240z rebuild / restoration right down to the shell

[bartsscooterservice]

moving along pretty well !!

[pacemkr]

sweet.

cant wait to see that colour. the hint of green sounds interesting.

[ksechler]

Awesome. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[e-tek]

Painted!!! You LUCKY guy!!! There`s no better part of a build than putting the parts back on a painted shell. Its what keeps me going through each builds metal work, filler work and weeks of sanding....

The color looks great - even without the sun! I love a Z in grey or silver and there`s lots of tints available like yours with the green. I chose a Silver-blue from Mercedes for mine.

Looking forward to seeing it come together.

[Travel'n Man]

Chris -

You and Ted are knocking this project out - just saw your thread - fantastic job!

One thing I'll bring to your attention on the R200 3:90 diff. I just changed to a ZX 5 speed last year and found a R180 out of a truck (front diff) and that is what I am currently running. On the original 4 speeds they came with a standard diff. A popular upgrade was to go to the 3:54 diff with the 4 speed......a little faster off the line but a little higher on the RPM side at 60MPH. Same gear ratio is true with the ZX (Closed Ratio) 5 speed paired with a 3:9 - a little slower off the line. If you are looking for faster off the line you may want to look for a 4:11 before you do your install - I guess it really depends on how much 60-70 MPH interstate time you are spending vs in town cruising.............at this point I wish I would have moved on the 4:11 initially and not the 3.9 (most of my driving is on two lanes mountain roads and not interstates).

Again, great looking progress on your project......keep rock'n on!

[grannyknot]

Just about to spray the body

toxic mist

she comes home! Still can't see the green tint, might be this camera

Back in the shop

got some stuff installed, brake and gas lines,parking brake and R/T mount, wiring harness

Working on the rear end today and tomorrow.

Travel'n Man, I will be mostly driving highway so the 3.9:1 will work for me.

[EuroDat]

Hi Chris, I suppose at the rate you are going you will be driving it in a couple of days

The colour is awesome. It gives it that classic look. Exactly what it is.

Can't believe how quick the rebuild is going. Its really mind boggling.

Oh and good to see Ted back keeping an eye on things.

[bartsscooterservice]

Yeah at his rate he will be done next week ! Paintjob looks neat !

[grannyknot]

Good morning Z

Got the entire drivers side rear suspension and halfshaft in by 10am and was feeling good and then realized I forgot to install the bump stop on the shock...and that it all had to come apart again, the parking brake, the brake lines, the spindle pin, the halfshaft and spring, head in hands.

Ted left quickly as things started flying across the shop, now I'm short a trouble light as it took the brunt of the anger.

So I tore it all down, shoved the bump stop in and started the re-assembly. Trying to get the shock tower bolts into the holes for the second time was very frustrating and I guess I was banging the shock/ spring around too much and came within a couple of inches of toppling the whole car into my lap, just managed to push it back onto the stands before it went too far. The car is still quite light and unstable, got a good reminder of that today. So I wasted 4-5 hrs but I got it done.

[EuroDat]

Chris,

Good to hear you and the car are still in one piece after a frustrating day. We all go through now and again.

Its happens to me when Im focusing on the end result and not the task at hand.

The rear end looks good.

Chas

[Hardway]

Your progress is very motivating Chris. Don't feel bad about the bump stop, we have all been there and tools have become victims of frustration in the process. Keep up the good work and great pictures as you move along. We all love your thread!

[ksechler]

I have been through the assemble, disassemble, assemble again routine. I know exactly how you feel. Just keep your focus. It's part of the drill. It wouldn't do for things to be any less than perfect with all of the effort you have invested so far. One piece of advice I can give you, though is to use your floor jack when aligning the strut towers with the three mounting holes. You've already done the back but it might help with the front. I used my jack to take the struts weight. I aligned the bolts with my hands and then used my foot to pump the jack up until the bolts were through. It's an ambidextirous little dance but much easier than trying to lift and align the strut at the same time. Good luck!