Pigpen Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 Hi all, I thought I might get a journal under way in an effort to keep me motivaed. I am one of those guys who have always loved the Zed. I owned my first one in 2000 (in my late 20's). it was a white 240, apparently an early one as it had the twin choke levers. It was pretty mild (flat top pistons and a cam and konis all round) but it was quick enough to hose most things. I had to sell this one due to a sudden (unexpected) surge in our family population - read, I got my missus pregnant! and had to look for something bigger, so I swapped my brother for his Falcon. Anyway years later, I am in a position to start again. After looking for ages on ebay etc, I bid on my 260 2+2. I was attracted by the fact that it had no motor, but had a front spoiler and sunroof. It looked like the whole thing was in prettyt good shape and in primer. Not being worldly in the art of transporting cars (ie car carry companies) I conned my mate to drive down to Geelong and pick it up. The trip started at 1am and we made good time down there in an uneventful trip. Once we hit Geelong we hit a traffic jam of huge proportions and it took about an hour to make it the last few Ks. We loaded the old girl on to the trailer and headed back. The interior of the car was filled with parts - so much that it was hard to tell waht was there and what was missing. The trip back went OK until we hit Gundagai. We pulled in for gas at around 11:00 pm to find the bonnet had flipped up and snapped the strap that was holding the front end on the car. One guard was gone, the bonnet hinges and grill both bent beyond. Faced with the prospect of comming home without the guard or backtracking 300km back to the last tow we stopped in (mind you this is 20 odd hours into the trip) we turned around and retraced our steps. In the pitch black, by miracle we found the missing guard in a storm water ditch 30km out of gunny. not in too bad condition considering ... After applying more rope (and coffee) - probably more than was needed, we finally made it home and unloaded. The trip only took around 29 hours. I have since emptied and inspected the car a little more closely. It was once someones pride and joy, with whiteline swaybars and aftermarket springs. The last owner has slapped bog everywhere, in a effort to shape the body and smooth lines. some of it seems quite pointless, but I uncovered an aluminum plate that seems to be stuck over a hole in the tailgate, so the whole thing is going back to bare metal. I have picked up a few little bits and pieces ready to go. R31 rear brake set up and a set of 180sx seats make the list so far. I will have some goodies to sell as well. L series extractors, stock seats and standard 5 speed, SU Carbies on a manifold and a boat propellor - GO FIGURE!. I still have not gotten around to getting it out in the sun and taking some happy snaps - the flat tyres make it hard to push. But once I do I will post them. Quote
maddos Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 Sounds like a good project. Think I remember seeing this on ebay? It's not a fun trip down to the bottom there. Me and a mate headed out from Newcastle at 1730 Friday arvo (turned around 30 min down road after car trailer jumped off ball and sanpped wiring) then headed off about 1830. Crashed in truck stop on side of road at about 3am. Then up again at 6 to head down Narre Warren to Mayhem's to pick up 240. Got home about 11pm Sat night. Takes it out of ya. Quote
620Z Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 Ha Ha great stories. The dedication to find a bargain. There is always something to try and stop us realising our dream for the perfect Zed. Push through or over the hurdles and we get there eventually. Quote
Pigpen Posted January 30, 2008 Author Posted January 30, 2008 Even after all the headache - it was worth it to pick up a pretty complete shell for just over a grand once I factor in fuel & coffee. Now the fun begins - seeing what is under all the make-up! Quote
Moderators Zedman240® Posted January 30, 2008 Moderators Posted January 30, 2008 This took me back to when I bought my first Zed; Didn't quite know what I was buying (didn't know about 2+2 and 2 seaters; it happened to be a 77 model 260 2 seater!) driving around for a while then decided to do a partial restoration, bare metal strip and some suspension work. While doing the paint stripping, removing bog in the amount of a 20 liter drum's worth of the crap! Somebody actually went to the trouble of forming the edge of the rear quarter panel next to the tail light entirely out of bog. It was a work of art. Hope your project has alot less hurdles than mine did. It makes you think "why did I bother?" I did stick it to the end. Car is still driving around today with an RB30 and twin cam head.....somewhere Quote
Pigpen Posted February 9, 2008 Author Posted February 9, 2008 :'( The misery continues ... I grabed a few minutes today to tackle a little work on the old girl. Things started out promising. I ripped out the original drivers seat and sat the 180sx seat in place. It seems to fit in quite nicely. I will need to do a little work to get it bolted in as the seat rails are longer and wider on the SX seats, but it seems to fill the hole nicely. [glow=red,2,300]see below[/glow] With a satisfied smirk on my face , I decided to make a start on the body work. I have had some concerns over the tailgate, so I figured it was a good place to start. On the surface everything looked good, but I had noticed a small plate on the underside that could have been done better. On having a closer look, this is a bit of aluminium sheet stuck in place with liquid nails. I got the flapper wheel going overdrive and soon had the carport looking like a US christmas special with bog dust. It seems that the aluminium plate was some sort of form work and the better part of the left hand lower quarter of then tailgate is made entirely from various layers of bog. Including the whole bottom edge! Deflated, I took some snapshots and packed things away. Time to mull things over with a Beam & Coke or three ... Quote
HELLFIRE! Posted February 9, 2008 Posted February 9, 2008 I would look into getting a good replacement. Quote
Zeddophile Posted February 10, 2008 Posted February 10, 2008 that bottom one looks so familiar.... the whole left rear quarter of my car was that deep, along with the right hand door, and parts of the rhr rear quarter... Quote
Pigpen Posted February 10, 2008 Author Posted February 10, 2008 Funny you mention that ... I got a magnet out today and ran it over the back of the car. There seems to be a fair bit of suspect material there, but the right hand rear below the fuel filler - nothing but bog! Quote
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