Jepherz's Datsun 240z restoration

[Decoy12]

Wow you have a lot to do, but so far you are doing a great job! Was the previous owner a pilot, with all of the toggle switches on the (ruined) fusebox cover? haha.

What year is your Z by the way?

[CW240Z]

Wow and I thought i had a hard time getting my brake booster out! I also love the M coupe, I always love seeing them drive by me in my 3 series. Keep up the work and photos too!

[jepherz]

Decoy, my Z is '73 body, but has a 2.8 litre with the earlier carbs.

[jepherz]

I was able to get a bit more work done this weekend. I finished up the welding on the passenger side rocker panel, and got a good start on the driver side. Here are some pics:

Before cutting anything out:

Removing the paint to expose the spot welds I needed to drill out:

Process of drilling out the spot welds:

Expressing some creativity with the grinder while cutting the panel out :-)

Most of the rocker removed. I decided to just cut things out in pieces and then go back and grind off all of the parts I had access to, rather than spending hours with the spot weld drill bit and doing more damage to the parent metal:

This picture didn't turn out too well, but if you squint your eyes enough, you can see that I'm not even making a scratch on the parent metal (inner rocker panel). This way is working out much better for me! I hope to have the rest of this cleaned up sometime this week:

Hope you guys enjoy!

-Jeff

Edited August 22, 2011 by jepherz

[Decoy12]

Very nice! and it came with the "2400" valve cover? That's a nice bonus

[jepherz]

Yeah, why, is that some rare item?

[jepherz]

Had some company in town over the weekend, so I'm a few days behind, but I finally got the entire rocker panel cut out of the driver side.

I am working on fabbing up the metal portions that are heavily rusted underneath, and cleaning up the entire area for weldable primer/POR15. Should be able to start fitting in the new rocker sometime this week.

It's amazing how much I learned the second time around. It was much easier to remove the old rocker by cutting it into small, manageable pieces. When removing all of the individual pieces, it really helps preserve the material that will be needed to weld the new rocker in later.

[mcorso]

wow! i just scored a 73 240z, and i have it almost stripped down, minus the dash,windshield. motor and tranny. i want to dive in and start cutting rot, but i need to see how bad it really is rotted underneath. the front wheel wells have some holes close to the motor mount thats got me scared. should I be? anyways , keep the updates coming , ill be tuned in.

[mcorso]

[Reverend]

Wish i had talent like yours... Better start learning before its too late!

[jepherz]

Got a bit more work done this past week and didn't get a chance to upload any photos. Trying to cut away to solid metal far enough that I can treat any surface rust that exists:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]48054[/ATTACH]

I assume even any "rust free" Datsun has surface rust like this on the back of all of the panels. It's only a matter of time until it eventually rusts through.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]48055[/ATTACH]

[240dkw]

yes, I am sure every one has surface rust on the insides. Here is what I have found on mine.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?39374-Progress-on-rust-repairs&highlight=rust+repairs