gnosez Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 I'm in the process of stripping a '75 with front end damage and front frame rail rust. I'll save of much as the car as possible but was thinking of cutting the car away from the engine/tranny (saving them). Has anyone done this and if so, how did you go about it? My garage has a very low ceiling and I would have to move the car outside to get the rented engine hoist at it. And given that it will most likely be cold and snowy I would like to try and build some sort of cradle and have it support the engine/tranny as I cut the rails away and loosen the mounts. Does this sound like a reasonable idea? If the rear looks okay I plan on saving it for someone who might need it in the future, by cutting the roof off half-way down the front pillar and just above the rear pillar emblem, then cutting the rear off about 10 inches forward of the door striker. Leaving the rear suspension on for now I should able to move the rear clip section around. I will remove the emergency cable, and gas/brake lines along with the driveshaft first. Anyone see a problem with this approach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 Well I'm sure it'll work.. I've seen it done countless times in wrecking yards/ect.. Only problem I have is ah.. well, 'choping' up a Z! It'll probly be a lot of fudging around too to get the engine/trans suported and build around it while choping the car away.. you'll have to suport parts of the car as well as you cut into the structure. What about the roof of your garage? Does it have a beam or something that would support a set of chainfalls? (thats how I'm gona pull the engine in my Z soon.. roof is 7 feet in my work space) If not, seeing as you're into some 'construction' of something anyway, why not build a simple 'A frame' of some sort (to attach chains too) over the front of the car? Just take off the hood, front grill/bumper and roll the car back once the driveline is lifted a few inches... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 I don't have the room necessary to get an engine hoist in place. I might be able to do a double "A" frame and then hang the engine/tranny off that, while I move the car back (after cutting out the radiator support. The idea of cutting up a Z isn't pretty to either do and or think about but unless you were going to spent several thousand on a New England wintered, salt damaged Z, cutting the "good" parts off is the only way I can see to do it (the "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" approach)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 The idea of cutting up a Z isn't pretty to either do and or think about but unless you were going to spent several thousand on a New England wintered, salt damaged Z, cutting the "good" parts off is the only way I can see to do it ... Heh heh.. trust me man, I live in northern ontario; I know what winters do to vehicles.. espesialy Z's... When I got mine, I'm sure most folks on this board would have told me "that's a parts car man.. too far gone to be saved" Seriously, it was that bad. In retrospect, I could have waited and found a 'better' one to start with.. but I may STILL have been looking. I understand the space issue.. I just thought an A frame would make your task easier.. Basicaly something resembleing a kids swing set that is as high as your roof allows, and wide enough to straddle the car. Aside from cutting the upper rad/body suport, the drivetrain should just slide out.. er.. stay put while you roll the car out from under it. I'm just a lazy kind of guy and try to think up ways of doing things easier, or will as little 'work' as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 This is just a parts car w/ a good engine (spare for a club member) and tranny (already sold for the price of the car) and a pretty good tan interior I'll sell through this website or on ebay. Anything else will be gravy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U.P. Z Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Use a sawzall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I used a sawzall when I cut up my '70 240Z. I also wanted to save the engine and some other misc parts so I stripped it as much as I could while it was on jack stands and just started cutting away, 1st cut was the roof- Lower A pillers and right at the hatch 2nd cut was the ass end- I cut the rear off about 12inches in. I then re positioned the jack stands and added some so that the car had support in four places in equal spacing. 3rd cut. I cut the car in two right at the shifter hole. being carefull to not cut the tranny or drivshaft (I also had a jack stand under the tranny) 4th cut. I started hacking the rear end into smaller junks. (all together the car went out into the street in 12 chunks) 5th cut-middle of the radiator support and then down through the front strut mounts. ( this free the front half of the car from the engine)(keep in mind the engine is supported by three jack stands and all the crossmemeber bolts have been removed) 6th cut-down the middle of the car through the remaining transtunnel and BAM! you have one engine and trans sitting on three jackstands and a car in little bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Rent a portable pavement saw and get the abrasive metal blades. -Goes through sheetmetal like butter. It's basically a chainsaw with a 10-12" disc. They're alot of fun too! I prefer Partner saws personally. The other option is to buy abrasive disc blades for your circular saw. It's the same idea, just not as much grunt. You will also go through more blades. And I definitely second the sawzall for the crazy stuff. Say a few words for the dearly departed for me... I may be interested in the roof to "un-modify" my sunroof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Thanks on all the suggestions....I've cut 3 up already but hadn't done one with the engine and tranny still in it as I cut away at the frame, etc. The first was my wrecked 240 and the rear had bad damage so it went the way of the 12 cuts (having experienced a rear end and Z ending accident, I want to save a complete rear clip since they're so hard to find). The floors pans were cut out and one side went into our "Z Club" race car, and I saved the roof and a few other pieces in case someone else had an accident down the line. The other 2 Zs had so much rust I didn't saw them as much as shake them apart. They did have uncracked dashes and other goodies that made them worthwhile. Sven, I have several roofs, so when you need one let me know. What I would like is a portable plasma cutter....I like the idea of a chainsaw-like cutting tool. A great rental opportunity in the making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Jarvis Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Plasma cutters are great in general, but not so great for cutting through the multi-stamping and space combinations you need to cut through, a-pillars and rocker panels for example. As far as getting the drivetrain out without a lift, I would do this before curring the body off the drivetrain (and I've kind of done both). I don't know exactly how space / tools limited etc. you are, but that was what drove me back in the day, no room or tools to do it right. Set something under the engine and tranny, if I remember correctly, I used a pallet under the engine crossmember and an old tire under the tranny. Unplug all the wiring, remove intake pipe, coolant hoses, etc. like you were puilling the engine normally. Place a jack or some other support under the crossmembers, unbolt the upper strut mounts and the 4 engine / suspension crossmember bolts. Remove the 2 tranny crosmember bolts, drop the support and the entire engine / tranny / fromt suspension should drop. Unhook the driveshaft and lift the front of the car up (you may need help here) and push it back over the droppend engine and tranny. Drivetrain stays where it was, and you have the rest of the car semi-portable, and all the componente out of the way if you want to start cutting it up for scrap. Just what worked for me once.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 I once pulled the engine/tranny from a GTI by basically cutting everything between the headlights with a sawzall and sliding it all out the front on a jack. The car had been rolled so was junk anyway and I was too cheap to rent an engine hoist. Worked well and when the JY came to pick up the shell it wasn't complete (since I cut the from end out) and hence didn't need a title. Funny side note - I wasn't there but my wife told be when they picked it up (the suspension had been removed and it was inside the garage) they suspended the front end off a tow truck and two people (a guy and a GIRL) each carried one end of the rear and walked it out onto a trailer. Wouldn't want to piss her off .... Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted January 1, 2005 Author Share Posted January 1, 2005 Well, in less than 20 hours I had the entire 280 stripped. The interior (all the tan vinyl pealed right off!), the doors, hatch, fenders, glass, engine and tranny. We rolled it out and tried to tip it over but lacked the muscle. The next day, I put an eyebolt through the floor and using a come-along and a big tree and tipped the car on its' side. We took out the suspension, diff, steering, and gas tank before cutting the rest of the body into smaller pieces. We had a plasma cutter but as mentioned it doesn't work on 90% of the Zs body. We went through about 13 sawall blades instead. Used a magnet to get all the metal bits and my hands for all the bondo and other non-magnetic bits. Thanks for the advise and suggestions.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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