Agno Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Well done mate! With such incredible attention to detail in the body work I'm very curious to see how you approach the reassembly of the car. Quote
Whittie Posted June 10, 2012 Author Posted June 10, 2012 Well done mate! With such incredible attention to detail in the body work I'm very curious to see how you approach the reassembly of the car. Haha, I know I keep harping on about "race cars are built to race and get damaged, yadda yadda yadda" but I told Will and Dad today that we'll wait for a break in the weather so the car doesn't get wet on the back of the tow truck on the way home...... I'm as curious as you are! Quote
Moderators Zedman240® Posted June 11, 2012 Moderators Posted June 11, 2012 Looks incredible! Love the colour choice... hope to see it in real life one day! Coming to the nationals here next year? Quote
Whittie Posted June 11, 2012 Author Posted June 11, 2012 I bet half those views are mine! Haha! Quote of the thread! Zedman, that's the plan at this stage, time is hopefully not against us getting it running tho! Looks like at this stage I'll truck it over for the PI historics to run regularity there and then leave the car with some friends and fly back for the nationals at easter, same as Dad and I did in 2007. I was thinking of doing Bathurst, but done that twice now so it'll be nice to go back to PI for one last shot before work sends me overseas and I lose the chance to go again. Hmm..... Just been looking at the pics of the new suspension and unless I'm severely mistake I rekon there is more than an inch between the wheel and the struts now that it has coil-overs on it... 9" rims on a zed hey.... Anyone want to buy a set of unused 16x8 Rota RB's ??!!! I have photo evidence that the car has never been driven with these rims on, maybe pushed around a few hundred meters going in and out of the garage. Quote
Whittie Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 FYI: Car came back home today As per tradition, full update to come that I'll write during the F1 qualifying Quote
Whittie Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 23 June 2012 Well ladies and gentlemen, it’s true. 13 months since the car was last on a tow-truck the zed has again had a trip on a tow truck. “What? Who? How is that significant, you’re not making sense” I hear you say, well, the zed is home!!! Indeed, the second chapter of the story is complete and the third chapter has started, it’s time to put it back together. Of all days to forget to carry my camera, it was today. And of all days to have the backup camera go flat, it was also today. So, not many photos, but plenty of significance none-the-less. I won’t bore you with my words, on to the photos: Will had the car siting in the yard waiting for our arrival, out in the sun for the first photos of this paint-job in the sun and WOW does it look good: Colin showed up not long after us and meticulously loaded the car on to the trailer. This is the highest the car has sat in a long time, but still the nerves were high making sure there was no damage. Eyes glued on the car, me making sure everything was going OK: And so the car was loaded on to a truck for the trip across town and back home. Massive thanks to Will for what has not been finally counted but is at a best guess ~1200-1300 hours of love spent on this restoration. It really has been a labour of love. About 45 minutes later the car came to rest back in its nest. And so folks, the next stage starts and it’s time for me to put hours into the car again and get it going. Today consisted of making space in the garage to fit the car in and tomorrow will mark the first day of rebuild, starting with fuel hoses and wiring loom. Stay tuned, the pressure is on to have the car going as soon as possible so that it can be shaken down in time to jump on a truck to Philip Island for Easter 2013 and the NDSOC nationals. Quote
zzzzed Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 That looks dam awesome. Can't wait to see the finnished product Quote
luvemfast Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Hells yeah for bringing it to the Nationals! Quote
garvice Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 For a second I was worried it was going to liven a carport (until I read you were making room in the garage). Congrats on putting the money down for such a job, it is not everyday people are willing to spend good money on a datsun, my hat goes off to you and your love affair. Oh and go watch "the beast" a few more times. Particularly about halfway through were he says "you would have to be stupid todothe targa Tasmania in any car you had anemotional attachment to". I.e stay away from targa Tasmania! Ha. Quote
Grandad Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 4 June 2011 Here is the ‘ole zed on its final journey to the panel beater. Goodbye old girl, bring on the rebirth! What a difference a year makes! There is so much contrast in these two pics it's truly amazing' I just cant believe how well the turf has taken on the verge Rebirth is complete bring on the re build. DAD http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Tommo560/2010%20Rebuild/IMAG0425.jpg[/img]] Quote
