Rudolfs 2+2: The gleaming emerald......

[CroS13]

Hi guys, I did a intro post a week or so ago, its about time i kick off my build thread too.

 

EDIT AND UPDATE- MOST BROKEN LINKS FIXED ON FIRST 3 PAGES, SAVED WHAT I COULD

PAGE 1: Introduction, making new battery harness, fitting fender mirrors
PAGE 2: Getting hektic exhaust, repairing the radiator, which f**ked everything else LOL
PAGE 3: Making a centre console autometer gauge panel, painting rocker cover, starting the teardown
PAGE 4: motor removal, tear down, building a rotisserie 
PAGE 6 ONWARDS: Watch my fabrication skills go from noob to expert as i fix the rust in the car..... yeah there is abit! 

Ok so my names Rudolf, hailing from Sydney and for the longest time Ive been a Silvia nut job. Ive owned 3 S13 grey imports and now my current daily driver is a S15 200sx.


For the longest time Ive had a love for the 260z, Wangan midnight only made my love for them grow even more, ever since i was a kid, it was the one true "slick" old school jap sports car.

So my story to find the right car started about 6 months ago, with a budget of around 8-10k max, you can imagine all the ones i had seen were in a pretty poor condition. I was starting to loose hope in finding a good car when i stumbled upon a barn on the outskirts of Sydney where a guy sometimes referred to as the "wood chipper"  had about 6 zeds for sale, the barn was filled with about 8 cars, there were a few outside as well as Nissan prince skylines and a few other odd eccentric cars.

I took a panel beater friend of mine late December to have a look at the cars with me, we inspected all the zeds for sale, and we picked the best of them, which happened to be this one:

 

it looked good from far, but it was far from good, i was told it had a fresh paint job, as the top coat was faded, and that it had no rust, in reality, the person who painted it got lazy, and didn't sand it back to bare metal, as a result, the nice new paint job was worthless, as it has crows feet through the whole paint. So pretty much, it will need to be taken back to metal and re sprayed. On top of that, we did happen to find a few rust spots, mainly in the rear hatch where the window is, and also where the quarter panel meets the boot, its looking like the metal skin that folds over from the quarter panel into the boot channel has lifted, so maybe rust under there. Not much at all, and the car is straight as a arrow and never been in  a hit, also all the door gaps etc etc are perfect.

Unfortunately the car was in a million pieces, so we agreed on a price to supply the car assembled and running with a blue slip. It did take quite abit of time over our agreed completion date to get her together, with many late nights and back and forth, nearly 2 months later, but good things come to those who wait, and today i picked up my car!

while it was getting the final touches at the mechanic/blue slip station:

 

 

so much running around today and we got the car registered and i drove her home! the blue slip inspector must have had mondayitis, because the drive home was interesting to say the least, but i could not wait anymore!

What i noticed on the way home!

-no door mirrors, the one that was held on by tape fell off, and is on the great western highway somewhere!
-no reverse lights
-its easier to say only the tacho works, nothing else, no fuel gauge, no oil temp, no coolant temp, no speedometer.
-misfire at low load rpm, at about 2-3k, in the 1000rpm band, then it clears up.
-i have about 7 keys for the car, and cant lock the drivers door from the outside and the boot wont lock.
-no carpet
-alternator not charging, stalled her and had to push start her to get back going, lucky i was on a down hill.

so it was the most interesting driving experience ive had in my entire life! and what a story to get the old girl home! but we made it!

home safe:
 

 

so first things on the list before i drive her on the open roads again is:

1. fix door locks
2. fix speedo
3. fix fuel gauge
4. make brackets for mounting license plate to original screws.

long time plans, ZG flare kit, duck tail spoiler, either watanabe's with fat negative offset or some work equip 03's, work the L26, big cam, triple webbers and stroked.

and my custom plates are ready to be picked up from the RTA or so this letter in front of me says, so ill need to take care of that too!

hopefully all of you will help keep me motivated, and keep the updates coming!

Rudolf.
 

Edited October 15, 2019 by CroS13

[Brabham]

Hey mate,

 

nice looking zed, I am restoring one in the same color combo as yours atm, blue with white interior. What year is yours out of interest, only difference is mine is an auto . Are you keeping the blue, I reckon it is one of the best zed colors. Cheers.

[CroS13]

hey mate mine is a "77" model,

 

hmm... don't know about color, its growing on me that's for sure, either keep it, or go a deep purple or an orange, but that's waayyyyyy down the track.

 

Rudolf.

[gav240z]

I know you can probably see all the imperfections but it looks good with that paint job in the photos. At least it looks like an honest original example.

 

With regard to the door locks, you can't lock the doors before you close them. So when my passenger gets out I lock their door then get out of my door and use the key to lock it.

 

Hope you enjoyed the drive despite the problems.

[HS30-H]

I took a panel beater friend of mine late December to have a look at the cars with me, we inspected all the zeds for sale, and we picked the best of them, which happened to be this one:

 

Why are you calling it a "JDM 260Z 2+2"? The Japanese market never got a 260Z 2+2. Is it an Australian market car?

