A much less rusty Z

[zzzzed]

Yes we use the same stuff at work. You should be able to get some from crash supply's in Adelaide

[Retro Z]

Weld through primer will burn off from the heat of the welding but better than nothing.

 

Id use rust bullet then weld it all up and leave a small hole at the bottom in which water can drainand  to insert a hose and spray in some cavity wax.

[Scoota G]

Yea the weld through primer will help keep the rust at bay. Seam sealer around the edges too. Good work.

[Fairlady Z]

Good work Ryan. Was going to message you today. Those bits on my z are not rusty but dented. As ill be replacing it using Gregs parts car i was going to pass my old one to you. Oh well u done it now. Ill just keep them incase someone else needs it.

 

 

[thriller]

Ah sorry I didn't that post till just now! Oh well. Good experience though.

 

Anyways on with it;

 

 

Before...

 

 

Things got carried away... Wasnt planning to do whole underbody, but no better time than now I guess. All suspension bits need to be repainted, probably bushings, and re-plate a bunch of stuff.

 

Don't mind the state-of-the-art axle stands there.

 

 

Coming along nicely I guess. Engine bay has quite a bit of peel and a few spots I'm not happy with, so will try and make it work a bit nicer. Think it was just too much air pressure coming out the gun, because I had it quite a bit lower today and it went on almost perfectly flat.

 

p.s. thanks for the support/tips.. Good to know I'm near enough on the right track.

[Riceburner]

Nice work Ryan! This is gunna be one tidy Z when finished 

[thriller]

Yeah hope so Gareth! I've organized and sourced a few little trick bits (and a big one) from J-land. Few months away at the least. Woolies income sure keeps a lid on things though.. May be a good thing!

 

I dropped off two buckets worth of bolts to A class metal here in S.A. for Zinc dipping/plating so they'll be ready in ~2 weeks. Then I can start bolting things back together which I'm quite looking forward to. Also need to do a bit of a cut and then polish on the engine bay, I've wetsanded most of the clear peel out so it's not terrible. Not too happy with the finish up close, but realistically when there's triple carbs and shiny bolts everywhere it shouldn't be too noticeable. I think it was mainly gun setup, I've turned down the pressure heaps since then and finishing is a lot better now. practice practice.

 

I decided to draw the line on brake/fuel lines though, so I've just scrubbed them back, and sprayed them silver. I figured if i went ahead and replaced them all and got all the fittings plated etc, I'd probably never finish the car. Also made good use of the blaster today on the brake line distribution block thingy. Looked like they always do beforehand, all cruddy and filthy, after a quick blast looks almost brand new.

 

Really realluy keen to start putting it back together now

[thriller]

Got the blaster out again for a few things. Brake/clutch MC, alternator housing, yada yada. Blasted the rack around where the pinion goes (99.9% sure this is how the factory had it looking?)

 

Painted the brake booster, crossmember

 

A few goodies from Classic Car Nagoya;

260 calendar clock (Font matches the later gauge font used in the 77's which is nice), and a reproduction of the Works optional 'rally' shift knob, looks 100% identical except for the color, so will varnish it darker when it arrives. Will use this + a 240 steering wheel, as I don't like the 260z steering wheel, or 260z shift knob (if you can even find a decent one).

 

What's not to love about woodgrain, in a brown interior, in a champagne colored Z, on gold + polished alloy wheels? 70's overload!

 

Anyway I've just asked CCN to put them aside for me as I've also got my heart set on a stainless steel reproduction of the 240z twin stacked exhaust. Beautiful thing. Quite a while away $$$$$

 

Also recieved my bolts and fittings back from A class metal here in S.A.. Price was reasonable, quality is incredible (I can't tell the difference between the old bolts and some new ones I have here).

 

Did a wet sand, cut and polish on the engine bay too. Turned a pretty peely job into... a shiny peely job  .

 

And finally started bolting things in. Taking shape nicely.

 

 

Few things;

*I'm missing the brackets + rubber insulators that hold down the fuel lines and brake line in the engine bay. Are these still available? They seem totally different to the 240z and early 260z ones from the photos I've seen online

* What do you guys do about coating alloy parts after being blasted? I was thinking of just a clear coat, but on the other hand is that even necessary? Or does raw alloy stay looking decent if it's free from moisture and rain and dirt and crap?

[Ledge]

Great stuff mate

[zzzzed]

Wow. This is coming along fast

[Agno]

Those fresh zinc plated fixings look great!

[luvemfast]

I like to use 2 different grades of media in the sandblaster. Garnet for heavy removal and fine glass for alloy and light blasting, even a 2nd coat that comes up bright.

Aluminium will tarnish/oxidize pretty quickly, but less than 0.05mm. This thin layer will actually help protect it. Over time, depending on environment, it will get worse.

