mspecr

Brake and fuel lines. Using the old lines as templates helped with majority of the work, however using a different brake and clutch masters changed all that. The lines used for the brakes is seamless 3/16" stainless which the ends where double flared - apparently this is a ADR requirement so I was told, with M10 x 1mm nuts, 6mm P clips where used in the engine bay to hold them in place and OEM mounts ( anyone know where to get new rubbers ) along the tunnel. Fuel lines are 3/8" aluminium, same deal double flare to suit 37' AN fittings. I originally started with bending up 1/2" alu tube thou ran into issues with them not being able to fit in the existing holders in the tunnel and I didn't have a proper bender for 1/2 pipe :s, for the time being this will do, can always upgrade later or just use a dead end system using both lines. At the rear the fuel lines where set shorter instead of passing over the diff, on the std diff mount they pass fine however on the TTT brace and with a diff cover makes it sit closer to the frame rail which clashed so they finished just under one of the compartment box's.

Dry fit . Plonk in my spare rb block and temp mounted the intake and exhaust manifolds using a borrowed set of cx racing mounts. The rb box is a lot fatter as others have mentioned and will require to shave the original gearbox mounts to make clearance. Forcing the box in like what we did will just pinch it and force the box to point towards the drivers side which wont help drive line angles, but seeing it all makes so much more easier to iron out the issues. Other things like strut bars (which clash :/ ), plumbing, fuel regulator mountings, catch cans, heater and AC penetrations. are easily figured out.

The guys from Precision just started uploading install guides of their weather seal products for 240 260 280.. not that I'm endorsing or anything just a video is a lot easier to follow https://www.youtube.com/user/Precision194/search?query=260z

Cowl area . #2 Upper cowl panel welded back in. Didn't have too much dramas surprisingly, clamped it down and work from the middle out. The steering area was just a tad out but a quick belt made it work. Now to figure out how to coat the welds from the inside... Radiator Support #2 New rad came in and it was just too nice to trim the sides of it.. so I chopped up some 75 shs. (kinda over kill ) to use as a notches,reason being they have a nice radius inner corner plus its thick to put some serious heat into them. After notching the rails, I used a jack to hold the rad in place, here I just eye balled at what height it had to sit at making sure the filler neck was bellow the rad / bonnet seal bump. The radiator lower bracket itself is some 3 mm alu L shape (65 EA), its a tad bit short after making 40 mm holes for the radiator insulating rubber to go though. Being a temp bracket things like allowances for thermal fans will come into play but for now it will do till I find some bigger L.

Ahh man I feel for you hey... Sorry to hear.

Dash Flocking Today I picked up the dash, It was done quite some time ago thou I just didn't get the chance too grab it. All I can say it came out mint !!!! The gents at H-tek done a fab job and was well priced i reckon. Now, I'm stuck in a delimma with the metal frame of the dash... I have 1 black powder coated, 1 re zinced, and the stock one that was used during the flocking... dont ask how i managed to get more dashs then what I need.. : / they where experiments but I'm leaning towards the black powder coated version, found it less " rattly " plus it looks better. Offset of this is I prob's damage the newly flocked dash by removing the inner shell... :s All i know it is actually hard to get a decent shot of this dash under different light, pictures don't do it justice, I have decided to get the rest of the plastic trims / garnish panels flocked as well.

Its taken a long time to get it to this state that's for sure, and still a longer way to go Dress code. Getting the shell back I just had to get the doors and panels hanging off her, here we found some issues like the front head light cones where pinching the bonnet, and the drivers side fender tip was over lapping the door a fair bit, I did spend a fair few hours on this trying to get it as best i could, how ever they will require attention, other then that i was nice to see its overall shape. The nose pinching was helped using one of the rams off the rotisserie. Radiator support After blasting we found some small holes in the lower corners of the radiator support, easy fix however it came to me I needed to start looking at radiators.. Using a old R33 skyline rad i had laying around i used that as template simply as it has the outlets on the same side and there sized for an RB. The rad is just a fraction to large to fit between the rails normally, massaging the side of the rad make it slip in perfectly, using this rad filled in the entire front which now makes me wonder if I should enlarge the opening. Doing this helps as cutting out metal is a lot easier then installing new metal back in. New rad has been ordered so once that gets here I will finalize where I'm going with this. Cowl area Welded some thick sheet metal to replicate the stiffener panel that was removed prior fixing the rust under the dash. New seam sealer was used to go over the areas that the blasting took out and POR 15 was brushed on everywhere. I probs went overboard with the coatings, thou I wont ever go back into here ever again after welding the top cowl lid back in.

Blasting Part 2. Picked her up today from the blasters, feels good to have her back. Over all she came out pretty good, only small pin holes here and there. The only biggest issue was that rear drivers side 1/4 panel around the tail lights, that was belted in at some point which i sorta expected considering how much bog that panel had originally. I started calling around a few painters to get some idea on the timeframe / cost for final panel and paint, The colour I'm going with is from Hyundai ( I know.. I know...) code S2G - Matte Grey Pearl, you find these on the Veloster Turbo models, with the polished stainless trim should make it quite a clean look.

