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seattlejester's 1971 240Z


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Thanks for the heads up!

 

There used to be one up here, almost wrecked as I drove by because I was so distracted, probably 50+ Z-cars.

 

Hoping to get quite a few hours in tomorrow and remove everything and start patching and replacing metal. Have a fully charged camera to keep me company :)

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Got a very annoyed phone call from work asking why I wasn't in on Saturday so I had to head in. Halfway through my shift I got a call from my mom saying my sister was rushed to the ER. Switched off with a co-worker and rushed to the hospital, and that was my weekend. Decided I needed to think about something else so I decided I'd work on the car.

 

I decided I wanted the shaved bumper look as the previous owner had already started. Cut out a very nice square only to realize there is a very thick bracket that connects to the sub-frame :(, didn't have enough protection to try and cut it out from the inside of the car, so I'm heading back tonight armed with many more layers.

 

Took a bunch of pictures so I'll load those tonight as well!

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Apparently tonight means next week in my world...

Status update:

*Sister is out of the hospital smile.gif, albeit sans part of lung

*Halfway done with patching up the rear bumper mounts for the shaved bumper look
*Pulled transmission and fuel tank
*Starting from the rear moving forward
*Hoing to go with a 2x3 rectangular tube frame rail, as there's a local metal supplier, and I'd like to not have to worry about denting or scraping the bottom

*Decided I needed something a tad more useable so I dropped the money for a hobart handler 140, I do have to say it makes some nice welds. Haven't finished both sides but you get the idea. Still having some problems making holes in the rear, anyone know what gauge the sheet metal in the rear is?


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Closeups of the damaged pillar in question

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It is cracked partway up, hard to notice with the black and rust, I'll take a sander to it to highlight some of the damage at a later date.

Going to head back and finish the bumper tomorrow, close some gaps in the rear, and start making my way forward.

Next tool to purchase:
P1030046.jpg
Fire extinguisher smile.gif

Edited by seattlejester
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Perhaps it's gotten thinner with age, I'll try practicing on some 22 before I try fender work.

 

I keep telling myself the same thing to ditch the car and look for another one, but I'm in a unique situation where I have another 3-6 months before I lose project car space, and it will probably be a year or so before I can negotiate another one. Plus I can't bring myself to kill a Z, not yet at least.

Edited by seattlejester
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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks pretty good there on the Rails. Are the floors going to be flat again? It's kinda hard to tell in the pict.

 

As for that Dent by the door. It does look like a pretty good hit, but You should measure the distance from the center of the car to where the Door hinge is and see if it's still pushed in there as compared to the other side. The car may not be square. and if that's the case then the door won't sit flush w/o shims or using a jack and some boards to push it out to the correct distance.

 

As for the looks of that area, you could cut out the section from a domor and weld that in, but that's a lot of work, or just hammer in in so it looks pretty much flat under the carpet. If nobody's going to see it, then it's only you that would worry about it. The crack you can weld just like you do the panels. Don't forget to seal your repairs since you don't want any rust to start.

 

Wow your sis lost part of a lung, that sucks, hope it wasn't cancerous.

 

Phar

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Blebs is what the doctor called it, can't believe something that sounds so silly can cause such serious problems.

 

The inside was hammered flat, and the floor pan is going to be replaced on the right side (just the upper portion), as hammering in the door sill revealed a bent floor (gaps visible between spot welds along door sill from front to seat mount). I think I'll have the frame rail sticking up into the cabin, and just level it with the stuff that comes in afterwards like sound proofing, carpet, etc etc. Since I won't be sitting in the passenger seat, and in the driver seat my feet will be forward of the beam. But only time will tell how big of a problem that may be.

 

Still trying to figure out the outside. I'd like to do a more permanent fix than shims, but that is always my backup plan. I suppose if I can't reshape it correctly I can always weld up a little bracket to push the bolt holes out or weld in a shim plate.

 

It really is surprising the naivety the engineers had in making "drainage holes" in random places. Proving to be a real exercise in controlling myself from pulling every potential spot for rust.

 

Hopefully I'll be finishing up the passenger frame rail and start with the floor/firewall/battery tray area. Then I get to repeat on the other side!

