at Klearz and hopefully my lenses should be able to be sent out in 2 weeks. Could have sent them all out on Monday but he is doing clear lenses for the interior dome light to which is a week off so I am waiting on that.

 

Here is the tail light lenses (upper lens is custom made as he only did the lower).

 

 

 

He could have done them smoked but I am going to smoke them myself using Crystalite.

 

 

 

 

[Triptych]

Some more minor parts updates. The custom lenses are now done from

Klearz and if anybody wants some reproduction lenses I recommend Jason to get the job done, he doesn't just do clear but smoked or OEM look as well. Also on the dome lens he does the milky white look as well but my original was all good so got a clear for something different.

 

Will hopefully be getting an L28 package in the new year even though I just picked up a reconditioned L26 block for a steal.

 

Also got an owners manual finally but it is 1 year off my zed but hey it's good enough.

 

I have some r31 skyline rear brakes to go on the car and will be looking for some bigger ones for the front shortly as well. No pictures of the brakes yet and will also be chasing a larger master cylinder.

 

Now some pictures.

 

Klearz.com lenses

 

Chinese Side Lens

 

Owners Manual

 

L26 Block Reconditioned

 

 

 

 

[Brabham]

Hey mate,

 

lenses look good. Should point out that not all 2+2 had the air vents so does not mean they have been welded up. Series 2 (Oct 76 on I think) 2+2 didn't get them so installing them may not work. Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

[Triptych]

Thanks for pointing that out but it looks like they have been welded up as on the passenger side it looks like a pretty good template to recut out. The drivers side had minor hit so the welding looks different. Will try get a picture tomorrow. Either way I will get them work as I have them here anyway.

[Triptych]

 

That's what made me think the holes has been welded. I could be wrong though as I am learning about the ins and outs of Zeds as I build this one.

[Triptych]

Just went and picked up some parts from Hayden and will be heading back for some more. I haven't been able to sleep thinking about the collection he has and also his 260z instead of promoting dreams is keeping me awake thinking about it.

 

Will get some photos together once I finish grabbing the last of the stuff from him in 2 weeks. I do have a couple of current orders I am expecting soon so will have some updates hopefully later in the week.

[Triptych]

Well here is some more parts updates.

 

Smoked headlight covers (eBay)

 

Brand Spanking New 2+2 center console. (Warren at All Z Parts)

 

Finally fitted the fender mirrors that I got from Johnny (FairladyZ) as my second hand front fender came from Warren (All Z Parts) as well.

 

Now there is some more stuff sitting there that I will update later including the Air Con setup and also some stuff from Hayden which hopefully I can finish picking up stuff from him this weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Triptych]

Still waiting on the engine to turn up with some more parts but hey this should keep me entertained for awhile

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Triptych]

Started a build thread on Facebook for the people over there only as it is easier to upload images. I will try to update in here as well with major updates.

 

https://www.facebook.com/1977gs30z

[oldmates260z]

Great thread, you have slowly bought/organised all the parts and now looks like you are stepping into the body work. So things starting to move a bit quicker now....

[Triptych]

I'm giving myself the rest of the year to try and get it on the road. It won't be finished (l28 won't be in or anything) but I will finally get to drive it.

[red76z]

It is good to see another 2+2 coming together. Just keep chipping away at it and enjoy the build. I am only months away from ending my build. I have done the Hylux and R31 conversion so if you need any measurements just let me know.

Nice work.

76 260z 2+2

[Triptych]

Cheers for that buddy I will let you know. I am ordering the new R31 rear caliper mounts from Scoota soon (will send my old calipers and mounts down to him) and I haven't looked at the Hilux fronts I have. Also plans have changed a lot in regards to body mods as well, I managed to win the Gnose that Scoota had on Oscar from the eBay auction the other day and I also have an Aritaspeed flair kit on its way and a 3 piece rear spoiler. I will be changing the wooden steering wheel to a Nardi Classic Wooden as well so what this all means is I already have 3/4's of the parts I am wanting if I ever get my 2 seater (I have always dreamt of one).  I am hoping once the +2 is on the road i will find a 240z or 260z (or even both) project to start.

 

When I get these parts sent up I will update with pictures and hopefully would have made some more panel work progress so it can be a decent update.

[Triptych]

Just thought I would do a quick update anyway.

 

I have already stripped the car as you can see from these photos here.