Tail Light plugs. After many hours of searching I was never able to really find a definitive answer in finding replacement bulb holders for the 260z tail lights. However if you have a stab in the dark you might actually hit something. So if you have a twist lock bulb socket that looks like the one below these are it. Fitment is perfect with a solid locking detent, the only option was a pigtail type which is basically wires on the end. I do wish they where a tad bit longer but they will suffice. Wires are 105' deg rated 20 AWG, or .5 mm2 area and average 160mm long from the back of the plug. The globe itself sits in the same height with only the rear end being about 10mm shorter then original, No real dust seal that i can see thou with a tight fitment this shouldn't really be a issue. Website : http://www.autolumination.com/ Part No : 1156 - Plastic Ba15s Single Circuit Part No : 1157 - Plastic Ba15d Duel Circuit Notes : Pricing for shipping is expensive from this place... However the range is huge, plus they have wedge type twist locks too which can be interesting to use. Qty to do both tail lights. x6 : 1156 - Plastic Ba15s Single Circuit x2 : 1157 - Plastic Ba15d Duel Circuit

Inspection Light A while ago i tore apart the inspection light and got the housing zinc'ed. New wiring, switch and lens were installed for this little beast. Pretty straight forward not much to really explain, only heads up is to pass the cable through the end lid first,then install your spring, bakelite washer then solder the tab..... don't ask why. Negative is soldered onto the J hook and your positive is the solder tab which is your base of the globe holder, here a piece of heatshink is used to tie the cable to the J hook to help support it when pulling it out. At the other end your extension (speaker cable) the positive has to go to one side of the switch, this is not polarized so either tab will do. The other tab of the switch will be your feed or main supply in which was some red 1.5mm cable i had laying around. Heat shrink the ends for a pro look. Negative of the extension cable has to be soldered to a small clip thats folded over on the main housing. Pass your main feed through the hole in the base of the housing and rubber grommet it. Coil your extension wire into the housing and your set. Parts: Switch Part No : ST0570 ( Jaycar ) Lens : 26oz (ebay user). http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/302203728479?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Wiring : speaker cable, unknown just what i had laying around. Possible upgrades later: LED globe. Waterproof rubber grommet for the switch.

Blasting Today I picked up the rest of the bolt on panels, I was surprised with how little damage over all considering how much work I had to do originally, I was expecting more. The cowl panel had 1 pin hole, bonnet has one section about the size of a 50c piece and pitting around the vents, the lower valiance / indicator mountings was belted hard. The rear hatch turned out great with only minor surface pitting around the lock and emblem area, other then that very minor dents here and there but overall I was pleased with the outcome. The shell should be done by next week hopefully, then things will start getting interesting with temp fitting of new fuel / brake lines and engine / gearbox placement.

Pedal box, Started to run out of room, and this was easy one to assemble. 2 bolts, 2 star washers, 2 plastic bushes, 2 metal sleeves, 2 rubber stops, 1 brake switch , 2 springs and 2 plastic spring locator bushes. Clean out the threads of excess powder coat. Grease up the metal sleeves and bushes and install. Install tension springs, Install stops and brake switch. Final adjustment will come later for final pedal heights.

1/4 windows ( cont ) The frames where cleaned outed and buffed, however the inside of the frames where not to my liking, so a quick lick of satin black to help hide the unsightly welds from the mounting tabs. The glass itself was cleaned up using wd40, windex and a medium coarse steel wool. Installing the 1/4 glass was a lot easier using ample amounts of dish washing liquid, the only hardest part i found was trying to get the new seals to match the corners of the seal to the frame itself. After cleaning the frame down with water to remove all the washing detergent, I used contact adhesive to apply to the frame to the outer seal, masking tape was used to help hold the foam down while it cured, don't forget to install your corner trim / garnish.

Dash. Being alone in a empty garage i turned my attention to my dash, like most unrestored dashes these days mine had cracks just the same. First thing was too open up the cracks so they are level with the surrounding surface, I used a die grinder with a pine cone, overkill for this but worked perfectly at carving up the old foam. Next was to place some tape on the inside of the cracks that penetrated all the way through, this stops the expanding foam from filling the areas where there not needed. Apply expanding foam, using a a paddle pop stick i would smear the foam onto the walls to help it adhere, sit and wait for a hour or so till its cured. Once cured, quick lick with 120 on a orbital sander to remove excess foam, normal body filler was used to fill the small holes in the foam, this was repeated until I was happy with the overall shape and con tore of the dash. Block sanded / feather coat and more sanding till i was up to around 600 grit, a final lick of high build primer and a last block to get it smooth. Here on i drove it out to a mob out in Kelmscott, H-Tek Ultimate Coating, here we are going to get the dash flocked in black. Turns out he would also repair a cracked dash prior to flocking. ........ ... .. ... sigh. Last pics is another client's dash that was just flocked in charcoal. Rear Lights. While I was waiting for the foam to set i started attacking the rear lights, my lens where dull as you would expect for sitting around for so long, so a bit of wet sanding and going through the finer grades followed by a buffing wheel made them good as gold. I even removed the factory casting identification as polish would just get caught in the nooks and crannies of the lettering.

Yay back into it So she been booked in for blasting, where I thought I was ready ended up 2 weeks of long nights in the garage, something always popped up and being somewhat ocd it had to be done. Having a chat to the blaster they suggested to remove the majority of the under body deadener (something i dreaded doing in the first place) mainly as they worked on a hourly basis and is a lot cheaper in the long run. So some of the works done where: Welding un used holes in the firewall / engine bay area. Re adjusting the A pillar again to match the corner where the windshield sits. Removed rear antenna hole. Finish welding the rear passenger 3/4 panel for good. Remove under body deadener Install and mod the Bad Dog Frame rails. Stich weld gearbox and diff support brackets. General grind down of forget welds. I was going to install the rails after a blasting, however since I was removing the deadner anyways I ended up doing it. Worth mentioning you have to mod the ends of the rails that connect to the rear frame to clear the sway bar. 260 yes. not sure of this was a case for a 240.