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

[jdmjunkies.ch]

I forget if I've already said this, but I think this may end up being among the very nicest of S30s on the planet when it's done. I bet all those little pieces are adding up fast though. This is why I'll never do a proper restoration haha.

Thanks mate, appreciate your kind words. However i guess there will be nicer Z's around than mine, even when completed

I guess the parts costs do add up, but honestly money doesn't count. It's not like i have a lot, but whenever i have a few dollers left i buy something small. I've been working on this project for more than 7 years now and i guess it will take me a few more so who cares about it all. I have an idea and i want to get there, no matter how long it will take me to save the money

[jdmjunkies.ch]

While i consider the 240Z quite a common classic (compared to other cars) around the world, it can get hard to find good quality spare-parts - especially for the parts that where installed in markets outside america only. As it is the case with the 5-speed transmission (only optional and rare in the USA). And then even more specially in the case of the early FS5C71A transmission, which i happen to have.

 

This means a lot of reasearch and sometimes going to the other side of the world and as far as Australia to find some quality parts.

 

In this case i have to thank the guys at www.SWMotorsport.com.au for providing me with the right parts for my Transmission.

 

Today i finally got a delivery of:
- Bearing kit
- Front Seal
- Rear Seal
- 1x Front & 2x Center gaskets
- Gear lever Pin & Clip
- Roll Pin
- Speedo drive Seal
- Striker shaft seal

 

And all for a decent price and fast shippin too! Thank you so much for the great service. Nice to still have those small shops able to provide the market with the stuff we need

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Nothing big, but at the recent Japanclassic.ch show i met my buddy Stefan who had a little gift for me: A NOS Air filter complete with factory boxing. I love this kind of stuff and another piece in the puzzle

[Greeko]

The attention to detail is amazing! The panelbeater is doing a great job. I have had some of the similar issues in the rear roll pan and hatch area. Took me a long time to get it done. I will be adding a build log eventually lol...

[jdmjunkies.ch]

It has been a while, since i updated the 240Z project here. It's not dead at all, i'm just super busy with some once-in-a-lifetime projects that have to be adressed first.
I was a bit bummed that my bodyshop guy was so busy as well and couldn't work on it either. However yesterday and today i got some updates totally unexpected and was more than happy
1) Tabco rear inner wheel well was finally welded in and painted in some protective paint:

 

The wheel arches are coming along nicely...

 

Todays update contained the rear lower piece of the RH side lower door sill area. Before:


After:

Let's see what's up next

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Today is a short update with a single pic, but a big Impact on the overall appearance of the car: The RH Tabco rear quarter panel is welded in place. I guess there is still a lot of work to make the fitment perfect and all, but at least there isn't a big hole anymore

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Today finally some progress on the Z from my side as well
After removing the Breather vent:


I had serious trouble to get out the speedo pinion carrier from the transmission. Thanks to my close friend Stefan and some brute force, it finally gave up and came out nicely:

He also managed to move the "tube" that holds the gear selector in place, intwards the transmissino housing:

So i was able to remove the gear selector.

It's currently at my other buddy Stefan for some rework (more on that soon)

After i finally have disassembled the transmission as far as i want to go myself, i had to make an "exploded" view shot, just for fun's sake

Next step was masking the transmission housing parts with duct tape for glass-bead-blasting and to prevent glass beads ending up in the transmission..

The previous owner once decided to paint it all in silver, but i will get rid of the peeling-off paint again and have it back in all it's original aluminum glory. Now only waiting for that one part back from rework, then will have it all blasted. All the other parts are ready

 

[jdmjunkies.ch]

In my last post about the 240Z you could easy see how the gear selector was worn out and had some concave marks where the balls meet the selector.
Since it's a Cast iron item it's a bit tricky to weld. And if you've been following me for a while you know there's only one superhero for me when it comes to metal and welding:
My buddy Stefan Schär - who own's an awesome little collection of beautiful Nissan's and Datsun's by the way - So i sent him that thing to fix it:
Before (Clearly some "holes" visible):


 

