Joe's 1972 240Z adventure. // 16 JUN 21 - 13 Jul 24 // 3 years 27 days build

[A to Z]

Thanks Chuck!

[A to Z]

7-14-2022 UPDATE:  I had a few hours to burn so...why not?   I went out and wet sanded the remaining panels to buff out and wax with wet 1500 and 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper, and I managed to finish hand buffing and waxing them except the tail and lower tail panel.  So, the windshield posts, the rest of the roof cowl panel are finished....oh! and the replacement access panel.  I also took a razor blade and removed all the overspray from the glass.  Here are some pictures.

[57GMC]

Wow!!  lots of elbo grease...  Payin off.. Looks great..

[A to Z]

Thanks Ken.  99% done on body and paint.  It has been a killer.  A LOT of work.  Ready to move forward!

[A to Z]

7-17-2022 UPDATE:  I went ahead and bled the brakes out, and then greased up the suspension and steering rack.  I then started the process of putting everything back together.  I used some steel wool on the gas cap, and installed it along with a reproduction rubber gas apron. Speed bleeders are GREAT!  But, they can leak, so I had to use some pipe dope to tighten the system up,  Pedal still feels a bit mushy, so I may have to do a tad more to get it where I want it. 

[A to Z]

7-18-2022 UPDATE:  Well, on to the "little stuff".  I cleaned up and mounted all the parking lamps, mounted the front license plate, then pushed it back on the bottom so the plate is angled back.....I think it looks much better that way.  Side sail emblems attached, I went ahead and used a small buffing wheel I have in my cordless drill and some Mother's mag wheel polish and polished up the mirrors (pics are a before and after), polished all the window stainless trim and the drip rail trim up to a nice shine, Re-bled the brakes, I think they are better know......we will see how it is under air pressure when running I suppose (snapped a pic of the master cylinder....sure like the look of clean "beer" topped off in them!).....2 spots in the inner fenders I had to patch, got that all done except for final painting and undercoating in those 2 spots.  While polishing the window trim, I polished up the windshield trim and removed the overspray, and lastly I replaced my dented driver's side access panel next to the hood.  It was tough to get the original off, bolts were rusted in there, so they ended up breaking on one and I had to cut the head off the other....but it is on (paint on the bracket in the pic will be touched up later on), the pic shows it a little crooked, I fixed it after that pic.  Cleaned up the wiper posts, top nuts and rubber boots, got the overspray off.  Closer and closer to finishing.  Here are some pics of the day

Edited July 19, 2022 by A to Z

[57GMC]

Great Joe,

 The mirrors look great. The replaced access panel made a big difference..  The angle on the plate looks just right.. All in all it all looks super.. Keep it up.  Ken

[A to Z]

thanks again!

[YoBrother]

Thumbs up!

[A to Z]

😀

 

[A to Z]

7-24-2022 UPDATE:  I went ahead and tried bleeding the brakes again, making sure to loosen the speed bleeders only 1/4 of a turn, and then putting grease around the area, to try to ensure no air could get back in through the threads.  Still not quite as strong pedal feel as I wanted.  I may have to try another method.  I then torqued on my spacers, and installed my wheels.  First I mounted the rear wheel on, without the spacer to show that a 15X9 with a 245 will not clear if it is a 0 offset wheel.  My spacer gives me -38 offset which is perfect for clearing the stock spring perches.  Anyway....I then lowered the car back down to the ground, and she is LOW.  You get used to her being a certain height from being jacked up in the air for months on end, now she is on the ground!  I then started on my flares.  I took one of my gold anodized washers and used it with a drill to get the holes in the flares right dead center.  Then I mounted up the left front one, and started getting it on.  By holding the narrow front flare up, I was able to see that to "eat up" all the wheel gap and cover out to the edge of the tire, that I needed to mount the front flares right on the outside edge of the existing factory flare!!  By cutting relief cuts in the turned in part of the factory flare, I was able to bend them out and use them as tabs.  Becasue these flares are flexible, they don't really like to sit flush when you start to tighten them down.  So luckily I have the welting and I will put that in there to make it look better,  For now, I think I will leave the flares matte black instead of painting them.  I think it's looks great this way.  So, anyway, here are a few pics of today's work.   

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by A to Z

[A to Z]

7-25-2022 UPDATE.  Continuing saga of flare installation.  Well, I do not like well nuts.  I removed them and put a washer and wax coated nut on each M6 bolt holding the front flares on.  I finished up the driver's (left) front flare and moved over to the right side front.  As with the first one, I was able to make cuts to the lip and pull out tabs with which I could drill the moles to mount the flare, and use the dremel to make all edges "not sharp".  Pulling the tab down worked well on the front, as I had that much wheel gap between the tire and wheel well opening!  I also found that the VW fender welting was exactly what I needed to make these look that much better.  The flares that are made for Z cars, are made out of fiberglass, carbon fiber, etc., and are rigid....Flexible flares are a completely different animal.  AND because they are a universal fit, it opens alot of options on how to mount them....to get what look you desire.  BUT, there are drawbacks as well.....they don't fit as tightly, but the welting makes them work good.   My goal has been to get rid of the tire gap, AND come out and cover the tire at the top.  So, it is working.  So, I then went to the rear, and started marking out where to drill and start the process back there.  Because the wheel well gap was not as bad in the rear, I found that I was able to drill holes and mount the flare right to the 3/8" wide flat surface on the end of the factory flare, no "tab" to bend down.  The wider rear flares that my kit came with are also a bit different, and so a lot of time was spent bending them and moving them around to get the best setup I could out of them.  I even thought of putting "front" flares on the rear, but the tire coverage just isn't good enough.  At any rate, I feel fortunate that I don't have to cur the quarter panels on the car, and the flares will work.  Again, VW welting and my gold anodized washers with the M6 bolts will do the trick.....and M6 wax coated nuts and washers will help me get it done.  These are 25 dollar flares I got off of eBay.  I ordered 2 sets as I wasn't sure if I would use "frotns" all the way around, or "rears" all the way around.  SO.....anyone needing a set of these, I have a spare set brand new, let me know.  Lastly, pictures.  Enjoy.

