ND240Z

Well, it's time for an update! Picked up the Z for C.A.R over the weekend, they're done a great job! Overall I'm really happy with how the car is turning out. I ended up purchasing a set of Resurrected Classic doors as the ones I have will not be economical to fix. The doors fit okay but they will need some work. I've also got Resurrected Classics guards too, but to be honest, they don't fit well at all. I've found a set of NOS front guards in the states that i'll probably import instead. Next step is to get the car on my rotisserie and see what happens with the front guards. The paint shop was booked in for the next few weeks, but they may have to be put on hold pending on what happens with the guards. Definitely getting closer though!

Those resurrected classics bolt kits look good.. Have you taken a closer look at the bolt heads to see if they have a different 'look' physically to OEM Datsun stuff? As an example, the fasteners on the top of the front guards have bolt heads that are physically not as tall as other M6 10mm bolts used on a Datsun. (Hence some 240Z's have chipped paint along the edges due to these not being correct)

...and suddenly we're nearly half way through 2024. Where does the time go? Thought I'd chuck a little update on here. The boys down at C.A.R have been hard at work over the last month. How they received my 240z: First step was to get the Firewall all repaired and patched up: Then was to trail fit everything to see how it went: The driver side front inner skirting panel was down around 10mm, so they fixed that too. Chassis rails being prepared to be welded on: All front end panels permanently welded in: There was some rust behind the drivers side bonnet hinge which they repaired: Which brings us to how she sits right now as of the 9th of March: What a job they've done. Motivation for this car went from an all time low to an all time high due to the front of this car being completely straight ready and welded on properly. Obviously the next step is to do the remaining 50% of the car - the rear end. Luckily, this should be relatively straight forward for the boys. All parts that'll be welded on are either NOS or reproduction. I know the Resurrected classics Beaver panel needs some work done to the top slam panel positioning though!

Did not see one Cockatoo when driving through Cockatoo - I want my money back! Also whats with that suburb 'Yea'? lol In my defence, my guide was sleeping most of the time & I was too busy looking in the rear view to make sure the front of the car didn't check out.

I just don't have the time/connections/tools/experience to do what was needed to be done to the Z anymore. I'm sure the boys will do a better job that I could've ever done on it. Pretty keen to put it together though! Honestly I cant remember. Hume hwy until about 3 hours out of Melbourne, then backroads to get to C.A.R

Wrapped up, heading to C.A.R. When the 9:30hr drive turns into 13 hours. Shout out to the tarp for disintegrating itself at 5am in the middle of nowhere. Had to head to bunnings and wait for them to open to get some plastic wrapping to keep it in one piece. 2 x Nice E-type mate! 1 x Is that a Porsche Carrera? (Took as compliment..?) Waze also decided to take us through some of the best driving roads i've ever been on - Would of been good in the S15/any other car but car trailer/ute!! The Z's best driving experience in over 3 decades lol. Arrived to C.A.R and up she goes. See you in a while, Z.

Getting closer. Front clip pieces sandblasted. A little crusty on the edges/battery tray area, but overall not too bad at all. As many of you can relate, we all never have enough time. This year, between taking on more higher rolls at work/side business & home life, there just isn't enough hours in the day to get to work on the Z. I've been prioritising my time with my 1.5 y/o daughter more than anything which I have zero regrets about. Because of this, the Z will be going to a quite reputable workshop down near Melbourne on the 1st of Sept to be put together properly. Depending on how long the car is there, it may be painted as well if funds permit at the time. You don't need to take many guesses to know which shop it's going too. Super excited & Super nervous - hoping all the NOS and replacement panels make the job a little easier for them. I'm really looking forward to putting the car back together. I've still never driven or been in a finished Z before, for the final assembly/first drive will be special. Somewhere in a parallel universe...

Resurrected Classics rear hatch acquired. Thanks to Lachlan F for organising another group buy. Overall, not too bad. Has some ripples around the edges, and mine came with a dent on the back edge, but otherwise okay! Mounting bracket holes were not in the right places though. Who bumped the jig?! Is it time to apply these permanently yet?

Got a start on preparing the front clip for sandblasting and repairing today - Drivers side was the start. Rough cut to get the old chassis rails off. Unearthing all the hidden surface rust - something to note, the Chassis rails seemed to be significantly heavier than the 240z versions. Possible heavier gauge? Only took about 2 hours to get the old chassis rail off as gently as I could. The KF vintage rail lined up perfectly with the existing engine crossmember bolt holes.. But something else seems to be happening. In this position, the new Chassis rails are hard up against the firewall (where they are supposed to be) The guard to door gap is not too bad, and the guard holes to front skirting panel area mounting points are nearly centred. Which indicates to me that the front clip/chassis rail is in the right position somewhat. (All panels are only mocked up at the moment, but bare with me) Now, i'm finding that there is a 10mm~ gap between the firewall and the surround skirting panel. This should be flush to the firewall like how the chassis rails are. I'm scratching my head over what could possible be wrong in this situation. If the chassis rail is too far backwards, and if it were modified to go forward for the skirting panel to be pushed back flush against the firewall, then the door to guard gap would not existing anymore. This gap also seems to be too big going off existing photos of non-crashed Z's. It's like the clip needs to move back 10mm, but the chassis rails and guard doesn't. Are the engine crossmember holes in the chassis rails in the wrong position? Do the door hinges need to be adjusted back? (Still unadjusted from factory) Quiet a strange one!

