240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 12 hours ago, daretobedifferent said: I'm excited to see what it looks like when it comes back from the blasters! I think you'll be surprised at how good it will be when it comes back. Yeah I dont share your enthusiasm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 10 hours ago, gav240z said: Oh nice, they do a 240z kit? Yeah they do, I imagine its not the cheapest way to get them but it comes with everything you need to renew all pins and terminals, I went with it for pure convenience. Heres the link if anybody is interested: http://www.vintageconnections.com/Products/Detail/180 gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 10 hours ago, gav240z said: Japanese Commodore Cmon mate, thats offensive... Yeah i think they're good value atm, literally no one knows what they are, if you dont know about them they pass for a normal IS, very comfortable, goes like stink and I'm really surprised at how chuckable it is for such a big car. kids are enjoying the extra room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 Progress pics of the blasting Oliphips and C.A.R. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 And shell is now in 2K Epoxy! how exciting... Oliphips, C.A.R., daretobedifferent and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daretobedifferent Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Nice! It looks so much better right? 240ZBUILTBYME 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 2 hours ago, daretobedifferent said: Nice! It looks so much better right? Hahaha as soon as i saw the photos I was like "HE WAS RIGHT!" sorry totally assuming your gender..... daretobedifferent 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.A.R. Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Why didnt you remove the other quarter panel?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 2 hours ago, C.A.R. said: Why didnt you remove the other quarter panel?! I just ran out of time unfortunately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 Martins giving me the hurry up to get my dash harness to him so he can install my gauges, I wanted to do an overhaul on all the terminals and plugs, so I first created a nail board and splayed out the harness. I then started studying the wiring diagram which to be honest at first look overwhelmed me, but once you have the harness splayed out and diagram in front of you it gets clearer. Then I marked out all the harness intersections on the board and began labelling each terminal using the wiring diagram to help me identify terminals or plugs that weren't connected to anything when i removed it from the car. Next I plan to strip the tape off the harness putting small bands of temporary tape to hold its shape and intersections, then Ill inspect and repair the wires, once I'm happy with the wires i will start depinning, replacing pins and plugs. before retaping I'm going to see if i can get it continuity tested or if i can do it myself. There are still some terminals I have not been able to identify, if there's any wiring gurus out there Photo 1 I think the plug might be the passing relay wire colors don't exactly match. I also have no idea what a passing relay is Photo 2 these two plugs weren't connected to anything and wires don't match anything on the diagram Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 This one is really confusing, this short harness doesn't appear to be in the wiring diagram at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 Is the wiring diagram RHD there could be some differences if its for LHD? Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 24 minutes ago, NickF said: Is the wiring diagram RHD there could be some differences if its for LHD? Nick Haven't found a RHD one, i did a quick search on this forum but couldn't find anything usable, the ones on classic z cars are all LHD but in HD and have all wire colours marked out. I figured it would be a little different but not much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 A coloured aus/euro spec would be great if anyone has one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ND240Z Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Nice progress on the Z mate. Doesn't look too too bad! 240ZBUILTBYME 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 So I've been doing a lot of thinking and soul searching in regards to this project. I've contemplated giving up on this car so many times I've lost count, but I just cant bring myself to do it, I'm in too deep at this point and the passion to finish it is still too strong. But I've had to be honest with myself with what I can achieve at this point of my life with my current skillset. I have two beautiful kids that are by far the most important thing in my life. At the moment because of the kids I'm extremely time poor, I think once they are both in fulltime school I'll be able to throw some hours at this car, that is probably 2-3 years away still. So I'm now contemplating having the metalwork done by a professional shop, and maybe me and my dad painting the car once the rust repair is complete, or just bite the bullet and have the shop paint it. I've had some