After some pre-treatment and cleaning the holes got welded up:

 

and then ground back to originale flatness:

Surface is way smoother than it was from factory. Now those shifts should be direct as New again. Maybe even better  

Next it's going off to Glass-bead blasting, then the transmission is ready for assembly again

For Stefan, he opened up his own business "Cagedude" lately, specializing in rollcages, but doin' basically anything that involves some metal and welding (and cars maybe)
Check out his facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/cagedude/ for some examples.
His stuff is really work of art, and i have the highest praises for all the stuff he's done for me so far. And he's a super nice guy too, with a lovely little family. Check it out and support Stefan / Cagedude, you won't regret it

[rturbo 930]

Looking good. But I can't help but find it a little funny (or a little scary) that a business in Switzerland has an English business name. Talk about foreign influence, lol.

Edited September 19, 2017 by rturbo 930

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Last week i brought my transmission housing parts and some smaller bits to the local blasting company. The guy made a serious appearance and explained how Aluminum parts like these normally will be treated with class-triangles to break-up old paint and remove it. and then treated with glass-beads (pearls) to increase the surface density. He even told me  he's gonna paint the cast-iron parts with a clearcoat to prevent it from rust...
This is how it looked before:

Clearly old silver paint peeling off is visible:

Today i picked it up. and the first thing i noticed how "raw" and rough everything looked. It reminded me of sandblasted items. Sand-blasting is corrosive and will remove small spots in the surface of aluminum (like the transmission part) and give it a rough feel.
While the aluminum is thick enough to handle it, it just doesn't look as smooth as a factory-fresh unpainted transmission should look in my opinion:

But since i don't have a lot of experience, i returned home. What made me even more curious was the fact that sand came out of various spots of the transmission. Its clearly not glass-bead, nor is it any other glassy. I guess this is the "sand" they use for sand-blasting..
The guy even told me how hard it was to remove the paint from the previous owner. so i guess they switched to sand at some point.

While i'm all fine with that, i guess they didn't glass-bead blast if after that. Somehow it gets a bit more shiny / glossy after glassbead-treatment and this sure looks like just sandblasted to me.

Also the cast-iron small pieces didn't get the promised clearcoat...


Not sure yet. Don't want to blamy anybody and it would clearly do the job. but i want to have it perfect. Either i bring it back or i bring it to another company to have it checked and re-done... have to think about it.
Or maybe it's just me and the "gloss" will come back once it's slightly corroded? not sure...

[jdmjunkies.ch]

On 19.9.2017 at 10:50 PM, rturbo 930 said:

Looking good. But I can't help but find it a little funny (or a little scary) that a business in Switzerland has an English business name. Talk about foreign influence, lol.

Haha that's quite normal. Little switzerland is going international. Also i guess "Chäfig-buäb" would sound a little strange

[jpndave]

Glass beads are really just a different shape being round rather than rough like silica sand, less abrasive. It isn't the same as say "shot peening". In my experience, the dull appearance is normal. The beads do remove less material and are less abrasive, giving more of a matte finish almost a dull sheen. The actual sand depending on grit is similar in appearance but much more aggressive and rough in finish texture. Sand will remove more material and leave a rougher finish. Keep in mind as well that the "glass" beads break as they are used in the cabinet and are no longer round as does the sand which depending on the material of choice may become less aggressive or more as they break into smaller pieces. Silica sand loses its sharp edges and bite. Garnet, and other materials behave differently. All of this is assuming it was blasted in a cabinet where the material was used over and over. If done outside with one hit, things will behave more consistent as you only get the original material hitting your part. Usually the cabinet is used as media gets expensive if it's a one shot deal and also messy.

Your photos do look consistent with glass beads. You could roll that media in your fingers to see if some are round or if all of it is rough and jagged.

As a an example, I am building a custom lever action rifle and will use the glass beads in a cabinet to just texture an already clean aluminum receiver. Low air pressure and fine beads to get a light even matte finish without removing material is the goal.

