Finally... My '73 240z Project Begins

[zild1221]

Well. Last year my father purchased me a 73 240z as a big "thank you" gift for taking care of his business while he was out of commission. I made a post about it as soon as I got it, but never ended up doing anything with it sadly. Anyway, here is a little summary.

I bought it with 43,000 miles on it. It ran when we went and checked it out. I periodically start her up, but as of recent, the battery won't hold a charge. It hasn't been in any accidents that I could track down. It had two owners and the last bit of it's life it was owned by an old man and sat in a big garage FILLED with Z's. He must have had 30+ 240's-280's all in different states of completion. That and another 40+ VW's. Somehow I overlooked this at the time of purchase, but the passenger side door latch isn't the same as the driver side. The did a pretty good hackjob on the door to get some ghetto looking latch in there. I don't know why someone would do such a thing to it.

NOW. There's been a culmination of reasons why I haven't gotten around to working on it yet, the main one being that I never had a solid surface to put the car on and work on it. We just poured our garage floor finally (new addition), so I now have a smooth surface to get jacks under the car and such. I will be able to pull the car in by Friday, and then the work begins...

Seeing as I am probably going to replace the entire passenger side door, I figured I would repaint the whole car and rid it of that terrible red. I also have to replace a bunch of bits of the interior (carpet, seat covers, misc small bits). The chrome also needs to be redone. The list goes on. Because of this, I am stripping the entire thing down. Starting from a blank slate. Is this a good idea? There is almost 0, I repeat 0 rust. This will make my life easy.

List of to do's in the order I will most likely be doing them:

Doors, trunk hatch, hood, everything off.

Interior out

Drivetrain out

Wheels, brakes, suspension off.

Pretty much all stripped down for blasting and paint.

Is there anything you guys recommend before doing this? It will be my first EVER car project. I know the whole take lots of pictures as I go along so I know where everything goes back. I called around about blasting prices and tbh, some of the prices I got were OUTRAGEOUS. My father and I browse auctions a lot and we can get a full blasting system with media for a fraction of the cost of having it done. This way, we have the system forever. I wouldn't be against learning to do it.

Other things I will be doing are:

All new brake lines

New larger brake calipers up front

Replace drums with disks in rear

Replace all hoses, wiring, you name it.

New sound setup (none of that gangster crap, quality sound)

New upholstery, carpet, refinish all hard plastic surfaces

Then the engine. That is for a different day.

What do you guys think? Am I right in doing this? I have to get to sleep so I'm looking forward to what you guys have to say in the morning.

[EuroDat]

Looks like a good solid car. The door latch is puzzling...

"Replace all hoses, wiring, you name it". I would like to see that money tree you got growing in your backyardLOL Restorations can get pretty expensive if you let it get out of hand.

Are you planning to race with the car or are the brakes a cosmetic upgrade. For street use the Z brakes are fine. I'd spend the money on a 5sp © transmission out of a 240SX or a ( from a 280ZX.

Goodluck with the resto:)

[esmit208]

CONGRATULATIONS

All of us here have done some restoration to some degree or another. My particular approach (and I have been working on mine for almost 3 years) I began with the idea that I WAS NOT IN A HURRY. My project has much more cancer than your appears to have so you are definitely way ahead of the game. I have purchased a welder and a sandblaster knowing that the most cost effective way for me to complete it someday is to do as much as I can myself. This is my second project so I already have first hand knowledge of what to expect. I am going the "put a protective coat on every piece of metal that I can" route. Powder coating where I can and a complete sand blasting front to back inside and out on the body. Buying small ancilliary parts along the way. I am going all out on the suspension and a planned 3.1 stroker with triple OER carburettors. I have put much thought and planning into this one because it has to last. Make sure you have a place it can always be inside and protected from the elements the entire way. After you get all the carpet out and inside trim pieces out you may find a little more cancer but your basic platform looks to be in good shape. Plan on removing the dashboard and guages while under construction so that dirt and contamination from cleaning will not damage anything behind it. Think about all the upgrades that you want to do and incorporate them into the rebuild during the process. The more you have to add things after a fresh coat of paint the easier it is to mess up a nice paint job. For ease of movement take the front suspension off in one piece and then the car can be lifted from the front end and pushed around quite easily with the rear suspension still attached. Every fastener that you remove try to have some sort of container(preferrably glass) to store them in. My wife likes pickles so it makes it easy to see what's inside. We also drink powdered drink mix so those containers work well also you just have to write what the container holds. I have an old bedroom dresser in my garage to store all the containers. Once you get the dashboard out you will be able to get a good look for any rust and or holes that the dashboard may be hiding. You will need a good set of metric tools from 6mm all the way up to at least a 27mm depending on how much engine work you plan to do. Oh yeah deep and shallow well sockets. For ease of movement take the motor, front suspension, gearbox, and rear differential out. The gas tank comes out easily. In order to inspect and refinsh underneath thouroughly the gas tank has to come out. You can inspect the float easier with the tank out. Do a good bright light inspection in the dark so you can find any pinholes in the floor firewall or rear deck. Plan to re-tape and possibly shrink wrap the entire wiring harness from front to rear. If you want to convert your fuel pump from mechanical to electric it will be easy to run your circuit for the electric fuel pump with the main harness removed. Lots of dirt can collect behing the dashboard over 40 plus years. As you unplug the harness take a marker and mark the matching plugs using a letter or number system. The better you organize and look after all the components the easier the re-assemble will be. BTW I also bought a 60 gallon air compressor to aid in all the refinishing work. A DREMEL will come in handy for small shaping and cutting projects. A ROLOC tool is also a good addition to the tool box. I could go on but if you want to know something in particular just shoot myself or anyone a PM and you should get a quick response. We are all here to help. REALLY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BE PATIENT. Don't let frustration or fatigue get the best of you. Get help rather than break something and add to your cost. These are simple cars to work on but a lot has to be learned. Attached are a few pics of my machine and it's slow transformation. Good Luck and if you have any questions just ask.

[tlorber]

Zild, I strongly recommend that you do NOT rip everything apart at once. You run a huge risk of never getting it back together-especially if this is is your first project. No denegration of your abilities intended-it's just that it becomes overwhelming when you are not familiar with the car.

I would start with brakes and suspension. Then drive the car and get used to it. As you read more on this site you'll find things that you want to undertake and you can integrate them into your project. I try to never have my car too far from being drivable.

[zild1221]

For some reason, still awake. Thanks for the responses, I will try to answer appropriately in my sleep deprived state. =] First off, I want to say I worked extra jobs this past summer just to sink the money into the car.

I am confident I have enough sacked away for this project. Time to work on the car also isn't an issue. I am taking a break from college courses currently to work/help my father out (he fell 25ft from a ladder and messed himself up pretty bad. Just getting back to "normal" after 2yrs). Isn't bad though, the pay is better than most 20yr olds (high end custom kitchens and bathrooms, historic home restoration).

Looks like a good solid car. The door latch is puzzling...

"Replace all hoses, wiring, you name it". I would like to see that money tree you got growing in your backyard Restorations can get pretty expensive if you let it get out of hand.

Are you planning to race with the car or are the brakes a cosmetic upgrade. For street use the Z brakes are fine. I'd spend the money on a 5sp © transmission out of a 240SX or a ( from a 280ZX.

As I said above, I worked my arse off so money wouldn't hold me up on this project. If at any time I slightly question if I should replace something or not, I will. I have the time and funds, I figure I mind as well do it while I can, just in case there comes a time I can't. Obviously, if there is no reason to replace it, I won't. As for the brakes... It's a combination of a lot of things. First, I am a huge safety freak. On top of that, they look better, and when I feel comfortable enough with the car, I plan to autox and open track days. I am an avid sim racer (I know sounds lame, right?) and have attended a few autox's in friends vehicles.