Whittie Posted July 4, 2012 Author Posted July 4, 2012 24 June 2012 And so the rebuild begins. Actually, correction, the restoration hasn’t actually finished yet. I forgot about the fuel tank and so I’ve employed Will’s skills again to restore the tank on the car. It has a leak somewhere and I was going to get a new one, I even bought one, but this car is such a mash up of 260/280 that I actually couldn’t find a tank in Aus in better condition that will actually fit in the car!! So, Will gets to enjoy splitting it, lead wiping it, knocking the dents out and then refinishing it, He’s just over the moon to still be working on this car Okay, I lied, he’s sick of it and promised me he’s not going to do it for weeks! However, back home, the car was delivered yesterday and I’m straight back in to it. I just got a letter asking for entries for motorvation in January and so the new goal is to have the car built, shaken down and performing tip top ready for the Elite Pavilion at the show. Motorvation is Perth’s biggest automotive show, held at the Kwinana Motorplex the show runs for 3 days with over 1,000 entries every year. It used to be a real jap vs aus show but over the last few years most of the jap guys have stopped attending due to the frankly disgusting attitude of the local bogan brigade towards ‘ricers’. However, the datto has always been well received by all types and this would be huge exposure for the car and my sponsors if I could get in the Elite pavilion. The Elite pavilion is typically reserved for the cream of the cars at the show and is a reserved marquee just for the best cars. The tent is a destination in itself at the show and all cars are eligible to take part in Elite Pavilion entrant only cruises and driving events to display their cars so this would be ideal if I can secure a spot and have the car ready in time! The rebuild started with the Wiring loom: To be perfectly honest I have been ridiculously slack over the past 12 months whilst the car has been at the panel beaters and I didn’t do any preparation work to get the car back together. As such, the first port of call is to clean all of the grease of the harness. If anyone’s been following from the beginning they probably remember all the pics I took of the grease pooled in all the nooks and crannies of the car. Well, those same nooks and crannies were those that the wiring harness is hidden in and as such the harness is a MESS. I firstly laid the harness out on the ground in an approximation of the layout that it will be installed in the car and then I got busy with rags and degreaser. The first pass was to wipe the cabling down with a soft rag (beach towel I stole from the cupboard!! ) and then I went back over with a second rag (another stolen beach towel ) wet with cleaner/degreaser. As I went along I also disconnected all plugs and hosed them with contact cleaner. This car has always suffered from silly electrical problems and it wasn’t until this day that I realised why: The connectors were filthy!! I don’t mean dirty, I mean absolutely covered in grime, dirt and filth. No wonder the electric didn’t work properly, I’m surprised any electrons at all could pass through all that rubbish. 2 days, $60 of contact cleaner and $20 of degreaser later and the harness actually looks brand new! I was tossing up whether or not to rewire the whole car, but to be perfectly honest, except for 1 dodgy bit of wiring around where I had installed the stereo and central locking without removing the dash to get to the right wires, it’s all in fantastic condition. 1 July 2012 First day of the new month and new financial year and we’re off to a bang. Just before the end of the financial year Stivva dropped a good link on a brand new 280z center console for only $200 including delivery and I just couldn’t help myself. You know, end of the tax year and all… whatever, I could so I did Considering this car is a 280z body, with a bunch of 260z pieces just to keep me on my toes, I decided that a new 280z console to replace the badly cracked old console would go really nicely with the new everything else in the car. The dash will be getting a re-skin and along with new seats, gear knob and a slathering of Alcantara, it’s only proper that the console is not broken…. Whatever, I could so I did, I don’t need to justify it to anybody! I’ve been absolutely flat on my back at work and only been able to get 4-5 hours total in on the weekends, but today I did get started on pulling the tail lights apart. I don’t have any photos, but they’re stuffed. Some fool of a previous owner must have been struggling with fumes entering the car from the rear end (I know, normal for a zed) HOWEVER, instead of fixing the obvious holes that used to be in the floor in the boot, they decided to pull the lights apart and glue them back together. That’s right, why use a rubber gasket when you can use half a can of industrial plastic glue! No, I’m not kidding. I managed to get one lens out after about 2 hours of gently prying and then 45 minutes into getting the matching indicator lens out, it failed catastrophically. So, lucky me, time to get some new ones If anyone has some good contacts on Tail Lights for a 260z I wouldn’t mind getting some quotes for brand new ones. By the time I get second hand ones and then clean and polish them then replace all the gaskets, I would probably be up to new lens prices anyways. That’s all for now. The folks are away this weekend so I’m using the excuse of babysitting the cats to get a good solid 2 days of work in on the car. I want to have the wiring harness fully installed and the fuel filler and tank breather hoses all installed. I was going to install the lights, but that can wait. I will however, then be able to start re-installing the trim pieces in the boot. One last thing before I go, how about a quick poll: I stupidly forgot to get the aerial hole in the rear, passenger side of the car, filled by Will and I’m not planning on actually installing a radio in to this car. Too much weight and you could never hear the old one over the weber’s anyways. So, plug it with a black grommet, or go buy a stubby aerial just to make it look complete? I’m quite partial to the grommet idea, cause it’s cents instead of dollars and grams instead of dozens, but Dad seems to think it’ll look rubbish, so I’m calling for all opinions on what you guys think. Well, this flight is about to land (yup, more flying and writing build threads) so that’s it for this one. Oh, don’t forget, those in Aus, I have a bunch of stuff for sale that I’ve upgraded on the car and you can pick it up cheap cause I need to clear out the shed ASAP! Ok, really, that’s it, I’m done. Quote