Facebook is mostly crap - But it can be a useful tool for stuff like that. Resurrected classics front guards came in - Thanks Lachlan F for organising these. At a glace, they look pretty decent - especially for the price tag. There needs to be a little trimming around the edges, some holes to be drilled. But overall they seem to be a good replacement panel. The only semi-issue is that the tops of the guards have quiet a few ripples in them from pressing. Gaps look funky because nothing is bolted on or lined up. Going to now make a start on getting the front clip ready for blasting.

The rarest parts that I've acquired for my Z were all found via WTB ad's on various Datsun 240z parts pages on Facebook - most times it fails. But sometimes you can get lucky. It is never cheap though. Awaiting Front guards and hatch. Resurrected classics rear bever panel lines up pretty good.

Well that explains that then! With these parts comes a whole new batch of motivation. Removed these two parts that came on the R/H side quarter panel. And as always, bare metal on metal parts without any primer. No wonder why these cars died to quickly. I won't be using these parts. Message me if you need them. Once trimming was complete, I put the quarter on for a quick mock up.. and for the first time in what seems like along time - It now resembles a 240z again! (well, somewhat)

Had to trade some of my NOS parts + Cash his way. Got quiet frustrating at times because the seller wouldn't reply to messages for weeks at a time. But it's done now, and they're here. I couldn't be happier. They are US spec quarters, so the indicator hole needs to be filled in. The drivers side could be early 260z 2 seater - There is a few extra holes around the bumper area which will need to be filled in. Factory rust. This is the behind the 260z quarter where the extra bracing/holes are. I won't be using these brackets behind here anyways. I also picked up a pair of lightly used rear tail lamps. They're immaculate and could come off as New old stock. NOS Front headlight buckets/scoops Replacement centre console. Mine was snapped, picked up this very nice piece. Pool noodles done a great job protecting it during shipping lol Very happy about them! (clearly) I've got a pair of Resurrected classics front guards and hatch coming. I do need to still get a bonnet, there is a NOS piece available but the seller doesn't like responding to messages often! whats with that? Then the only thing left will be doors. I do have a pair of them now, but they need work (2 skins). I would much prefer to get a set of perfect second hand doors, or possibly some NOS pieces - but I don't think that will happen. Maybe I should just put skins on the frames I have already. Not sure.

Nice progress on the Z mate. Doesn't look too too bad!

It's basically like one big puzzle. Every piece needs one another to fit perfectly. I do believe the order of the welded parts from factory goes: Sill panels, Rear quarters, then roof skin last. But to make sure the sill panels are in the right position, the doors need to be in the right position... and to make sure they're correct, front guards need to be on etc. If all is done correctly and with care, all panels should line up nearly perfect. Had my roof skin carefully blasted, came up really nice. The blaster applied a translucent coating to stop rusting until it the car gets re-blasted in the future. The black dots on the skin are just excess of this liquid. Because the roof skin was very old, and sitting in a damp container for two decades - it had a small amount of pitting. I do believe hi-fill primer will sort this out though. Overall really happy with how it came back. After many months of going back and forward with the seller, i managed to buy some new old stock rear quarter panels. These will be such a nice addition to the build, and will match the NOS roof skin really well. They're currently in transit for another 2 months (sea freight). They're US spec, so will need to get rid of those rear market light holes. Cannot wait until they're here. Seems like the build is getting closer and closer now.

Found some pretty decent series 2 hub caps. Cleaned them up and Ceramic coated them. Had some NOS Centre Z caps ready to go onto them, just need to get some of the circlips to hold them in place. New on the left, old on the right. Never knew how metallic the centre red gel part is. Not bad for being over 50 years old, they're not in NOS condition, but definitely a solid 9/10 which will be fine for me. S30 World had promotion for Free shipping for their handbrake cables, couldn't resist that. Had some time over christmas to do a minor rust spot. LH Front sill area. I repaired the inner piece and cut the outter rusty piece out like a year ago and was just waiting for a time to do it. Still needing rear 1/4 panels before any major welding can take place.

I used a Dulux Satin black, worked very well. I did try to polish them first, but all of the bezels had slight scratches and marks that only abit of fine sandpaper removed. If your bezels were perfectly smooth, polish would work - mine weren't!

