Out of deep freeze

[Sirpent]

Hi all,

 

Well the bug never leaves you, and now after 16 years of having my "Z" in storage (It hasn't moved an inch in that time and has been kept in an underground car park) it's about to be dragged out again for a full restoration, therefore here I am hopefully to make new acquaintances and source some parts that are needed.

 

To give you some background on the machine, it's a RS30 Australian compliance 01/75 and first registered 05/75. I'm the second owner having purchased it in 1983 after wiping off my Ford XC Cobra at the age of 18, I still have the original number plates it was registered with including all the sales service and owners documentation at the time of sale.

 

In 1992, I sold the triple 45DCOE Weber's I had on it and got the turbo bug dropping in an L20T, what a mistake that was, one of the reasons I put it away into storage, the other being that I had a small accident which damaged the OSF guard and nose cone, I repaired that and its still in high-fill but soon afterwards I received a company car and my elsest son was born I decided to store it away for him, but now 16 years later I've decided the car is far to sentimental and he can have one of the 2 ford probes I also have instead.

 

So, whats the plan you may ask, first full soda blast strip, and no, I'm lucky the vehicle has 'Zero" rust, when it was delivered new, the first owner had it "Tuff Coated" (a 70's version of Ming inner body panel gunk") I know this as I'm actually an ex-panel beater and in 1986 did a full bare metal respray of the car.

 

Second, rebuild the drivetrain and the original L26 out of the car, yep, still have it sitting in storage also, never had the heart to throw it out and am glad in retrospect now, the car has its original speedo in it, it's at approx 208,000 K's, 25K of which was done with the L20T, so if anyone is interested in an L20T, I will have one available soon.

 

Looks like I have tracked down a set of 40DCOE Weber's on a Cannon manifold, and will be putting the "G" front on it along with flares, full leather interior and so on.

 

But I'm missing some gear, don't ask why, but the door trims have vanished, so need a set, also the chrome front screen moulds, apart from that, I'd also like to drop air-conditioning into it, thats basically it as far as major parts needed, so if anyone can help out with sourcing these parts or has advice on the air-con retro fit, I'd love to hear back from you.

 

I will hopefull have some photo's of the car up on site going back to the 1980's through to today prior to its strip down, look forward to hopefully having it on the road again mid 2010 for its 35th birthday.

 

Cheers

 

John.

 

[sexual_sushi]

great read and it's good to hear that you are going back to webbers and the L26.

 

In regards to the door panels, some guys on here recently bought brand new door cards for a 240z from nissan. You could try giving them a call but I'm not sure if they would have the 260 door trims. You do pay a bit from Nissan but at least they will be perfect.

 

Looking forward to pictures!

[Sirpent]

Thanks Madz, and SS,

 

Was thinking about the 240Z cards/Trims and then having them re-covered with the leather swabs stitched in the original 260Z style , but still need the armrests, 280Z rests may do the job also re-trimmed in leather, but do the cards come with the chrome and felt belt trims that the glass slides against?

 

Im also looking at stroking the L26 by using a LD28 crank and 240Z rods which I read about on one of the forums, any idea if any of the members here have succeeded with this mod here in Australia?

 

And Madz, yep after reading some of the posts on numerous sites about rust in the Zed's I feel pretty lucky not having the rust problem, will make sure to take pics of the full soda blast result prior to etch priming the shell.

 

Cheers

 

John.

 

P.S. does anyone have any thoughts on how a 280Z aircon unit may fit behind the 260Z dash?

[S30Mike]

And so another Zed surfaces from the ashes.. i love it.

 

Are you sure you dont want to drop a L28 in there since you will be removing the L20 anyway?

[mossy]

I too was going to soda blast but I heard too many stories about paint peeling off

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodablasting I ended up going with bead blasting which was good but I'm sure with a lot of media it keeps coming out of nooks and crannies forever, I vacuumed up almost two buckets full from my car. Maybe next time i will try dry ice blasting.

[Sirpent]

Cheers Mike and Mossy,

 

The first time around I used paint stripper, took me weeks to clean the car, but in 23 years nothing has peeled off, so I figure soda blasting cant be any worse than having done that and I'm a stickler for preparation having done a lot of restoration work on Jag's Benz's a Lambo, even a XA GT RPO83 (Read still born Phase 4) and many others, plus I plan to have the car mounted to a Rotiesse so high pressure air blasting afterwards should do the trick.

