74 260Z Resurrection

[nullbound]

I coated the floors on the top and bottom with por-15 this past weekend. Talk about a messy job, especially with the car on jack stands to get the bottom side. I ended up with a good bit on my hands and clothes.

 

No pics this week, though. The floors just look darker than in the above pics anwyay.

[nullbound]

Here's some pics of the por-15'd floors (yes, i know i missed a spot):

 

 

My 200-4r transmission has been rebuilt with a full manual valve body, which I could only find with a reverse shift pattern. TCI seems to be the only company that makes the proper reverse-pattern gate plate for an aftermarket shifter, but that works out well since they also made the valve body. I wasn't sure if the TCI gate plate would work with the B&M pro stick shifter I planned to use in this car, but suspected they were close to being the same. I bought a TCI thunder stick from Summit Racing to be sure that I could use this gate plate. Upon comparing shifters and gate plates, I found that they're exactly the same. I'll pick up another gate plate later for my silver 240, which has a b&m pro stick shifter.

 

 

The gate plate went on the new tci thunder stick shifter with ease.

 

 

I had this B&M quick release plate from the previous owner (installed with ARP bolts).

 

 

And mounted the TCI shifter to it with no problems.

 

 

Today I spent some time cleaning up the wiring a bit in the engine compartment. The previous owner had a few relays and a small painless wiring kit on the firewall that I'll be moving. The fan relay will be kept in the engine compartment, but the rest will be moved inside the car under the dash. I started wrapping the wiring harness on the passenger side frame rail with a heat shield wrap since the passenger side header is extremely close to that frame rail.

 

 

The crossmember and framerails look strange in the pic above, but they were painted when the car was with the paint/body man. They just need to be cleaned with soapy water (messy from wet-sanding).

 

Once I get everything tidied up with the wiring, I'll cover it all with Russell's "Wrap-It" for a clean look.

 

More next weekend... Got company in town from Hawaii.

[nullbound]

Also, meant to post my cam details in a previous response. Here's a screen capture of the cam specs:

 

[nullbound]

Wow, last update was August. Time flies and I still have too much to do.

 

So, a few things have happened since then... both of them seemingly backwards in terms of progress for this project.

 

Firstly, I found a lot wrong with my paintjob the more I worked on the car. What really irked me was when I went to wipe a layer of dust off the roof and not all the dust in the path of my hand moved. The roof was not nearly as smooth as it should be and dust was left in many imperfections.

 

We showed the car to a guy named Dickey, who I originally wanted to paint the car. Dickey's first impression of the car resulted in a recommendation involving guns, the other painter, and kneecaps, but I'm not really that kind of guy. He offered to fix the paint job for me by scuffing it down and respraying it for a very reasonable price. His favorite color to paint is black and he's definitely got a keen eye for what it should look like. Part of my delay since August has been trying to schedule getting the car into his shop.

 

In the meantime, I've been helping my friend Paul (who originally put this 260 together with a v8) with his current project, a 71 240Z getting a 383. Dickey also painted Paul's 240, which was an excellent opportunity for me to see what Dickey can do with a Datsun. Let's just say I was extremely jealous of this paintjob for a while:

 

Before:

 

During:

 

After:

 

Powah:

 

More pics of Paul's latest project car here: http://picasaweb.google.com/nullproject/1971240zWith383#

 

Back to my car...

 

An opening came in Dickey's shop in the first week of December, so I basically took the car back apart in November so that Dickey could do his thing. Unfortunately for him, he found a lot of questionable work as he started sanding and ended up doing a lot more body work than even he initially imagined. Some parts of the car had really thin paint, others were extremely thick. The paint used was cheap and Dickey didn't like it. The metalwork was good, though. It's just all the stuff involving paint that had issues. Regardless, Dickey is making it all right and I know I can rest easy with the car in his hands.

 

Here's some shots showing my 260 as it was when I dropped it off with Dickey, and a few drop-ins to check progress:

 

 

Dickey's going to spray the color and clear this week and get it ready for me to pick up next Saturday.

