My two swiss S30Z Fairlady Restoration build thread

[Travel'n Man]

Great progress - keep pushn' on!

[Taz0162]

Nice z's what month production are they? Mine is a may 72. The parts are out there it will take some time for period correct.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

For the sake of accuracy, it's cast, not forged.

Of course you're right, i had a wrong translation in my head.

Nice z's what month production are they? Mine is a may 72. The parts are out there it will take some time for period correct.

The white one is an early 1972 (i remember march or february) the black one is 1972 too but don't know the production date yet..

And yeah it definitly needs some time to find all the rare period correct parts, but i believe i got most of the big things now

Great progress - keep pushn' on!

Thanks mate, i try my best

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Here we go, got some industrial paint stripper (most harmfull stuff i've ever worked with, i believe ) and started to strip the kakimoto valve cover:

1) Before:

2) While applying:

3) After cleaning with water and dishwashing-brush:

As you can see i need a second attempt to clear some small spots. Also got some Aluminum primer but still need to find the original dark blue wrinkle-paint which also should be able to clear the heat coming from the engine anyway, i'm happy with my progress so far

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Well after the never-ending winter with **** weather i somehow lost my motivation to get stuff done one the car, but this seems gone right now so i took two days off to get some things done (mostly gardening, but also some work on the cars ) while we have some great weather

1) I was a bit worried how my first chassis would look after a seriously wet and snowy winter (where they throw a lot of salts on streets right in front of the car...) so i uncovered it:

and moved her in a better position, here you can see both of my fairladies:

2) then i got some stuff done on chassis number two: removed the last wires and hoses from the engine so hopefully i'll be able to get the engine and transmission out soon. (Should get my engine hoist back on the weekend )

3) Completed the paint stripping on the kakimoto valve cover. it's still wet from cleaning in the picture but looks great. ready for another clean and primer soon

4) Also made a few phone calls to figure out about the missing documents and i found out the car was last registered in an area about 1 hour from here (St. Gallen) and well i have some good news regarding the documents tomorrow. be sure to check this blog tomorrow again. im pretty happy with my progress today and hopefully the motivation keeps lasting for all my car projects. need a serious push to get things done

[JDMjunkies.ch]

240Z: Good news as mentioned yesterday:

Usually the grumpy bureaucrats at the car registration office aren't very helpful, but probably due to the nice wheater, yesterday the guy i had on the phone was:

He was kind enough to search my car in the nation-wide database and made me a printout.

You might remember my car came without any documents, and with this printout i now know where it was registered last (allowing me to get a original document again!) as well as when it was first registered (1972 as i thought), who drove it last (a lady ) and what original colour it hat, etc.. Here you go:

[bartsscooterservice]

I hope you keep the motivation for the bodywork ! Once that's done, you can start rebuilding, and the fun begins

Good luck ! Keep us updated.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Haha yeah me too, in a few hours i'll get back my engine hoist so i should be able to get the engine and transmission out next days

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I want to push the bodyworks a bit so i try to get the bodyshop guy coming here and check the cars soon so i got a glimpse of what is possible and how i can prepare it the best. still don't know which chassis makes more sense to save etc. so here's a list i prepared with all the work that needs to be done so i can discuss it with the bodyshop-guy. TONS of work:

Both cars:

- Remove old paint

- Remove mirror holes in doors

- Add new fender mirrors (got the installation drawings)

- remove rust on doors etc (if needed)

- repair rear spoiler (Studs broken)

- Add Overfenders (and neatly cut and weld original (inner-)Fenders)

- Spotweld Original chassis for added safety and rigidity (??)

- Fit the Saito rollcage (screwed, not welded)

- Add and fit front air dam

- Replace frame rails

- Replace floor pans (Still need the seat console bases, probably reuse some original)

- remove dents and scratches if there are some

- Remove broken screws at a few points i wasn't able to get them out

Chassis A (White):

- replace front end (from black car)

- Replace rear panel (from black car)

- Remove welding signs from the roof window which was closed once.

Chassis B (Black):

- Remove rust in rear inner wheel arches and tool storages.

- replace roof (from white chassis?)

- replace spare wheel mould (from white chassis?)

When done / Paintshop

- Fit and adjust hood, doors, fenders, hatch, wing,...

- Protect from rust in hollow parts

- Underfloor coating

- Preserve hollow pieces with special treatment

- Completetly primer and paint the car in

„Datsun 904, Kilimanjaro White“:

Now i'll have to discuss these points with the bodyshop and check time and money needed, as well as how i have to pay the work (monthly rate, pre-payment,...) i have no clue how they do payment on a job this big usually And then i have to figure out where the hell i get so much money to pay this

[JDMjunkies.ch]

NEWS Today i had the bodyshop guy here checking out my cars. The plan was to hear his thoughts and get a future plan for how it's gonna be done. and that's what happend:

The very nice guy showed up and checked my cars thoroughly for about 1,5 hours and explaining me a lot of things and showing me alot of things i haven't seen. also he explained about his previously owned JDM cars and the people he knows etc.

Note that he doesn't look very happy when i made a photo, but afterwords i explained about my blog and then he was happy agian

And here's the plan:

After checking both cars he mentioned it would make more sense to repair the black chassis and use the white one for spare-pieces because the white is more patched up and damaged while the black has only minor repairs and usual rust spots.

He also mentioned that he's a fabricator bodyguy and can make any kind of bodypanels by himself.

He quoted me 15 grand for a completely restored base shell including the bolt-on panels. but also explained it could easily be more work discovered at work. im ok with that.

Also he explained how i should continue: Store the whit car like i did, totally strip down the black chassis and have the paint stripped down from doors, hatch, hood, etc and have them primered. Then create a rolling jig for the black car and then i can deliver it for him to work. He also explained about how payment works with this kind of projects and was very kind and nice and seemed pretty interrested in this kind of stuff and has a big knowledge in japanese classics (which is rare in switzerland). In fact he even gave me a few contacts to people in the scene i'll contact during the next days!

So this gives me a whole truckload of motivation and i'm feeling i know where this project goes during the next months! great

[JDMjunkies.ch]

After the Visit of the Bodyshop-guy i now have a goal again and that's stripping the black car to bare shell to so i'll be able to bring it to the bodyshop by the end of the year and have the chassis done in a year probably So i started to push things on the black chassis today:

1) Removed the starter motor so it will be easier to remove the engine (hopefully in 2 days )

also wanted to remove the speedo-sensor but actually those damn screws were stuck, so i let them soak in WD40:

2) Next was the steering wheel:

3) and last but not least the tank lock door thingy. you also might notice a bit of rust underneath which i discovered today after removing some "bubbles" in the paintjob....

anyway i feel like i'm back to the project after now not wanting to do too much before knowing any goal for a while now. Next im hoping to get the engine and tranny out

[EuroDat]

Nice to hear you found your end goal. Does wonders for motivation.

Looking at the photos of the flywheel and transmission I would prepare for the worst when dismantling the engine and drivetrain. You could try mixing a batch of ATF and Acetone, ratio 50:50. It works better than WD40.

Chas