CONGRATULATIONS

All of us here have done some restoration to some degree or another. My particular approach (and I have been working on mine for almost 3 years) I began with the idea that I WAS NOT IN A HURRY. My project has much more cancer than your appears to have so you are definitely way ahead of the game. I have purchased a welder and a sandblaster knowing that the most cost effective way for me to complete it someday is to do as much as I can myself. This is my second project so I already have first hand knowledge of what to expect. I am going the "put a protective coat on every piece of metal that I can" route. Powder coating where I can and a complete sand blasting front to back inside and out on the body. Buying small ancilliary parts along the way. I am going all out on the suspension and a planned 3.1 stroker with triple OER carburettors. I have put much thought and planning into this one because it has to last. Make sure you have a place it can always be inside and protected from the elements the entire way. After you get all the carpet out and inside trim pieces out you may find a little more cancer but your basic platform looks to be in good shape. Plan on removing the dashboard and guages while under construction so that dirt and contamination from cleaning will not damage anything behind it. Think about all the upgrades that you want to do and incorporate them into the rebuild during the process. The more you have to add things after a fresh coat of paint the easier it is to mess up a nice paint job. For ease of movement take the front suspension off in one piece and then the car can be lifted from the front end and pushed around quite easily with the rear suspension still attached. Every fastener that you remove try to have some sort of container(preferrably glass) to store them in. My wife likes pickles so it makes it easy to see what's inside. We also drink powdered drink mix so those containers work well also you just have to write what the container holds. I have an old bedroom dresser in my garage to store all the containers. Once you get the dashboard out you will be able to get a good look for any rust and or holes that the dashboard may be hiding. You will need a good set of metric tools from 6mm all the way up to at least a 27mm depending on how much engine work you plan to do. Oh yeah deep and shallow well sockets. For ease of movement take the motor, front suspension, gearbox, and rear differential out. The gas tank comes out easily. In order to inspect and refinsh underneath thouroughly the gas tank has to come out. You can inspect the float easier with the tank out. Do a good bright light inspection in the dark so you can find any pinholes in the floor firewall or rear deck. Plan to re-tape and possibly shrink wrap the entire wiring harness from front to rear. If you want to convert your fuel pump from mechanical to electric it will be easy to run your circuit for the electric fuel pump with the main harness removed. Lots of dirt can collect behing the dashboard over 40 plus years. As you unplug the harness take a marker and mark the matching plugs using a letter or number system. The better you organize and look after all the components the easier the re-assemble will be. BTW I also bought a 60 gallon air compressor to aid in all the refinishing work. A DREMEL will come in handy for small shaping and cutting projects. A ROLOC tool is also a good addition to the tool box. I could go on but if you want to know something in particular just shoot myself or anyone a PM and you should get a quick response. We are all here to help. REALLY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BE PATIENT. Don't let frustration or fatigue get the best of you. Get help rather than break something and add to your cost. These are simple cars to work on but a lot has to be learned. Attached are a few pics of my machine and it's slow transformation. Good Luck and if you have any questions just ask.

Awesome post. Firstly in response to your post. I now have a "spacious" garage for it (35'x50'). I have been looking for a used tool box to make organization of tools easier. I picked up two little parts carts from Harbor Freight and car dollies(I know, garbage stuff there, the sale price was just TOO good). The way I planned on cataloging parts was to make numbered and lettered cards (1a, 1b, 1c, so forth) and holding them against the part when I took the picture. After that, remove the part, and place it in a jar/ziplock bag with the card inside. I'm anal when it comes to organization. As for the actual hand tools and power tools, I am pretty good off in that department. We have a welder already, as well as a set of air tools (we have a Ford 555E backhoe that we always have to work on). If I need anything else, the other part of my parents business is a hardware/paint/homecenter. That makes tools and such a bit cheaper for me. Gotta love parents... Also, forgot to mention in this garage that I am building a workbench around the car's stall. Nothing crazy fancy, but doing custom woodworking we always have tons of scrap lumber.

You said are going "all out on suspension". Are you purchasing a kit, refinishing the stock? If a kit, which are you looking at/have your eyes set on. I have briefly looked at different kits, and know what my budget is, but I am just curious. For some reason I have had tearing the old apart, blasting and refinishing it stuck in the back of my head. Whatever I do end up going with, I want the car to be able to withstand the rural beat to sh!t roads of rural CT, but not be a dog at autox events.

Also, you said that you purchased a blaster. May I ask what brand/model you purchased and any comments about it. If you bought used, would you buy new if you had the opportunity again? Anything of that nature. I have been trolling the auction websites and have come across a few at reasonable prices.

Zild, I strongly recommend that you do NOT rip everything apart at once. You run a huge risk of never getting it back together-especially if this is is your first project. No denegration of your abilities intended-it's just that it becomes overwhelming when you are not familiar with the car.

I would start with brakes and suspension. Then drive the car and get used to it. As you read more on this site you'll find things that you want to undertake and you can integrate them into your project. I try to never have my car too far from being drivable.

