grannyknot

Okay, some of these measurements are tough because you are on your knees with your head almost upside down to see them, also there is the curve of the rocker to eyeball. I think you should get these measurements from at least 2 other guys and maybe average them. Here's what I got, red line to yellow line 14 7/8th", yellow line to green line, 5 1/2", red line to the actual hole in the panel where the bumper bolt goes through on a 1972 Z, 9 3/4"

It looks like the fenders lips have been replaced because of rust, very common area to need work. Basically your going to have to strip all the paint and mud off that area to see what you really have, be prepared for the worst because the work that is showing doesn't look like it was done by a craftsman. The replacement panel can be purchased hear by the company that makes them, https://tabcoparts.com/16751.html The roof is the real concern I think, if those hair line rust marks disappear with a few strokes of some 220 grit sand paper then that's great but rust that is just breaking through from the inside of the roof can look like that too. That is a tough area to repair because of the 4-5" lip inside the cab where the headliner tucks into it

It looks like he has cut the quarter panel metal above the body line that runs the length of the car, I'm sure there are others here with a lot more experience than me but I don't see how you will get ZG flares on the rear without removing all that fiber glass, replacing the metal, then just cut the lip off so you will have something there to attach the flares to. ZG flares can go above the bodyline as well but they metal under them.

I previously removed the original prop valve so it might be worth reinstalling it to see what the bias is. I just remembered I have these sitting the shelf, I ordered one from Amazon and about 2 months later a 2nd one showed up. By tapping these in just before the calipers front and rear I could get some hard numbers for the stock prop valve and the Wilwood prop valve.

My fuel gauge is paired with a voltmeter, I think to get it working you would have to install a modern universal fuel level sensor.

LOL I thought it was just me, sometimes it reads correctly sometimes it jumps around. I have tried to reset it a couple of times with no improvement, now I just use the trip odometer.

Not at all Ben, I appreciate the help. I was told by the owner of Silvermine that the kits I chose would be perfect without a prop valve so I didn't bother to hook it up, well I'll install it and see if it helps. The only reason I bought those particular kits was because I was told they were a matched set with perfect bias for the Z. Thanks As Miles says, don't bother. That is the setup I just replaced with the Wilwood setup.

Thanks for catching that Ben, I have fixed the first link, this is the front kit, https://www.silverminemotors.com/datsun/datsun-240z/brake-upgrades/240z-260z-280z-front-wilwood-brake-upgrade-kit I'm using the 15/16" M/C

Thanks for the link Jon, it would be interesting to get that meter and test in a real setting. I'm not sure where you got the idea from but I'm not using the prop valve on the front brakes, I will be using it to decrease braking pressure to the rears as they are locking up before the fronts. I just installed the Silvermine front and rear kits, https://www.silverminemotors.com/datsun/datsun-240z/brake-upgrades/240z-260z-280z-front-wilwood-brake-upgrade-kit and, https://www.silverminemotors.com/datsun/datsun-240z/brake-upgrades/datsun-240z-260z-280z-rear-dual-caliper-wilwood-brake-upgrade-with-dedicated-cable-handbrake-caliper-stock-cable and although I haven't completed the bedding in process yet I can tell the rears are getting too much of the balance. I thought compressed air might not be a good substitute for brake fluid but it's what I had on hand.

I had this proportioning valve on the last brake set up I had and really couldn't tell if it was doing anything so I've done some testing and I think the results might be helpful to others. I hobbled together some fittings that were air tight, Wilwood says this unit will decrease the amount of braking pressure by 50% with the knob turned all the way up to the top of the threads, well I found that 33% was the best I could get from it. The proportioning valve only has a 1000 miles use on it and is very clean inside. I started with 90psi which resulted in 60psi for the rear wheels, with one full turn of the knob CW the pressure came up to 75psi, with one more full turn brought the pressure up to the full 90psi, so all of it's proportioning takes place in the top two turns and there is still 9 more full turns left until the knob bottoms out. So why are those 9 other turns on there? Just to confuse us I guess. So disregard the bottom 9 turns as they do nothing, 33% decrease is more than enough for me to work with. Now compressed air is not brake fluid so I suppose the results might be different, how much? I don't know enough about fluid dynamics to say one way or the other. 3rd pic at 60psi, 4th pic one turn down, 5th pic 2 turns down.

Or, since it is all hidden behind the battery anyway, flatten the bottom edge of the stamped section where you made the cut and just weld it up to your new patch.

There were some wrinkles in the metal in that area from the form press, from the factory, you should be able to see them on the other side. If you feel you have to get rid of them just make sure that with all panels assembled the car sits properly and the gaps between panels are good before you start cutting and welding. If it were me I would cut out the whole area with the folds and replace it with a custom smooth patch.

It's coming along well, are going to use the throttle by wire pedal?

Looks like you have done most of the hard work already, you know your going to kick yourself in a few years. Wish you luck on the sale.

What @ISPKI says, I'm going to bet the bottom of both those rails are pretty far gone. You can replace the bottom with 14-16ga sheet metal and add a bit of strength.

If you are mounting your Z on a rotisserie to do major cutting and replacement metal then a few strategic braces can help but mostly not necessary if you do one rocker at a time then one floor pan at a time before moving to the other side. Definitely remove the glass, the rubber seals will need replacing anyway.

All the more reason to wait a year or two until the bugs have been worked out.

Oh I get it, the concerned look was because I had no drive shaft on at the time so when I put it in gear and let off the clutch it didn't feel like anything happened but it was just because it was free spinning with no load. I backed it out of the garage yesterday to go on my first drive, checked everything over one more time and noticed the other oil cooler line had a fast leak But it's my fault, am using compression fittings to join up the stock cooler aluminum tubes to AN fittings and hose and the compression ring was little too close to a bend in the pipe. So I've ordered a new length of hose so I can make a connection farther up the tube, it's all the little stuff now that's stopping me. The friggn Castrol 10w60 is so expensive I don't want to loose another drop.

Hanging, what do you mean?

It's all working now, here's the clutch test with no exhaust system.

Looks good.

I have never used one but there is a tool designed specifically for removing a door skin, pretty sure it is just a hand tool.

In that case I would drill holes along the bottom of the inside piece and plug weld the skin and inside piece together, with some careful grinding you could save it.

If you unfold it and it doesn't break from the rust then it should be strong enough to be hammered back after removing the rust, just be very careful not to open it more than needed to get it off the inside piece. You don't want to see the results of the bend on the out side of the door.