Swiss two-become-one 240Z Ground up restauration / JDM mods

[Sirpent]

No wonder you guys are so well regarded for your watches !

 

Great work 

[jdmjunkies.ch]

The 240Z Project has been really cooking on a low flame last year. I was too busy with my Job and travelling. Luckily this year started out smoother and i'm really working to get back on the Z-Project. I Ordered one expensive part which will show up in a few months but so far i started reading a lot about the Z, because i forgot most of the things i knew maybe two years ago since i never used them However im starting to make plans for the next small projects of the Project and i'm super excited about it. However before i started to work on car bits, i had to get rid of the mess in my home-workshop (aside from my garage i have a little hobby-room for small work and parts-storage at home). So i bought some new shelves, moved everything and this is how it ended up. I'm super happy with it

I can finally work without searching for the right parts and tools for half of the time

Then it was time to complete a simple but not-so-simple job i've started a while ago. Before i had the Door locks replated a while ago i removed the old damper rubbers and after i never figured out how to get them back in, i never did it.

Today i decided it was time to complete the job So took an old toothbrush and scalpel to remove old glue from the rubber. then washed it in the sink with some warm water and dishwashing soap. worked fine Then took me quite a while to figure out how to get the Rubber back in without damaging it, but finally got it after 30mins of fiddling around. Added some of the Super glue like it was from factory, but the rubber sits so tight, i doubt the glue is really needed. Just a small job, but one more box ticked on the 2-do list

[Ereschkigal]

I Ordered one expensive part which will show up in a few months

 

Work wheels? 

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Work wheels? 

Unfortunately not

Edited February 19, 2016 by jdmjunkies.ch

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Got a bit bored from all the reading an investigation in front of the computer, so decided for my own pleasure to test-assembly my rebuild steering colum together with the HKB Steering boss kit and the RS-watanabe falcon steering wheel (Horn button not installed). Nothing big, but enjoyed how it ended up. Now trying to figure out how i can clean the multifunctional steering wheel switches to get them back on the column

 

[jdmjunkies.ch]

I Decided to visit my Bodyshop and talk to my Panelbeater Yves about the progress of my car. Remember it was more than 15 months since he last worked on it, because it's still a side-project. Lucky me he just began working on the car today. Not a lot to show you but i hope for some updates soon. And i'm more than happy with any progress

As you can see he just started work on the floorpans. And the good thing is i already have another apointment with him for the next week. so pretty sure there are some nice news

[baby_Carlton]

Jesus this is some great work.  Where in the hell did you find a Falcon Steering Wheel?

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Today i spent a wile rebuilding / refurbishing the headlight switches. The problem with the Original wiring design is that the full headlight current runs through the steering wheel multifunctional switches. This causes contacts tu burn, specially when upgraded to H4 headlights. I decided to refurbish them before putting it back on the steering column.
In future i will run a relay, because the original design is not very long-lasting, nor is it very safe to have 20 amps in your hands when switching on the lights
Started with choosing the best of all four switches i had (one beeing a later model or something different):

Disassembled everything following This great manual:
http://www.doyouevenhoon.com/datsun-240z-gtr/how-to-rebuild-datsun-240z-headlight-switch.html and ended up like this:

Removed the old contacts and as you can see they're pretty urnt and carbonized:

Used some "relay contacts cleaner" Fluid and after a bit of rubbing looked like this. Also but the switches back in reverse orders to make sure the "weak" part will be on the opposite side and last longer

Will continue with the rest of the switch next week. need to buy smaller pliers first In the meanwhile i got an update from the bodyshop. Before:

after:

Now work on the passenger side floorpan and rear quarter as well as the small storage compartment started. More rust than expected. but yeah. t hat's how life is

 

Also ordered ordered the rear lower valance and rear corner valance so basically i will have an almost new chassis at the end *lol*. more updates soon i hope

Edited February 27, 2016 by jdmjunkies.ch

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Made some progress again First i cleaned all the switches and buttons by hand so the white texture finally came back to life and is visibla again. worked surprisingly good with an old tooth brush and some dishwashing water

Well and then assembled everything back together. not factory fresh but as nice as an 44 year old switch can get

Then started with the turn signal switch on the other side. seems a bit more tricky...

