1974.5 260Z ATLAS build

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got my shims in today. that is VERY hard to do with the engine in, etc. Got a real nice drop on everything. I will also mod my motor mounts for some drop there also.

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11-22-2025: Today I finished getting the front end together,  as least enough to roll it around.  The shims between the frame and rails are really aluminum blocks.  I started with a 2 inch thick block, minus the factory plate I removed so they give about a 1 7/8" drop to the crossmember and engine. This is to get a starting point.  With the front end together, I have 2 3/4" worth of adjustment left in the front struts to lower the nose down further with these plates in there.  I have at least 4 inches if not more of clearance between the bottom of the cross member and the concrete.  I installed some 1" thick bumpsteer spacers, and from the pics you can see the bottom arm is level, so pretty good for a starting point.  I will now work on modifying the motor mounts to drop the engine 1-1.5 inches and see how it goes.  With the block in there, and lowering the motor mounts, I believe the engine will fit completely under the stock hood.  However, it will be necessary to get longer bolts and put spacers between the TC rod and arm to get the TC rods to bolt back up, and the sway bar end links were shot anyway, so they need replacement.  I found that with the bump steer spacers, the factory wheels hit the steering rack end links.  With the factory wheels, you would have to run wheel spacers for clearance, as even after grinding the ends down, they were still hitting.......will my 16" wheels clear?  will be interesting to see.  After this I removed some of the remaining factory undercoating that was peeling off and spot painted some spots with rustoleum primer to keep things from getting rusty.  the pale yellow you see in the pics is actually the factory metal primer!!  I then jacked up the rear, and removed the wheels, the 3 nuts on the top of each strut and then stood on each drum dropping and pulling out the rear struts.  Because of their length, I had to go ahead and chop them in two in the car to finish getting them out.  hydraulic fluid leaked and made a mess, but I got them out and after a cleanup with some shop rags and g@s, we are back to making progress.  I have a mobile welder coming soon to weld on the collars in the rear and then I can put the rear suspension back together and get the car back up on 4 wheels.  At that point, it will be time to pull the windshield and remove what's left of the paint and start prepping the Sheetmetal for the body and paint guy.  PICS:

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Update from Ken at Chop Suey on my rollpan:

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SrTor4XxT6yc5HSD9

 

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Today the mobile welder stopped by and welded the collars for my coilovers in the rear.  progress made.

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11-25-2025. My new fender and hood came in from Resurrected Classics today. I quickly hung the fenders on and took some pics to show how well they fit. Very impressive. High quality parts. The box does say "Made in China", but they are VERY nice pieces. I also went ahead and got the front tires mounted on to the front wheels. The wheels are 16X8 with 0 offset, the tires are 205/55R16.

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11-26-2025.  I got the rear tires mounted on the wheels and balanced, and I was able to attach one headlight bucket and then started painting several coats of filler primer for deep scratches.  The bucket has deep scratches in the metal in the bottom of the scoop portion, so this will get a start on filling them, and then I will put some glaze on there and sand it smooth and sealer prime it before color and clear.  The other headlight bucket, after sandblasting revealed a crease in it, and I don't have the moxie to want to fight and fix a crease and make it look good, so I ordered up a reproduction bucket.  I then got a call from J&S Polishing, and ran down there and picked up my intake and valve cover.  Pics heavy.