Deja Vu: 1971 Restoration

[motorman7]

Finishing off the final loose parts and underside of the hood.   Will take this to the paint shop this Thursday.  With the body and parts at the paint shop, I will start work on motor.  Will also start getting parts prepped for zinc plating.  Things are moving along well.

[motorman7]

Big day to today.  Finally got the car off to the paint shop.  Woo-Hoo!  I am very excited about the paint shop here.  The final prep, primer and paint will be done at 'Customs by Miguel'.  Miguel does the paint work for Les at Classic Datsun Motorsports and specializes in Z cars.  He also does the paint work for several of the local racers.  His work is very impressive so I am looking forward to monitoring the progress.  While Miguel is taking care of the paint, I will get the dash ready for delivery to 'Just Dashes' in LA.  After that, I will start work on the motor.   Things are moving along pretty well.  Below are some pics of the car delivery to the paint shop.

You can see some of Miguel's work here including the Bob Sharp Racing Nissan prepared for the Amelia Island Concours:  https://www.facebook.com/CustomsByMiguel/

 

Edited March 24, 2017 by motorman7

[Patcon]

What kind of cost to paint a car like this?

[motorman7]

The price range that we discussed is $5-10K.  This includes final prep for paint, final clean-up and some minor welding work on the driver side floor board.  The car will get a full primer coat and guide coat.  Assuming all is well after that, it will get a two stage paint job in the original 918 orange, color sand and final polish.  For the money I think it will be Concours level work at mid-level cost.  Miguel does some very high end work.  I am looking forward to seeing the final product.

[Patcon]

Yes, Those numbers don't seem out of whack. It's a lot of work to do it right and then cut and buff...

[motorman7]

Removed the instruments and harness from the dash this weekend.  Will drive the dash up to 'Just Dashes' in Van Nuys and drop it off for restoration.  

Started the tear down of the motor.  I was hesitant to take the head off the motor at first as it looks to be in perfect shape, but I wasn't sure about the block components (a little more car Z CSI).   As you can see in the pics, the cam gear and chain look brand new and the head looks very clean.  Obviously, the top end had been recently repaired.  However, I had no idea what condition the pistons, rings and cylinders were in, so I did take it off. Pictures are shown below. The bottom end looks clean, but could probably use a cylinder hone and new rings.  I will take it to the machine shop and get their opinion. I will also take the head in and have them check out the seal on the valves.   Also need to check bearing clearances.

[Zup]

Quote

Will drive the dash up to 'Just Dashes' in Van Nuys and drop it off for restoration.

  

When you send that dash off to Just Dashes be sure to cover any kanji you wish to keep or it will be obliterated by black.

Otherwise, they are the "go to" guys for this.

Don't ask me how I know--

[Captain Obvious]

I know you have already identified the car as a 72, but I wanted to point out (redundantly) that the carbs are the water heated 72 variety. Keep that in mind if you start mixing and matching carbs or intake manifolds.

If you keep the same carbs with the same manifolds, you'll be fine. But if you start mixing and matching parts from other years, you'll need to take care of some other details.

[motorman7]

3 hours ago, Zup said:

  

When you send that dash off to Just Dashes be sure to cover any kanji you wish to keep or it will be obliterated by black.

Otherwise, they are the "go to" guys for this.

Don't ask me how I know--

Thanks Zup, I will make sure I have the kanji taped off so it doesn't get painted.  Nice to know.

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

I know you have already identified the car as a 72, but I wanted to point out (redundantly) that the carbs are the water heated 72 variety. Keep that in mind if you start mixing and matching carbs or intake manifolds.

If you keep the same carbs with the same manifolds, you'll be fine. But if you start mixing and matching parts from other years, you'll need to take care of some other details.

Thanks Captain, no plans on switching parts.  I will clean these up and re-install....eventually.

[motorman7]

Will take the head and the block to the machine shop tomorrow.  The head should be fine, but I want the shop to check the valve seating just to make sure.    For the block, I am hoping that we can get away with just a cylinder hone to knock of the glaze.  Also want to get it hot tanked to clean it up.

Piston ring in cylinder one was cracked.  Not really a problem as I will get new rings, but it explains the gritty material in the bottom of the block. 

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by motorman7

[Mark Maras]

 Are there any deep vertical scratches in No. 1, or did you get lucky?

[motorman7]

55 minutes ago, Mark Maras said:

 Are there any deep vertical scratches in No. 1, or did you get lucky?

Good question, I will have to check and get back to you on that.

 

Here are some of the latest body work pics.  Miguel wanted to remove some of the previous paint work, so he has done quite a bit of sanding.   Looks like the hood may have had three paint jobs so he is removing most of that.   Nice progress in short time.