Whittie Posted July 4, 2012 Author Posted July 4, 2012 Garr! So, today I got the news that it looks like we'll be starting up a new well this weekend and so I'll be working from home to help the guys through it. So much for a weekend with no-one at home to interupt me!!! I'll see how this wiring harness goes, but I got a feeling I'll be spending most of my days staring at a computer screen watching squiggly lines go up and down instead of working on the car making squiggly lines of my eyes trying to fit this harness back in..... Actually, when you put it that way, doesn't seem quite so bad after all...? Quote
luvemfast Posted July 4, 2012 Posted July 4, 2012 Instead of the grommet or aerial, maybe a bit of polished aluminium billet bling? Quote
SS30RR Posted July 5, 2012 Posted July 5, 2012 So many awesome builds these days.......amazing. Hope to see it at Nationals. I so can't wait now. Quote
Whittie Posted July 5, 2012 Author Posted July 5, 2012 Instead of the grommet or aerial, maybe a bit of polished aluminium billet bling? Now there's a good idea. Perhaps I can get a a DADSON logo fashioned up in ally, that'd be a nice touch. I thought I was being unique spending up on a nice rebuild, but you're right SS30, there are HEAPS of nice cars floating around now. It's fantastic to see some love going in to these old classics and hopefully we see more than a couple at the nationals being used in anger. I'll be there for sure, I've already put in my leave request I did a 2:02.2 at PI in 2007, I reckon a 1:50 would be pretty nice We'll see how that goes tho..... Quote
Grandad Posted July 5, 2012 Posted July 5, 2012 Well done mate! With such incredible attention to detail in the body work I'm very curious to see how you approach the reassembly of the car. Let the Reassembly Begin Sorry Whittie but while you're away admiring Kimberley Sunsets I got the honor of turning the first spanner I got sick of the front wheels having a mind of their own whenever I need to move the car and not wanting to be responsible for inflicting the first scratch I decided to fit the steering rack but first it received the detail and paint treatment. Agno in answer to your post as you can see from this first small step everything will be striped and zinc plated where required before being repainted and refitted using new or re zinc plated bolts but there won't be a chrome bolt in sight. To get this car where Whittie wants it in the Elite pavilion at Motorvation and in concourse at the NDSOC PI Nationals, everything has to be done right so for the integrity of the reassembly they are good goals. May opt for shorter bolts here after all weight reduction is the goal. DAD Quote
Agno Posted July 5, 2012 Posted July 5, 2012 Nice answer Dad. It would have been a shame to go all this way and rush to have it put back together. Good luck guys! Quote
Whittie Posted October 4, 2012 Author Posted October 4, 2012 No I was in the process of installing the wiring loom a couple of months back and I've dented the front guards already. I also stupendously used a lock ring without a washer on the windscreen wiper mounting points and took all the paint off the cowel in that point..... Not the greatest start to the rebuild! The fuel tank was split, fixed and re-welded, it's ready to go. I've got the dual master cylinder brake kit in the post and Dimitri is chasing down the last few missing parts I need to collect. Dad is renovating his house at the moment but has promised to work on the car when he's finished. Around work, being on the other side of town, providing assistance to the girlfriend who is doing her garden, dogs, cats, remote control car racing (wtf?!) and all manner of other convenient excuses life just seems to be getting in the way..... I was once a boy at uni who thought this would take 10 grand and 6 months, but I now totally understand how builds can take 10 years or more! Well, at least no kids to get in the way yet, well, except the dog anyways. However, I have booked accommodation for PI next year, so the plan is still to be ready for that and it's not totally out of the question, I just need to pull a finger out. Quote
Moderators Zedman240® Posted October 4, 2012 Moderators Posted October 4, 2012 Probably a bit late, but might prevent more damage, remove all bolt on panels till all other work is complete in the interior / engine bay before you bolt them back on; it should be the second last thing you do before you turn the key! Quote
Whittie Posted October 4, 2012 Author Posted October 4, 2012 Probably a bit late, but might prevent more damage, remove all bolt on panels till all other work is complete in the interior / engine bay before you bolt them back on; it should be the second last thing you do before you turn the key! I just learned that one the hard (expensive) way! Quote
Moderators Zedman240® Posted October 4, 2012 Moderators Posted October 4, 2012 So did I quite a few years ago...the more you care, the more damage you attract! Quote
Whittie Posted October 4, 2012 Author Posted October 4, 2012 Haha, they sound like words from a man well aquianted with Murphy! Quote
peter t Posted October 5, 2012 Posted October 5, 2012 Dents happened to me mate the first time the car went back to the engine builders for check over, got it back with elbow impressions along the guards. Now I have a sign that goes in the engine bay if I take it anywhere for work. Quote
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