bfg

Picked up some used wheels and tires. These are 14x7 and the tires don't look all that bad. They were definitely never rotated though. I'm hoping they'll fill out a bit better than the 14x5.5 and 14x6 rims I have. Anyone know anything about these steel inserts in the bolt holes?

Got the driver side front all buttoned up aside from the small brake hard line that I stripped. The sway bar end links seemed to be too short but I found a solution by compressing everything minus one urethane peice, then clamping it together while backing out the nut and adding in the last urethane piece. I got the passenger side wheel well stripped and painted but neglected to take a picture. I finished painting at 11:30pm and had to leave for work at 5:00am. I was able to get the rear strut towers cleaned and painted. These are the only pieces I haven't sandblasted. They would have been a bit cumbersome to get into work and they were filthy, I wouldn't feel right contaminating our model shop with them. The KBS system to clean and neutralize the rust worked well though. Me and my dad went to the paint and auto parts store he used to go to when he was younger. Him and his brothers and father were big into painting cars back then which is awesome. We ended up walking out with a new paint gun and a couple sample colors! At the moment I think I like the Dark Blue Metallic one the best. We might try a darker version of the Green-Blue metallic before we make a final decision. Next weekend I should have the front completely assembled and most of the rear as well. Edit: I forgot to mention I was finally able to change the trans fluid and topped off the diff fluid. There was evidence the rear pinion seal of the diff was leaking so I was worried I was driving on a dry diff last summer.luckily that wasn't the case. The stuff that came out of the trans was pretty gross. I'm glad that's been taken care of.

+1 for kia sportage seals

Check out these before and after beauties:

Got my spindle pins out! I only needed a lug nut and a couple hammers too! Both pins were out in under 30 minutes

So the past couple weeks have been really busy. I've been taking all my parts to work for sandblasting, as you guys know, and I finally got all of the front end and some of the rear end parts done. I managed to get them all painted too. My schedule for the last week and a half consisted of going to work early, painting a first coat, second coat during lunch, and staying late to do a final coat. And thus here are the fruits of my labor: I still have most of the rear end to do but I'm very happy with how well the KBS RustSeal and BlackTop have worked. It looks and feels very durable and the finish quality is fantastic for being brushed on. The next order of business was to tackle the wheel well. In all reality I could have gotten away with just leaving it but there were a few places where the undercoating had cracked and rust was starting to form. I figured while I had all the suspension out it would be worth it to clean them up. And then painted: The excitement could not have been contained when reassembly began. It really is wonderful seeing things being put together rather than dismantled or broken. The front end received ALL NEW bushings, bearings/races, struts, springs, sway bar, ball joints, tie rod ends, stainless brake lines, and hardware. Before: And after: I had before and afters of other parts but the pics didn't come out so great. The new sway bar is mounted but the link bolts it came with are too short so I'll need to order some new ones. My next hurtle is going to be patching the battery tray area. I made an attempt to do that this weekend as well but in order to avoid embarrassment I won't be posting any pictures. I'll also be tackling the spindle pins at some point soon. If anyone has a puller they'd be willing to let me borrow please let me know!

Sorry I should have been a little more clear. That link is not my write up. On mine I was able to take the 240z horn mechanism bits and switch it out with the 280z parts. My only problem now is that the foam horn button doesn't fit.

http://dailydatsun.com/2013/04/20/240z-steering-wheel-on-a-280z-while-keeping-the-horn-pad/ This should help. I also put a 240z steering wheel on my 280. I had all the horn button pieces from both wheels so I could just swap the parts without modification though. It will need modification to get the horn pad on though.

Watch out for those razor blades How did the manifold install go?

My '75 has it too. About 3/8" thick steel rectangle with two corners cut off. I took it off to clean up some stuff and now I'm debating if I want to put it back on. I'm curious to see if anyone else knows its purpose.

I have the tail light and the LH/RH valances as well. No center section though.

