70 DRMZ Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 (edited) November 2007--June 20011....Short story behind this car.....My dad and I were looking for a car to "tool around with" as he had just retired in 2007. We wanted something lightweight, rear-wheel drive, classic looks and easy on our wallets. He suggested a Datsun as I owned many different z's growing up years ago and he liked the body styling. I had been looking through and reading on Hybridz for a couple years just dreaming as my screenname suggests.....Shortly after we agreed on a z-car, I came across this car on Hybridz in the classifieds and he went down to Bloomington, IL. to check it out. Price was right at $1500 so he told me I could pay my $750 with sweat equity the first time we actually would be able to work on the car together. The car came with a 355 SBC, 700R4 transmission, and a R200 rearend. The V8 swap was close to 50% finished when he picked the car up--with a flatbed trailer... Before I even made it back to Illinois to see the car in the shop, my dad was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and we never actually "worked" on it together other than dismantling a few things--pulled the motor and transmission, removed the dash and wiring harness. The car basically sat in a dry carport with a tarp over it for 3 years. Dad passed away in April 2011, I brought the car out to Omaha in May and basically looked at it every day for a month wondering if I would ever touch it....or if it would just sit in the garage to cause issues with my wife. In late June, I discussed selling the car with my wife and she said "absolutely not!", I should at least make it roadworthy. So I figured I would start with photo documentation early as I always seem to get too far along to properly do this part of any project. The car is missing lots of interior parts including seats, carpet, door panels, window cranks, spare tire tilt cover, dash is cracked terribly, etc. The shell is in primer and is somewhat rust free, floor pans have been replaced (amateur job-probalby redo these this winter), and an amateur attempt at a roll cage was made. Roll cage with be redone or modified or both this winter as well. Shell is getting media blasted later this fall now as my friend that owes me a favor has delayed me yet again. Reason for the media blasting is that there is some surface rust beneath the primer in a couple places--prep work was probably done hastily before selling. I have the JTR V8 swap "bible" and the TBI book as well. Lots of important info in those as I've been reading them and digesting the main points for a while. Reading here for around 4 years has helped me a tremendous amount! I know it is going to cost me a bit to replace the interior parts and some fabrication will need to be done by me or someone else. I plan on a budget of $5k and hope to be on the road in a year or so. Edited September 5, 2011 by 70 DRMZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 DRMZ Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 Did some sound-deadening removal a few weeks ago.....what a pain in the ***. Found that it was a little easier when I heated it up with a torch! Couple of hours worth of work and its done. Spare tire well is pretty clean, floors and frame rail work in the near future for me. Ordering tube steel for my rotisserie tomorrow, doing what many others have done on here with the 3 engine stand method. Sectioned that stuff today. Can't wait to see the look on my neighbors faces when the car is upside down in the driveway next week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 DRMZ Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Some goodies I picked up the past 4 weeks....Millermatic 135 with gas, hood and cart; and some 280zxt CV axles with MM adapters. Edited September 6, 2011 by 70 DRMZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 DRMZ Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) JTR motor mounts and crossmember that I found buried in the car when I brought it home.... and the 355 SBC (fresh rebuild in '07) that came in the car. ZERO Miles on this, but I will be tearing it down to lube/hone/reassemble as I don't know if this has been done correctly. Edited September 6, 2011 by 70 DRMZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 DRMZ Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) Okay, so that was a long WEEK! Actually four weeks time has passed already....So after a broken rib and a couple of weeks of taking it easy around the garage, I finally put together the rotiserrie stands. I had to adjust the angle of the sleeves which the mounts will be rotating in. The angle was too great for my liking. Knowing there will be a little flex (towards car) in the upright when under load, I welded the sleeves a degree or 2 out of level--sleeves are just a tad higher on the side facing the car. Tomorrow I will be fabing up the front and rear mounts so I can be working on the floor pans over the next month. The third picture shows the difference in angle after I cut one of the sleeves off and left one in the original position for comparison....really shows how much angle is built into these engine stands from the factory. Edited October 6, 2011 by 70 DRMZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 DRMZ Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 (edited) Well I have a long overdue update.....Been working out of town and working on my house for the past 6 months.....zero time to spend in my garage working on this car. Removed the spare tire well and fuel tank then removed the rear suspension. Edited April 16, 2012 by 70 DRMZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 DRMZ Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 Tested the rotisserie this evening as well. Sometime this week I will be removing the windshield and the rear quarter glass. Sheet metal floor pans will be getting removed as well, they were not done the correct way and one of them was not even primed or painted after it was welded in--lots of rust on it. After that I will get the rest of the wiring harness out of the car and try to get my neighbor to commit to a date on the mediablasting. I've decided to keep the cage in the car, not gonna need to pass any inspections as I have no intentions of roadracing this car. Anybody want to chime in on whether I should just replace the 40 year old brake lines & fuel lines running the length of the tunnel now too? Im thinking it would be a good idea but I've read both opinions on this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 DRMZ Posted June 4, 2012 Author Share Posted June 4, 2012 Project on HOLD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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