Restoration of BringaTrailer 240z - HLS30-35883

[Casey_z]

On 4/6/2020 at 9:53 PM, inline6 said:

Is your car silver too?  What brand of paint did you use?  Glasurit (what I have used for undercoats) doesn't seem to have a paint mix code for 1971 Datsun silver.

It is Silver and I will ask my brother when I can what was used.

Our memories are both plus 60years old.

This is now eight years ago

Edited April 12, 2020 by Casey_z

[inline6]

15 minutes ago, Casey_z said:

It is Silver and I will ask my brother when I can what was used.

Our memories are both plus 60years old.

This is now eight years ago

 

Your car looks super nice!  Is that an actual BRE front spoiler, or a different brand?  I love the silver on my track car, but it is the silver used for 1987 Toyota's - (Supra).  I am trying to go authentic restoration (within reason) with this car, thus the extra effort to at least get the look of the paint right (both color and metallic appearance).  

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by inline6

[Casey_z]

One more for incentive

[inline6]

My car is going to look very similar to yours when it is done!  I am planning on going with the Konig rewind wheels, as I can't find any Panasports any more.  I wonder if they closed down the business?  My C8's on my track car are lovely.

 

[inline6]

Work continues on the dash.  I restored the center gauges a long time ago, but show only in a one pic a bit of what I did.  Basically, the black "block out" pieces lose their coating of black paint over time (it cracks and falls into the gauge), and the lenses get dull with micro scratches on the outside surface.  So, I take the phillips head screws off to remove the face.  The face comes off and has the bezels or "block out" pieces attached.  I break the melted plastic from the plastic posts that holds the bezels on (it is often crumbling off anyway).  Then I glass bead the bezels and repaint (white on inside and semi flat black on the outside).  I polish the lenses with suitable paint polish and a buffer.  Then I put the bezels and lenses back in the front piece and re-melt the plastic posts (using a propane torch heated 3/32" drill bit, which displaces melted plastic from the solid post up and over the edge around the circumference of the holes in the bezel - see pics) to secure the bezels and lenses nice and tight.  I top off remelted plastic with some suitable glue blobs for extra measure.  And then re-assemble the front portion of the gauge to the dusted off gauge assemblies, and they are done.  

    

Next up will be the speedo and the tach.

      

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by inline6

[inline6]

I took apart the the speedometer gauge assembly to freshen it up.  While apart, I reset the odometer to all zeros.  I took a reference pic showing what was there before setting to zero, though that is likely of no worth.  The car as purchased didn't have documentation of mileage.  All of the repair bills that came with the car indicate 130,047 miles on it.  

While apart, I cleaned the gauge face lightly with Windex (had some light oil on it around the needle anchor point), and cleaned the housing with a bit of soap and water.  I took the working gauge out of the metal backing, and cleaned inside where the white paint is (for back lighting).  The white paint was in good condition so I did not respray.  And, I buffed the clear lens/cover with a foam pad and Meguiar's 7 glaze.  That stuff is awesome for polishing clear plastic.  Use a power buffer and have some patience; you can remove all of the little scratches that were put into the face of the lens/dust cover over time.  My buffer has 6 speeds, and I can lock the trigger on.  I used setting 1, put the buffer on the work bench, pad side up, and hold it steady with one hand while working the lens across the pad with the other.

Reference shot, and after "rolling back the odometer".  Since this is a full restoration, and mileage is unknown, I think it makes more sense to set the odometer to zero as the car will begin a new life. 

  

Next up is the Tach.

  

[inline6]

Restored the tachometer today.  First pic shows cleans len/cover.  Note the haze from tiny scratches over 50 years. Background is my dirty Honda Accord.  Middle pic is after buffing.  Quite the difference.  Third pic is half on and half off the lens.  You can see the distortion in one of the leaves (just off center left) on the pavement where the edge of the lens is: 

    

 

The hazard switch was missing almost all of the white paint in the imprint.  So, I sprayed a bit of white enamel into the spray paint cap and used my finger to load up the switch (after cleaning thoroughly).  I use enamel thinner.  Lacquer thinner is too aggressive and will attack the plastic if you use more than a whisper.  After the white enamel dried, I used a low lint paper towel with just a couple of drops of enamel thinner and wiped the top surface lightly and repeatedly, until the only paint that remained was that in the recesses.  You have to go slow.  If the paint in the grooves gets thinner on it, it gets tacky and will start to pull out with the wiping action.  Also, the tachometer had some of the white paint (inside the back housing) cracking and coming loose, so I removed all that was loose with 320 and re-sprayed white inside to restore the factory appearance.

