Initial Z Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Well after months of saving and searching I finally got a 240 Z!!!! I’m really excited to get started working on it. I have a pretty good idea what I want to do to it but I’m a little unsure about the order I should do it in. The car needs body work and rust repair, new paint and I want to do a SR20 swap on it and race suspension and breaks. But what I don't know is if I do all the body work and paint before I have fitted the new engine am I going to run into any problems with having to weld anything to the frame to get the engine to fit and mount up properly. I have never really done anything this extensive to a car before and was just wondering if you guys have any suggestions for a order of operations. Or if you guys know of any books that will help me with this. thanks, nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewievette Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 I'd fit the engine, then pull it and rebuild it or whatever and at the same time do the body work/rust repair. Its the whole idea of building the car twice. If you can only do one thing at a time I'd start with rust repair you Have to have a solid base to start modding from and you cant do that with rust holes everywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Maudlin Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 On my sbc, I did the engine, interior, suspension, brakes and everything before I did the paint. The first thing I did was take my car to a competent body shop and had new floor pans and frame rails installed. I had the body shop check out the car. Unfortunately, they did not tell me how bad the rust was. After I had spent so much money on my car, I found out that the rust was horrible. I got so mad at the amount of rust and the frame problems that I parted the car out. This time, I did the body first, then the engine. I have done the suspension and front brakes. Now I just need rear brakes, strut tower bars and interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Initial Z Posted March 7, 2006 Author Share Posted March 7, 2006 Thanks! I ges I'll just start with the rust repear and dents and hopfully by the time im done with that ill have enoff money saved up to get the engine and tranny in for a test fit before painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
True School 240Z Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 So you're joining the SR20 cult, eh? Good luck with the project. As everyone else said you should start on the rust elimination and other body work before putting in a new engine. Rust only gets worse as time goes by. post pics when you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodlefoof Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Congrats on your purchase. Let's see some pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Initial Z Posted March 8, 2006 Author Share Posted March 8, 2006 ill get pics up tomarow and start a new thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Initial Z Posted March 8, 2006 Author Share Posted March 8, 2006 Ok well I ges there is no need to start a new thread...(it was late and I'm not sure why I thought I needed to start a new one) any way... hear is my Z! The body is desent just a few rust holes and dents moste of wich should be easy to repear. There is one thing I dont know how to fix, this dent in the driverside rear courner. Can someone explane how to fix this? Also, I'll need to replace the flour pan. Is there much defarenc between replacment pans? Is there one thats considred to be better than the rest? Asfar as the interiour goes its in pritty good shape other than the all the plastic molding, final, and headliner, and door panels seem to be in good shape so I was hoping to be able to save these parts. I want to strip out everything to get all the rust that might be hiding, but is it posable to remove everything and be able to re use it? Ok thats all I can think of for now, thanks all! nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Just get the floorpan specific for your year, or some people just buy sheetmetal, and fab a pan. check out this thread, http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=106731 i believe he had rust in this area, watch the videos. you might be able to cut that piece off a junkyard z, or get it from someone who's parting theirs out. You should be able to re-use most of the parts, providing they didn't need to be replaced anyways, and you didn't break them in the process of taking them out. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Initial Z Posted March 8, 2006 Author Share Posted March 8, 2006 Is a wire wheel a good tool to use for removing old bond-o? There are a few spots where it looks like it was filled with bondo (or sum thing) and I would like to get it out so I know exactly what I'm dealing with under it. Also I have been considering having it striped down to mettle just so I can see all the rust and make sure I get it all. I have head that you only want to strip a car down to bear mettle if its absolutely necessary because it's hard to get the new paint to stick. But I am going to be using the "roller" method (discussed in another thread on this site) or at least the kind of paint they where talking about but with a HVLP sprayer. That stuff is suppose to stick to anything and it has a rust inhibitor in it so it seems like getting it to stick shouldn't be that big of a deal. what do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I would use paint stripper on just those area, then you can inspect wahts underneath instead of possibally damaging the metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I would use paint tripper on just those area, then you can inspect wahts underneath instead of possibally damaging the metal. dude, do you even know what a wire wheel is? It's not going to "possibally" damage the metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Yes I know what one is. I've been working on car since I was 7 in my dad's shop. I ment use acid so you wouldn't damage the metal underneath if it was lead loaded. If you use a wire wheel on corroded areas (behind bondo) its might break through and bend the surrounding metal. If you mean a wire wheel on a dremmel then its going to take you a while to get the area cleared. With acid you just have to wait and scrape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 If the sheet metal under bondo is vulnerable enough to be wacked out of shape by wire wheels then it is not worth protecting in the first place. It ought to be cut out and replaced. Paint stripper is not an acid, it is alkaline mixed with methyl alcohol and gelled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Initial Z Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 Ok ok .. so what do you guys think about having the car media blasted and just starting with a bare metal? Any idea on how expencive this is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Here's what I did Full car media blast = 1200$ CDN (should be cheaper down in US) Full car painted with RustBullet(this is better than POR15) paint 372$CDN +labour 600$CDN Bodywork is still in progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boobala Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I'm not sure how effective it is or how much it cost, but you might consider having it "Soda Blasted." Here's a company in your area that will come to your home and do it: http://www.trueformsodablasting.com/automotive.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Initial Z Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 That soda blasting looks like a good option. Do you know if it will remove bond-o? Any idea on the price? It's cool that they come to your house, but on theother hand I wounder how they would be able to get to the underside of the car? I might have to get a rotisary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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