Restoration of BringaTrailer 240z - HLS30-35883

[inline6]

6 minutes ago, SteveJ said:

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

Thanks for info and the link!  It's not really critical that the belts be reproduction - to look like originals.  I mean, I'd be willing to spend about $300 total to get them like new if I could - not $750.  

I checked out that link.  I didn't see anything called "roadster".  Are you referring to the standard 3 point type non-retractable in the "passenger car replacement" section?

[SteveJ]

You have to type Roadster into the search box. I don't know why they tuck it away like they do. https://www.wescoperformance.com/roadster-seat-belt-chrome.html

[inline6]

Finally time to epoxy prime the engine bay.  I had a handful of holes that had to be filled.  They were extra holes that were drilled in the bay for the A/C that was added to the car in 1971.  After filling and grinding, I spot sanded some areas that had a touch of surface rust forming since I sandblasted the bay a long time ago.  I taped up all of the plastic coatings on the wire clips.  I will be painting them body color as was done by the factory, but no sense building up a layer of epoxy primer on them now.  

    

    

Very minor pitting in the battery tray.  I elected not to remove and sand blast between the tray and the inner fender as it think it will last another 50 years after my work here is complete. ?

    

    

    

Sand blasting effort was put into reaching all areas, even inside the front lower box section:

    

Glasurit epoxy primer applied:

    

    

    

    

I will be touching up just a couple of areas with bondo and then spraying with high build primer as is on the rest of the car.  

 

Before and After Videos:

 

 

 

 

[inline6]

I found a bit more rust that needed to be taken care of.  These "reinforcement" plates above the compression rod box are not sealed well from the factory.  Water coming down the inner wheel well goes in between the plate in the inner fender and sits.  This is the driver side.  I cut away the rotten portion.  In the first pic, the rectangular section in the middle that has a different sheen is a sectioned replacement.  I just didn't show the work involved with that.  The inner fender panel had a couple of tiny perforations from rust, so I replaced this small area.  I then used a small hand held belt sander to clear away the surface rust from the remainder of the repair area and fabricated a new panel.  Extra effort to clean all the sheet metal very well makes welding much easier and the outcome better.   I *think* this is the last of the metal work!  Holes drilled in replacement are the factory spot weld locations.

    

    

 

Sanding of the high build primer is ongoing.  Here are a couple of pics showing guide coat.  I am just using black spray enamel.  

  

I'd say it is going well, but unfortunately, I will need to apply some more high build primer.  I will get some pics up soon that show how the sanding is going.  Maybe some video as well of sanding guide coat.

[inline6]

I am again reminded how how inefficient I am at doing high quality bodywork.  I am now on my third "last" application of high build primer.  I am obviously repeating this process too much.  I don't know how many coats I have put on the body now.  If I had to guess, I am at like... a coat of epoxy primer, a layer of body filler, (then a round of sanding), another coat of epoxy primer, more body filler, (another round of sanding),  two full coats of high solids primer, (more sanding), spot primer in low areas along with another 2 full coats of primer on the body (5 coats in areas), (yet another round of sanding), and now, two more full coats of primer with certain low spots getting a total of 4 more coats.  I have run out of my gallon of HS primer.  A gallon without hardener costs $360.  So... this is a very expensive way to build up low spots.  Take my own advice.  Apply as skim coat of bondo to the whole panel and then sand it down one time.  Apply several coats of high build primer, and then guide coat and sand that to perfection.  This will save you massive amounts of time and money.

And again, I will certainly experiment with spray filler with the next time I do a full respray on an old project car.

With all that said, I have learned a couple of things that might be helpful to others.  First, I can now say from an experienced standpoint, don't use commercially available sanding blocks as they come straight out of the box.  I have bought several, and most of them have needed to have their sanding surfaces "trued".  Take a look at this Durablock, for example:
 

  

Hard to see from those angles... but here it is on a long level:

    

Durablocks are "pretty firm", but they are also easily bent with standard sanding pressure.  So, you can imagine how flat your panel would not get when using this.  With light pressure, it sand with more pressure at each end.  Hard pressure will allow it to conform a bit to the panel's existing surface.  Softer foams are even more problematic.  They can be useful in various contours, but they should not be used on large flat areas, not if you are trying for perfection.  For those areas, use rigid sanding blocks.  A block of wood that has been sanded flat is a great choice!

Switching gears a little bit, (I find it best to rest my shoulders, elbows, and hands after 17 hours of sanding time over two days of the weekend), it is about time to put the new sound deadening mat in.  I have choices!  Not sure how I will proceed just yet.  