 

I said firstly above to talk about the paint situation... The other update is that I bought the engine that was in this car when Paul had it. It's yet another 377 (gives me 3 now), with 6" rods, Edelbrock Performer RPM heads and the exact same cam as listed above. I need to clean it up and put a new front timing cover seal on it, but a very recent compression check by Paul shows it to be in excellent shape. I hit the Summit catalog tonight for a few things I need for it and should have some updates on it next weekend.

Edited January 3, 2011 by nullbound

[VKLR]

Looking good. I'd like to see what the paint job looks like. Maybe if you still have the storage doors i could come by and get those and check out your ride. I'll be shopping for a paint shop in about a year and want to get a good job done.

 

More pictures

[nullbound]

I know several painters that I can tell you to avoid at all costs Dickey will have two more projects from me this year: my wagon and my 280. I just sent you a PM about the storage doors.

[nullbound]

Here's some pics of the new old 377 I bought. It's ugly right now, but should clean up fine.

 

 

I probably won't use this carb, but will stick with the rebuilt 3310 that I have.

 

Here's some of the new goodies I got for it during the week (performer rpm intake, new balancer, new timing cover, gaskets):

 

 

A couple of snags realized today... this engine has a larger oil pan than I remembered and I'm pretty sure it won't work well for jtr ground clearance. However, I already have a buyer for it and just need to pick up another pan that I know will work.

 

Also, the performer rpm heads are straight plug and I'm not sure yet what kind of clearance they'll have with the s&s headers I was planning to use. That's not really a big deal, though. I have another set of shorty block huggers that would work fine with this motor.

 

And now for the good stuff... The car is black again:

 

 

It's still got to be buffed out, but Dickey did a great job. He redid the whole exterior, the door jambs, underneath the wiper cowl, and the engine bay. My only complaint is that he didn't roll the rear fender lips as much as I wanted, but I can't really complain for the price. Hopefully that won't be an issue with the wheels and tires I'll be using. Well, technically I can complain... but the car is painted now and I'd hate for anything else to have to be redone.

 

Dickey is going to buff it this week and I'll go next weekend to reinstall the rear window and my new windshield.

[VKLR]

Your car is looking great. It's going to be a monster for sure. I'd like to see the mounting difference from Paul's set up.

[nullbound]

Your car is looking great. It's going to be a monster for sure. I'd like to see the mounting difference from Paul's set up.

 

Thanks! There's some pretty good pics of the JTR mounts on post 20 of this thread. I'll get some shots of Paul's mounts so you can see the difference. It'll be a few more weeks before the motor goes in the car.

[nullbound]

I got the car back to Paul's place on Saturday (01/22) after the wetsanding and buffing was completed. The car looks great:

 

 

Dealing with the windshield was again a pain, but Dickey and I were able to get it back in the car without too much trouble. I will agree with others here that the Nissan windshield and rear decklid glass seals are definitely better than the cheap aftermarket ones. They're more expensive, but they fit the car (and the trim) better.

 

 

Dickey is still working on the front air dam and rear spoiler. He had them painted, but said that he didn't like how they turned out. He sanded them back down and is repainting them this week. He's also redoing the three tail light panels. I should be getting those pieces back tomorrow.

 

 

I've been working on my dash and gauges during the week. The one that was in the car looked terrible:

 

 

Crack party... that some previous owner tried to "fix":

 

 

I was thinking about repairing the pad as some have done here, but ran across a 280 dash with no cracks and decided that was a better way to go. The new dash has a perfect pad on it, but the frame underneath had some cancer on one side.

 

 

 

Luckily the frame from my 260 dash was in great shape, so I put the good 280 pad on the good 260 frame. An added bonus is that I didn't have to mess with the vin number since I kept the dash frame that was originally in the car.

 

 

I've got my new Autometer guages mounted in the original datsun gauge housings. This is a simple process that I also did on my 240. Remove guts... cut the back of the metal housing off, and mount the gauge.