The contacts had massive burn marks

So this is after cleaning

Who needs puzzles when you have cars? I never realized how complicated these switches are until i took it apart

Then got some updates from the bodyshop. Rear lower side cowls (before):

And after:

And that "triangle piece" inside the rear fender well...

Tomorrow i will visit a shop to repair my wing and on friday i'll drop by the bodyshop again. hoping for some updates again

[BJSZED]

That's delicate work on those switches. I usually break that kind of stuff when attempted !

[jdmjunkies.ch]

That's delicate work on those switches. I usually break that kind of stuff when attempted !

I guess that's my advantage from beeing an electronic engineer mainly repairing old electronics from the last decades. i Know my wires but that's the problem. i know more about wires and contacts than about cars

[jdmjunkies.ch]

One popular upgrade for the 240Z seems to be swapping out the lame Original Heater blower motor to the one coming from some 80ies or 90ies Honda. Unfortunately all the manuals i found for this swap mentioned a different Honda model as source for the Blower motor so i was confused. They all looked the same in the pictures and some guys on Ebay even sell the Blower swap for around 90$ + shipping. I thought that's too expensive and did some research and figured out the one blower everyone is using is the TYC Genera Model 700077 which is an aftermarket replacement for the aforementioned old honda motors. Funnly this blower is sold for only 23 Bucks so i went the direct route and ordered it This is the old Nihon Radiator / Hitachi Blower:

 

And here we have the new one. Brand new and factory fresh

 

As you can see the shape is slightly different (left new, right old), but it wil fit perfectly.

 

I compared with the drawing on the TYC website and many people in the internet told this is a 1:1 swap except for the rubber gromments which need to be changed due to different mounting hole diameters (other people probably will enlarge the holes). Also i recommand to paint the now Silver motor cover black as this is installed right in the foot compartment of the passenger and will stick to the passengers eye

 

According to the poeple in various forums the advantage of the new Blower is: Much more powerful, much more silent, lighter (Due to the plastic squirre-cage compared to the metal one in the old design) and draws less current. Overall it's much more effective. can't wait to install it. Of course i will write about it once i get to that point

[Ereschkigal]

Wo hast du den Lüfter denn genau gekauft für den Preis? Bei dem Bericht habe ich auch Lust bekommen den zu tauschen.

Achja und deine "Location" im Profil hat nen Dreher drin.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Ereschkigal

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Wo hast du den Lüfter denn genau gekauft für den Preis? Bei dem Bericht habe ich auch Lust bekommen den zu tauschen.

Achja und deine "Location" im Profil hat nen Dreher drin.

Thanks for the input I bought it on ebay. I haven't tested it so far (and it probably will take a while until i have it installed, but i'm pretty sure it's the one everyone is using. I bought mine on ebay

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Last friday i spent a visit at the Bodyshop. Mainly to bring him the Passenger side door so he could check fitment after he's done with welding in that area (some parts may have moved a bit and need adjustment). I also asked  him to close the original door mirror holes in the door as i will switch to the JDM Fender mirrors And i had to bring  him some cash as well

And then i have some good and bad news. The good news is that work in the front right (passenger) sode is almost completed and the work looks fabulous. To the untrained eye it may look a bit patchy but after everything is primered and has the same colour it's almost factory-work - maybe even better since factory welding from datsun was really crappy in some areas

Now the bad news. Specially in the passenger area behind the seat there has been copious amount of cheap patchwork repairs and way more rust underneath every panel which was removed, than initially expected. So well - yeah. the whole thing will be a bit more expensive and take maybe another two years at the bodyshop until completed.. but i'm still happy with the fact i will save one of these fairladies...

Inner wheel well has been removed and he's currently fitting the new one from tabco..  

Also the old sparewheel well has been cut out and the new one placed inside just to save some space. hasn't been welded yet...