I don't think I have yet shared the pics showing my template creation.  When I bought the car, the tar mat was gone from the floor surfaces and almost half of the tunnel.  I spent many hours marking off lines (based on paint lines and existing tar mat pieces).  As the tar mats are applied from the factory before primer and paint, some of the pattern was easily determined by looking at where there was over spray and where there was not.  Other than those two things, I stared at pics online to determine the shape in areas I could not decipher.  The templates are made from masking paper and masking tape.

    

 

   

 

    

    

 

Regarding sound deadening, I originally planned to put the OEM stuff that I was able to source, but it is only about .060" thick.  The original bits I have (mostly from the tunnel) are more like .130" thick.  So, I could try to double up (I have four sheets like the OEM one pictured, which should lay down flat and be usable after sitting in the sun for a bit.  However, being that we are now 50 years later than the original build date, there is some stuff on the market now like Damplifier Pro.  It is a butyl rubber product (no asphalt - and not bitumen) with a thick piece of aluminum foil on the top.  It would be far better for sound dampening and for heat insulation.

 

  

  

I used my template and cut one piece for under the driver seat.  It is not glued in place yet however.

  

 

I will think on how to proceed some more.

Edited June 2, 2020 by inline6

[inline6]

Tonight I cut a matching piece for under the passenger side seat.  And I experimented with stacking the OEM bitumen on top of a piece of scrap of the second skin material.  I think this will work nicely for the tunnel and maybe the floor as well.  First, I like that the aluminum foil gets completely covered, and that the OEM piece really looks like the original mat.  Second, the thickness of the two stacked is "close" to my original mat that was on the tunnel.  The original pieces vary in thickness a bit, but around .130" is close.  The stacked pieces are right at about .150".

    

Original scrap from the tunnel:

  

Also, the OEM sheets are pretty large, so for the bigger pieces, I will be able to cover up some of the joints between sided by side pieces of the Second Skin Damplifier Pro.  

And one would have to assume that the damping will be even more with stacked pieces, but I don't care so much about that part.  

I don't have any pieces of scrap from the floors, so I don't know the original thickness there.  Anyone know?

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by inline6

[CanTechZ]

9 hours ago, inline6 said:

 

I don't have any pieces of scrap from the floors, so I don't know the original thickness there.  Anyone know?

 

I just removed a few pieces from my floor in front of the left seat and the thickness measured about .090", my car is a 1970 #6521

Edited June 3, 2020 by CanTechZ

[inline6]

6 hours ago, CanTechZ said:

I just removed a few pieces from my floor in front of the left seat and the thickness measured about .090", my car is a 1970 #6521

Thanks for that info!  Now, I need to decide between going with stacking what I've got (and ending up at .150" thick), or maybe buying some regular Damplifier (.040" thick instead of .080" thick) and then covering that with the OEM stuff for the floor panels...   That would put me around .110" thick.

[inline6]

Almost a month since my last post - lots more hours on weekends and some weeknights as well have been spent.  My body work videos aren't very exciting.  I just can't seem to get the motivation to set up a tri-pod and show work being done.  Video editing will be a necessity in the near future.  For now, I have these raw videos I uploaded.

Before spraying: https://youtu.be/CGWh34rB_uE

After primer has been applied: https://youtu.be/qJSDRZAOv-U

It is astonishing how not flat the panels were before I switched over to a very straight and rigid sanding block.  A huge number of hours later, I have sanded the entire car again, applied and sanded more body filler (premium, light weight), and applied seam sealer in most external body seams, and started in underneath seams as well.  

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by inline6

[inline6]

Starting to put in the sound deadening which I cut from the patterns I made.  First layer of sound deadening material (standard Second Skin) has been installed on the front floor sections.  I did buy the 1 mm version for the floors, so that the thickness after installation of the  OEM stuff over top of these pieces will be closer to original:

    

The floor (inside) has been sandblasted, straightened and sprayed with Glasurit 801-703 chromated epoxy primer.  I will be applying seam sealer to the edge of this matting (and to the seams/gaps between the individual pieces used) after I install the OEM bitumen material on top.  Then I will spray with a coat or two of primer in preparation for paint which will be done by at the same time as the outside of the car (same color).  Hope it looks like factory when I am done.

  

Edited July 1, 2020 by inline6

[CanTechZ]

Great work on the floors. I will be using this as a reference when I get to this point on my restoration. I'm going to make templates from my floors soon, before I remove the existing sound deadening material.

[inline6]

On 7/1/2020 at 11:30 AM, CanTechZ said:

Great work on the floors. I will be using this as a reference when I get to this point on my restoration. I'm going to make templates from my floors soon, before I remove the existing sound deadening material.

Nice.  Someone should make the templates available on eBay.  Mine are kind of "deduced" too much from the old paint lines - the original mats were installed prior to painting the car at the factory.  It would be better to have templates made directly from the original bitumen before it is removed.

Edited July 3, 2020 by inline6