PB’s - '77 260Z 2+2 Rebuild

[C.A.R.]

Hi All,

I bought this off a young bloke in the local Datsun community a few months ago, as he had (for want of a better term) fallen out of love with it after a minor front end accident.

I bought it sight unseen for a reasonable price, but when I picked it up I found a few more issues with it than I anticipated...

 

Anyway,  Plans are to:

- Repair all the visible rust - mostly concentrated around the rear of the vehicle. Strangely the boot floor needs repair - probably because of a stuffed hatch seal.

- Repair the front end - it has pushed the 'noses' back & downwards & shifted the radiator support panel. However I have access to a Chassis puller, so it won't be much of an issue.

I also have spare guards, sugar scoops, bonnet & bumper for it.

- Respray in the original factory light blue & clean up the black interior.

- Convert it to manual transmission as it's a factory Auto car. I have a spare 260Z box that I'll rebuild with new bearings & convert it to brass syncro's.

- Give it a tune up & get it into RW condition.

 

I've already have a newer member of this forum come & inspect it, who has shown an interest in purchasing it - they can make themselves known if they wish.

As such I probably won't get much of a chance to drive it!

 

Annnnnnnd on with the photos!:

 

 

 

 

Checking out the front end damage:

 

 

Outer DS dogleg removed & repairing the inner sill:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hatch slam panel repair:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More photo's to come...

 

 

 

 

 

[Scoota G]

Hmmm brings back painful memories of the rust repair i did on my 2+2. Painful because my 2 seater has to wait even longer. They're good when they are rust free but.

 

Looking forward to more pictures.

[Zedman240®]

Any small upgrades planned or just keep it bog stock? Should look great when your done.

[C.A.R.]

I don't think this one is as bad as yours, Scoot!

 

Any small upgrades planned or just keep it bog stock? Should look great when your done.

 

It's already lowered, & has the British SU's fitted (with extractors) - apart from that it won't be getting modified any further.

[Riceburner]

Nice work Luch. Love that color, definitely one of my favorites.

 

Not tempted to keep it?

[lightmaster240z]

Nice to see another project under way big fella

[gav240z]

As always mate top work, a very original looking 260z which is good, has the original rear view mirror and wheels!

 

With you doing the work I'm sure it will be back in tip top condition in no time.

[pauly_adams]

does she have a sun roof by any chance lurch as this one looks very familiar, i was going to purchase one in the exact same colour in quite good condition much like that one but the owner sold it on ebay to a young guy.

[C.A.R.]

Thanks guys

 

Not really tempted to keep it G-man - I have enough toys to play with...

My 'Early Girl' really needs an engine rebuild, so some funds from the sale may go towards that.

 

Pauly - no sunroof!

This one was advertised & sold via CarSales.

[Brabham]

Hi Lurch,

 

looks nice, mine is the same color and is a 77. What is the chassis no.? I would be interested to see if it is close to mine. Cheers

[Fairlady Z]

Great work Lurch,

 

Good to see a 2+2 is getting rescued.

 

as a friendly reminder and tip

 

posting identification numbers on public forum may not be a great idea.  this includes rego plates.  found out the hard way.

 

 

[C.A.R.]

Thanks Guys.

 

Alex - I'll PM the VIN to you

[Brabham]

Cheers Lurch would be cool if I could find a sister chassis to mine, would have to restrain myself from buying it (possibly )

 

PS do you use 0.6 or 0.8 wire when mig welding in rust repair sections? I used 0.8 and still find it warps the panel a little (bottom of front guard). Is there a way around this? Assuming 0.6 will reduce the heat input a little and therefore less warpage. Aside from that I asume just work your way around the section evenly little bits at a time?

 

Cheers.

[zzzzed]

You will always get a bit Of warpage. But it can be fixed after. The slower the better when welding. I use 8m wire at work and 6m at home. I do like the 6m more for sheet metal

[C.A.R.]

I use .6, Alex.

Controlling warping comes down to the way you weld panel steel, rather than welder settings...

You are on the money with staggering the welds. I don't run beads - more a 'spot' of weld, then move onto the opposite section of the repair (rinse & repeat )

[pjren]

I was talking to a guy who does restos and I was talking to him about warpage when mig welding.

He has an air gun in the other hand when he does a spot and immediately cools it.

I have tried it and can testify that it does work.

[Brabham]

Cheers guys.

 

Lurch that is essentially what I do, probably could have alternated around the panel a little more though, although did tack it all the way round first. I just weld small spots, no chance of running a bead on Datsun steel as it will blow through quite easily or warp excessively. May try the air gun and will go to 0.6 on my next roll of wire. Cheers and keep up the good work rescuing Datsuns.

 

[C.A.R.]

PS Dogleg:

 

The lower section was badly pitted, so I cut it out & welded in a new section (4th photo).

 

Door Jam cut out & Rust Kill applied.

 

Repaired.

 

Lower inner sill repaired & etch primed. I'll be painting the inner sill area so no more rust will bleed through.

 

Outer Dogleg fitted & Etch primed:

[Zedman240®]

Was the section you cut out thin as paper? Looking good..

[PB260Z]

Lurch,

 

Looking like another quality job, a fair bit of work  but coming along nicely.

 

Cheers

 

PB

[C.A.R.]

Riiiiiight... Over a year since an update on this but there has been a lot happening!

 

Like any personal build, it's been coming second to paying customer cars. However I have found a few hours here & there over the last year to perform repairs on it.

As it happened, I had a cancellation early last week so I decided to do a final 'push' on the ''blue bus" & get it to a point ready for paint.

My spray painter has been around early last week, given me a price & told me I can drop it off late THIS week to start prep 

 

So this week has been doing all the little jobs on it & getting the front panels on & gapped.

So on with the photos!

 

Guard repairs were done last year:

 

 

 

 

 

Spare wheel-well was rusted out & required repairing:

 

 

 

And once the body deadner was lifted from the boot floor, more rust was found

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[C.A.R.]

Mid last year (2014) I had the boys at the local panel shop, bolt it to their chassis jig & pull the front out.

 

After it was pulled straight:

 

 

 

 

 

Then the rust in the bonnet hinge mounting area could be repaired:

 

 

 

 

Yuk... this didn't look good.

 

 

 

Hrmmm... that's buggered. Stuff it - I'll just cut it off!

 

 

New section made & welded on:

 

 

 

Next I noticed that the inner guard area under the battery tray has a LOT of surface rust, so I decied the best way to treat it was to unpick the tray:

 

 

I then wire brushed (wire death brush on the angle grinder) the area, applied some kill rust (phosphoric acid).

The old spot weld holes were welded up, but a few of the old ones were drilled out so I could install Nutserts / Rivnuts to secure the battery tray. Afterwhich the area was given a coat of etch primer:

 

 

 

And finally the grill mounts were installed & the front end panels bolted back on along with a good 2nd hand bumper:

 

 

 

Check out the hektic rake y0!

 

 

Hopefully the next few photos will be of it in colour! Stay tuned

[chris240]

Hooley dooleys....those pics give me a headache and Im not the one doing the work !  What colour ?

[C.A.R.]

The original 305 Light Metallic Blue, Chris.

[Brabham]

Nice work Locky When you cut out patches do you make them slightly undersize to prevent warpage when you butt weld them in? Noticed that there is a small gap around 1mm around them. What are your plans for the bus? Stock daily? Is she an auto or a manual? Good to see another light blue bus saved. Let me know what you do for the rubbers on the 2+2 as I have been looking for where to source these.

 

Cheers