 

With the L28 option, well I'd like to keep the cars numbers all matching, and having the L26 block (as a sleeper stroker) to me adds value to the originality of it, I was a fool for dumping the L20 in in the first place.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Sirpent]

MadZ

 

Pics-Or-Ban ?

 

Ok Ok, will start digging up the old pics I have from first time around and the finished item, but I warn you, I had one hell of a mullet in thos pics.............LOL

 

John

[maddos]

Sounds like a fun adventure.

Interested to see how your soda goes as will be using it on my 240 when I get around to it.

I use it on Navy equipment which I have to respray and haven't had any dramas.

As for the 280z aircon, no will not work. Should be able to hunt one down from a wrecked 2+2.

I'm close to finish the fit myself.

[warrenz]

Welcome to the site.

 

Regarding the aircon. I was talking to the Cool Drive people at the recent Shannon's Classic Car racing at Phillip Island and I picked up a Vintage Air brochure and got the names of 2 guys that they recommend. One is in Dandenong - Total Automotive 9708 5999 and the other is in Thomastown - G&A Automotive 94641255. Evidently they can supply all new Vintage Air parts, so could be expensive, but you still need the mounts for the compressor on the block. I may have a spare one I could sell as I was buying up old aircon bits to put in my 240 and ended up with a few double ups.

 

Another option depending on budget is from Courtesy Nissan in the US, a complete kit. Would have been good at 90+c to the $, not so great now.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/1970-1973-240z-a/c-r134-freon-p-228048.html?cPath=7724_7761&

 

Warren

[Sirpent]

Cheers Maddos and Warren,

 

I actually have a lot of the engine end components from the L20 I purchased, but I think I'm going to track down an original set up out of a wrecked "Z" just to keep it all line ball original, failing that I have a ford probe I'm wrecking, (one of the 3 I have) and I may try salvaging and modifying something to fit, the unit in the probe is pretty compact.

 

With the soda blasting Maddos, I spoke to the guy today, he's willing to do the entire shell inside , out including the undercarriage for $2000.00 and then prep it and etch prime the entire job, considering the last time I stripped the car it took me the better part of 2 weeks solid and probably 20-30 litres of stripper, it's well worth it, but as I promised, I will be taking a lot of pics during the process just to prove it's solid state as far as lack of rust and major damage is concerned.

 

The only problem I'm facing moving forward is a rotiesse, I'm thinking of fabricating one unless I can track down a short term rental.

 

So if anyone out there in Vic "Zed" land has one sitting around idle, drop me a line.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[sco_aus]

What a good read.  Love a bit of history in a car and you have good taste in cars (with the Fords etc).  There are a couple of guys on here who have fabbed their own ones for zeds, might be able to get omse good info from them (Rhino73Z in Canberra is one of them.)

[zzzzed]

here is a youtube clip of mine. It is fairly simple and only cost me $250 in metal.

it is a bit off center which makes it top heavy.  I know how to fix this but for now its does the job

 

[Toecutter]

Hi John,

 

Welcome to the forums. You've come to the right place for local advise as we have a pretty good Victorian member base. You should try and come along to our next meeting at the Jag Club next month. It's a weekly do usually about 7pm, check the calendar for dates, time and location. There are always plenty of Z's to check out and we usually get one inside for an owner presentation. We will be playing our last weekend trip away at Thredbo on the big screen, about a 30 minute film of the 4 days away.

 

Check out the Members Journal section in the forums as it's a great way to progress the build up of your Z with pics and continual progress updates for all to see and get advise.

 

Cheers,

Sulio

[lightmaster240z]

welcome

regards

 

Bruce

[Sirpent]

Cheers Sco-Aus, Bruce Sulio/Toecutter and ZZZZED.............

 

Great job on the rig Sco, crapped myself watching you rotate the shell for the first time, but looks like you did a good job on the set up......

 

Think I may actually join you guys at the next meeting if Im not up to anything on the night, thanks for the invite Sulio......

 

And thanks for the lead Sco_aus, will definately touch base with Rhino at some stage.

 

Well i have to say that Im getting worked up about starting, but have to hall out and get rid of the probe Im parting out first, if any of you guys know anyone after probe parts and panels drop me a line, otherwise it's on EBAY in the next few days.

 

Cheers

 

John

[sco_aus]

Yeh, I wish i could build something like that lol