quotes and its an extraordinary sum of money. But at this point of my life I have the money but not the time. I feel like I've been working on this car for ages (cause I have) and feel like I've achieved nothing (cause I haven't). If I continue to stubbornly try and complete the rust repairs on my own I'll still be posting about this project when I'm 50.... So I've put the car on the waiting list of a reputable restoration shop here in Perth, currently their waitlist is over a year, so I think I will still have an opportunity to do some work. It kills me to make this decision as I always wanted to do it myself and I've spent so much buying tools and equipment to do it, but I feel its the only way i can move forward meaningfully at this time I got the car back from the blaster a few months ago but have only just got time to go back and take some photos. I felt nauseous for a few weeks post getting the car back. Here are some pics of the rust that was hiding under the paint....Although the car looks great in all one color there are certainly more holes now.... First the roof, check out the LHS drip rail, yikes RHD rear quarter LHS internal roof structure The bottom of the tool compartment has rust all along the bottom join Not much left of the floor pans I thought my rear hatch was in good nick, crazy what paint can hide.... looks worse in person trust me, all bashed and buckled Knew this LHS chassis rail was bad but it now has 70% more holes now fenders looked really good before but alas I was tricked yet again Bonnet actually came out amazing besides damage to the front corner oh the humanity.... rear section had some nasty suprises cowl and firewall holes got bigger and lastly the cowl cover came out nice despite some small rust holes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmd Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 given the cost of the metal work, shipping the car over to @C.A.R. to get it done may be a better option? gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share Posted June 4, 2023 21 minutes ago, hmd said: given the cost of the metal work, shipping the car over to @C.A.R. to get it done may be a better option? I have certainly thought of this option. Though the cost of shipping to and from Perth would be expensive. And not sure what the shipping process would be like, I’d be happy to put it in a container but not on the back of a truck. I think if I choose the right shop here I will get maybe 90% of @C.A.R. quality job. Though would be interested to hear from anyone who’s shipped a car like mine over a long distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.A.R. Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 On 6/4/2023 at 5:09 PM, 240ZBUILTBYME said: I have certainly thought of this option. Though the cost of shipping to and from Perth would be expensive. And not sure what the shipping process would be like, I’d be happy to put it in a container but not on the back of a truck. I think if I choose the right shop here I will get maybe 90% of @C.A.R. quality job. Though would be interested to hear from anyone who’s shipped a car like mine over a long distance. It would be longer than 12 months before we could look at it, and the tin work would be at least $60k. Depending on the local shops quality of work, they may be the better option. In saying that though, one of our current 240Z restorations is from FNQ, so I wouldn't let distance dictate any decisions... gav240z and OdinZ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Given the metal work cost add paint and all those little bits that add up so fast costs could easily come up to 80/90000 for full resto? And if one has no sentimental attachment would that be unviable? given that pretty good car could be had for less than that. Hopefully! Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.A.R. Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 9 hours ago, NickF said: Given the metal work cost add paint and all those little bits that add up so fast costs could easily come up to 80/90000 for full resto? And if one has no sentimental attachment would that be unviable? given that pretty good car could be had for less than that. Hopefully! Nick $80k/$90k? If only they were that cheap to build... OdinZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted June 11, 2023 Author Share Posted June 11, 2023 On 6/5/2023 at 7:02 PM, C.A.R. said: It would be longer than 12 months before we could look at it, and the tin work would be at least $60k. Depending on the local shops quality of work, they may be the better option. In saying that though, one of our current 240Z restorations is from FNQ, so I wouldn't let distance dictate any decisions... I think I can get a good enough job done in perth, minus the extra shipping costs and stress of transporting across the country. This isn't going to be a show car so in my mind not worth the extra cost. The ballpark price i got was around that for bodywork and paint, above average paint job but not show car level. The shop I have it on the waitlist for does high end restorations, they are currently working on a car the owner is planning to send to pebble beach, they also have some extremely rare cars in there