My two swiss S30Z Fairlady Restoration build thread

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Last friday i spent a visit at the Bodyshop. Mainly to bring him the Passenger side door so he could check fitment after he's done with welding in that area (some parts may have moved a bit and need adjustment). I also asked  him to close the original door mirror holes in the door as i will switch to the JDM Fender mirrors And i had to bring  him some cash as well

And then i have some good and bad news. The good news is that work in the front right (passenger) sode is almost completed and the work looks fabulous. To the untrained eye it may look a bit patchy but after everything is primered and has the same colour it's almost factory-work - maybe even better since factory welding from datsun was really crappy in some areas

Now the bad news. Specially in the passenger area behind the seat there has been copious amount of cheap patchwork repairs and way more rust underneath every panel which was removed, than initially expected. So well - yeah. the whole thing will be a bit more expensive and take maybe another two years at the bodyshop until completed.. but i'm still happy with the fact i will save one of these fairladies...

Inner wheel well has been removed and he's currently fitting the new one from tabco..  

Also the old sparewheel well has been cut out and the new one placed inside just to save some space. hasn't been welded yet...

The car looks a bit like a swiss cheese currently

Here's a good example. I wouldn't have noticed but as the bodyshop explained and showed me the patchwork under the gas filler thingy i understoud where there has been cheap repairs in the past. so this one has to go out as well and fixed nicely... many small bits which will take up a lot of work at the end...

Anyhow, looking forward for updates. And while i was there i also ahd a look at this almost finnished (has been in the works there for a while now as well!), Toyota KE70 Corolla "Kesser Sport spezial". This was a swiss homologation special as far as i understoud (wasn't able to find anything about it on the web..) in all it's early 80ies boxyness. Love it and i'm pretty sure this will be a rare gem once completed!

[munters]

Im so with you

Mine was also repaired/patched in Switzerland over the rust...

When I started to rebuild mine I looked at your posts at jdmjunkies and thought you are far ahead of mine (your white one).

Now you go through all the things i went through the last 3 years and I don't think I would have the energy to do it again.

I hope you will stay at your project and don't stop.

It is a blast to drive when you're done with everything and you know I did everything every screw is "new", the gears change nicely because i did rebuild the gearbox and so on.

It pays back that way. Keep going... may the force be with you :-)

I have the "Abnahme" at the STVZ in 2 weeks. Yupee

[Captain Obvious]

Don't you just call it "cheese"?  

[wheee!]

Don't you just call it "cheese"?  [emoji3]

[hr369]

"Another 2 years in the body shop"   WTH?  get that bodyman some caffeine STAT.

[munters]

The time it takes depends on your pocket. If you have time it will be repaired when the workload is lower. As an example my first offer was 80000$ just for the body no paint. When you wait you pay 20000$ what is better?

[hr369]

2 minutes ago, munters said:

The time it takes depends on your pocket. If you have time it will be repaired when the workload is lower. As an example my first offer was 80000$ just for the body no paint. When you wait you pay 20000$ what is better?

At 80,000$  this could have been the most expensive Z restoration ever. Add in another 20-30k for the rest of the resto and you're into 6 figures easily.

Do you have a nickname for this car?

 

[munters]

I don't want to hyjack this treat. I went out of the  country to keep the costs payable and still get 1a quality documented work. And yes, the rest was 30k.

Edited March 7, 2016 by munters

[JDMjunkies.ch]

23 hours ago, munters said:

Im so with you

Mine was also repaired/patched in Switzerland over the rust...

When I started to rebuild mine I looked at your posts at jdmjunkies and thought you are far ahead of mine (your white one).

Now you go through all the things i went through the last 3 years and I don't think I would have the energy to do it again.

I hope you will stay at your project and don't stop.

It is a blast to drive when you're done with everything and you know I did everything every screw is "new", the gears change nicely because i did rebuild the gearbox and so on.