Thanks for the advise. I understand where you are coming from, but I am slightly the opposite of what you are saying. Once I start tearing apart this car, I will have my own money invested in the project. I am pretty tight with my money. I hate spending it, and I really REALLY hate wasting it. Once I start the project, not being able to use the car is a waste to me. It will eat at me until it is complete TBH. I am very open to learning, that is why I am not just throwing wads of money at other people to do it for me. I really would like to as much as possible myself. That is why buying a blasting system and things of that nature don't bother me. I would really even like to reupholster the seats myself, things I would never expect myself to be doing. If I can learn it now and use it later in my lifetime, it is definitely an investment to me.

I haven't been able to drive drive the car yet. The brake lines need to be replaced and it is pretty sketchy to drive right now. I took it around the block a few times, but other than that it is too unsafe to drive in its current state. Not being able to drive it during this project won't be much different to me than the past year of having it. That is, other than having my own money invested in it whispering in my ear constantly.

Now, this might sound crazy, but I am setting myself a deadline of 6 months. That will be pretty much all winter into early spring and fall perfect on my birthday (awesome bday present, right? =]) I wouldn't drive it in the winters around here anyway, so no real loss. I get around in beaters that various family members always seem to have. Right now a 2002 dodge grand caravan... I have a lot of spare time to work on this, and now that I have a place to do so, I have no excuse. I tend to pick up on trades quickly, and I like to read a lot. The previous owner gave me his Chilton repair manual for 70's Z's.

Oh! Before I forget as well. The whole engine/trans situation. I am really REALLY torn between tearing the old one out completely and replacing it with a newer Nissan RB (either a 25 or 26 variant). I have always like these motors. If I went with a newer motor, it would have to be a Nissan as putting a Chevy motor in a foreign car just feels wrong. However, this motor has fairly low mileage and I almost feel bad with the idea of tearing it out.

Well, I really appreciate all the response already. I'm kind of rambling and 4:15 just rolled around. Later.

[zKars]

Nice Z to start your project with. You seem to have your priorities pretty straight, but your 6 month time frame is optimistic. The single most common problem with resto's is them taking longer than the time it takes to loose interest in them. Its far better to do it in stages with periods of driving time to keep your interest going.

One final thing. There is no such thing as a rust free datsun. You just haven't found it yet. Get the floors and engine bay/wheel wheels stripped inside and out and have a good look. I see there are plugs all over the place in the door frames that indicate it had a "Zeibart" or similiar rust proofing treatment at one time or another, so that MAY have helped some, but don't be surprised about what you find. Its just part of the datsun resto game. You are not alone.

Your passenger door is from a 77-78 280, which is why it has the "adapted" latch system. Getting rid of it and go back to a 240 door is definitely a good idea. Keep it real, don't rush, and drive as much as you can. Good luck!

[conedodger]

One type of restification I like to see first timers do is what some call a 'rolling restoration.' The nice thing about this is that driving the car reveals the weaknesses. If you were to consider doing that, I'd say start with the brakes and just fix them. Do a good bleed, make sure pistons aren't stuck. Once they're operational, move to getting the car running. Batteries don't like to sit. They need to be used to stay useful. That one is probably toast if it will not hold a charge.

As for your list:

All new brake lines - good idea.

New larger brake calipers up front - not really needed unless you're going out onto the track. Autocrossing doesn't challenge the brakes much.

Replace drums with disks in rear - Eh... Just make sure everything works well and you should be fine. Remember, an engineer designed this car. They battle accountants but for the most part, they get their way I think. When you change something an engineer designed, you upset the balance that was designed in to all the other cooperating systems. There are lots of engineers on this board. Hopefully you wont get their attention here as arguing with an engineer is as they say, 'like mud wrestling a pig. After a few minutes you realize you're covered with mud and the pig is loving it.'

Replace all hoses, wiring, you name it. Driving it will probably expose this as needed anyway.

New sound setup (none of that gangster crap, quality sound) Good idea.

New upholstery, carpet, refinish all hard plastic surfaces All available and if you look in the S30 interior section - very satisfying!

Then the engine. That is for a different day. As I said, drive it. You might find out that you can go 10 years on a very solid motor. Believe me, over the last few decades, I have abused the living snot out of L6 motors and my experience is that as long as you have them in good tune and don't overheat them, they will last a very long time and not need rebuilding.