at the moment. They don't do any marketing and all work is from previous customers and word of mouth, all these things make me feel confident. I went for a visit this week and saw a heap of cars they are finishing up, paint work was sublime. small team of passionate guys producing some amazing stuff. gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted June 11, 2023 Author Share Posted June 11, 2023 On 6/5/2023 at 8:38 PM, NickF said: Given the metal work cost add paint and all those little bits that add up so fast costs could easily come up to 80/90000 for full resto? And if one has no sentimental attachment would that be unviable? given that pretty good car could be had for less than that. Hopefully! Nick unfortunately if you're not doing majority of the work yourself you're guaranteed to be spending over 100k. I paid 5k for the car a long time ago so i have some room to go before overcapitalizing. I was hoping to get the car finished for less than its worth but if I outsource the body/paint ill definitely not be in the black by the time im done. However Id rather actually finish the car and enjoy it and be a bit out of pocket, as a opposed to a never ending project which this already feels like lol gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted June 13, 2023 Administrators Share Posted June 13, 2023 It's a kick in the guts when you see that, however I would recommend. 1. Buy new rear 1/4 panels - which now exist. 2. Bonnet looks repairable - so fix that. 3. Front wings are not too bad, but may be easier to just buy new reproductions? 4. Buy new doors. 5. Unfortunately roofs are not yet available, but may be soon from KF Vintage. 6. The front rails I believe are available via KF Vintage or some other outfits. 7. Floor pans are common enough and available. 8. Cowl looks fine to fix. 9. Spare wheel tub, unpick and replace with new reproduction. 10. Buy new sills/rockers - which exist. 11. Reproduction rear hatches are also available. Simply buying all that stuff will cost a small fortune, but you could ship it in bulk. Simply placing some of them on the car will make it look like half the work is done already, you'll feel better. Plus whoever does the restoration work will be glad you bought that stuff (since your Perth shop may not be aware these sections already exist). It's almost always cheaper to replace than repair panels in my experience and less time consuming. So whenever something is available now, I just buy it. The only areas that sort of concern me is the front strut tower on the inner wing that's rotten at the bottom. But it's not uncommon and fixable, just more work. The tool box area, is tricky to get to and fix. And under the cowl panel area. But it's not problem per se, just more work than the other sections which are more accessible. FWIW, #51 was similar, although perhaps not as bad, but the benefit is when I bought it, I could see all that already. So I knew what was gone. I've been slowly acquiring all the sections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240ZBUILTBYME Posted June 13, 2023 Author Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) @gav240z It's a kick in the guts when you see that, however I would recommend. 1. Buy new rear 1/4 panels - which now exist. I have been tossing up buying these, shipping is crazy though, i already have the tabco outer wheel arch panels and KF lower rear sections 2. Bonnet looks repairable - so fix that. 3. Front wings are not too bad, but may be easier to just buy new reproductions? you talking about the lower front sections? Speaking with the shop they advise to just buy new ones as mine were rougher than anticipated 4. Buy new doors. these have been out of stock for ages, but i spoke with resurrected classics and they have new doors coming out very soon 5. Unfortunately roofs are not yet available, but may be soon from KF Vintage. I have a decent roof skin already from a donor car 6. The front rails I believe are available via KF Vintage or some other outfits. I have a set of Lachys front rails already 7. Floor pans are common enough and available. Got them already 8. Cowl looks fine to fix. yep 9. Spare wheel tub, unpick and replace with new reproduction. Yes going to get the resurrected classic one 10. Buy new sills/rockers - which exist. got KF ones already 11. Reproduction rear hatches are also available. considering having the shop just reskin the hatch as the bones are healthy Yeah I knew the car was rusty but its crazy how it can come back with even more surprises lol Now I just need to get the approval of the wife to spend a small fortune on the metalwork and potentially paint Edited June 13, 2023 by 240ZBUILTBYME gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.A.R. Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) Gerson from KFVintage is now using DHL Express for his shipping and the freight price has dropped massively. Freight for L&R rear quarter panels to Melbourne is now AUD$1200. Total is around $3400 ex GST (if you get stung for GST) to Melbourne - so will be slightly more to Perth. Edited June 14, 2023 by C.A.R. 240ZBUILTBYME 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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