Torby's 240Z Project

[Torby]

Thanks again for the kind comments! :classic:

I'm very fortunate to have friends who can help me out with this sort of stuff. I wouldn't been able to this kind of work on my own.

Gathered up some supplies today, - some satin black paint for the radiator support. Going to try make this look close to OEM. Also picked up some 3M 2K undercoating / stonechip, to use in the the wheel wells. A bit pricey, but hopefully worth it in the long run. There has been a bit of welding, so the undercoating will also hide this.

I'm a bit undecisive about what do to with the front suspension, some of it will definitely need to be refurbed along with the engine bay, at least the crossmember. I have a full set of poly bushes ready, but I would also like to go for a Techno Toy Tuning setup with adjustable arms, coilovers etc. Can't seem to make up my mind about this.

Also, I need to figure out what do do about several other things, BMC, ignition setup, fuel and brake lines etc. I would really like to make a set of stainless steel pipes, but this could prove to be difficult.

Again, thanks for your comments, all feedback is very much appreciated! :classic:

[Jonu]

Great work, I don't know if I would have the determination to continue to rebuild a car if i found it was severely wrecked.

[Torby]

Thanks! :classic:

I must admit I was thinking "what the h*** do I do about this?" and secondly, "what the h*** did we just do?!" right after we chopped the front end off.

Today has been a pretty productive day.

Started out by rubbing down the primer with 240 grit dry, and then applying body filler where needed.

This was sanded down and reapplied where needed.

While the last bit of filler was drying up, we applied 3M undercoating in the wheel wells (right word?).

Tried to cover the areas most prone to stone chips etc. The car won't be seeing any rough roads or rain (hopefully) when done, however I want do this properly the first time, and this undercoating gives peace of mind, sort of.

Next up, sand down the last of the filler.

More in the next post. :classic:

[Torby]

Then it was time for another coat of epoxy primer, to seal the body filler completely.

While the epoxy was left to dry, we headed over to my buddy's house, to dismantle this rusty old Mk3 Hilux for parts. :classic:

After several hours of hacking up the old Toyota, the epoxy was dry, and it was time for seam sealer.

This was smoother out, to finish off the bay properly. We also covered some old welds in the front end, to make them a little less visible.

And at last, a coat of filler-primer (right word?), which was left to dry until tomorrow. :classic:

Thanks for looking, more tomorrow! :classic:

[Torby]

Oh boy, sanding down filler isn't much fun, but imagining the end results helps on motivation.

Today started with a few hours of sanding..

Sanding with 500 grit, pretty smooth.

As I suppose you can see, the front end will never look completely like OEM, but I think it's starting to look pretty ok. Maybe the next time I buy a Z, I can find a shell in mint condition... :classic:

Time to mask things up again.

The color. We scanned and matched the paintwork, and found Toyota 079 to be the closest match. If (or rather when) the rest of the car will be repainted, this will be the color..

Masking done, bay wiped down with silicone remover and then tack-cloth.

Sit back, have a coffee and get ready to lay down the color..

And finally - the engine bay is starting to look the way I want it.

Not too bad, I think? :classic:

Have to touch up a couple of runs tomorrow, and then add the clear.

Thanks for looking, more later! :classic:

[Jonu]

You're really moving along!

[Torby]

You're really moving along!

Am I..?

The last few months have been slow.. mostly busy with normal life, but also planning and gathering parts (and waiting for parts). Anyway, time to get busy again!

When we clearcoated the engine bay, the clear turned yellow in a few spots, and there were some other small mistakes with the paint, so it needed to be repainted. If you read my previous posts, you can also see that we scanned the paintwork on the car, and found it to be a Toyota color. However, I wanted the car to be a little bit more than just plain white. I searched around for different paints, and found the Nissan Brilliant White, which is a 3 layer pearl found on the GT-R and 370Z among others. So we repainted the engine bay in this color, and also finally painted the inner fenders and radiator support black. I was in doubt about the black radiator support, but since the car is white, the color would really show when you look through the front grill. We did the black a little bit different than factory though, something most people won't even notice. Not that this is a 100% original restoration anyway.

Please enjoy the pictures! :classic:

The bay after keying the surface.

Spraying the new color.

Trying to take a photo of the pearl effect (before clear coat)

Finished!

Lots of masking..

Black in the inner fenders.

And the blacked out radiator support.

Thanks for looking, more later! :classic:

[bartsscooterservice]

quality work !

[theczechone]

Wow great work!

[tamo3]

Excellent quality job!

[Hardway]

I am just now seeing this thread. It has been said before and I will say it again, WOW! That is a lot of top notch work there. The end result should be astounding! We look forward to your updates and pictures.

[Torby]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

I've turned my attention to the engine.

I'm sticking with an L24 block. Most of you might ask why I don't just get an L28 - well the answer is that L28's aren't really that easy to come by over here. My intention to begin with was to restore my other Z (which is just a shell) and use the original engine, to keep the "matching numbers". However, I'm now using this engine for this white Z.

The block has been bored 0,5mm over.

Made some stainless bolts to attach the oil baffle thing.

Spent a lot of time checking bearing clearances. Time consuming work, but essential.

I'm using a stroker crank and Eagle H-beam rods. All new bearings of course. :classic:

Also, painted the rocker cover.

Thanks for looking, more later! :classic: