My Restoration Project

[rossiz]

Sweet

[240tom]

I hope this works.

https://vimeo.com/109864502

Edited October 24, 2014 by 240tom

[dtshaw66]

Man, that's awesome! I like the blue. Congratulations on a great job restoring it.

[Carl Beck]

NO WAY - !!  You started on that car Sept. 2013 - - and you have it put back together with the paint and body work done - the engine rebuilt and installed by the 23rd of Oct 2014???  That is a real accomplishment. 

 

I love the color - and you've got a good looking helper there too   .    Great Job..

 

Carl B.

[Patcon]

That's like a speed record!

Charles

[northernz]

Wow, that is impressive! Nice work, I'm also partial to blue Zeds!

[Hardway]

That is unbelievable!  A record for sure!  You were putting in pans at the beginning of October and now it is painted, assembled, and running.  Great job Tom!

[madkaw]

Did you have Gas Monkey help you?

[240tom]

Thanks everyone!  You know the saying, you can have something done well, quickly, or cheaply, and even pick two out of those three.  I went well and (relatively) fast, but don't let my wife know!  Madkaw, nope on help from Gas Monkey, but Roger Schmidt, who used to own the Zbarn here in Maryville, Tennessee (and is known to many members here) has been a huge help.  A friend with body and paint skills who was looking for extra money did all that for me, took him about nine months but I'm happy with the results.  In hindsight, I do wish I had taken the shell somewhere for a total media blast and maybe even an acid dip before putting on the new rear quarter panels, passenger side rocker, floor pans, hood, hatch ledge, spare tire well and fenders, just so I could know now that I really did get ALL the rust I could have.  I'm very happy with how the engine turned out!  I'm still not done (are we ever?), but I should be getting new doglegs from Mike McGinnis this week, and with those I can put back in all my interior panels.  I may have to pull the dash, at least some, to get at my tach and fuel gauge, which aren't working.  I'm trying to get Roger to go for a ride with me so he can tell me if any of these sounds are worrisome (like the howling rear end) and if my gearshift is too sloppy.  I've pretty much decided to get new chrome bumpers from Futofab, as my stock ones are too far gone unless I wanted to blast and powder coat them (which I don't really).  I didn't start this resto thread way back when I started the project; I think I was just too into taking her apart, getting her engine and body fixed, and working on all the other things I could do myself to try also to keep as good a visual record as others certainly have (HAZmatt!) and try to do a blow-by-blow here as well.  I did (and still do) visit the club daily, usually more than once, for advice and just to see how other restos are going, and I'm really going to try to show more of the work I've been doing the past year-plus, it just won't be as it happens.  I'm certainly following with interest the recent discussions about values, and what looks like a heating-up market for these cars, but I didn't restore her just to try to make a buck.  I've got more in her than I think she's actually worth, fmv-wise, but as Tim Pitts, (the guy who rebuilt the engine says) "it's just money."  Now, if I'm driving her around or at a car show and some rich fool wants to give me a bunch of money, I may just have to do a background check on him or her and see if he or she is worthy, but I have no plans on listing her or trying to sell her.  I did this because: my Dad had one when I was a kid; she was just sitting down there behind that building rotting away!; I needed a project to keep me out of trouble; I figured out pretty quickly that she was a Series 1 with a matching engine that had not been molested (except for being left outside) and I love working on cars. 

Hopefully I can get some pictures up of the completed interior soon, and a video of her on the go (sans bumpers though).  Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

[240tom]

Thanks to Blue and my friend Roger Schmidt, I now have a working tachometer.  I should also mention Carl B. and John Huff for their wiring diagrams (that Blue showed me) that finally showed this electrical no-nothing how to wire in the tach with the pertronix ignition and 3 ohm coil.  But not only do I have a working 240Z tach, ALL MY GAUGES ARE NOW FUNCTIONAL!  Even the old clock!   I took the clock out, took it out of its can, jiggled around and sprayed it with PB Blaster and lo and behold, it started ticking again.  Ran it a couple of days on a 12 volt source until I had the speed adjusted, and back into the dash it went.  My fuel gauge hadn't been working, but that was just a matter of using a blow dryer to heat those damn nailhead rubbers until they were soft enough to get the connectors hooked up (again, based on advice from this forum).  Then, my Ammeter and temp gauge were squirrelly, (they had worked at first, but quit) but on closer inspection I saw that the faceplate was loose and was pinching the needles.  Simple matter of reattaching the faceplate and it is working fine.  Now I get to put the heater panel back in and hook up all those damn control cables.  My map light works, my glovebox light works, all instrument lights work and the dimmer works.  Same for headlights (high and low), turn signal, emergency flashers, side markers, brakes, reverseThe AM radio works, even the auto-tune still works, and the only thing not working now is the antenna.  I bought a new electric antenna and the old switch does work, but I'm going to need to put a relay in to make them work together.  The windshield wipers are SLOW but it's the original motor.   The washer tank and sprayers work too, but not great, it's time for a new pump.  Oh yeah, my inspection light works!  OK, sorry, now I'm starting to brag, but any of you that have spent any time chasing down electrical gremlins know what I'm talking about.  Thanks for the advice on how to get to the gauges too (I found removing the heater panel to be the way to go).  I really need to post a video showing her out on the road.  She runs great, sounds awesome and looks beautiful.  Just waiting on bumpers (from Futofab)!

[240tom]

I just realized that I hadn't bragged on myself for (also with Blue's awesome write up) replacing both rear wheel bearings.  The left one had been making a pretty annoying noise, but now it's fixed.  This job was TOUGH though!  Those peened nuts are on tight, and there's hardly any room to turn a breaker bar on them, and on top of that just keeping the wheels from turning so you can unbolt them is a trick.  It took me the better part of two weekends two get it done.