1976 280Z Restoration Project

[wheee!]

Yup. I saw it looking a little off and grabbed the fender. The fender is a little rough too so I wasn't sure until I put a level across both sides. Now I'm happy!


The son in law came over last night and did some awesome welding along the floor frame rails. Nice closed seams now and the floor looks great, hardly any buckles.
Didn't get pictures last night as we flipped the car back to upright to finish one of the suspension plate support welds. More pictures next week! I only work on the car Monday and Wednesdays at the moment.

[wheee!]

Did a lot of cleanup welding and grinding. Got the valance support and horn mounts welded back on! Also removed the AC bottle mount from the shock tower.




Also ordered the CXRacing coilovers!

[disepyon]

Looking good, You planning on shaving any holes in the engine bay? I did close up some holes on mine, but really want to wait till I get an idea of how everything will be laid out before I get to carried away with it.

[wheee!]

Wasn't really thinking I had any extra openings... do I? I am putting the stock system back in and possibly adding air conditioning too. Didn't notice any extra holes that I remember!

[wheee!]

So I figured out a problem I was having with accessing the areas around the bumper shocks. I wanted them gone so I could clean up the area underneath them in order to prep for paint etc.

The problem was the car was suspended by the bumper shocks on the rotisserie and I need the car on the rotisserie in order to paint the underside properly. So I decided to manufacture some rods threaded on both ends to bolt the car via the extra bumper mounts on the 280's.

Threaded the 10mm rod with 1.25 die.

threaded the rod into the bumper mounts and tensioned them with washers and nuts

Added some piping to stiffen the bolts up and to provide standoff for the rotisserie

added a small piece to adjust for the angle of the bumper mounts

Now I can work on the bumper mount areas. The new Tabco panels will replace the back corners and fill in the old bumper shock locations too.

And now I can toss these!

Edited February 20, 2017 by wheee!

[wheee!]

Aaaaand..... might as well jump right in and start on the lower quarter ends!
Mocking up.



And poof it's gone!

[wheee!]

Wow. A little disappointed in finding almost 3/4" of bondo on the quarter panel. I knew there was a previous accident on this corner but I thought the replacement quarter panel was installed to fix it. Must of happened after the quarter repair.

[wheee!]

Repairs from PO and shot of thick bondo.

[EuroDat]

Wierd coincidence, my 280Z has filler in exactly the same place. It's seems to be a skim coat and my "untrained" hands can't feel any damage or welding on the inside.

Looking good btw. It will be a good solid car when you are finished.

[grannyknot]

You made that Tabco panel work! I was looking at mine thinking that it is completely the wrong shape or maybe it was for a different car. I'll have to have another look at mine.

[wheee!]

You made that Tabco panel work! I was looking at mine thinking that it is completely the wrong shape or maybe it was for a different car. I'll have to have another look at mine.

How true. I put mine in place at first and thought....

"hmmmm, must be for a series 1!"

It took a little manipulating on the anvil and the hammer and dollies but it will be just right now. The Tabco panels are very square and mostly right angles. The car has softer curves and the metal has to curve away from the corners a bit. I am very happy with the fit at the moment. I have some metal work to do under the panel first as I found some rust but I am confident that it will look really good when I get it welded on.

[wheee!]

It also appears that the back corner received impact damage as well. That explains the weld repairs and distorted edge. I will need to try and address that too...