 

 

Rust hunting started on Friday and what better place to start than the sills and dog legs. The fact I could see bubbles also made me start there.  The car was meant to be restored in the mid 90's (I do have a lot of receipts to help backup that claim) but whoever did it made it look great once painted but is  giving me hell getting back to metal as there is bog rather thick in some areas. Luckily Scoota let me know about heating the bog with a gas torch for a few seconds and scrapping it off so that has saved me weeks

 

[Lynton]

Can't help feel there is a resurgence of interest developing in the 2+2 I am sure only Australia received higher numbers due to local demand, nearly every other country was strongly marketed the 2 seater coupe in preference to 2+2's . Australia being a fairly dry country could well be a source of supply for 2+2's when the rest of the world wakes up that they even exist and all the benefits over and above the 2 seater coupe I know discussion always gets back to looks but I always say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and is just a matter of opinion, great to see the restorations on the buses they are sleeping Giants, Lynton

[Triptych]

Well guys at the current schedule this may take a little longer then I had planned for the body work as I can only really work on the car 1 day every 2 weeks but we try to get as much work as we can done in that day. Had one of the nephews helping out today as he is thinking about becoming a panel beater when he finishes school so what better way to get him started than with stripping paint off the car.

 

Found a lot more old repairs and the drivers side rear quarter was replaced at one point of time but still had plenty of filler in it as you can see from the photos. This car was restored in the mid 90's from what I was informed (I do have plenty of receipts with it) and the outside I have no doubt was taken back to metal as there is no signs on the outside of the car of the original yellow except in 1 or minor dents I have found where they didn't get it back to metal before adding filler. I made the mistake that with the information about it being restored in the mid 90's and with how clean it looked (was only 1 or 2 rust bubbles and a crease in the door where it was opened onto something) that panel work was going to be a breeze. This just goes to show how important it is to take a car back to metal as it also helps paint a picture on the kind of history it has had as well and even though I am finding all these old repairs and filler I am actually happy about it because it gives me a better sense on the life of the car.

 

Getting rear quarters back to metal:

 

Old repairs found under all the filler and new repairs to be made:

 

Strut tower small rust repair:

 

[Triptych]

Alright well it looks like it has been a little while since I updated in here as I prefer to wait until I can put some decent updates in rather than just little bits and pieces I post on Facebook. The body work is slowly coming along now, have just little bits of paint on the outside of the car to clean up with a wire wheel and then I can start on the underside (hence looking for a rotisserie). Speaking of the body work I am at that point where I can't wait to start dummy fitting the body panels as a lot of the parts for the body have now turned up which I will provide photos later. I am in 2 minds at the moment though as I will be ordering that Datsun Comp Scoop from MSA for the bonnet but I don't know if I want to run it on an early bonnet (mine one here needs some work) or put it on the late model bonnet that came with car with the vents in it as well. For some reason I don't mind cutting up the non vented bonnet but don't want to cut up the vented one so I might have to take a vote at some point.

 

Alright lets get started on the pictures because lets be honest car builds are like playboy, the pictures are what you want to see. 

 

The engine bay is getting close, It has been a huge fight trying to get it done as it has been 3 working days on it just due to issues. First time through with the paint stripper it was fine and things were moving smoothly so only had some areas to clean up that didn't want to strip so planned to hit it with the media blaster. The media blaster managed to get moisture in the sand so had to be cleaned out as it was just clogging so instead of waiting on it to dry out I just ran down and got one of those little blasters with the 500ml hopper on it. It  worked fine for some areas but the problem was with such a small hopper you would be refilling it every 2 mins so it just became a pain in the ass. 3rd day i was over it and saw the wire wheel sitting there so got stuck into with that and why the hell didn't I think of it sooner. A wire wheel is now my best friend.

 

The passenger dog leg repairs are still a work in progress. Have cut the rust out and dummy fitted Mark's (Scoota) repair panel and its a really good fit. Will get some more updates once its all cleaned up and installed. I didn't have any metal floating around for the inner dog leg so thats why it didn't get finish but have metal now.

 

My parts order from Bardan (ImportMonky) turned up as well which is part of the reason I can't wait to get into dummy fit before paint.

Nardi Classic Wood wheel. Unsure if this will make it into car now or if I will stick with original wood wheel. I am thinking the car might turn into a street/sometimes track car so we will see.

Aritaspeed kit with Gnose spoiler and rear 3 piece spoiler

Set of headers, Unknown brand but will more than likely end up for sale as the car is going L28 Turbo. Was purchased as I was thinking of just putting the L26 in to get it on the road quicker

3" exhaust, Again unknown brand as it mates with the headers but the exhaust will be staying just needs some repairs.

 

Also here is the order of parts from Mark (Scoota) as well. 

As you can see from the photos there is the Gnose that came off Oscar, Gnose hinges, Some tail light surrounds for the 260z and 2 sets of dog leg repair panels (testing which fit better).

 

Was unsure if I added this ages ago but I did get a mesh grill from Japan before I purchased the Gnose but I will hold onto it for when I get my 240z that I dream of often.