 

One more thing for your list: Your front indicator repeater lenses are mounted back to front.... 

[CroS13]

With regard to the door locks, you can't lock the doors before you close them. So when my passenger gets out I lock their door then get out of my door and use the key to lock it.

Hope you enjoyed the drive despite the problems.

 

yeah i had a blast driving it! everyone was looking at it too, either because its awesome, or the fact it was blowing smoke like a chimney! but she hasn't been driven in about 10 years, so to be expected!

 

issue with my drivers door is that the key wont physically turn the lock, it starts to but wont. its also extremely hard to lock and unlock the door from the inside, so the arm/rod something must be bent or rusted, perhaps when i free that up, ill be able to lock it with the key, as it does unlock the fuel cap and the passenger side door with no issues. Do they all have separate keys for the ignition and also the boot lock?

 

Why are you calling it a "JDM 260Z 2+2"? The Japanese market never got a 260Z 2+2. Is it an Australian market car?

 

One more thing for your list: Your front indicator repeater lenses are mounted back to front.... 

 

ahh perhaps i should have elaborated, soon to be JDM style inspired modifications! and yeah! just noticed that in the photos! ha! thanks

 

Rudolf.

[Scoota G]

Why are you calling it a "JDM 260Z 2+2"? The Japanese market never got a 260Z 2+2. Is it an Australian market car?

Here we go again!

 

Hey you can redrill the number plate brackets, if you take off the interior rear trim you'll see what i mean. i drill them out and either use locknuts on the inside or drill out the spot welds on the tabs and turn them around.

[Retro Z]

Its a 77 you say? Doesnt have the vented bonnet..

 

Either way it looks very clean. I sold one in the exact colour combo and agree that its the best factory colour.

 

Good luck with the project and keep us updated and remember to keep an eye out on here as regular bargains are to be had. 

[FuzzyDropbear]

Looks great man, congrats on the purchase. My original 2+2 was that blue and I rekon it looks alright, if I wasn't painting mine orange, I'd be looking at either the original blue, original lime green colour or maybe a yellow.

 

Best of luck with all your troubleshooting!

[Zedman240®]

With the speedo not working, I'd be checking the speedo cable; you may have a 2 piece instead of a 1 piece cable. With the gauges, check the fusible links near the brake master cylinder.. if it's missing the clear covers, corrosion occurs and makes a bad connection. The wire may look fine or have an internal break or just have a poor connection.

[CroS13]

UPDATE 18.3.13


Hey guys just a small update on Daisy, ermm i mean the Dato! BAH! my wife has affectionately named the Dato Daisy, and yeah, Ive let it slip out a few times, and Im sure you can imagine the reaction i get from mates...

So I've been slowly chipping away at the car to try and get it into a decent driving state so i can actually enjoy it, but i must warn you, this will be a slow slow build, YEARS.... in the build, anyway,  i tackled the old cruddy battery and chewed out battery wires, i bought a new battery and knocked up the cables from some scrap wires at work, and i also replaced the washer bottle hoses while i was there,  and this was the end result.
 

 

 

Next on the list is to rip out the door latch and soak it, then figure out the rear trunk lock issue. when i am done with that, im back to "the wood chipper" to grab a new speedo cable and alternator, when i rang the bloke i bought it off, he told me the speedo worked, then stopped, and the fact he didn't lube up the cable before he put it back, i think Zedman is on the money, it might be a 2 piece cable now.

Then i can drive it! Oh... no, need to fix the fuel gauge too.

Rudolf.

Edited July 16, 2017 by CroS13

[peter t]

Don't forget to strap the battery in.

[Zedman240®]

I like the Anderson plug on the battery... easily removed and charged if needed to.

[CroS13]

broken links, post deleted - Rudi

Edited July 16, 2017 by CroS13

[CroS13]

UPDATE 7.4.13- Fusible link repair.

So not much more done, my fusible links were abit old and ratty as the box no longer has a lid, so i ripped the old ones out, hit the posts with the dremil and wire wheel, and made some new link joints. According to the manual they should be different sizes, and the gauge of wire i used was way too big but meh.

I smeared some decent electrical insulation jelly over it to stop corrosion. It Didn't fix any electrical issues, but at least now i can rule that out.

Whipped out the multimeter and tested my Alternator, and out the back of "A" terminal with plug disconnected im getting 12.1v with the lights on, so need a new one of those.....

 

Edited March 13, 2016 by CroS13

[Enzo]

Hi mate, The project is looking good. In reference to the Fusible link. You said that the manual mentioned the different thickness wires but you weren't worried that the ones you made up are too big. The thickness of the wire is important as this is your line of defence against a major electrical short that can destroy the complete electrical loom. Buy the correct wire from an auto sparkie or take the manual and get him to make up the correct fuse wire. A few dollars spent wisely may save big dollars in the long term.

Keep up the good work on the project.

