Niagara Z

[Guest eric_503]

This one had sat since the late 70's in the building we bought. Its my first car,and since it came with the building hasnt cost me.

 

There should be enough to complete the car,alot of extras as well,Some 260z doors and etc so Im assuming there was a parts 260z that got scrapped.

 

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/eric_503/240z/

 

Easyer to keep it in one main link then pictures threwout the thread.

 

Its super clean,some rust spots but nothing major,alot of surface rust from sitting around.

 

The biggest bumps so far have been caused by people and not the car surprisingly enough.

 

Its a sad story .....Started with it at the shop we bought(first pictures) Theres 5000sq ft and you can comfortably back a transport truck trailer in threw the shop doors. Now for a reason im not even still sure of its made its way home,to a single car garage that well barely has enough room to even put the car in. And everyone else has these idea's on how THEIR going to put it back to original,because its worth more etc etc and anything else besides 110% factory is butchering it....altho its been painted,panels cut out/replaced,parts from a different car etc.

 

As long as its in my name thats a different story Waiting on a quote to get it all sand blasted so I can continue to strip it down,Started cleaning it up abit and said screw it might as well start fresh. Oh by the way apparently sand blasting dramaticly warps a car,puts things out of alignment and etc,and is only for really really rusty cars that dont have quarters,floor pans etc anymore. I love living in a household of know it all's.

[Guest eric_503]

So far on the list

 

-Strip the car to its shell

-Haul it out to be sand blasted/primered

-Do the metal work where ever needed/Install fiberglass quarters

-Off to paint(Im thinking all white/possibly spray that truck bed liner on the bottom instead of undercoating)

-Start the reassembling

 

Reassembling breaks it into another list

-Stock seats need to go,Theres the 2 originals,plus 2 spares if anyone local needs any

-Clean up the engine/paint,put it back in,Or I might put a 350 in it thats the easy route so far.(Once again its a horrific butcher job etc etc haha)

-Do something with the gas tank(Im thinking aftermarket fuel cell put into where the spare tire normally goes?)

-With the room from the gas tank gone install the flow master 1 into 2 muffler and have the pipes come out the back like the bre 240z I seen,2.5inch pipes by the way to.

-Find some sort of wheel set to go with it,Its almost impossible to find 4bolt 4.5/114.3 spaced rims around here let alone the aero ones I wanted

-Debate on using flares,(fiberglass quarters and front fenders are flared abit but not much)

-Listen to the "professional" bitch even more about putting fiberglass quarters on it.

-I'll leave off here until the next time.

 

Any comments/advice/etc are greatly appreciated,Would also be great to find some more locals with 240z/260x/280z's etc Im sure I could use a hand at one point as well.

Plus I know a couple scrap yards with some z cars that havent been picked at to much because I doubt anyone knows they are there

[Guest eric_503]

Update.....I start afternoons at a local body shop/restoration/garage

I work off paying for the Z.....and I get todo it myself,and If I do a good job.....well I get the job haha.

 

So far.

Whole spare engine,trans,rear end,front end/rack,suspension etc

Fiberglass front fenders,another engine/trans-fuel injected l28,other misc parts I still have to go threw.

 

So the plan is....turn the l28 into a carb'd engine for now,find all the stuff I need to make it into a turbo'd fuel injected engine down the road.

[Guest eric_503]

My god its been months......

 

Ive done some body work,nothing extencive,I actually need to strip it down to bare metal and primer it instead of sanding it.But I have started on something else....

[Guest eric_503]

This kind of happened

 

[Guest eric_503]

And then this

 

[Guest eric_503]

And the whole mess of it

 

[Guest eric_503]

Lessons learned......30+ year old motor oil smells bad....kind of like diff oil,but it soaks into your skin and doesnt come out.

 

Also,heats a good friend,I still have to take an exhaust manifold stud out of the head. Several snapped off so i put it on the mill and basicly brushed the metal out of the thread grooves. Started to drill by hand and it touched the bottom of one of the bolts and slid abit...aluminum disappears fast,fixed that easy tho.

 

All new everything for this engine,valve seals,gaskets,rings etc.

Keeping it organized the head was fun,valves were perfect,besides the handfuls of stuff that came out of them when i took them out,it wasnt rust,it was kind of like a dirt/powder,its all gone tho so thats what counts.

[Guest eric_503]

Moving onto the block,EVERYTHING was mint,barely a mark on the cylinder walls. Or the crank/bearings,they were spot less. Being the old l24 with an e31 head I did get abit lucky.

 

The pistons had alot of stuff in them to,but cleaned up and looked like new,basicly all the rings were seized so they were pulled out,grooves cleaned,new rings in and staggered.

 

Everything is just about together and all painted now. And so far I have a whole $270 into it. Rings were $120 for std size(perfect circle rings),and the full gasket set from felpro was $120