AK

Hi Alex Great post. Bought the same ones, did not think of filling the holes like you did, but,sanded the castings flat. I also replaced the main pivot bolt to control the angle the main arm with a stainless steel bolt that goes all the way through to the other end of the plastic base and in the end cavity I put a nut. So when you tighten up no stripping or slipping hopefully ever. I painted the whole mirror with chrome enamel spray paint - weird stuff as it does not seem to dry fully will rub off your finger it getting dryer nor but its been a bout a month and you cant cover in a clear to my knowledge. The finish look pretty chrome like but a good silver metallic may have been better I think, I may resand and start again. Cheers AK

Perfect weather and a great place to drive - whish I had my car done to join the festivity's.

Hi Gav I did my tank my self see the post I put together a while back. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/13669-guide-how-to-restore-rusty-fuel-tank-without-splitting-it/?p=168254 Yours actually looks better than mine did inside and out. I did not bother to take out the dents in mine as you do not really see it and the does not effect the performance - I did have one cool bit advice this is bit a sly joke as well - Anyway fill the tank with water google the expansion factor of frozen water it might expand by 30% for example fill the tank to 30% off full and put in a big-ass freezer ice expands and pop goes the dents and hopefully the sides do not split - Cool idea get it??? I didn't try it but some one could give it go. Anyway my post may be useful Cheers AK

Looking forward to seeing the build take shape - with a professional work shop on tap a chance to push the boundaries. Thanks for sharing its great seeing all types of builds take shape. Cheers AK

Hi Mate Umm I just welded my in I had about the same size hole by the looks, and the same car as well. My was metal type sunroof that dropped down and slid back. My sunroof looked pretty good actually but it was source for moisture and rust so it had to go will go in to more detail when I post my full build but in any case I researched every option for sunroof removal and replacement and in the end I decided to use the metal slide back blank to weld in place and fill the hole. I had to make up shelf to boarder the whole perimeter of the hole which I was able to fabricate out of some of the original sunroof parts which braced the metal sunroof blank Once the right angle braces that where aready shaped to the roof arc spot welded into place I had to make sure once the original blank was butted on the newly created shelf and the blank was level against the roof line as perfect as possible, this was process of using different washers to space the metal roof blank up or down used thinner washers for the front and rear sections and thicker washers on the side which had more to do with the thickness of the fold of metal on the under side of the roof blank that was holding some of the strengthening brackets which I used to make the shelf which spot welded to the edges of the roof hole. Bottom line how did work well pretty good for new welder like my self, the side pieces of the original roof line left and right running against the door line as it turned out are much more prone to heat distortion less area for the heat to disperse into easily (elementary) and if I paid more attention with cooling the side spot welds with a air compressor, and taking twice as much time between spot welds and using a trigger water spray bottle on mist setting to more accurately gauge the heat in the panel (hard to gauge with welding gloves on) I probably would of reduced the war-page I got considerably. I have made some good progress massaging the worst of the heat distortion on the sides out and with some filler it should come pretty good I hope - time will tell. With the extra bracing that made the shelf around the outer edge it helped disperse the heat more than no extra material would of and the end result is a very strong sunroof delete, much stronger than a standard roof line no doubt. But it aint a job if you are not confident and a full roof reskin would be easier and more effective most likely if you can source one but I say if your braced the hole with like I did first and created the shelf being very careful not to distort with heat and then skinned the void with cut out from a similar roof line I think the earlier FORD Laser car have been mentioned as a suitable donor with 20mm overlap and used correct sikoflex body panel glue/silicon I think this could work out better less chance of distortion and once the glue is dry 100% skim it and your done - pretty quick and cheaper with less distortion I would think. But I have not tried this but I think it could be the best route as long as your roof is not to rusty at the roof / body joins. Just my 10 cents AK

schizer!! Mean As!!! Wicked Beast.

Just read the build for the first time - Impressive amount of work in a short time span - with a build list of quality parts through out. Well done on doing such a impressive build so quickly. Some on board gopro action would be great to see it must be seriously quick! Cheers AK

They are cool cars no-doubt I remember being a teen some 25years ago and seeing a few in the Wreckers yard - I thought the where cool and quirky in a sea of the Australian Made Holden kingswoods, wish I had stashed a couple of them back then.

I am no expert but - I will be using wax that is in a spray can developed for the inside of chassis rails and in body panels - I have seen for sale at the Body Shop - Spray Painting supplies store - you can also use fish oil as well. This will be done after the whole car is painted KBS rust sealed inside and out in my case. I would imagine every five years or so you may need to repeat the wax spray - if the car is seeing regular out side use. Any catchment areas and all the seams are areas that will need particular attention.

Really nice car a pity we did not see a second generation from such gifted designer - if the grill and the headlights where tweaked it would be on well on the way to off the scale amazing - nice find!

Has Australia got to much Governance? Well I think it absolutely F"en clear that we have a huge amount of bearcats at a local Government, State Government, and Federal Government who all like to bring in revenue so that can justify pay rises in jobs which are not meant to be commercial and where they are meant to serve the people. Government should be a high service area - yes there has to be TAX, with out doubt you need money to Govern but to have high Tax declining or bad service what the hell?? Just because the don't work in the real commercial world which is ultra competitive I think they struggle to appreciate the boundary's that the common Australian has to work. It is a big wide rough world that we all work in and it our government gives us very little protection from it in a business sense and seem hell bent in fining and taxing us as much as possible as well. Maybe local Government, State Government and Federal Government should also be out sourced to India that would be OK its a competitive global market these days after all and when you call they aren't much more use that Indian call centre anyway. If they are not really interested in serving the People who pay for them to eat from day to day maybe they should be out of job pretty simple. I ABLOUTLEY loved it when the coppers wanted a pay rise recently and they blue lighted speeding camera hot spots to hit the Vic Government where it hurts (That's what the POLICE said) hmmm we spend how much on Vic Roads Advertising and they make so many millions out of fining motorists from cameras (where they could so call dangerously continue to speed down the road and kill countless amount of people) its very clear that revenue is key, safety and aggravation very much a secondary consideration on the roads we pay for with close to 50% tax on Litter that GOV makes on the Petrol tax alone - do they care if there is price fixing on Petrol what do you think? Higher price- more Tax - no problem really we will look the other way. I will say it again who do they work for? not me, not you? Anyway I apologize for high jacking this a little and getting on a off track rant a little but this increasing ability of the Gov at every level to Tax and fine as much as possible and then do a totally shite job of running the Country has got to end. I hate it when Governance get in the way of a good car story

Incredible rebuild - very pure - dont get much better than this if you want the original look!

Welcome - some nice journey pics - the cars look they will be a good base to work with.

Mate - You seem really organized and impressive amount of work done already - keep up - mad skills.

Runs like a Dream - That could mean anything Really. Priced to sell - Umm yes everything has a price. No Rust - does that come with a money back Guarantee ? No well why did you say it? Purrs like a kitten - so does TOYOTA YARIS - Hold me back! Just been painted - oh god what was underneath before? Cause it does not look good now. Women Driver Only - Out on Limb here most women are not to mechanically minded - dont think about the ramifications to long Blows hardly any smoke - What the Hell Little bit elbow grease and she will come up a treat - and who will replace my elbows I haven't finished my reco yet - I think it shows

Inspirational Build - Like the front Air Dam looks mean, cool to see something a little different as well. Looking Low and Mean like a Good Z should. Cheers AK

pretty good car chase for the time - one of the better early aussie ones for sure

The Legend that is Lurch

Hi Guys Watch this - great driving in some of the best Rally Classics Cheers AK

WELCOME - Great write up - really got into the vibe of your 1st buy NICE, I have the similar car right now, it is stripped back to bare shell on the rotisserie right now and about to get a 4 hour Dustless wet blasting tomorrow to take her back to the bare metal and get most of the rust out hopefully. Fingers cross not to much rust holes. Anyway thanks for sharing your journey and your build so far - well written your writing is great Cheers AK

Nice looking car welcome!

It does have some great curb appeal I will give it that, no doubt it will need to stripped completely back to bare metal every where - that will be 1-2k exercise alone without fixing anything - it has enough rust coming through to say the respray was just a patch up over the old paint job and no real rust eradication was done. Hey if it drove well with no bad noises it probably worth 10k - 12 at most. It all really up to you - just my 10cents without seeing it in the flesh. Cheers AK

Good to see update and understand the process - I see you have sunroof, was this standard with the car I did you source it after market? anything you can tell me would be of interest I have a sunroof in my 260 2+2 and are considering a lot of alternatives in terms of deleting or keeping in a fixed format with molding some perspex to the same shape. Incredible build. Cheers AK

Thanks Gilltech - Good advice - I am getting the Tech Dustless blasting done - water and garnet combination - water helps keep the panel cool and reduce warping and very little dust, I did some more investigation and I the POR 15 paint that I plan to use in the engine bay and underbelly are said to be be flexible but I doubt that it will handle that much bending - I think as you suggested paint stripping and taping them off with gapha tape will be the best way forward. cheers ak

Hi Guys I did a search and could not find anything on this. I have 1976 2+2 260Z The soft metal cable ties which seem to have a rubberized coating, there is a lot of these across the body work where the main electrical wire harnesses go - what do you do with these if you are getting the car sand blasted ? As I assume you might loose the rubber coating or being a soft metal they may get blasted completely off the body work. Some already have the rubber cracking off just because of wear and tear of 40years. Do you re-coat them with a rubber solution after blasting once undercoated? If it is re coat with rubber what do you use? Do you remove them all together? Mask them off with some gaffa-tape for protection? Thanks for any advice on this. Cheers AK