Hi Guys.  My name is Kent and I am a long time lurker here.  I have several 240z project cars - none completed - but lots of ambition ....but that’s a story for a whole different thread probably.

I started this car a few years back and, skipping to the point, I recently realized that I needed to take a step backwards in order to go forwards.  I had replaced the floors and fabricated some new floor rails, but I realized that it would be nearly impossible to replace the front rails and firewall rust without stabilizing the entire chassis.  Plus the rad support was repaired poorly by a previous owner at some point.  Rotisserie was out of the question - way too much rust...

Here she is on the completed jig ....

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The jig was made from 2 x 2 x 1/8 tubing.  It supports the chassis at stock suspension and drivetrain points - front swaybar, front crossmember, trans tunnel, and both side of the rear differential mounting point.  I also added a support for the front strut tower, and across the door openings as I will be cutting out a lot of the firewall and the front rails.  All the dimensions are available in the FSM.  It is bolted (not welded) to the chassis.  The whole structure is very rigid and I think that the firewall and frame rail replacement is going to zip right along.

Here’s how she came together, in pictures .... hopefully this inspires someone else to get back on the horse.  Cheers!

 

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Edited January 27, 20196 yr by ConVerTT
Deleted extra pics

You need to come out into the light!  You have some neat stuff going on it sounds like.  Cliff

Pictures don't work for me.

It's best to upload them to the site. There they will remain even if Photobucket or any other hosting site sucks

I hope I fixed the pics?  Still learning to drive, sorry

31 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

You need to come out into the light!  You have some neat stuff going on it sounds like.  Cliff

Thanks!  I have more ambition than skill, but I am stubborn at least ?

Two big thumbs up for Kent posting his build(s). We have been friends for a while now and I can vouch for his collection of awesome 240’s, 300’s, and a few other tasty exotic morsels too!
zKars can also chime in here as well. He has known Kent longer than I have.

They work now. Nice looking work space

Hey Kent,

Welcome to the forum, I know a kindred spirit when I see one, very nice jig, that will be a straight car by the time you're done. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Pretty awesome talent on display with that jig.

9 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Hey Kent,

Welcome to the forum, I know a kindred spirit when I see one, very nice jig, that will be a straight car by the time you're done. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Thanks!  The old 240 was actually surprisingly straight given how rusty she is.  It was actually quite a nice car once.  Unfortunately when the owner passed away the car was left sitting in tall grass so ... ???

36 minutes ago, wheee! said:

Two big thumbs up for Kent posting his build(s). We have been friends for a while now and I can vouch for his collection of awesome 240’s, 300’s, and a few other tasty exotic morsels too!
zKars can also chime in here as well. He has known Kent longer than I have.

Haha - thanks Mark!  Now that I am rolling, I am going to try to FINISH one LOL!

So the front rails are basically done.  

The jig is working really well.  I can’t over-emphasize the benefits of having the car plumb, level and locked when it needs major surgery.   Aligning the new rails was pretty straight-forward once they were fabbed up.   Details here. ... 

Managed to true up the floors slighty as well.   Now just need to do the battery patch, firewall repairs, rad support and (redo) the inner rockers and she will be ready to go on the rotisserie ???.  Please stay tuned ....

 

 

Edited March 2, 20196 yr by ConVerTT
Typo

I agree with your premise.  I know you're busy with the real work right now, but later, when time permits, please consider creating a set of drawings for your jig.  It would make a great addition to the restoration  resources that this great site makes available to others.

BTW, you have a real talent for visualizing sheet metal repairs.  The fab part is half of it, but the 'vision' part (i.e 'How do I translate this into cuts and bends and welds) is equally important.