Got the front end off completely intact. Sat it onto the front of the Z today - slid straight on without much hassle. I've cut the supports for the transport jig but I ran out of time today to make sure they are at the right height. I'll have to confirm this before I weld them all together. Overall pretty happy with how it fits, now I can finally get to doing that firewall patch/drivers kick board area. Received my restored dash back. Had to trial fit the NOS Stereo surround and the factory AM radio. Looks very nice, would like to find that NOS map light area next - I've still got the old ones but the plastic "Push" button has snapped in two. I started to restore the dash gauges, starting with RPM. Pulled it apart, thoroughly cleaned the lens and tachometer and painted the surround in Satin black. Very happy with the results - was worried the black wasn't going to be correct, but it came out perfect. Have already started doing the other 4 gauges now the same way. Before: After:

Thanks for the kind words guys. It'll get there, I just hate progress staling! But a bit of luck happened today. Picked up this very early 74' 260z for parts and cuts today. From the firewall back, the car has a fair bit of rust but still some good bits on it. But the cream of the crop was the front end which I so dearly needed for my build. Passenger side was very good with the only issues being some rust under the battery tray as they all do. Chassis rail seems solid but once I carefully remove the clip, I will check the internals from the exposed end. The drivers side is still overall very solid but the chassis rail has rusted out near the firewall and will need to be replaced. (Already have a pair of KFvintage rails on hand). There is also some slight rust around the interior air guide panel where the bonnet hinge bolts too, this doesn't seem to have gone through the actual air guide part, so i think this could be repaired without having to remove it, but we shall see. Some radiator support pieces are rusty too but I have a full set of good KFvintage/original pieces that can go in without issues here. Overall I'm really happy with this purchase. If anybody is interested in buying the rest of the 260z when I'm done with it (Firewall back) feel free to message me.

I ordered it all through Amayama.com. Blasphemy! Here you go mate, sorry for the delay. Not sure why there is so much of a gap around the edges. Maybe that was filled with lead from the factory, but it just seems like alot. I really need to restart progress on the Z. Life gets in the way too easily and it's definitely a bit of struggle not being able to make too much noise when you've got an 8 month old that goes to bed early. I really wish the body wasn't as bad as it was, It does get a little disheartening whenever somebody see's this Z in person or in photos and they remark "Why would you bother?". So I just hope in the end its worth it, but I also need to remind myself that I've only started working on this car since July last year and restorations can take up to the better part of a decade. Nearly all the bolt-on parts are restored - so when I get a painted 240Z back, I can't imagine it will take me long for it to be on the road afterwards. //rant over. At least this other Nissan gets me through those cravings to drive something exciting.

Great work on the repairs @C.A.R. Red is soo gorgeous on a Z!

Pretty decent order from Nissan came in. Consisted of various bushes, suspension gear, wheel/diff bearings, nuts, bolts, badges etc. Putting together the rear suspension struts was very fun. (This was before the wheel studs came in) I also had a go at "Cold Bluing" the steering column components. I think this was how it was done from the factory, someone correct me if i'm wrong. Came up pretty good. Sandblasted, cleaned, cleaned again, waited until it was 100% dry and simply rubbed the stuff on and washed it off under cold water. Pretty cool stuff! It's very hard to get a proper photo of how it turned out, but it came out pretty good.

You can do it man, dont give up! My Z is much, much worse than yours and i'm slaving away at it. You'll get there!

Finally went and picked up the remaining parts from paint. The Satin black really looks great. I still have to paint the inner barrel of the TOPY wheels silver, but thats easy enough. I also need to find a proper date matching set too, but these will do until i can find four 11/72's to match the car's spare. Put the seat rails on the seat bases, and bolted the seat backs onto it too. Really happy with how these came out. I've also got new foam inserts for them, just need to purchase the actual black seat covers now and find a suitable replacement knob for the rail slider lever. I've had a pair of 'decent' 240Z doors for awhile now, one had damage (looks like wind took it and swung it open at 125km/h). I heated it up the damaged area and door frame, bent it back into shape ready for the skin to come off. The doors looked very solid and rust free... Until I removed the skin. This skin was going to come off anyways so that doesn't matter. But the drivers side door is completely intact with a slight rust patch needed on the bottom (probably 5cmx5cm in size). I'm thinking now that i'll also take that skin off too and blast the bare door shells. Only issue is that the only door skin replacements on the market (rare spares) i'm told fit like crap. So not sure what to do here as I want panel gaps to be +/-1mm perfect. Even if i did find completely mint 240z doors, i'm worried they'll be the exact same under the skins. This car will never leave my possession, so I really only want to do this once.

Great progress mate. Might be worth your while to get a whole rear beaver panel from resurrected classics - especially if you're doing slam panel/rear valence repairs! Also if you haven't bought one of those sound deadening kits yet from the states, i'd be keen to hop on if you wanted to split postage?