#00655 Build Thread

[e-tek]

I continue to be amazed at the lengths owners will go to in order to save low production number cars. Makes my little rust repair projects looks like cake compared to what you are doing. A true hats off to you for all of your work and effort!

Doing all that work on a low production car is cake! You should be more amazed at those of us who put that much work into a POS '71!!!

[bartsscooterservice]

I continue to be amazed at the lengths owners will go to in order to save low production number cars. Makes my little rust repair projects looks like cake compared to what you are doing. A true hats off to you for all of your work and effort!

Yeah it sure is, but it must also be some kind of an addiction, like a drug... you want to fix it the best you can

[Mikes Z car]

I admire your work and am also amazed. I have been wondering about this for a long time, when you replace a portion of the frame that has bolt holes for mounting other parts such as the steering rack how do you locate the bolt holes so they are where they need to be?

[theczechone]

E-tek ... I'd say mine is worth about the same as a '71 .... I don't have the matching motor, my car came with a '73 motor.

Mike ... Until now I have not replaced any surfaces that contain crucial mounting locations. I will have to locate the tension but there are dimensions available for those. The frame rails that I received from Zedd had mounting holes for the cross member already predrilled. I used some simple channel iron to make sure the frame rails are spaced properly, parallel and in the same horizontal plane. The dimensions for the frame rail width can be gotten from the service manual.

Having said that my build thread might end here, I am no longer seeing the end of the tunnel...I ran into an issue with alignment of my fabricated fender well piece the firewall and the frame rail. But even if I figure out how to solve the inner-fender/frame-rail/firewall interface, I still have to replace the floors, the inner rocker panels, the outer rocker panels, full rear quarters, both rear inner fenders and the rear hatch panel, plus the car was rear ended so there is a slight bulge in the rear floor.

When done, i'd like to track the car and I think that through each corner I'd be wondering if I welded each seam correctly...

My goal for the car is to have a fun sports car to take to track days on a sunday. I don't really care to have a low vin car, i would have been happy with a 72 or a 73 but when i was buying i thought it would be great to make this one survive. If anyone is close and is interested in taking over pm me, else the car may be scrapped.

[EuroDat]

Wow, thats a real bummer after all that good work you have done. It must be a painfull decision to make, but I can understand your reasoning.

Chas

[Mikes Z car]

I am willing to make measurements for you on my #907 Vin car if it helps but you may still want to quit before going further.

I don't know if this is worth mentioning but when I was making a drawing of the frame of my car I would sometimes take pictures with flash with a square pattern overlay to get accuracy with odd shapes. I used something called plastic canvas (see below) available here at a fabric store. It was tedious work breaking out the little squares but I could take a picture of an area of the car and then count the squares to a particular joint in the frame to get accuracy with the drawing. I imagine this could be used to verify placement of metal work in some situations:

[e-tek]

We hear you 'thechechone' - Many of us have been - or are - in a similar situation. Restoration work can really get a guy down at some points. It's very labour intensive, the work is done inside (often in a garage resembling a dungeon!) and most of this work is also done in winter - which can affect our positive mindset greatly. Also, it's not cheap, even if you're just paying for supplies - right? When you think about it, it's amazing how many people actually FINISH their resto-projects.

I can see you spent a bunch of money and time on it lately, so 'hopefully' you're just having some "spenders remorse" and be burned out! Working in an OSB garage with no heat is a sure way to get depressed :disappoin Now that you have that heater, maybe you could paint the walls white and put up a few posters of finished cars you like - motivation is important!

If you take some time to step back, take a break and do something else for a while (like beautifying your surroundings), you may find you'll have a whole new outlook. It's easy see you are doing good work - so I wouldn't worry about welds breaking during racing - even if they did, it's EXTREMELY unlikely to be catastrophic. You would notice it and be able to repair it/rebuild it even better afterwards.

Also remember that these are multi-year projects. Lots of guys put together a timeline that is too short and get frustrated. You have to really try and enjoy the actual build process - not just think about it being done and hate that it's taking so long. I bought the metal parts off a member here 4 years ago and JUST got them welded up!

Anyways, not sure if I've helped, but maybe a little perspective is in order. Take the break, do something else and think it through. Even if you extend your time line to 3 years from now, you'll still end up with a great car you built and others will love.

Cheers!

[theczechone]

I was hoping you'd chime in as I know you have a lot of experience. As far as making the surroundings better, it's not that easy. I am renting, and it was a fight with my landlord just for him to even allow me to have that heater in place. That garage needs a lot of work, and perhaps you're right it would definitely make the place be a more pleasant place to work. And I was expecting a 3 year time frame on completing the car just not sure that I can wait that long, and if i get another Z that's "rust free" to drive i'll just neglect this project. But thank you for the kind words, I am still not fully determined as what to do, perhaps I need to step back for some time.

[Notorious Nerd]

Amen to that e-tek! Instead of selling right away take teks advice. From as far as ive seen hes a patient genuis! Im probably going to have to do the same as you czech. My floors rotted beyond belief and the frame rail is gone basically. Of course since im learning as i go ignorance is bliss. You say 'im an idiot' a lot and keep going. Im sure a bunch of guys on here have money saving tips and tricks. Good luck man!

[Hardway]

I will second E-tek's advice and I know where you are coming from theczechone. Its tough when you are renting to really be able to work on a car and get things situated the way you like. If it were not for meeting my wife I would still be living renting an apartment and a single car garage that was 2 buildings over from my place. What you have listed off that is still needed will require lots of time and effort and only you can decide if it is worth it to you to cut your losses and move on. However I think taking a break from it is best. I have had to take time off from my '72 240z since I would run in to problems, get frustrated, and spend the rest of the evening wishing I paid 3x more in the beginning for a rust free car that needed nothing versus what I have sitting in my garage. I would come back a week or two later, get the problem figured out, get a few projects wrapped up, and the light at the end of the tunnel would start shining again.

On the flip side your time is worth money in the form of opportunity cost. If you really want to be out driving a 240z around the cones instead restoring the one you have then maybe it is best to sell what you have, save your money, and buy someone elses loss. Seems like a few track Z cars are always up on Ebay and Craigslist around the country. Hobbies are meant to teach us, entertain us, and more importantly make us happy. When the focus of your hobby is no longer doing that, its time for a change.

[theczechone]

All I'll say for now is that I have not send for the tow truck yet, and will take some time. Meanwhile if I can find a drivable s30 in the area I'll be all over it. I feel that I need to remind myself of why I am doing it.

[LeonV]

Meanwhile if I can find a drivable s30 in the area I'll be all over it. I feel that I need to remind myself of why I am doing it.

Bye-bye resto project when that happens, believe me!