    

 

The tachometer after reassembly.  Note clear plastic tape put in original locations (It seals some holes and keeps out dust).

  

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by inline6

[siteunseen]

These work good on the bigger lines. Oil based fine point sharpie, silver and white. Heater panel, radio and the console, horn pad etc.

Thanks for that tip @psdenno

[inline6]

1 minute ago, siteunseen said:

These work good on the bigger lines. Oil based fine point sharpie, silver and white. Heater panel, radio and the console, horn pad etc.

Thanks for that tip @psdenno

Nice.  Thanks for sharing.  

[inline6]

For the work today, I transitioned to the bottom of the car again.  I spent a good bit of time cleaning the floor and tunnel with Purple Power.  The inside of the tunnel where the back of the transmission sits was coated with grease and dirt which had petrified.  Fine steel wool, brass brushes, a scraper and rags were employed.  Interestingly, you can see how the car had a very large amount of over spray from the factory on the bottom.  Impact areas have required attention.  I have been using hammer and dolly, and other tools to straighten the metal.  In some places, I have had to use the stud welder (in heat shrinking mode) to shrink the metal.  This removes "oil canning" areas that have stretched and been worked. 

Another observation of note: the factory undercoating, which is hard as a brick by the way, was applied on the bare uni-body.  You can see where I sanded through it in the impact areas, and there is no primer underneath.  So, the floor was sprayed first, then the car was primed with red primer, then grey primer.  Apparently, they somehow protected the coating on the floor from the primer over spray, as there is none of that visible on the floor.  But when the car was painted silver, the bottom of the car was fully exposed.  The over spray when practically everywhere.  Additionally, the inside of the front and rear fender wells were intentionally painted with silver.  

Cleaning up nicely.  Any areas where impacts distorted the sheet metal are being straightened:

    

Third pic above and first below are of a spot that took a pretty sharp impact.  Lots of work has been done here to straighten and shrink the metal.  Third pic shows well the over spray and texture:

    

Still have a bit of work to do to fix that floor that was welded a bit out of alignment at the factory (first pic - top left corner).  Second pic shows an impact that needs to be straighted (right side of pic).  Third pic, I wonder why they used a brush and put black paint there?

    

Any chipped areas a being sanded down - feather edged in prep for a touch of primer and the new coat of "bed liner":

    

 

      

Note the amount of silver paint (second pic).  Starting to feather driver side floor front.  A couple of dings need tapping out (third pic).

    

 

And looking here, it is obvious that the bottom of the rocker has holes from the factory which let water in as you drive. I will be sealing most of these up. with sealer.  First pic is the front, driver side, second pic is the rear, driver side.  The small round holes in the rear are from me drilling out the spot welds when I did the sheet metal repairs.

  

 

I have been researching undercoats and truck bed coatings from time to time for months.  I would like to find something that looks like the factory coating on the bottom of the car.  I have watched a lot of Youtube videos and have a game plan.  I plan to use Raptor liner.  I will buy a $20 HVLP gun from Harbor Freight, and drill the hole in the cap to 2.0 mm (increase from 1.4 mm) and then experiment with thinner and pressure to try to get a finish which looks like the factory stuff in the pics. 

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by inline6

[inline6]

I got the seat belts out and took some pics.  These things are in rough shape.   I'd like to get them restored.  I came across another ClassicZcar forum thread in which a member had his 1972 belts (with retractors) rebuilt by a company called Snake Oyl, but it was like $750.  ?  I'm wondering about alternatives. 

For example, I might be able to send off the chrome parts to be replated... buy some seat belt webbing , or buy some late model seat belts from a salvage yard and reuse the webbing, refinish the black painted parts myself, etc.  Pretty sure that an industrial type sewing machine would be needed.  

It took me a while, but I figured out how to get the buckle apart. 

    

Shoulder straps are missing plastic end caps (first pic).   Lot 0506 - 6/1971:  

    

Luggage straps are in need of refreshing also (second and third pics):

      

[SteveJ]

I don't advise re-using the webbing. It could be stretched from a previous accident or so old that it will break before it stretches enough. 

How period correct are you trying to be? Several of us have installed the roadster seatbelts sold by Wesco Performance. https://www.wescoperformance.com/seatbelts.html