 

 

The oil pressure and water temperature gauges I bought are mechanical, so the factory straps that hold the gauges won't work. I need to decide how to mount them in the dash. Mounting was a little easier in my 240, but this will probably just require a simple bracket to go from the bottom of the gauge housing to the dash frame.

 

 

I still need to get a fuel level gauge.

 

Tomorrow the sportmaxx wheels go back on the car (for now... I still need tires for the new wheels I have) and the new old 377 gets cleaned up.

[nullbound]

I got the new old 377 cleaned up over the weekend, with new performer rpm intake manifold, new comp cams timing cover, and new milodon oil pan installed.

 

Before:

 

During:

 

 

After a lot of gunk, brake cleaner, carb cleaner, mag wheel cleaner, gasket remover, and elbow grease:

 

I also finished laying out the wiring in the engine compartment and wired in my relay kit for the 200-4r.

 

I also installed the quarter windows and new door handles.

 

The engine and transmission will be installed this weekend, but still a lot more to do (finish the dash, install brake/driving/headlights, driveshaft, exhaust, etc).

 

This feels like the home stretch. And I want to drive her...

[nullbound]

I got the rebuilt 200-4r transmission back from Phillip R this weekend. It's got a few upgrades over stock and should handle the power of the 377 without issues. The converter I'm using is a B&M Holeshot 2400, which was in my silver 240 for a little while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three issues with the install: one expected, one I should have expected, and one not expected.

 

For the expected issue... The JTR crossmember will not work well with the 200-4r. While the JTR book says you can massage the floor BFH-style, it just won't work with the position of the crossmember and the floorboards since this transmission mount is further back than with other transmissions. I went through the same issue with my 240. My exhaust guy sectioned the mount for my 240 so that it would fit in the tunnel without having to beat the floors. He'll do the same with this one when I get the exhaust done in a few weeks. For now, I mounted the crossmember upside down with a spacer between the crossmember and the transmission mount to approximate where the transmission will sit in the tunnel. I also only used two bolts per side since the mounting is temporary and the crossmember will be modified.

 

 

And for the should have expected issue: the wiring harness is too close to the header on the driver's side. I ended up raising the wiring harness about 4 inches above it's factory location to keep it from being so close to the header. The wires are wrapped with a heat resistant cover, but I still don't want them as close to the header as they were. I didn't get a good pic over the weekend, but will take one later.

 

For the unexpected issue: I got the transmission shifter cable hooked up, but had to modify the bracket to fit with the aftermarket transmission pan from yourcovers.com. The casting is pretty thick, which is a great thing, but the bracket had to be trimmed a good bit to line up properly with the bolt holes.

 

Other than that, I measured for the driveshaft and talked Paul into taking my flange by Driveline Service today to get them to make the driveshaft. They should have it ready tomorrow.

 

This weekend, I'll install the radiator, water pump, and alternator, as well as hook up the lines for the transmission cooler.

 

It's getting there...

 

[nullbound]

Overdue for an update... and a lot of little things done.

 

So, the weekend before last, I got the radiator and fan mounted. I used a couple of one inch cylinders (there's one with a smaller diameter inside the one you can see) I found at Ace Hardware to space the lower radiator mount from JTR down:

 

 

Here's the initial mounting of the radiator:

 

 

And with the taurus fan:

 

 

The new driveshaft was built by Driveline Service in Atlanta and installed:

 

 

I test fit the header on the driver's side and didn't like how close the wiring was. It was too close for comfort. Granted, I've got a heat shield on the wires, but I just don't like wiring and exhaust that close. So, I repositioned the wiring harness further up and am using the factory wiring harness clamps to hold the transmission cooler lines.

 

 

The alternator and cleaned/painted water pump were installed. I have fittings installed in the intake and water pump to run heater hoses, but I will run those hoses later. I put caps on the fittings for now.

 

 

I installed the transmission cooler with some brackets I bent. The cooler has an electric fan that I'll wire in at a later date.

