240ZBUILTBYME

I emailed Les, he gave no explanation or apology, but he’s sending a new secondary section which had the bad dents, there are imperfections on the main headers but I think I can live with them. Still a slightly annoying experience.

Exactly what I said! So the original owners had it from new up until a few years ago when my z guy in Perth bought it. So I’m the third owner. Though it will be a shame not to enjoy them I am going to put seat covers on and take them off for events, cruises, shows etc. It will be my daily and I will occasionally have to carry the kids in it so need to protect that material. Yes I’m hoping so too, yes practical and the kids can come in it too. I’ve been looking for a new daily drive for a while, was tossing up between a 86 GTS, 280zx, 300zx. But was trying to wait for the COVID used car tax to ebb. I don’t do many Km’s as I’m fifo and we use our family car mostly so hopefully I can maintain it’s condition and keep the kms down, my only concern is having to occasionally drive in the rain! Yes I’m under no illusion that it’s a balls out sports car. But I do like a sporty drive. it’s a well balanced car and some tasteful mods should bring a sportier drive. I test drove one previously and was surprised how tail happy it was. there are also more and more aftermarket parts coming onto the market. Techno toy tuning is now making coilovers for the S130. I plan on doing bolt on mods only, that can easily be reversed to make the car original.

Yes 2 seaters seemed to be more popular in the US and 2+2s in Aus/NZ, I haven’t actually taken the car yet, it’s in perth and will be registered before I take ownership, but as far as I’m aware it was a Aus delivered one. The interior may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I love it, my brother said it looks like a pimps car, I immediately thought of this song from lurches current build... Yes very well looked after, was owned by an old couple for many years who drove and washed it every Sunday. Nice story, lots of receipts and service records.

I have been watching zx’s for a while now. Have always loved them despite being the black sheep’s of the z family. Prices nearly doubled over the last year or two. lately prices for excellent condition 300zxs has gone crazy and moved out of my price range. An opportunity came up to buy a immaculate 280zx (auto unfortunately) so I jumped on it before it’s too late. I have a pedal box and a 71B so planning to do a manual conversion. Needless to say there was a lot of eye rolling from my wife...

Pm sent

Nice work Lurch, was interested to see how you would tackle the roof rust. That patch piece was hand formed? Do you use tig for panels like the roof? Ryan

I’ve sent him an email asking about it. I mean I know this will never get seen but I feel like if you’re purchasing a new item it should be relatively blemish free. I’m certainly not demanding perfection.

So going on uncle lurches advice I contacted Les Collins and ordered a set of his L series extractors. Les is great to deal with and very forthcoming with information. the extractors look great overall, had them ceramic coated too. However I was a little disappointed with the number of dents and dings and surface imperfections in the coating. I don’t know if I’m expecting too much and maybe this is a standard finish on extractors. Wouldn’t mind someone else’s opinion. I’ve never purchased extractors before.

This was my first time trying to get snapped rusted studs out, what do you use to get the stud out after the heat and water? I used a propane torch but don’t think it got hot enough.

I only got in a half days work on my last RnR, but managed to get some important work done. if you have been following along my front nose was damaged in a past accident and has been some what weakened compared to a stock one. I decided to add an extra bolt in point on my rotisserie mounts to add some strength as I did not trust just bolting to the bumper mounts. This is what I came up with.... first I had to remove the snapped/rusted out bolts from the tow points. This proved difficult, used heat and penetrant along with easy out bits, but to no avail on the LHS, I snapped two easy out bits trying. I ended up just drilling a 10mm hole straight through and will use a M10 nut and bolt, (I’m replacing chassis rails anyway) and I have a conveniently placed rust hole which allows me access to place/tighten the nut. I managed to remove the rusted RHS tow point bolt with the easy outs! What a feeling of triumph! this additional mount point added a heap of strength to the mounts, vertically and laterally. And it was only tacked together. Once fully welded they will be plenty strong enough to support the car. Why did I make it adjustable and not just weld the front mount all together? Good question. I made it adjustable because after I carry out repairs on the front nose the bumper bolt hole locations may alter slightly meaning the rotisserie mounts won’t fit for the underbelly painting. Now they are adjustable, they will fit. Next up I hope to: - finish the front mounts - add supports where needed - start on the rear rotisserie mounts

Interesting article. https://www.hagerty.com/media/market-trends/nissan-z-next-911/?fbclid=IwAR0ftogxsnqEmZ1WHhus58mc7TQvVoN2me0HSP1s13D6eFEtPjJborrSchw I’ve always loved the 280zx and 300zx despite the hate they get. I always keep my eye out and prices are definitely rising, 300zx in particular. They used to sit around the 20k mark not a year or two ago, and now decent condition ones are listing for 40k. Have I missed the boat....

