A to Z

5-19-2022 UPDATE: Ok, more brakes. I pulled the drums, took them down to O'Reilly's, and had them turned....2 passes. They normally turn them 2 mils down, I requested 4 mils. And....a day or two ago, I went ahead and decided to replace the cheapo pads, with Centric Semi metallic pads front and rear....as well as a new Drum spring kit for both sides. More to follow.

hehe, yeah!

5-16-2022 UPDATE: So I went ahead and disassembled both rear drums, and installed a new wheel cylinder on each side, along with the new lines I got from the Z Depot. My originals were the high dollar, first generation wheel cylinders that cost a fortune, so I bought the lines for a later Z car and bought the wheel cylinders to match. Everything seemed fine, but the drums won't turn, even with the adjusters backed all the way off, nothing. I had to pound the drums on....that should have been my clue, but I for some reason thought once they were on, they would then work.....stupid me. I will have to pull the drums later and possibly sand down the brake shoes a tad to get it to spin. I haven't bled the brakes yet, so they cylinders are still dry. I am using the exact same shoes, everything....they were HARD to get off, but they spun freely.....Anyway, I then went ahead and changed out my front calipers. Dirty job today. PICS BELOW:

5-15-2022 UPDATE: After work, I took the time to paint my drums with some 1200 degree high temp paint. Should be ready to go for tomorrow!

I have a 1 to 1.5 inch gap, so no worries.....it will be cosmetic.

Interesting info to put on here for future use by someone searching for it. Wheel spacers on a 240Z. Spacers for the 240Z have a bore hole diameter equal to the raised portion on the rear axle when the drum is removed, which is 2 5/8" in diameter or 66.675 mm. The front hub is 2 7/8" or 73mm in diameter. To put a front spacer on, the bore hole in the center of the spacer has to be milled out to clear the snout and sit flush on the hub surface. So, we are 6.325 mm or 1/4" of difference in bore diameter. This means that the outer diameter of the bore will go outward 1/8" all the way around. This is important, in determining if the hole can be bored out to work with the metal between the spacer hole and the holes for the studs not being too thin to be safely used. Click on link below first drawing to see and think about.

Interesting info to put on here for future use by someone searching for it. Wheel spacers on a 240Z. Spacers for the 240Z have a bore hole diameter equal to the raised portion on the rear axle when the drum is removed, which is 2 5/8" in diameter or 66.675 mm. The front hub is 2 7/8" or 73mm in diameter. To put a front spacer on, the bore hole in the center of the spacer has to be milled out to clear the snout and sit flush on the hub surface. So, we are 6.325 mm or 1/4" of difference in bore diameter. This means that the outer diameter of the bore will go outward 1/8" all the way around. This is important, in determining if the hole can be bored out to work with the metal between the spacer hole and the holes for the studs not being too thin to be safely used. Click on link below first drawing to see and think about.

yes.

5-13-2022 UPDATE: I went out for a few hours today, and steel wool 'ed and scrubbed the K member and steering rack area with some brake cleaner. I then tried the RAYHONG paint I decided to try. Well, I was expecting a decent size can, and I got a can that is small, just fits in the palm of my hand. You buy 2 and get 3.....good thing. I tried brushing it on in a couple spots.....it is SUPPOSED to turn to a black coating in about 20 minutes.....an hour later it was still white (see pics). After that, I went ahead and took a wire wheel in my drill to the rear drums, and removed the paint on them. Since they are aluminum, there is no need to paint them is there? If I do, it would have to be a high heat paint I think. I also painted the rails and floorboards black. I also ordered some fender flares....they came in and I held them up there and it looks like I will be able to put them on low enough to take up the gap between the top of the tire and fender lips....and I won't have to cut the stock lips off! I will have to get some wheel spacers to push the wheels out a little bit to make it look right (I sure hope it doesn't look weird from the rear with them out about 1.5" on each wheel. 1" in the front. Here are a couple pics. Click on this link: Universal Fender Flares Flexible/Durable Black Fenders Polyurethane For Auto Car | eBay

Thanks. EVERYTHING is subject to change I think.

5-9-2022 UPDATE. Ok, so I assembled the rear bumper and installed it. I then laid down and sanded up the area under the bumper, The "rear valence" ?....at any rate, it just needed to be redone, so I sanded it all up, and then masked it off, wiped it down with denatured alcohol, and touched up the areas needed with White, and then several coats of clear enamel. Here are some pics.

5-8-2022 UPDATE: I got the headlights back in and put on my new front bumper. I bought a new front and rear bumper from "Hung Vu". Starting to come around, huh?

5-6-2022 UPDATE: I got the clear on the nose today. 2 weeks to harden, then color sand and buff.

Thanks. Wow, I hope so!

Thanks. Good to hear for you.