It pays back that way. Keep going... may the force be with you :-)

I have the "Abnahme" at the STVZ in 2 weeks. Yupee

Hi Buddy, nice to find another crazy enthusiast. Maybe you can check out my blog on www.JDMjunkies.ch and send me a message through the contact form? Allways nice to meet fellow enthusiasts then we can talk in real life

Also good luck at the MFK
 

22 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Don't you just call it "cheese"?  

Swiss cheese has more holes than normal cheese
 

20 hours ago, hr369 said:

"Another 2 years in the body shop"   WTH?  get that bodyman some caffeine STAT.

Most good bodyshops in switzerland for restaurations are either specialised an rather expensive classic ferraris and sort and others just du it as side-projects to their normal business , like mine. so he only works on the car when daily business is low. I undesrtand that and get that. the fact he's a Japanese car enthusiast and just around the corner from my places all makes it even better. and the time he needs to finish the body gives me time to prepare all t he small bits and pieces. i never had a budget or a time frame to complete car. the only thing i told myself is to keep the project running and never stop doing anything...
 

17 hours ago, munters said:

I don't want to hyjack this treat. I went out of the  country to keep the costs payable and still get 1a quality documented work. And yes, the rest was 30k.

A buddy of mine did this too. price was pretty good for a complete restauration but the quality was not the same and he sold the car just one year after restauration. I definitely want something more reliable. but what i undesrtand from you your restauration is probably a bit more high-end then the one of my buddy...

 

19 hours ago, hr369 said:

At 80,000$  this could have been the most expensive Z restoration ever. Add in another 20-30k for the rest of the resto and you're into 6 figures easily.

Do you have a nickname for this car?

Hehe, remember switzerland is not USA. Over here cars are rusting all the time (well maybe in hawaii too :P) but anyhow finding a good example over here is hard to find and an average good restored car will easy sell for 40grand at the moment if you find an enthusiast to buy it. i assume spending 60 grand or more on a full restauration will all pay back in a few years when all the cheap-restaurations from the past years start to get patchy rustbuckets again but i don't care anyhow. i build it for my own joy and pride

[JDMjunkies.ch]

This post is going to be a little summary of the weeks happenings. I have some more good and bad news from the bodyshop first:
The good thing: My Panelbeater yves put the door back in for aligment and thus it still has a lots of panels missing, a door already makes the car look like - ummm - a car again

Then the bad news: Someone crashed into his car (the one below is the one who hit  him), so he's currently suffering from a whiplash injury and of course his recovery his priority first. Not sure what that means for my car. probably will not be worked on for a while again...

The very next day my Buddy Stev visited a guy who is currently selling a lot of NOS datsun parts:

He brought this little Oil pressure Sensder unit for me, but i have to check if it's really for the Z since i have the feeling my ones look more cylindric istead of this "Church-bell" design.

And then i reworked the new Blower motor (See last post), to fit my needs. First removed the old Motor cover which was silver.

Painted it black with some rattle can spray:

Ordered some new rubber grommets which will fit since the old blower has different hole sizes.

Here i have them installed together with the metal sleeves from the old blower inside:

Here you can see the old insulationg foam ring and i wanted to recreate something similar.

And here's my result. boaght some foam-tape and installed it. Doesn't look as nice as the original one but since it will not be visible once installed im fine with that

And last but not least i had a little running-test with a 12V DC supply just to see if everything's fine. and it is - Blower motor: Completed!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just got a Delivery from the great guys at MSA today. First of all a new rear weld-in valance:

And a set of rear lower corner valances. They're from a 280Z since none are made for the 240Z. All of these panels are not the best fitment and quality but the best available ones. So my panelbeater has to  use them just as base for his final product. I wonder why nobody makes better quality panels sine these would sell like hot burritos and there are so many of these cars around the world beeing restored currently...

Last but not least some small bits like the dustcaps, cotter pins and some washers. Now almost have all parts together to get the wheel bearings installed back to the strut housings...

[wheee!]

I have a set of the lower corner valances to install as well.... I am hoping they cover far enough over to blank off the bumper mount holes.