240Z Resto - 01/1970 Car

[Careless]

So, this might be a good time to start posting photos of what I've been doing for the passed couple of months. Organizing, labelling, ordering, cleaning, etc.

 

Work seems like it's been slow, but I was left with kind of a huge mess when I started this resto. Things were bagged accordingly for the most part, but left rusty, unfinished, or painted the wrong colour. Which for a resto is quite the opposite of what's desired.

 

I am going to post more photos as it moves along, but here are some photos of everything I've tumbled so far. Will post photos of other items soon and other work soon. A lot of organizing, so it's kind of the un-fun stuff! I'll have to acquire permission to post the facility or the car in question before doing so- but I'm sure it won't be a problem with the owner.

 

Here is the collection of items that have been tumbled so far, with the exception of the headlight buckets and the rear coolant tube,

 

1 - Full Monty

 

2 - Alternator Fan

 

3 - Waterpump Pulley

 

4 - Ball of 2-Wire Clamps...

 

5 - Headlight Buckets and Lots of Lug Nuts + Smog Pump pulley

Edited June 1, 2015 by Careless

[Careless]

6 - Suspension Bolts

 

7 - Misc Parts, All alternator hardware in the back + Diode packs

 

8 - More Misc Parts, Mostly Engine

 

9 - Hardware for Oil Pan, Exhaust Manifold, 2 Wire Clamps, And some socket cap bolts for something???

 

10 - Hardware for misc body/engine/mechanical stuff + Brake/Fuel line brackets.

 

11 - More misc hardware

 

12 - Tumbling has revealed plenty of surprises like these. I've had to toss about 8 or 9 lock washers now.

 

 

Intake and other misc parts are going to the acid stripping facility today.

Going to box up and send the carbs out to Ztherapy for a complete overhaul.

Nissan has some parts for me today as well.

 

Also going to visit a Vapour Blaster a little ways out from my house with the valve cover, grapefruit alternator housing, and the timing cover. At some point I will disassemble the smog pump to inspect, the distributor to clean, and whatever else I can find that is aluminum that needs that as-cast fresh look.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

I think most of the stuff here is to be Yellow/Gold Cad plated (with the exception of the 2-wire clamps being Silver/Bright Zinc plated, as well as the Lug Nuts being black-oxide or phosphate type, and the Smog Pump pulley being engine colour (blue).

 

There are some items I am not sure if. If you see anything that is supposed to be Silver/Bright Zinc plated instead of Yellow/Gold Cad, please let me know (you can use the numbers before the photo descriptions to refer to them).

Edited June 1, 2015 by Careless

[Zedyone_kenobi]

This is properly over the top. I like it, Please keep posting!

[grannyknot]

Beautiful work. We are all going to be watching this one.

The only thing I don't recognize is in the top left corner of pic #7, the two wire rectangles hinged to the flat square?

Chris

[Patcon]

Granny

I believe those are for holding down the car jack. I think...

[CanTechZ]

That is correct

[240260280z]

What media is in your tumbler(s)?

[jonathanrussell]

What do others think about the wire clamps? I am refreshing a low mileage 72. Before re-plating the clamps I felt pretty certain that the interior heater hose clamps (under the dash) were definitely a shiny zinc without any yellow chromate but that the engine bay and fuel tank clamps are zinc with yellow chromate (or cad with yellow chromate).

[scarguy055]

Yes, what media did you use? Also, was everything done in a tumbler or were the bigger or odd-shaped items bead blasted (w/ compressor)?

[Careless]

This is properly over the top. I like it, Please keep posting!

 

Haha... over the top?! nahhhhhh. I think leaving the tumbler to do the dirty work while I go meet with acid stripping or powder coating facilities is much better than sitting here with the E-Fast software trying to make a list of 10000000 fasteners that need to be ordered from Datsun... of which 90% are probably not available or do not have the original look to them. It really hurt my eyes to see the old bolts being painted silver or just being tossed in a box and replaced with home depot metric stuff. It's just not right.

 

The tumbler will change anyone's mind on the subject once you see how valuable it is!

 

there's plenty more to come! I can't wait for the stuff to come back from the acid stripper that I dropped off today, and the vapor blaster as well for the aluminum engine parts.

 

The conversation with the Acid Stripping rep went something like this today:

 

Me: "I thought you said you didn't strip bolts" (as I was looking at a basket full of thousands)

Him: "I don't want your bolts"

Me: "Why not? What's wrong with my bolts?"

Him: "Do YOU want your bolts?"

Me: "Well yeah, but I prefer them cleaned"

Him: "Well if you give me your bolts, you probably won't get them all back"

 

So the tumbler was a good choice!

 

Beautiful work. We are all going to be watching this one.

The only thing I don't recognize is in the top left corner of pic #7, the two wire rectangles hinged to the flat square?