Did you ever figure out the proper threading or if cleaning them up worked out?

This site was posted a while ago on here I believe: http://www.jefflilly.com/fabrication/# lots of good info

Some more parts came in: So now it's a waiting game until I can get back up to Maine to work on her. I've sand blasted a few more parts like the mustache bar and uprights. I still need to disassemble the strut assemblies. Once those are apart I can sand blast those and paint everything with the paint I just ordered. I have new KYB struts for the time being that will replace the 4 blown struts I currently have. After that It should be fun reassembling everything. I also have a gas tank restoration kit on the way and that should complete everything I need for reassembly (minus a few trips to the hardware store and parts store.) Heres a pic of my driver side headlight bucket I restored. Sandblasted, painted, and new hardware all around. I also tried making one of the FairladyZ emblems. I would say it was a success: This one was done somewhat in a rush and I did all of 10 minutes worth of sanding and polishing to get the general Idea of what it would look like cleaned up. I have more casting sand being delivered so that should give me slightly better results if I take some more time prepping the mold. Might be a couple weeks before anything gets done to the car. I'll have more emblem casting updates sooner. Also: I'm trying out some laser cut files for my dashboard emblem.

Yep! I wanted the measurements mostly for pin location. I already had the mold made before I got them so this emblem is a little bit oversized but the pins will be mounted later. Thanks again for those images.

Heres the first attempt. I'm very happy with how it came out. I didn't spend too much time cleaning it up so it could use some more sanding and buffing. I'll be ordering more casting sand soon so i can do a few more tries.

I believe morbias is correct. I had the same one on my car:

Indeed I am.

SEM Rust Sheild, KBS Rust Seal + KBS blacktop, POR 15, and a few others are what I have found. I'm about to clean up my underbody and have been researching what to use. I don't know much about galvanneal but if POR 15 won't work on it the others might. I'm leaning towards the KBS products myself. I've heard good and bad things about all of these options but maybe somebody else can give some input.

That would be great! I'm going to get a tank restoration kit for mine and attempt to at least clean it out. If yours isn't dented I'll definitely take it. My tank might be savable but it's still dented to shit on the outside.

PM sent

Looking for a pair of the sockets that fit into the 240z style turn signals. preferably with the wires and connectors attached. I have one I can take a picture of if you need reference to what I'm talking about. I need both because the sockets are rusted out on the ones I have. Thanks

I was able to pull more stuff to get sand blasted. I'll have more pics on the way soon. In the mean time heres an update on the emblems: And take a look at the inside of my gas tank: No wonder I was going through fuel filters every couple weeks! I'm hoping it's salvageable. Theres still some bare metal in there If not I'm gonna have to look at some alternatives. I've heard camaro tanks sometimes work. From what I've seen it requires a bit of fab work. I'd like the fabrication to be as minimal as possible so I can focus on other things. I also found this tank but lost the link it was from. Looks like it could work: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/GT00/F12B/02539.oap?year=1990&make=Ford&model=Mustang&vi=1133985&ck=Search_02539_1133985_4503&pt=02539&ppt=C0025 More to come.

Heres an example: I had my original hood release knob cast into a mold. The knob you see on the left is a reproduction in a very durable black plastic. the aluminum one on the right is a casting I made of the one on the left. Edit: Just talked to the casting guy at my work. He's going to talk to a vender about which plastic was used. He also mentioned I might get a better price if I were to send it out to get casted. I like the idea of plastic emblems. They would be lighter but still retain the original look.

They're very brittle. I've never tested them in outdoor conditions but I don't think the 3D printed material is intended for any use like that. Even if it was I wouldn't be able to print more than the one I have now. The company I work for only does printing for projects within the company. I couldn't go to them and say "I want 20 of these". These two badges were under the table essentially. However, there is opportunity to make a rubber mold and cast them in a more durable plastic. I'd have to do some research but it would be possible get them in plastic.