5-2-2022 UPDATE: Ok, so I continued the work on the paintjob, sanding the dirt and orange peel out of the clear coat using my orbital sander and 2000 grit sandpaper. I worked on finishing the hood, the cowl panel, and the tops of both fenders. Some spots I went through trying to sand out all those runs. I worked and worked on it until I got it smooth, but decided to go ahead and mask off the nose of the hood and the headlight buckets, and the front spoiler and re-shoot them. Lessons are being learned the hard way....but persistence pays off. The clear I shot turned yellow from being so thick. You will see that I folded the newspapers over where I re-shot the paint. This avoids there being a line that you have to try and sand out. I will have to do a final buff on the clear, but I am getting the shine I was hoping for. I also went back and sanded out the drips on the oil pan and re painted it. It looks better in person than the pics, but it is now good. Once dry I will move on under there, and finish getting everything painted and cleaned up. With this project it appears to be 2 steps forward and one step back. I hope you like the pictures.

4-25-2022 UPDATE: I went ahead and used an old toothbrush and some cans of brake cleaner to get the oil pan area cleaned off, and then masked off the area, and painted the oil pan area with the Duplicolor "Old Ford Blue" I used on the block. Painting upside down brought a lot of drips....so once dry I will scuff the drip areas and touch that up. I then took the sealer I bought that is made by Loctite and sealed the rails, and the other spots I found in the subframe. a small screwdriver to clean them out and then fill the void with the sealer. After that, I started doing a bit more color sanding on the body, this time the headlight buckets and hood. Yep....there will be spots I have to spot paint, but the majority is coming out pretty good. The last pic is a circle area, that I put some pure carnauba wax on (Meguires Gold Paste). It is so smooth! Here are some pics and a video! 10.MOV

4-13-2022 UPDATE: Welding Day. The mobile welder came over, and we spent many hours welding up the rails and getting them to where I could live with the job. While he was working I went ahead and started figuring out how to color sand my clear coat, and all those runs are TOUGH to smooth out! So, it's a learning process yet again. At any rate, I have attached 2 video's. Cheers. V1.MOV V2.MOV

Hehe, thanks Ken.

4-11-2022 UPDATE: So, today I went out to the garage and cut all the patches I needed for the rails etc. I then fitted them and had to "educate" some with a hammer....if you have never tried to bend 16 ga. steel with 2 pliers, let me tell you....it ain't easy! I then painted the sides that would be in the holes, and then mounted them up in place with duct tape, oh, I had to grind the paint off the rail pieces so the welder will have clean metal to weld to. I managed to find a welder and he will be over in 2 days, can't wait! Once that is done and they are painted, the value of my car will go WAY up! So, at any rate, good day, here are some pics.

4-4-2022 UPDATE: So, I went ahead and finished removing the remnants of the left/driver's side rail under the floorboards, and then grinded up the mating surface really good. Then I went and cut out the rusty parts of the rails on the sides. After that I went ahead and used my Dremel with grinding wheels, and my new rope twisted wire wheel attachment in my electric drill, and cleaned up inside the rails and got it all wiped out. I then painted inside there with Rustoleum Rust converter. I used my new wire wheel attachment, and removed the undercoating that was in the way of the rails, so there would be plenty of clean metal to weld the rails on. I was then able to hold the rails up and used a sharpie to mark around them, and then was able to mask that off and paint the portion that is inside the rail with some 2 part Paint/Primer in one - satin black from Rustoleum. I removed the masking tape and let it dry. I also found that I needed to cut down one rail, so I cut it down and cleaned up the edge and then went ahead and sprayed the same black paint on the inside surfaces of the rails. At that point, I used my die grinder to do some final cleaning up of the mating surfaces, and then closed out the day taking measurements and drawing out the patterns on a sheet of 16 ga. steel to cut out for patches. When they are done, the inside portions will be painted and then it will be time to weld it all back up. In the pics I took, I was able to get a little shot inside of the right rail with my phone, and it was surprising good. Here are some pics and a video. V1.MOV V2.MOV

Thanks, Chuck.

3-28-2022 UPDATE. Under the car. I went to work with my electric drill and a wire wheel attachment, working on the rack and engine crossmember, oil pan etc. After a bit of that. Went ahead and started removing the paint on my rails. Once I saw that they were a bit worse than I anticipated ( the paint was actually hiding rust holes!), I went ahead and unpacked my rail pieces I got from Klassicfab JDM a few months back. I then went ahead and put a cutting wheel in my die grinder and started cutting them off. I started with the passenger (right) side, then after that, I went to the left side. The left side I didn't finish....ran out of time, and I need a new cutting wheel. Removing the factory undercoating is a bit harder than anticipated, so I will get a thick wire wheel attachment for my die grinder and get to it. I also cut the bottom strips that I will replace with 16 ga. sheetmetal. All of this will be welded in with a mobile welder. I have some pics and a couple videos. Cheers! 12.MOV 13.MOV 14.MOV

Sure. It's kind of hard to see I know, but this will work.