[57GMC]

Very nice.. Race car look which I like.  I will bet it was mentally hard to cut, bend and drill on the body after all that hard work.. Looks super.. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by 57GMC

[A to Z]

Thanks.

 

Yeah, I put some tape above the wheel wells, and it actually peeled some paint off!  So, I will have to touch up a few spots.

 

 

[A to Z]

7-31-2022 UPDATE:  Rear flares installed!  As with the fronts, it took some massaging to get them on, and yes, they do look different than the fiberglass and carbon fiber ones specially made for the Z car......but when you look at pictures of flares, you will see many different styles of flares and many different ways they have been mounted over the years.....so that is what I have, a one off setup.  I think they look pretty good!  I had to trim the inside lip on the new rear flares a tad and sand it smooth to get just a little bit more sidewall clearance.  After this, I did some garage clean up and began getting the front sway bar ready to go back on.  The bottom of the rails up front was still in bare steel, so I masked off the area and gave it a coiuple shots of gloss white paint, then cleaned up the mounting plates and bushing caps with some satin black paint I have, a couple nice thick coats.  When I removed the sway bar ages ago, the bolts were so tight I can't believe they didn't break off.....so I have new hardware as well for the re-installation.  I took a few pics.  Oh!  Also got a new set of speed bleeders so I can try yet again, to get the brakes up to where I want them to be.  They are made by Russell.  Pics!

[calZ]

Rather than lowering the car, you lowered the wheel wells. Interesting concept. I'm keen to see it out of the garage and get a nice side shot of it. 

[A to Z]

Oh I lowered it!  The smaller diameter wheels and with Eibach Pro Kit springs, it is quite a bit lower than stock!  My exhaust is about 1.5 to 2 inches above the ground, and the rear tires have a bit of negative camber!  The wheels I used made the gap even larger, and I wanted poke out.  So, It has been lowered, and then I cutomized some universal flares the way I wanted them to look to tie it all in.  Thanks.

[A to Z]

8-2-2022 UPDATE.  Real Progress.  It was time to get the brakes bled and make it work this time.  I installed the new Russell Speed Bleeders and it worked great except for the fronts.  What it is, is there was a little bit of loose-ness in the threads for the speed bleeders.....so I backed them out a bit, and gooped up those threads with pipe dope and ran them back in and cinched them down tight.  THEN I took off the caps on both resivoirs and pumped the brakes and I got a couple burps, so I got the air out, and yeah, I get to fix the paint under the master cylinder again.....but the brakes are good!  I then re-installed the sway bar.  I used new hardware, and put a dab of anti-seize on the threads.  The original bolts barely came out without snapping off from being rusted in.....this makes that issue a thing of the past.  It took a bit of jacking one side up and tugging and using a hammer handle as a pry bar, etc. to get things to line up, but once they were aligned it actually "popped" into posi!ion.  So I snugged the bolts all down, and then went ahead and started masking off a bit under there, and using a combination of Rustoluem Rust Converter (very flat black), satin black, and gloss white urethane spray paint, I started making it look a little better.  In the pics if you see a tiny bit of overspray in places, it's really no issue, it come right off with steel wool.  After getting this done, I dropped the car and torqued down the wheels.  In celebration of it being done as a builder and becoming a driver/tinkerer car, I took a few pics.  One little electrical issue I will fix and then it goes to get a front end alignment.  Then clean up the interior again, and clean up the engine compartment....but no longer a project  The car is has now transitioned to a driver that I can fiddle with and tinker to fix little things, while being taken for drives as the mood hits me.  14 months.....she wore me out!  I am in my 50's now.....it's not the same as it used to be dong this stuff all those years ago. Pics attached

 

 

PROJECT CAR 16 JUNE 2021 - 2 AUGUST 2022 413 days, 13.5 months. Whew!

DRIVER / TINKER CAR 2 AUGUST - ?????

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by A to Z

[A to Z]

PROJECT COMPLETE

 

413 DAYS / 13.5 MONTHS!

 

WHEW! 

 

 

 

 

NOW:  DRIVER CAR / TINKERER 2 AUGUST 2022 - ????????

[YoBrother]

Congrats, now for the Nissan club get togethers! 

 

Just curious, those headlights look period correct in the pics, did you decide not to do the modern looking ones?  BTW, I prefer the way they look now compared to the ones that look a little modern.

Edited August 4, 2022 by YoBrother