My two swiss S30Z Fairlady Restoration build thread

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Well hello everybody. i'd like to introduce myself. I'm Nils, coming from switzerland and about two year ago i started work on a S30Z i bought. I now have a few restored parts, a lot of repair-parts lying around but the chassis was in bad condition because of earlier bad repair attempts by previous owners and a few crash-damages.

Check out the whole story here:

http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11769

then i had to decide if i would have a bodyshop to bring everything back to original condition or look out for a second car with a better base. Some weeks ago i got a notice from two friends telling me they saw a sad Z hanging around with no roof-window out in the rain. Long story short - it was near my job, i checked it out and brought it here this weekend and started work immediately:

so here's were the story begin's - i'll keep you updated!

Check out my other project (JDM EK9 TypeR and my Daily EJ9 which will get replacement in 2013) on my personal site on www.JDMjunkies.ch

back to the Z:

Jup, it has been a while, but today i bought a second 240Z for a really great price. it looks ugly but it was a real great deal i'll also get some more parts from this guy beloning to the Z soon. Mor information soon:

1) My friend Simon is loading the car and tying it safely

2) while at home my old Z chassis had to leave the garage for better workspace on the new one:

3) and here my new fairlady is safely at its new home in the garage:

Even have some OEM seats and seatbelts

and a complete engine with carbs and everything

4) Last but not least i had to wrap the "old" chassis so it wont get wet during winter:

I'll explain more on my plans soon. all i'd like to say is that both are genuine swiss 1972 240z. The main plan is to strip the new chassis and build one car out of these two with each part choosen from which car the part was in better condition. but we'll see. will be fun to explore Lots of updates will come again soon - the project is back in full swing

Edited November 5, 2012 by JDMjunkies.ch

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Started disassembly on the second Z today. This is how it started:

Removed some Paint first where i saw some rust underneath. It's a real ****te homegrown paintjob whith a wrong build-up. Seems like the big amount of primer and/or Bondo underneath drew humidity and started to rust on the surface. well luckily only on the surface!

Removed the taillight covers first which have been painted in a wrong colour also:

Rubber-taillight seals are really brittly and weak but lucky me i allready have a set of new ones lying around

and taillights uncovered:

Next i removed the rear wing:

And cleand up a bit in the trunk. theres a hole and some rust in the spare-wheel "bowl":

Found this funky oldschool-sticker in the mess that was inside:

Next i removed the driver seat which is soaked in rainwater, but otherwise looks usable when re-done:

Also found a genuine but black painted datsun emblem underneath:

Then removed the driver side door panel:

And rear window which was only laid inside without rubber - easy task

[JDMjunkies.ch]

And this is how i ended up today. I feel like i know one or two things now from my first Z and that makes it all faster

[olzed]

Hi from NZ. I have a 72 as well. You have a big job there, but the end result will be worth the effort i'm sure.

Your dash looks to have no cracks, which is a huge bonus.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Thanks mate. Well i thought it was nice first too, but the white Z (my first chassis wich is still an option) has a totally cracked dashboard and the second one from the black car has a small crack at the usual spot. but i have one in great shape on hold i will pick up as soon as i can afford. other things have priority right now ;/

[JDMjunkies.ch]

took apart a few more things this week and hopefully will have better progress tomorrow:

1) Started with the taillights, which were installed with about 5 different types of screws

and out they are:

2) removed the interieur cover around the inner light (Above c-pillar)

3) Next on the list was the dashboard front piece thingy:

At one point i was curious about how bad the paintjob is so i started chipping the paint of wih a small spatula. it was so much fun and easy, spent about 1,5 hours just chipping of old paint with a spatula - here we go

well, hopefully i'll be more productive next time and get some more serious stuff done **

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just a short update:

1) Pulled out the roof liner:

looks ok underneath:

2) I love the fact the new car came with alle the stuff like OEM-seats, and seatbelts. even if the need quite a bit of love to look shiny and work properly again

and out they are:

3) while cleaning the car a bit i found this wasp's nest inside the drivers door

[EuroDat]

It look like a good straight car thats been neglected for a very long time in someones backyard. Except for the funky paintwork;) the body looks good for its age. It will be nice to watch your progress.

Goodluck

Chas

Edited November 12, 2012 by EuroDat

[JDMjunkies.ch]

It look like a good straight car thats been neglected for a very long time in someones backyard. Except for the funky paintwork;) the body looks good for its age. It will be nice to watch your progress.

Goodluck

Thanks, mate! Yeah the car has it's problems but compared to my other car which has been repaired really bad it's at least original and doesn't have any patched up parts. Also it's complete with all the interieur and a complete engine. so that's nice. At the end i'll probably build one car out of two or something like that. need to strip the second car now and then decide what's best. also there is quite a bit rust underneath the paint but i have a lot of nice bodypanels from the other car so it's ok At least the substructure looks great, but for safety and a long life i think i'll replace a lot of the parts anyway, so it should last another 40 years

So far i have a complete sandblasted and powdercoated subframe from my first Z lying around, as well as a Trust header, Kameari stuff, NAMS ( Nagisa Auto Motor Sports) and RockyAuto Adjustable rods and arms, a set of new wheel bearings, JDM fender mirrors and a lot more. all still NOS and packed up, so this will be great to put it all back together at one point

[EuroDat]

I know what you mean by previous resto jobs. Mine had a nice suprise for me. The back passenger side tail light didn't look right. The mounting frame behind the tail light was all bent up. They just hammered it in so they could get the light to fit and filled the rest with filler. It cost me two days to get it back to (almost) normal, but its still not perfect. I want to eventually repaint the car and will probably have to cut the section out and replace it.

Chas

[JDMjunkies.ch]

yeah on my first chassis the installed different taillights (from a corvette or Opel GT or something) so they welded up everything. it's hard to find an entire upper rear panel so that's why i decided to look for a second base that might be a lot of work as well but at least no such ****..

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just a nice B/W shot to start with:

Removed the spare-tools lids. was quite tricky because i had to cut new Slots to get the screws out:

and out they are:

Removed a bit of those insulation mats with a rubber hammer on the driver side in the trunk. benefits of having a unheated (read: Freezy) garage is that tar-mats tend to get brittly

Next up was some interieur stuff behind the rear seat:

and at this point i found my first serious rust-hole:

at this point i decided to spend the rest of my time removing the brittly old bad paintjob with a spatula. Totally useless becase car will get a sandblast / Sanding anyway if i decide to use this shell, but just so much fun: