Andrew_L26

What would you suggest would be best call to action (other then another welder which I'm already looking into) Not going to lie, I've already realized that this car is pretty well rooted under all the bog but I think it will one day be worth fixing up so I might as well get what I can see done now and help either me or whoever decides to restore this piece.

Yay, more pandoras box goodness.... Nah, it's sort of what I was expecting. I plan to do a mini version of what Blu 260 did with his drivers side dogleg in a sense that I will just reconstruct the sill area. The good news is that that seems to be all (for now) just the big dent further up where the car looks like it drove past a large rock and it scraped it. Any easy ways to pull the dent out as I've decided that once this area is all sorted I'm going to try and get a bit of paint colour matched and paint the entire dogleg area. I'm not after a showcar finish at this stage but something that will look decent, even if the colour is a bit off. Knew that there was bog here due to the lack of crease where the outer skin attaches. Plus those classic bog scratches that I have become accustom too. 6 months ago this would have scared the life out of me but I think I can handle this one. I may not be able to get it looking incredible but I think I can do a better repair then the previous owner IE "Should we weld it mate?" "Yeah Yeah Nah mate, bogs on special at supercheap, that will do"

hahaha what am I saying! Yes, I mean Lurch.

That's one damn lucky motor! Fantastic work Lurch, It will be a really strong build and it will treat every owner kindly thanks to your thorough work! Looking forward to the finished product. Andrew

I've been trying to get onto Nato but nothing seems to be happening as far as I can tell. If that doesn't work out I'd be interested in a "group buy" even if it is just me and Gav.

I'v actually already purchased one off Mr Blue260. Thanks anyway Lurch

In the front end? If that was the case I plan to just shell out for new frame rails. Or see what an engineer says. We will see

Well Well Well, Bubblegum is moving along nicely. I've had my front brake rotors reground and I rebuilt the front calipers which was surprisingly easy. Can't believe how close I was to spending 200$ on getting someone else to do it! Also, a new windshield was put in a few weeks ago, I was really surprised at the lack of rust. There was a tiny bit near the drivers side drain but that was easily welded up and ground down. Cut out some of my battery area and welded that up, There were a few pin holes in areas that I didn't replace. I think I will cut the whole area out at the end of the year (When I'm finished year 12) but the pin holes were covered by underbody sealer. I want to say that clearly here as I don't want to do anything shady. Also, I got addicted to underbody sealer.... Started just with where I did repairs such as the floorpan etc. And I noticed how black and tantalising it is.... Pretty much ended up resealing the entire underbody... I spent about a day cleaning it all up and to my surprise I found no rust at all! A few bits of surface rust where the old underbody sealer had chipped off but that was quickly sorted with rust converter and a bit of my favourite etch primer. Looks like I got to it all just in time! Started dealing tackiling my exhaust leaks which led me to chopping off my extractors and welding a flange in. Extractors were beyond repair as I found out after some patching up. I've now got an N36 exhaust manifold and an engine pipe on the way! Pleb life I know... Should have gotten some more extractors but anyway. As far as I know the only thing that is unroadworthy is my lack of engine pipe going to the rest of the exhaust. Other then that the car seems pretty darn good. I also took off my rear quarter cover things from the interior and I plan to rust convert down there and prime it all. I don't think it looks too bad but being honest, I'm now not even sure if I'm going to be the one to fully restore this car but we will see what the future holds! Now I just want to enjoy the car that I've put so much time and MONEY into. Once the exhaust is done I'm booking in for a roadworthy. I hope there aren't too many issues left for the roadie guys to sort out. I also hope that they don't think the pretty black underbody sealer is covering anything which I've just started to think about.... Does it look dodgy? I took a few photos beforehand but not an insane amount so I hope all is good... Anyway, enjoy the pictures and the insane BLACKKNESSSS of my underbody! Rear passanger quarter Blackness Lack of rust in the windshield sills? (Not going to lie I was so confused at what this lack of rust was. WHAT DO YOU MEAN I TOOK SOMETHING OFF BUBBLEGUM AND DIDN'T FIND ANY RUST?) Anyone know what these markings are for? Was my zed abducted by aliens in the mid 80s? My stuffed extractors Lonely exhaust pipe My now clean engine, It is leaking a bit of oil from the oil pan gasket but I plan to reseal it when I do my next oil change Blackness continues without rotors whilst they were off getting machined Also, my dad purchased a NA MX-5 for himself. Absolute bargin he got! (He is looking forward to some Sunday runs up in the Dandenong Ranges where we live! The pop up headlights has really gotten me back to the idea of pop up inspection flap lights for my zed... if I see some cheap and crappy inspection panels I'll continue with this silly little idea haha Bubblegum and the new Miata (Probably call him bouncer due to the blown struts which will be replaced soon) And finally, What do you guys and girls think of pop up headlights on a 240z,260z,280zx etc. I think I might actually do it one day just for a bit of fun. I will have to find somewhere to put the battery and washer fluid but thats pretty easy

Wow just wow. I don't think there is anything I like more then a really clean BLACKKK underside *.*

Gumtree be like "260z 2+2 Project 99% rust free and 99% ready for paint"

Sorry to reboot an oldish thread but I wanted to confirm that on a late 260z the ignition key and door keys were different from factory? If so may I ask why this is the case?

"1x extractors 6-2-1 (can sell with exhaust or by them self) $400" and I'm a pleb 18 year old who is too poor to spend money on extractors, if I find a cheap set I'll get them but until then Mr Blu has me covered

Oh my god, this is gold! xD

I've tried about two custom exhaust shops and 3 or four normal exhaust shops such as Mr muffler etc and the franchise say the same thing, "We can order in an engine pipe for you, I'll just look it up' ....*types on computer* 'pwho they're about 350 bucks mate, I'd look at getting one from pick a part " and the custom exhaust shops say "ah it's off a datsun no? haven't seen one in quite a few years. Unfortunately I can't really help you, have you tried wreckers such as pick a part" And no wreckers have any Dattos, just one completely gutted 160 Patrol. That's what my local engineering place quoted me, would you be willing to part with that beautiful downpipe/engine pipe as it is EXACTLY what I need, even down to that nice bend towards the bottom. Thanks for clearing that all up for me Blu

This is the sorta thing I'm after, any length as long as there is a reasonable amount of space to weld the rest of the exhaust on (Not the whole exhaust but just the part that goes into the manifold)

Yeah I'd be interested as I've asked and they want around 350 for the whole downpipe etc. The car did have extractors which were cracked and to be honest, completely stuffed. I spent alot of time welding them up and ended up warping them. I would get another set however they are quite pricy for a 18 year old on a budget and I managed to get a N36 exhaust manifold off another member for nothing! The main reason for not shelling out for extractors is that as I have an L28 with a P90 head I intend on going cho-cho once I'm off my P-plates and have more experience driving. I'll probably only end up having a fairly low pressure turbo running just a bit more boost then the stock L28ET. Anyway, I'll PM you Mr Blu Thanks all! the list for a RWC is now down to this exhaust and waiting for my front caliper seals to get here!

I've been to around 6 exhaust shops and none of them have them or anything that would work, I've looked at getting one made and they are around $70 by my local fabrication shop.

Hi all, I'm after a flange that would suit the n36 exhaust manifold downpipe. Should look something like this: Thanks! Andrew *EDIT** I am after the actual downpipe and or flange, I have sourced a gasket from an autoparts store

I have a 260z wiring diagram, I'll scan it in and link it here in a few mins.

Hey mate, I had rust there in my 260 and it turned out to be a massive problem (Now sorta fixed) Check out my thread here to see what the issues were. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/13668-definitely-purple-260z/page-5 If it is as bad as mine was I would probably suggest just getting new frame rails. I spent too much time bodging mine up and although it is strong in the eyes of the law it's still modifying your frame. Hopefully it's not too bad however I would strongly suggest taking off your tow points to get a good look

I replaced some of mine with some vinyl tubing and the stuff that I needed to re-shape I just heated up with a lighter and it goes soft, allowing you to move it wherever you please, plus when it cools it stays put!

If I was you I would just get some window sealing tape from your local hardware store (or some sort of adhesive foam tape) It's probably not important but you might as well spend the 4$ to get some foam tape now then get your skin on, the car together and find out your door skin is rattling Andrew

Hi all, I actually took my rotors off today and hopefully I'll be taking them to my brake shop who said they would resurface them for around 40$ for both. I'm also going to get the calipers looked at while I'm there. I did replace the steering coupler bush and I doubt it would be my wheel alignment as it was happening before I replaced my tie rods and replacing them has put my alignment way out and I've roughly got it right. My wheel bearings seem fine, the rotors had no play and they look and feel fine (Amongst the grease) I don't think it is my wheel balance as I've actually changed wheels and the shake followed. I might try putting the stockies on front and see if that changes anything though it was happening with them on before. I haven't actually had my wheel alignment professionally done so I might just do that and ask them about it. Perhaps they would be able to sort it all out. Thanks eveyone EDIT** I think an on-car wheel balance may be the next thing to be done. Even if that isn't the issue the people running the tests may be able to direct me where to go from there.

Hi all. So since I've got my car if has had this shake. It's gotten better and worse depending on road conditions. It is just the steering wheel shaking and it's only really at 70km/h now. I've replaced my tie rods which were absolutely rooted, put in all new front suspension/swaybar bushings and swapped wheels and tires around and still no luck. I have a feeling my brake rotors may be out of whack however when braking the shaking doesn't seem to get better or worse. Any ideas would be super helpful. I'm probably going to get both rotors machined as they're pretty bad currently. Thanks All! Andrew

Yep, I got most of my welds fairly flat (Much flatter then that last picture and I painted on some bitchumen paint which is quite thick and will pretty much make the welds impossible to see (I hope!) and the sealer is currently drying so we will see once it's done!