 

This past weekend, the distributor and spark plug wires were installed, as well as new radiator hoses. I used Dayco part numbers 70651 and 71217 for the radiator hoses.

 

And, finally, I completed wiring the Autometer gauges into the dash, using the illumination wiring from the existing harness.

 

Still Remaining (should complete these items this weekend):

Fluids (antifreeze, oil, and transmission fluid)

Couple of wiring items to wrap up under the dash

Install new Optima battery and battery cables

Test and verify wiring

Install locking header and collector bolts

Install and run wiring for 2 remaining Autometer gauges (fuel level and transmission temp)

Install fuel cell.

Run short section of 6AN fuel line to the factory fuel line on the passenger frame rail

 

Once the above items are completed, then I can call and schedule for the car to get dropped off at the exhaust shop.

[nullbound]

Update time, though much of this has been done for over a month. Sorry if this update is rushed...

 

All fluids are in. Battery and cables are in. The fuel cell and lines are in. My locking header bolts are in. Locking collector bolts will go in later. I also installed an in-line transmission temperature manifold for the transmission temp gauge I installed in the glove box. I also installed a fuel level gauge in the glove box.

 

The engine startup was pretty painless, other than the distributor initially being off one tooth.

 

When testing the wiring, I was having some problems with the headlights and driving lights. The PO had reported some occasional issues with the lights. When I tried them, they only worked once out of every 10 times attempt to turn them on. It turned out to be a bad headlight switch, but took me a little while to find a replacement... which I luckily had stuffed in a box in my garage. I'm not even sure what car it came from, but was glad I already had a part I could use.

 

Here's some pics taken when wrapping up the above work:

 

The front spoiler, cowl panel, and hood were the last items to come back from paint:

 

 

The car is currently at the exhaust shop, getting 2.5" pipes installed with an x and magnaflow mufflers.

 

What she looked like when she left:

 

And a small video of the first engine startup with all the new stuff:

 

I'll pick the car up from the exhaust shop on Friday morning and hopefully be able to drive it on the street on Saturday or Sunday

[nullbound]

I picked up the car today from the exhaust shop. The guy has been swamped, so it took him about 4 weeks to get started, but I wasn't in a hurry.

 

Here's what it looked like when I went to get it today:

 

 

 

And here's a short video outside the shop:

 

The car isn't at my house yet, but I got it tagged and insured today. Tomorrow, I'll go wrap a few things up to make sure it will be ok to drive home on Sunday.

[LegnaZetr0]

looks amazing, sucks that you had to do the paint work twice.

[nullbound]

Thanks! It definitely sucks that the first painter didn't do as well as he said he would.

[nullbound]

Yesterday I installed the front spoiler and checked everything over to make sure it was going to be good for the drive home today. Everything checked out ok, so I took her for a spin around the block. She did great. The transmission feels weird since it's a reverse pattern shift, but it's working as it should.

 

So, today I drove down with my girlfriend to pick the car up. First thing I did was take the car around the block one more time and stopped to get some gas. As I was pulling into the gas station, there was a strange loud pop, which turned out to be a broken rocker arm stud:

 

 

Luckily, we were able to round up another stud from a neighbor and Paul had a lock. I'll try to get the broken piece of rocker arm stud out of the ARP Poly Lock during the week.

 

After replacing the stud and doing a quick adjustment, I brought the car home. It did quite well coming home, with the temperature never exceeding 185 degrees. My gas gauge wasn't working on the way home, so I don't know yet how much fuel I used on the drive. But, everything seems pretty good.

 

The only issue coming home was a rock that I ran over that rolled up my passenger side front fender. It left a nice, ugly scratch. Oh well, there's always going to be a first scratch on new paint. May as well get it over with. I'll see if Dickey can touch it up a little later.

 

Here's a few shots in the driveway:

 

 

I still have more to assemble, but it started to sprinkle at the house, so I just put the cover over her for the night.