I wouldn't clear coat it. It will chip and peel away. Looking worst than raw. If you want to protect it. Anodize it!

[Fairlady Z]

very very very nice and clean good work Ryan.

 

+1 dont clear alloy parts if on hot parts it will go yellow and look like crap. Just leave it blasted and like Simon mentioned it will protect itself and be ok just dont leave it in moisture and if there is wipe it dry as it will oxidise quickly. wd40 or similar spray gets rid of moisture keeping the alloy bits looking as new.

 

try it on the silvia on the engine parts. ive been spraying my S14 ever since i got it. 14yrs later alloy and cad plated parts still shiny as first day.

 

just dont drensch it as then u wll get dust sticking to it

 

[thriller]

Scuse the phone (and awful instagram) pictures.

 

 

Handbrake assembly looks fantastic

 

 

Engine bay is just about ready to be re-united with its old heart

 

 

Just waiting on tie-rods before I can put the wheels back on & have a complete front sussy assembly done. Didn't get new rotors because these had about 70% of life left, just sprayed some heat resistant matte black  on there after a bit of wire-wheeling and ranex rustbuster

 

 

 

 

Doorjams painted, killed some more rust in the tailgate jam (few square inches were in really bad shape & smoothed over with some bog). Doors are on and aligned as best as I can do them, fenders are bolted on for good. Painting rear LCA and suspension uprights if the weather holds out this weekend, then she can have all 4 wheels back to earth pretty soon.

 

 

Bit of a pain only being able to work on it two days a week, but she's coming together. Really need to get cracking as it'd be great to have it done around the start of summer. Apart from the paint (and need to weld in some fresh metal around the fuel filler... will test my skills for sure), the rest of the work is pretty straightforward and all the parts are in sweet condition waiting to get stuck back together. 

 

can't wait

[MyEnquiringMind]

Awesome stuff Ryan, looking forward to seeing this in real life too... great looking build...

[Fairlady Z]

For a young chap Ryan you are an exception. Love the work and dedication you are putting in this car. Just amazing.

 

This is how its done when budget is tight and mind set that has no limits.

 

Trully amazing. You need big tap on the shoulder saying "Bloody good work"

 

Im sure all of us older farts here are very surprised at your dedication and work. Very proud of you.

 

Keep it up. Another great z in SA in the making.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KatoKid]

I'm going to second that!

 

Ryan, fantastic job and great attention to detail.

 

Well done.

[Roberto]

Great job Ryan. Well done !

[Zedman240®]

Its depressing watching this zed come together so well! Its going to look great when your'e done Ryan.

[thriller]

Appreciate the kind words guys

 

 

Most of the underside is kinda together now... Should probably have done the diff at the same time as LCA's etc, but need to wait to get the rear cover bolts dipped (will do them at the same time as any stuff that needs to be zinced from the motor/carbs/bits).

 

[gav240z]

Man there must be something in South Australian bore water. I don't know how you guys move so rapidly but it is really inspiring to watch.

[d3c0y]

It's because there is nothing else to do haha!

[RB26DETT]

Awesome !! Love seeing the progress and that you are going right through the whole car.

[thriller]

I've got a touch under two weeks left till my exams are over. Then it's straight into full time work though, so I'll still only have the weekends to work on the Z. I think I will spend 2-4 weekends stripping the paint, beating dents out, priming and shiverloads of sanding, and generally doing the best prep I can.

 

Realistically I could have it stripped and primed by now, but I want to have it paint-less for as absolutely little time as possible. I.e. no more than a few hours sitting bare metal, and cover all metal up the same day with a nice thick coat of primer.

 

Then hand it over to the pros to get some color back on there + finish off any prep if I've roostered something up, in exchange for all my savings.. Woo! From there it should be a breeze, all the parts are in sweet condition so I can pretty much spend the rest of the time just bolting up nice fresh bits and pieces.

 

 

There was some rust in the tailgate slam panel but everyone's seen how to repair that so I won't bore with photos. But this was a scary one:

 

 

 

It turned out pretty well though. At worst there's about 0.5-1mm gap when I bend a straight rule over the curve of the panel. The worst bit is the curve directly where the filler flap lies in. Factory has a really nice curved recess for the flap to sit in which looks perfect. Can't quite get it perfect with a hammer, so worst case is just use a skim layer of filler to smooth the edge out nicely I guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's my goodies from Japan. Carbs will be getting a proper refresh with a complete genuine Mikuni rebuild kit, all the hardware will be re-plated & should look pretty damn good. Replica Works Rally knob is cool, actually really really tiny in person. And I bought my missing centercap plus a couple of spares. Exhaust ended up being a nightmare. Would have been about $900 in shipping and tax alone, so I'll spend that having it made locally instead.

 

[Zedman240®]

I thought it wouldn't have been pretty behind the filler panel...yikes!

Keep the pics and good progress humming along!