Edited by seattlejester
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Progress report:

 

A friend came over last weekend and decided he really wanted to do some welding, so he and I fabricated a insert for the frame rail. The rear portion is slid in to sit on the square tube that runs in front of the rear wheels, and the front piece is hammered onto the insert in the front then slid back to make a perfect match. The driver side is in very good condition so it will only be getting the rear treatment with a cap on the front.

 

Spent the whole workday today making caps for the frame rail so no water or debris find their way inside.

 

Picked up a 4.11 R200 :D just need to find the cog and sleeve so I can tell how fast I'm going lol.

 

Really hoping to start the roll cage this week or weekend, then I have to go searching for seats and harnesses. Then fix the floors.

 

Then start sealing the car up :D

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I hear ya, and I enjoyed reading your build! Seems like I may have to shoot a few questions your way once mine starts wrapping up. I'd love to take a look sometime, I've been curious as to the eibach spring height and clearance with the 16x8's (I have xxr 522, still contemplating the 513's or just drop the money for rota's)

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Got my new charger in and found my camera so picture time!

 

Why you should wear sleeves when you weld

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One part that's ready for paint

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Didn't get to take the gratuitous flinstone shot but

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Driver side frame rail, still not sure if I want to put it in, we'll decide after the passenger side is done

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For those curious where it mounts in the back

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How much it sticks out below the floor

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Sometimes it's just a good day

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I'll have to go back and cap the rear and weld the underside, but so far everything is looking good. The floor pan and a portion of the firewall are next, along with the rail in the engine bay, followed by some patching in the rear then the decision to do the driver side or not. And last but not least will be making brackets for the roll cage, and making some home made strut braces/harness bar.

 

I decided that I will be rebuilding the short block myself and will probably send the head to be done by z-specialties as I have yet to find a shop that does rebuilds. The front brakes will be kept stock as well as the rear drums, as I don't think I'll be needing a big brake upgrade at the moment, instead the money will be spent on new shocks, springs, brake lines, and fuel lines. Just another week or so and the reassembly begins!

Edited by seattlejester
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Fire wall is pretty much in. The bottom needs to be trimmed to meet with the new floor section

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Compare picture to one on first page to see how much better the damaged portion looks!

 

 

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Really crude mockup of the new metal, the engine bay rail will be cut out and replaced with the 2.5 square tube, only keeping the bottom portion with the control arm mount.

Fender will be a shelf like design, as seen in the Project Hugo vids, and will be composed of 2 pieces with possible support pieces underneath.

 

After this will be welding the floor to the frame rail. Grinding down all the welds, jacking the car up. Finishing up the frame rail mount. Finishing up the rear with the needed patch and lead soldering all the welds.

 

Driver side will go in soon after. Followed shortly by the roll cage and braces.

 

 

After this the surface rust spots will be attacked with a wire brush. All seams will be welded/soldered/or sealed. Then the reassembly begins :)

Edited by seattlejester
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Feels like I was a bear in a past life, as the cold weather has it's final hurrah, I find myself sleeping when I really should be welding. Bought myself a sheet metal bender and some clamps so I can make the general shape of the floor. Hopefully I get a chance to play with that tomorrow, as the weather people have predicted snow for the 5th day in a row. Is there any other job where you can be right 1/5th of the time and not get fired? I see the cities sending out trucks and spraying the roads and dispensing salt, every day, but no snow...feels like they're pissing away money...

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Decided I would do one cosmetic thing along with 1 welding thing minimum a day.

 

I was a little overzealous in my spraying so it will have to be wet sanded, but boy does it look pretty

IMG_20110301_155225.jpg

 

Today I made the complicated bends for the floor, just one edge left to do. Hopefully will be welding that in on thursday :)

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  • 1 month later...

Pretty cool, you've done quite a lot of work. Did you have much trouble welding next to the rusty painted areas? Usually I clean stuff up before trying to weld next to stuff like, that since you get less spatter, and a cleaner weld. Shielding gas helps quite a lot too. Yours doesn't look too bad at all though. You might want to wipe it down with some surface prep and hit it with seam sealer and a light coat of primer just to keep any rust from reforming. It's a lot of work replacing that much metal, but good job!

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