The car looks a bit like a swiss cheese currently

Here's a good example. I wouldn't have noticed but as the bodyshop explained and showed me the patchwork under the gas filler thingy i understoud where there has been cheap repairs in the past. so this one has to go out as well and fixed nicely... many small bits which will take up a lot of work at the end...

Anyhow, looking forward for updates. And while i was there i also ahd a look at this almost finnished (has been in the works there for a while now as well!), Toyota KE70 Corolla "Kesser Sport spezial". This was a swiss homologation special as far as i understoud (wasn't able to find anything about it on the web..) in all it's early 80ies boxyness. Love it and i'm pretty sure this will be a rare gem once completed!

[jdmjunkies.ch]

This post is going to be a little summary of the weeks happenings. I have some more good and bad news from the bodyshop first:
The good thing: My Panelbeater yves put the door back in for aligment and thus it still has a lots of panels missing, a door already makes the car look like - ummm - a car again

Then the bad news: Someone crashed into his car (the one below is the one who hit  him), so he's currently suffering from a whiplash injury and of course his recovery his priority first. Not sure what that means for my car. probably will not be worked on for a while again...

The very next day my Buddy Stev visited a guy who is currently selling a lot of NOS datsun parts:

He brought this little Oil pressure Sensder unit for me, but i have to check if it's really for the Z since i have the feeling my ones look more cylindric istead of this "Church-bell" design.

And then i reworked the new Blower motor (See last post), to fit my needs. First removed the old Motor cover which was silver.

Painted it black with some rattle can spray:

Ordered some new rubber grommets which will fit since the old blower has different hole sizes.

Here i have them installed together with the metal sleeves from the old blower inside:

Here you can see the old insulationg foam ring and i wanted to recreate something similar.

And here's my result. boaght some foam-tape and installed it. Doesn't look as nice as the original one but since it will not be visible once installed im fine with that

And last but not least i had a little running-test with a 12V DC supply just to see if everything's fine. and it is - Blower motor: Completed!

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Just got a Delivery from the great guys at MSA today. First of all a new rear weld-in valance:

And a set of rear lower corner valances. They're from a 280Z since none are made for the 240Z. All of these panels are not the best fitment and quality but the best available ones. So my panelbeater has to  use them just as base for his final product. I wonder why nobody makes better quality panels sine these would sell like hot burritos and there are so many of these cars around the world beeing restored currently...

Last but not least some small bits like the dustcaps, cotter pins and some washers. Now almost have all parts together to get the wheel bearings installed back to the strut housings...

[rturbo 930]

I wonder why nobody makes better quality panels sine these would sell like hot burritos and there are so many of these cars around the world beeing restored currently...

I really don't know either. I have those lower corners, and IMO they're unusable. The compound curve that makes up the rear corner is totally off. Not by a little bit either. I'm no body man but considering how much work they need, I think if you had the skill to make them fit properly, then you would probably have the skill to just make your own - which would probably be easier. They're junk if you ask me. That rear panel seems to be better, but it's flat, when it needs to be curved. And I recently learned that the rockers they sell have an issue where the steel is stamped in such a way that it basically shears at the flanged bit right before the front fender. Not impressive at all.

Edited March 15, 2016 by rturbo 930

[Zetsaz]

Those rear valence pieces are a pain the ass. I ended up cutting the corners off mine and just using the long side to patch only the portion that was rusted. 

[Zetsaz]

I really don't know either. I have those lower corners, and IMO they're unusable. The compound curve that makes up the rear corner is totally off. Not by a little bit either. I'm no body man but considering how much work they need, I think if you had the skill to make them fit properly, then you would probably have the skill to just make your own - which would probably be easier. They're junk if you ask me. That rear panel seems to be better, but it's flat, when it needs to be curved. And I recently learned that the rockers they sell have an issue where the steel is stamped in such a way that it basically shears at the flanged bit right before the front fender. Not impressive at all.

 

Pretty sure you've seen at least bits of my thread and I'm in total agreement. Getting some of these pieces to fit was a process. They get someone like me with minimal experience in body closer, but they require a lot of thought put into them to get them fit. I had to do some trimming and bits of bending to get things right. I think my rockers/doglegs turned out really well but it was a lot more work than I was expecting.