Also have you contacted Martin at tuneright? He may have some bumpers

Repairing and Rechroming will be more expensive than $1040 for both bumpers. Particularly if you send it over east as you will wear the shipping costs. I can’t recall if you can get the Vietnam ones with over riders, I didn’t want over riders so I wasn’t looking when I was researching. Do you want over riders? Andys ones look in good nick but if you can’t get the rust stains out they will need to be rechromed as well, so have to factor in the price. Depending on your budget and Andy’s price you could get him to ship them direct to vinnys over east then get them shipped back once their done. Save a bit of money. I would get quotes from vinnys and a rechrome place in perth. And quotes for a package to be shipped perth to vinnys. Easier to make a decision once you have all the info. I bought a set from bumper automobile recently and was very happy with the quality. Haven’t fitted mine yet, but from all accounts on the forums and Martin here in perth, they fit well. Ryan

That’s terrifying, I can see why old mate turned it away. will be very interesting to see the repairs being done. tbh I think mine will come back looking the same or worse after it’s blasted....

Considering how much rust even some of the dry state cars in the US often have, I think if you’re going to bother doing any bodywork and repaint the car, as @C.A.F. says you’re kidding yourself if you think you can get away with less than a full restoration.

I think replating hardware in acceptable condition is part of a nut and bolt restoration isn’t it? I wouldn’t be replacing every single but and bolt. It would be costly and unnecessary. it’s impossible to get every single bit of surface rust in seams etc unless you can unpick every panel without damaging anything and restitch the entire car back together. Often best you can do is encapsulate it and stop it from progressing. Correct me if I’m wrong. my approach/plan for rust is to unpick and replace any major section that has rust on the outside, as if it’s poked it’s head out it’s likely worse underneath. So while each major panel/component is off the internals will get cleaned and coated. Then new panel goes on, cross fingers it’s good for another 50 years.

From all accounts they wear well, only issue is microscratches during washes etc but I’d say it would be cheaper to have someone buff and restore the shine than to rechrome. Not sure... my bumpers were rat shit so it would have cost an arm and a leg to get them to this standard!

Also picked up some shiny new bumpers from bumper automobile out of Vietnam. Much cheaper to buy these than restore mine. Very impressed with the quality.

Nearly knocked off the front section of the rotisserie this week, so close! I keep stressing that my progress is too slow. But I try to remind my self it’s one tiny task at a time, every little job complete is one little job less on the list. The old how do you eat an elephant thing.... Base and pivot point welded up and complete, castors installed. Next on the list: -weld in supports on the base and pivot - due to the damage to the bumper mount section on my car I have decided to add additional tie in points, I will be using the front tow points, however the bolts had snapped on all the points so I will need to tackle that before hand - move onto the rear of the rotisserie ryan

My guess is yellow for the color.

I decided to plough on with the rotisserie build as I won’t be attempting repair on my front end until I have the car blasted and up to replacing frame rails/removing radiator support. Progress is coming along nicely. I realized that if I flipped my mounts and drilled new holes I wouldn’t have to cut and reweld. So now the mounts clear the nose. I love humanities proneness to be lazy. notched pipe and mocked up horizontal joiner piece. welded up brackets and jam nuts. My welding is slowly getting better, soon I’ll be able boast about stacking dimes mocked up front base, notched upright for the pipe to fit into snuggly. Next on the list: - tack everything together and add extra supports to the base -install castors - do a mock install from jig to rotisserie, My goal is to be able to transfer the shell between jig and rotisserie with minimal fuss and effort -all going well, weld up front frame and base and move onto the rear.

Hey gav I know I promised you a photo of my vin plate in a thread but I can’t remember which one. The green is the original color, don’t know the code.

Pity I didn’t see this post till now! I was with my car today and could have gotten this measurement for you! Damn. when are you planning to use your big hammer nick? I won’t see the car for two weeks unfortunately

Always love Larry Chen’s passion for z cars. And a good look at z car garages operation

Any progress is good progress. I keep telling myself that, when progress is so slow (which it always is for me...), you have to consider every little step is still one step closer to the finished product. Well done Mike, what’s you plan for paint? DIY or sending it to a shop? very sorry to hear about your Mum. As someone who is going through something very similar at the moment, I understand the stress and emotions you must have gone through and are probably still going through. Nothing can prepare us for these sort of events. I hope you have a strong network of support in these difficult times. I know for me doing some work in the z is cathartic and has helped me deal with what I’m going through. Hopefully you get more time to work soon. ryan