David

[Lynton]

Cros13 car is looking really sweet, 77' did have a vented bonnet in fact they were introduced in mid 76' I notice the door trims look like they maybe aftermarket but steering wheel is period correct, I am pretty sure from about mid 76' all zeds had carpet on transmission tunnel look forward to seeing your updates as for this project. Lynton 

[CroS13]

UPDATE 12.5.13 -- ELECTRICAL REPAIRS WELL SORTED!

Now i might not know much about triple Webers, or as it seems, the difference between a down draft carb and a side draft carb ( i do now!) but what i do know about is electrical systems and wiring....  and Ive been ripping right in over the last month!

So ive managed to do the following:

1. I ripped out all the old door locks and had them all re barreled, so now i have 1 key to open all doors instead of 4.
2. Fixed the alternator, replaced voltage regulator
3. Zedman240 was on the money, snapped speedo cable, so i had it repaired and now i have a speedo!
4.fixed the missfire in the motor with new dizzy cap and new leads:

5. ordered new Datsun original style keys to suit the locks, had them cut to suit

6. repaired the reverse lights, I'm a forklift mechanic, so now the Datsun has Toyota Forklift reverse lights and sockets/harness in it (oh blasphemy!)

7. repaired the non working brake lights, once again, forklift parts 

8. repaired rear numberplate illumination.

10. put some elbow grease into the door cards

11. Fixed the fuel gauge and the volt gauge, seems to be most of my electrical gremlins are bad earths, or connections, the volt gauge was dead, so i ripped a few things apart and mashed things together, now it all works:

 

Things to do:

-next is tackle the oil pressure/water temp gauge, i earthed out the gauges with a test light, seems no issues with it, so ill check out the senders tomorrow, i also have a SAAS boss kit laying around, waiting for my Nardi Torino wheel to get in from overseas, then tackle rest of electrical issues too. Slowly making progress.

Rudolf.

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by CroS13

[CroS13]

UPDATE 7.6.13: ITS ALL ABOUT BLACK AND CARBON FIBRE!

So i had a workmate recently finish his 5.0L VL build, 4 years in the making, and he wanted to head down to the local hot rod show on Saturday night for its maiden voyage, so i had quite abit to try and get done to make my car  presentable for the show also so i didn't make him look bad parked next to him! I painted the rear light assembly black, and removed all the old window tint which made the car look much better. while driving home from the car show i had a mad fuel smell in the cabin, outside, everywhere. Upon getting home i saw that both my fuel lines to the fuel rail were leaking like a sieve. So the next day i fixed the fuel lines and added a fire extinguisher just to be safe.
 

Edited March 13, 2016 by CroS13

[jasonmac]

As another Sydneysider I'm enjoying reading your project. Nice work!

[dat240z]

Good on you mate, making good progress and it looks heaps better than when you started. Out of curiosity, what was the carbon rear spoiler worth? 

[Retro Z]

You'd probably be better off selling that spoiler and re-purchasing a fibreglass one on to modify. Would hate to see that lovely carbon wing cut up or painted.

[dat240z]

You'd probably be better off selling that spoiler and re-purchasing a fibreglass one on to modify. Would hate to see that lovely carbon wing cut up or painted.

 

Id be keen to grab the Cf one if its up for sale

[juz0]

Nice car mate. Is that the topstage spoiler or the jdm copy that topstage makes? looks good in CF!

you should really change those fuseable links, good to get it going not good if it burns to the ground...

 

also nice P1's on the s15, dont see many sets of those anymore. I'm running gtr32 wheels on mine. best wheels for an s15 i rekon haha

[CroS13]

I think the wing cost $450? around that, yes its a topstage reproduction of the 432 wing. Dont really want to sell it, but not looking forward to hacking it up either.

UPDATE 8/7/13 - Nardi, Autometer and Fujitsubo?

Wow ive blown so much money on this thing in the last few weeks.... where to start.

I Bought Gareth's old carb set up, and plan to have a new manifold custom made by a engineering shop we use though work, of course, book it to something work related.

Also fixed my clock, by cheating and buying and fitting a Autometer clock. Not happy with where it is, i will eventually remove the Din pocket where the radio should go, and put the clock and 1 more gauge that size there, probably battery volts, then up top have fuel, oil and temp.

My Nardi Torino FINALLY arrived, after 3 months wait as it had to be made!

I removed my radiator to send off for repairs, the small crack in the end tank ended up being a whole new radiator core.

That led to me replacing all coolant lines, heater lines, fuel lines and vacuum lines in the engine bay.

Bought a Choke Lever handle

New shift knob with JDM awesomeness.

Big thanks to Jesse Streeter for hooking me up with my Fujitubo Exhaust..... Haha 40 year old New old stock, 1 week express from Japan! Wasnt cheap!

I also drove down to Stewart Wilkins Motorsport and ordered a set of headers, I initially wanted the 6-1 that everyone one here likes, but he convinced me to get their newly developed 6-2-1 set up which is apparently nearly as good top end with a more meaty midrange. should be done next weeek

And since my car chews through 1L of oil per 400km's due to the valve steam seals being rubbish and having glazed bores, i decided to buy a second hand L28 to rebuild....

Im broke, Wife not Happy!

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by CroS13