Chris

 

Thanks Chris. I didn't really know what that was either, but I took whatever I could fit into the tumbler to test it out, and that was the first thing. haha. I had thought it was bright zinc because it was so grey from oxidizing over the years... but I moved one of the wires over a bit and exposed some shiny yellow plating- so that's what it will be plated as.

 

If only I could fit the jack in there :-P

Sadly, I don't think it can be taken apart very easily- as it's got mixed plated parts on it.

 

What media is in your tumbler(s)?

Yes, what media did you use? Also, was everything done in a tumbler or were the bigger or odd-shaped items bead blasted (w/ compressor)?

 

The media I used came with the eastwood tumbler. It is Green Pyramid (Medium Cut) media- which is measured as 1/4" media.

 

 

There is a rough cut brown pyramid media, but I read that it's not as nice to use on fine pitch threaded items. This green stuff will work just as well, and is a lot more gentle- it just takes a bit more time and experimenting with solutions. Then there is the corn-cob media for a higher polish/bright shine, but that is unnecessary, and it actually looks weird for factory bolts. This green stuff is pretty much "pre-plate" finish. Think of it as a "dull polish". It's got a slightly brighter/deeper luster than media blasting, and is just as smooth as polishing- but not nearly as shiny. Looks just about perfect! Only the plating will tell!

 

The tumbler comes with 7lbs, but plan on buying another 20 lbs if you do this many items. I had to find local media because Eastwood is not anywhere near bulk pricing. They want something like 30 bucks for 2lbs + shipping and duty fees.. that's almost 50 bucks for 2lbs of the media. I found a local abrasive place that sells 50lb bags of similar media for close to 8 dollars a lb, but minimum order is 50lbs. So I bought the bag and have experimented with different solutions from car polish to dish detergeant, to the eastwood speed clean. The media is 8mm triangles or wedges. There are plenty of different types of media shapes to buy. But as far as finishes, this green stuff is pretty good for me.

 

It also took 2 layers of paint off the smog pump pulley. It had Ford Blue, and the original Datsun Blue underneath it. It was fun to see the progress of it peeling away the old paint. When there are tiny little casting lines or something or other that the media cannot etch into, I sprayed it with Easy-Off Oven Cleaner (great paint remover), and let it sit for a couple of minutes, then scrubbed the area and washed it before putting it back into the tumbler. It really only takes an extra 2 or 3 minutes and I think I only did it to maybe 3 or 4 parts. You can also media blast any items to get the paint off, and then toss it in the tumbler and forget about it for a couple of hours and it will look great as well.

 

Running the tumbler dry is OK, but not great. running it with even just water has a bunch of advantages.

 

- it runs WAY quieter. If it's wet, I can't hear it with the garage door closed. if it's dry, i can hear it through the garage door, all the way up to the sidewalk, which is about 20 feet from the garage door... and I have the tumbler at the back of the garage.

- it cuts and cleans 50% faster (or more)

- it prevents the media from polishing itself, reducing its effectiveness.

 

I found that after all your speed clean is consumed (2 bottles is not enough for all these fasteners if it's your first time experimenting), dish detergent is the "cleanest" and best working replacement solution. Car polish gets too thick and leaves a thick residue. Simple green works ok as well.

 

I want to experiment with other medias in the future to get into even finer threaded items. perhaps I will take some of the media I kept aside after I ran it dry (once it's wet, it will never be completely dry again) and see if I can find a way to crush it down to the size of the corn cob media. 

 

I wonder if running the tumbler with apple cider vinegar will make it twice as effective as a light acid remover for hard to reach rust, and then a quick tumble in another bowl with baking soda and water as an additive to neutralize the acid...

 

That's what I'll try next!

 

What do others think about the wire clamps? I am refreshing a low mileage 72. Before re-plating the clamps I felt pretty certain that the interior heater hose clamps (under the dash) were definitely a shiny zinc without any yellow chromate but that the engine bay and fuel tank clamps are zinc with yellow chromate (or cad with yellow chromate).

 

26th-Z sent me some empirical evidence of the 2-wire clamps being bright silver zinc on an early 70's car, with low mileage at least in the engine bay. 

 

the 71 parts car I snagged the fuel vapor tank from had yellow cad clamps holding the hoses on the vapor tank, but I can't recall what the color of the engine bay ones were. I think I remember seeing some yellow cad on there.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Careless

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Going to order an eastwood tumbler.

 

I always wondered if you could use a brass tumbler like for cleaning spent rifle casings for automotive use. I pick one up at academy each time I go an think, this would do a great job on my small parts for the Z and roadster.

[Careless]

I suggest buying the harbour freight 18lb one, and then buying an extra bowl from eastwood. it's the same one, but harbourfreight doesn't sell the bowl separately. 

 

then you'll have two different coloured bowls for each type of media you decide to use.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Careless