Update on #237

[Mike B]

Well, after a long delay, I finally received #237 about a month ago. I had it shipped to me via enclosed railcar, which was supposed to be faster and safer. Unfortunately there was a fire on a major east-west rail tressle in CA that backed up all rail traffic for a couple of weeks. So much for getting it here quicker. Then the car wouldn't start after sitting for almost two months, so I had to have it towed to a local Z mechanic to get it going again. It runs, but still needs a good tune up.

I got it back right before going on vacation for a week and I've spend the last two weekends taking the interior apart and removing some non-stock items. I finally had a chance to wash the car and take some pictures today.

After taking the interior out and getting a better look at the floors I have decided to replace them before putting the interior back in. I ordered a set from Charlie Osborn and am waiting for them to arrive. Other than the floors, the other major rust issue I need to deal with is the cowl area. In the pictures I got before buying the car I could see bubbling rust on the firewall above the battery and thought it was due to battery acid. When I got the car, this area of the firewall was so weak I could put my finger right through it, which I did to open it up and see how bad it was. I then opened up the cowl grill and the cowl was full of leaves, pine needles, dirt and rust chunks. The bottom of the cowl has numerous pin-hole sized rust holes, but I think I will be able to use POR-15 and fiber mesh to repair that. Obvioulsy the firewall will need to have some metal welded in, so I plan to have that done at the same time I have the floors put in. The doors also had a lot of pine needles and junk in them, which caused the bottoms to rust. The passenger side is the worst with several areas of rust bubbles coming through the outer skin. I'm going to try to POR-15 these areas and see how that works for a stop gap fix until I do a complete repaint. The rest of the exterior actually looks pretty good. The hatch looks to be rust free. The car was repainted the original silver several years ago and it seems like it was at least a decent job.

So far I have done the following:

*replaced aftermarket drivers side mirror with stock unit

*replaced aftermarket steering wheel with stock unit that I bought and refinished

*removed and reinstalled the combination and turn signal switched after having them repaired by Z'sondabrain

*removed the after market electric cooling fan and installed a plastic fan from a 72. I also bought a nice condition 70 metal fan to have for originality

*removed aftermarket radio, speakers and manual replacement antenna and installed a stock power antenna

*removed later speedometer and replaced with a 70 unit

*removed front bumper overrider bar

*removed the aftermarket coolant recovery tank

*found a perfect set of stock seats (from a low milage 72) and swapped out the brackets and reclining mechanism with the stock series 1 parts. The seats that came with the car had been poorly recovered.

*bought a stock nissan exhaust system, but then found out that the PO installed a header, so I will also need to install a stock exhaust manifold and downpipe before I can put the exhaust on.

*removed the clock and amp/fuel gauge to replace

I'll attach some pictures tomorrow. It looks like I have to resize them all.

-Mike

[Mike B]

Once I got started I decided to just go ahead and resize and post the pictures tonight. Here is the first batch.

[Mike B]

This is the second group of pictures.

-Mike

[zpizzaman20]

Chris, Carl, Jim, etc...

I think it is time to convene a meeting of the low VIN club, it has been a while.

Mike has a great car, one major rust issue and a few more originality issues.

I think we have a new member.

Fred

[76Datsun280z]

Very very nice!

I thought I remembered seeing it with the orginal "D" caps? Also, did you have Z Specialties work on it?

[Mike B]

Very very nice!

I thought I remembered seeing it with the orginal "D" caps? Also, did you have Z Specialties work on it?

Thanks. I removed the hubcaps for now. I didn't want them to fall off and I wanted to check the date codes on the steel wheels. Three including spare are correct 11/69 and two are later replacements I guess. I considered having Z specialties work on the car, buy it is kind of far for me to go, especially because it had to be towed from Pacific when I picked it up. I had Duane Bender at Motorworks Ltd work on it. He is currently the President of the Z car club of WA and I think his silver Z was mentioned in a recent Nissan Sport mag.

[=Enigma=]

Looking good man. You didn't waste any time ripping into her. Man that firewall issue is an ugly one. I suggest you get that purty steering wheel out of there before it gets fracked up.

[Mike B]

Yeah, I wanted to take everything apart first to see what I really had. Good thing I did or I might not have noticed the floors and cowl area right away. I plan to remove the steering wheel and (obviously) the seat before starting the work on the floors and cowl/firewall, but I need them in for now to move the car around. I also wanted to check out how the steering wheel looked in the car after my refinishing. I think it came out well.

-Mike

[240znz]

Mike,

I had the same issue with the cowl area. However, I completed stripped my car before taking it to the panel shop. They removed the spot welds that covered the fresh air intake chimney and found a mess in there but not as cancerous as what you are dealing with.

You may have to remove the dash to gain enough access to complete a lasting soluton. It's not too bad a job but it is suprisingly heavy.

You also may want to find out what is behind that pop rivited panel on the firewall just above the right hand frame rail. Hmmmmm.

Go the sub 500 club.

[26th-Z]

I'll bet you find more rust behind that pop riveted panel on the firewall. The big rust hole above it is the seam between the cowl and firewall infront of the fresh air shimney. Taking the dash out is the way to attack the problem.

Low VIN guy standing by to help. Thanks for the heads-up, Fred.

Chris

[Mckrack]

Mike you have a very nice specimen there. Very workable and restorable. I wish you all the best with it. I don't think you should be taking the dash out of the car just yet Mike. If the dash isn't cracked there are other ways to see if there is rust behind it. I don't know about 26 but I suppose he may not realize that if you start fooling around with a solid dash the strees of taking it out might crack it so I wouldn't suggest you doing that.Anyome familiar with these old z dashes should know if you are not damn careful you may end up with a non crack free dash. So I don't agree with that suggestion. I didn't get a good look at the dash. Is it crack free.

Maybe others would like to chime in about removing a good dash with out cracking it.

BTW why did you go ahead and refinish the steering wheel before doing all the other work. Are you not concerned it may get damaged in the interim?

[dk240z]

Don't do it!

Leave it alone!

Put a very nice paint job on it, and enjoy it. The rivet job looks like a A/C hole cover for fume issues. I'd leave the rust(doesn't look structurally significant), and live with a survivor. Just clean up the exterior body rust, and enjoy! But, if your going to do a Kats resto($$) or better, go for it! I personally have great respect for "survivors". Unless your made of money, a ground up restoration on a Z won't pay off in this day and age. A prime example is the "factor"(Don't go there) restoration cars. Just my opinion. Beautiful car no matter what!