240ZBUILTBYME

Hey @C.A.R. did Australian cars originally come with the clear lenses? mine came with clear but wasn't sure what was the standard

this is making me seriously consider a set....

no i haven't done any detailed comparisons as yet

few exciting updates The body shop contacted me and asked if I wanted to bring all the smaller parts in and they could get a headstart on a few things when they had gaps to fill. So I dropped the bonnet, rear hatch, front fenders, cowl panel and headlight buckets off to them. One of their panel beaters is a hardcore datsun fan so he couldn't help himself but make a start immediately. Certainly works in my favour! Pretty happy to see some sort of progress! Engine builder got in contact with me the other week to discuss the engine build, I really wanted to go 3.2 stroker with a custom crank but the ballpark price he gave me was a lot higher than i anticipated, he said 23-25k, if I'm not mistaken that's not too far off a LCR build? I ended up ordering the spare wheel tub and lower front valance from resurrected classics, my tub had many non factory holes and the lower valance panels all came back a dogs breakfast from the blasters. My body shop advised that if there are decent reproductions it will be more cost effective to buy them instead of them fixing my mangle panels. Also ended up taking a gamble on resurrected classics new stainless yellow zinc plated bolt kit. I'm pretty impressed with how comprehensive it is, basically every fastener besides the suspension bolts. Everything was very well labelled, only downside i see is you are paying for some fasteners you dont need as they include 260z & 280z fasteners. Now to compare them to stock versions.... Also a shoutout to @C.A.R. for the resurrected classic doors, mine were cooked and these will save me a tonne of money!

Yep they do have the vented ones, they also have the inner frame panel as well

not sure, it could have been GST, the correspondence says duty, taxes and quarantine fees... How'd you go with the doors @C.A.R.? are they everything we've hoped for?

Its been a while gents. I hope you're all well and been driving those cars of yours. Not much posting going on across the site I've noticed. Everyone feeling the bite of those interest rates? Speaking to the panel shop they are looking at Q3 to get the car in, I need to get my arse in gear and start sorting the bits they'll eventually need to fit up panels, hood/hatch/door hinges, bolts for fenders etc and not to mention the few panels I haven't already bought. So I pulled the trigger and bought the KFVJDM rear quarters, it hurt a lot to see the total price shipped, i also got slugged with import duties, however its the first time i have been stung and I've brought in thousands of dollars worth of parts so my number had to come up eventually. arrived all safe with no visible damage besides some scratches to that funky green paint. I have to say they don't use much foam or bubble wrap to protect the panels if at all. If you remember my rear hatch is pretty beat up so I thought Id get their lower rear hatch panel as well, at first glance it looks a bit off in places but hopefully it works well.

Absolutely stunning work as usual!

Cant relate at all mate... Its frustrating. more so for you as your skills are more than capable of getting the job done. Better to keep moving forward though. In good hands now

wow ok, thats certainly something to consider

these are 3 progression holes

Decided to dig myself a little deeper into this hole and bought a set of barely used triple 45 webers from Martin. They were installed brand new on a nearly stock L28 but didn't suit the engine apparently so I've inherited them. Not sure if Ill run the airbox or not at this stage. Anybody got any opinions or even better some actual data on running a CAI air box vs not. I imagine the setup just heat soaks and ends up being a warm air intake, if that's the case I may run triple filters for the looks and sound benefits.

Haven't updated this thread for a while, few little things done on the zx in the last year. Removed the ERG system from the intake manifold and had it welded up, which cleans things up a little and removes a small amount of weight. Installed a Lithiumax lithium battery, stock lead acid battery was 13.5kg and the new battery is 2.5kg, huge 11kg weight saving! Had a beautiful new radiator installed along with electric thermo fans I had also bought some apex engineered quick steering knuckles however we couldn't get the to fit at all, word of warning to any zx owners looking at these.

Ill hit him up and see the cost

no worries Lachy, my guards need repair but they weren't too bad, I'll ask my shop their thoughts. can you PM me a price for a set? You said you weren't getting any KF rear quarters at this stage is that correct?

@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

looking really good! Ah seems my lifelong stubbornness to join Facebook does have a downside.... Yeah i don't want to see your bill for all the nos parts plus shipping.

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

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.

starting to look like a car! how the heck do you find all these unicorns....

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.

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

couple of z cars on the next upcoming Shannon's auction x1 260z 2+2 and a 280zx https://auctions.shannons.com.au/auction/details/2023autumn-2023-shannons-autumn-timed-online-auction/?sto=0&au=12&sf=[]&w=False&mc=15%2c5&pn=3&g=1

wow! unicorns! bet they cost a pretty penny

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