I am talking about the difference between $40-$50K here and a few thousand at the most... Do as much as you can yourself. Don't be afraid to learn something new. I have so much more respect for the man who does it himself and the one who writes a check...

As for sim-racing, my neighbor is a shifter kart champion. He has me iRacing. I race against some REALLY big names. I probably only get in their race group because of Brady but the point is, it isn't lame if the big names are doing it too!

Edited October 31, 2012 by conedodger

[EScanlon]

...snip..

One final thing. There is no such thing as a rust free datsun. You just haven't found it yet.

...snip...

Your passenger door is from a 77-78 280, which is why it has the "adapted" latch system. Getting rid of it and go back to a 240 door is definitely a good idea. Keep it real, don't rush, and drive as much as you can. Good luck!

I agree as far as the "rust free" aspect. While you may not have found any, I don't think any of the Datsuns ARRIVED in a rust free status. (That may be an exageration, but it's not far from the truth.)

As far as the door transplant, I concur with what zKars mentions, and I would question how they adapted the B pillar mount. Did they just carve and cut to make the new latch post fit or did they actually replace the B pillar? The answer there may be a problem by itself.

Look at the tar mat on the floor pans. Oftentimes the tar mat is actually hiding the rust. This occurs often enough that it's almost recommendable to remove the tar-mat as one of the first steps in evaluating a vehicle.

FWIW

E

[zild1221]

Ok. I'm on my little nexus tablet and it's 4:30am, so this isn't going to be the most elaborate of posts.

Your guys assumptions of undercoat are correct. I have no clue when it was done, or if it was done professionally. I am eager to find out when we get to the blasting stage. I want to see if it is hiding anything. The floor pans are rock solid though so I hope everything is good there.

The passenger side door I had a feeling it was from a laterr/different model due to the latch and interior paneling. Here are two pics from last year when I went over the car. Annndd... They won't paste from here for some reason. Will post them later.

I made some little headway today. I wanted to get it in the garage again, it had to live outside the past week or so while they poured the floor. Even with a jump, it wasn't firing. I hesitantly put a few fresh gallons in the tank (I planned to drop the tank soon so didn't want to have to deal with draining gas). Pumped the gas and bunch and made sure fuel was getting there. Next I checked the plugs. They were completely gunked up and looked to have never been changed. I ran to the auto store and picked up new plugs. Put those in no problem. BTW, first time changing a spark plug .

Next I followed the wires back to what I now learned is called a distributor. Opened that up. I cleaned the contacts really well. Inside there was also a really loose wire that was barely attached and constantly hitting the spinning part. I made sure the wire was still intact, tightened the wire down and readjusted it so that the wire was no longer in the way. Sorry for the lack of proper terminology. I didn't even know how an old spark plug system worked until today.

Once I did all of this, I fired it up. First go it started right up and stayed running. Fast forward 5 minutes and it is overheating. I ran through all the hoses quickly and found 2 significant leaks. They were easy enough to get to and my parents should had the hose we needed. I replaced that and used new hose clamps.

Anyway, I did that and built those two parts carts in the few hours I was out there today. Doesn't seem like much but in the first two hours I've already learned a good deal. Also, if you buy things from Harbor Freight, expect to have to re drill just about every damn hole...!

At the end of the day I drove it around the block once and put it in its garage spot. I realized the transmission may need to be rebuilt /replaced. I don't know what a normal amount of slop is in a 240, but I had to pretty much guess what gear I was putting it into. Also, the ebrake does not function... =)

Well, sleep needs to happen. More tomorrow.

[hr369]

i would love to see a picture of that old guys garage with 30+ zcars in it.

sound advice given here to not tear the car all apart at once. i would bet that old red paint might buff out to look presentable from 10 ft.

Get used to the car beforehand and see if you like the car. you might decide that zcars are too primitive or too much maintenance for you.

btw: i love those rear fender flares.

Edited November 1, 2012 by hr369

[Bonzi Lon]

The slop in the shifting is probably shifter bushings. They are nylon/plastic and tend to wear out and disappear over all these years. Happened to mine too. Simple & easy to replace, makes shifting a dream again.

Bonzi Lon

[tlorber]

You can also find those shifter bushings in brass. After making my own, I noticed that some people were selling them on ebay. This is a bit more permanent solution.