On parts like yours if they have to focus on removing dirt, grease or paint you could end up with material removal in certain areas if part is raw and part painted, the raw part will lose some material while they are trying to get the painted part to let go. Beads are less abrasive but also slower and less aggressive at removing the junk while tending to leave a less rough matte finish. Beads will also tend to close up the surface a little like shot peening rather than open it up to better accept paint. Shot peening is more a of a hardness treatment rather than to clean. I don't know of any media except for maybe shot peening that would leave a part shiny from blasting. Shot peening is like thousands of tiny hammer hits.

I hope that helps and anyone with more extensive experience is more than welcome to clarify anything that I may be missing here. Sorry I got a little wordy there.

Your project is coming along and it's nice to see the progress and quality of work.

Dave

[jdmjunkies.ch]

thanks for the input. makes sense somehow. I contacted the blasting company again and let's see what they come up with.

As far as it goes i got some other replies in other forums, claiming that hydro/vapour/soda blasting is the thing to go when looking for the glossy OEM finish on raw aluminum. sounds promising but let's see what the current blaster replies and what solution i can come up with.

I'm not happy with the current finnish. although it would definitively work. it's just not what i was looking for..

 

[Derek]

That looks normal to me for glass beading. Raw castings are usually shot blasted then machined. I found that putting parts in a vibratory finisher after blasting restores some of the luster. 

 I can fit my DOHC valve cover in my finisher. If you look closely you can see the difference. V3 is in the foreground and it has been shot blasted and then run in my vibratory finisher with burnishing media and liquid. V2 in the middle has only beed shot blasted. You can see a slight luster on V3.

Here are two parts I glass beaded.

And here they are after vibratory finishing.

 

There are many types of finishing media. Burnishing media is what gives the parts the luster. 

 

Derek

 

Edited October 1, 2017 by Derek

[jpndave]

I agree with Derek on what it seems you are after finish wise. Unless you coat the parts a vibratory polish/burnish is going to be the way to do. I would be careful with soda. I haven't used it but I have a good friend that is in high end paint for custom cars and he is adamant against it. Definitely more delicate at removal of rust and paint while not damaging the surface it can leave residue.

Have you considered a really high quality clear coat? The bead blasted parts won't stay that clean color and texture. Aluminum will corrode over the years unless it is somehow coated or anodized. You could also clear anodize which might be a good choice. I'm not sure how much corrosion resistance if any the vibratory media would provide and how much residue is left preventing an anodize or paint. With as much work as you have put into this project I would certainly want it to stay that way.

I am chemically stripping my car then blasting what that misses. Aluminum will be bead blasted for texture then probably clear coated or anodized to prevent corrosion. If I had access (meaning reasonably priced without having to send it out at full shop rate) to the Vibratory finish Derek is showing I would really consider that option. I have two blasters in my shop both a cabinet and pressure pot and a compressor large enough to run either all day long. I just can't justify paying for something I can do here. I don't mind the dull finish as long as it is clean and even and protected from corrosion.

The rifle project I mentioned is going to get a nickel boron plate after engraving trying to get as close to the stainless barrel as possible. That finish is outstanding at corrosion resistance and lubricity but is really expensive to have done. OK on small parts but would be obscene overkill for car part castings, at least for covers and housings.

[jdmjunkies.ch]

In my last post, i wrote about the fact that the transmission looked wrong after the "glass bead blasting". Many readers pointed out it seems to have been just sandblasted. I contacted the blasting company again and asked what happened. He excused himself a hundred times and told me that his guy somhow missunderstoud somthing and that it was only blasted. but not sand blasted as you thought, but blasted with "broken glass". this is softer and won't attack the surface of the Aluminum. It's less corrosive than regular silicat-sand used for blasting. At least that was good news. He promised me to immediately fix that. Today i was able to pick it up again:

They glass-bead blasted everything and the surface now looks and feels a lot smoother and got this slight "satin gloss" finish. just as it should be. The sense of Glass bead blasting is to improve the surface density of aluminium. Like that it's much stronger and will keep the appearance for a longer time when used unpainted in a car.