 

I purchased a 1964 Datsun 320 truck as a project for the wife a few months back (haven't made much progress yet) but with the arrival of the Aritaspeed kit I had to test fit it on something seeing as though the zed is in my brothers garage. 

 

Well thats the update for now.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Triptych

[Triptych]

Also forgot to add I went and picked up a fuel tank from Jason (dat2kman) and I have a feeling I will be having some more chats with him in the future to help me with this build.

[CroS13]

I'm enjoying your build man, mostly because its a near splitting image of my 2+2 build with rust in all the same sections haha!

Do you have much rust in the nose where the bonnet hinge is? mine was all rotten there, Mark made me up all those nose bits too.

Rudi

[Triptych]

My car had a small hit on the drivers side nose area so I had some patching to do but I haven't finished stripping the passengers side one down yet so hopefully it's not full of rust as it looks alright as it sits but so did most of the car.

 

Most of the rust seems to be the dog legs and around the lower rear quarters that I have found so far.

 

Marks helped me a lot with this build and not just with parts but with passing on knowledge when I have been stuck. I will search for your build thread when I get home from work to see how yours is coming along.

[Triptych]

Alright guys there has been a major gap in my updates here but I still update the Facebook page more often but now the car is having a rest in the build process I thought I should run some updates here. Alright quite a bit has happened in this time so I will split this up over 2 posts which will be the "parts turning up post" and the "work completed" posts. 

Well this is going to be the parts turning up post so lets get to it with some pictures.

First things first we had to replace all the suspension bushes in the car. Sadly they screwed up with 1 bush by providing 2 uppers and not an upper and lower but that was solved with some help from Mark (Scoota).

 

My order from MSA, Includes the battery tray stuff, comp scoop, and some  other reproduction items.

 

Alright here is the ITB setup. Im not too happy with the manifold so that will be getting a redesign and rebuilt when it comes time to doing the turbo manifold as well so they will both be same thickness flanges and such to make install a lot easier. Also there is EMS pro ECU in there as well which more than likely will end up going after I speak to my tuner to see what he would prefer we run but that is still a while down the line. There is also some modifications to the air box that Jason informed I should carry out as well to help equalise the pressure within the chamber so that will be done down the track to.

I will put up the car upgrade post later tonight.

[Triptych]

Alright guys as some of you may know there was a mad rush to get my car rolling again to get her home as where she was getting built she could no longer stay there. My brother and I only had a month to get her rolling and back to my place so this is what got done. The build will now be taken over by myself and whoever I can get to help me including friends and any forum members if they are willing.

 

Went with lowered 260z king springs front and rear plus the 2 seater front strut tops to help get it her lower. The trailer we used to bring her home didn't like this setup even with no weight so will need to keep that in mind for the future.

 

The DIY Rotisserie was used for a lot of the build. Came in handy for apply to body deadener under the car and such and doing a few little repairs. Also really helped for working on the doglegs.

 

Had to try make under the car look at least a little nice. Started the painting of parts and fitting the new bushes all round as well.

 

Here we are putting everything back together getting the car ready to roll. 

 

The first time in a very long time the car had been on the ground. It was living on stands before the rotisserie. 

 

Did some trial fitting of the ITB on the P90. This inspired me to redesign the manifold for the ITB and also build a turbo manifold as its just going to be a headache to make the 2 manifolds work. I used some extractors I sold to another forum member for this mock up as they were the only ones that cleared the ITB manifold.

 

Just sat the Gnose and Arita kit on there (have the front spoiler to but tape didn't hold it) just to see how it all looked together, yes I am going for the worlds longest car with Gnose on a +2 but hoping with wideness of the aritaspeed flairs it should help make it look shorter. Also this 3 piece rear spoiler will end up being the death of me by the looks of it as it appears its going to be an absolute pain to fit which I have heard from at least 2 other people they had or are having a hard time with their ones as well.

 

And here she is all tucked in while I get the money together to finish the body work as I spent a lot of the cash on getting her rolling in such a short time frame.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Triptych

[CroS13]

Awesome to see an update with your car mate! I know the feeling of being in a rush, my car might be out in the elements for a month or two soon, so i'm rushing to get the rust repairs finished.

 

Are those shorter 240z strut tops for the back end of the car?

 

Rudi

[Triptych]

They are off a 260z but are fronts. There appears to be no difference in front strut tops between 260z years (can't confirm if the 240z ones are the same) but in the +2 or later 2 seaters you have a taller rear strut top (that I pictured) so I used a front strut from a 260z on the rear.

[Aaron Neubauer]

How far do the gaurds from the Arita kit stick out from the body?!