While it doesn't have the super-glossy OEM-like finish it's what i was aiming for. I got told for the glossy finish it should be soda/vapour/fluid blasted. But for me it's perfect as it is. it's not going to be a concours build anyway and it seems much fresher again. Also they clearcoated the cast-iron bits as promised, to protect it from corrosion:

This is how the gear selector looks after the protective tape was removed. Still needs a bit of cleaning though but looks perfect. just as i wanted it

Super happy with the result. and while it took me a few extra hours to bring it back again and pick it up. the good thing is they felt so sorry that the extra-work was for free. They only charged me for the first part of the work. which is awesome and came out on a budget

 

Edited October 15, 2017 by jdmjunkies.ch

[jdmjunkies.ch]

On 1.10.2017 at 7:26 PM, jpndave said:

I agree with Derek on what it seems you are after finish wise. Unless you coat the parts a vibratory polish/burnish is going to be the way to do. I would be careful with soda. I haven't used it but I have a good friend that is in high end paint for custom cars and he is adamant against it. Definitely more delicate at removal of rust and paint while not damaging the surface it can leave residue.

Have you considered a really high quality clear coat? The bead blasted parts won't stay that clean color and texture. Aluminum will corrode over the years unless it is somehow coated or anodized. You could also clear anodize which might be a good choice. I'm not sure how much corrosion resistance if any the vibratory media would provide and how much residue is left preventing an anodize or paint. With as much work as you have put into this project I would certainly want it to stay that way.

I am chemically stripping my car then blasting what that misses. Aluminum will be bead blasted for texture then probably clear coated or anodized to prevent corrosion. If I had access (meaning reasonably priced without having to send it out at full shop rate) to the Vibratory finish Derek is showing I would really consider that option. I have two blasters in my shop both a cabinet and pressure pot and a compressor large enough to run either all day long. I just can't justify paying for something I can do here. I don't mind the dull finish as long as it is clean and even and protected from corrosion.

The rifle project I mentioned is going to get a nickel boron plate after engraving trying to get as close to the stainless barrel as possible. That finish is outstanding at corrosion resistance and lubricity but is really expensive to have done. OK on small parts but would be obscene overkill for car part castings, at least for covers and housings.

that clear annodization is maybe a cool idea. have to think about it...

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Nothing big here. just spent two hours cleaning all the transmission parts after the glass bead blasting. Removed some leftovers from the masking tape and blew away all the leftovers from the blasting from all the small corners, etc. Since i forgot my cam at home you only get some crappy mobile-phone shots:

When done i started going through the small parts and decided i could clean them too. so the trusty green scotch-n-brite came in handy again to clean all the small pieces:

Then decided to make a little test-assembly with the new PU shifter bushings (red), since the old ones were quite worn-out (black):

This is how it all goes together:

And this is the result. quite happy. Will remove it all again, grease the rubber with some bushing-grease from the energy-bushings kit and have the washers and nuts zinc-plated alongside all the other nuts and bolts from the transmission before the final assembly:

 

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Had a bit of spare-time today and decided it's time to get some stuff done for the car once again. Wanted to have some parts replated (yellow zinc) so i grabbed everything that seemed to be worth replating. Here are all the small transmission parst that will go for replating (not all of them)


And than i found some other stuff that had to be disassembled first like the side marker / Turn signal lights:


Engine compartment repair light (Early version with the toggle type switch). before:


After ( I cut the wires since i will replaced them with new cables. the old ones are quite brittly and Nissan had a person with bad soldeirng skills for their soldeirng work *lol*):


Then the hood stay / lock mechanics:


So here are all the parts ready for replating. Still need to remove old paint (will do that tomorrow) before sending them. In case if you wonder how i remember where all the parts belong - What you see on this blog is actually just a small fraction of the pictures i make. I like to make all kind of "exploded view" shots like the ones above to remember the order they came in (FSM is wrong sometimes, or a bit unclear). And i also mark my pictures as seen here. When the parts return i will put them in the boxes again which belong to each part of the car

[jkelly]

Awesome build! The little part in the corner goes to your door latches. After I plated mine: