Restoration of BringaTrailer 240z - HLS30-35883

[CanTechZ]

13 hours ago, inline6 said:

How do you get drawings like that?  Is it some type of CAD software?

 

I used a 3D parametric cad software package called Solid Edge, made by Siemens. This is actually only the 3D model, it looks like a drawing because I imported a scaled image of the chassis from my 1970 FSM and inserted it as the background to build the model on. Still had to a lot of measuring off my car and the parts I have from Klassic Fab, but it's good to have the FSM drawing to confirm the main datums.

Edited January 1, 2022 by CanTechZ

[inline6]

Good stuff.  CAD skills to even a beginner degree are something I wish I had.  

While I thought I was done with metal work, I decided to revisit a repair I made to the tail light panel where it forms the ledge inside the hatch opening.  My repair in the passenger corner was one of my early metal repair efforts on this car.  As I am now focusing again on the tail light panel - it has received the least attention so far, I decided that the inside corner areas were not up to par with the rest of the car. 

Because the car received a light impact to the rear at some point, the sealer under the ledge had cracked, and gave an opening to moisture.  So, in the hatch corners, the metal had obviously rusted in between the panels, causing the ledge (in the corners) to puff up a bit.  This area on the left and right is what I am talking about:

 

After cutting away the old panel sections, and grinding away the rusted metal, I used a chemical treatment to neutralize the remaining spots of rust.

  

 

Then, I fabricated a patch panel.  I spent extra time getting the fit as close to dead on as possible.  

    

 

Then, I decided to use the spot welder I bought (a while back now).  

    

 

It does a good job, for sure, but when I purchased it, I was hoping it would replicate the factory welds.  Unfortunately, these spot welds are notably smaller in diameter.  Still a cool tool though.  It won't reach everywhere, of course, so I put a few rosette welds (large round welds next to the mig weld seam) to finish putting welds back in the factory locations.  Most of these spot welds are in the factory locations, but I also put a couple of extra ones.  🙂  A whole bunch of pictures follow:
 

    

    

    

 

After grinding away the extra, I used 80 grit on a DA Sander to give the entire repair area a nice texture.

    

    

 

I feel better about this repair than leaving it the way it was.  Now, I just have to repeat for the right side.  It will take several hours.  

[Patcon]

Really nice repair!

Other than the diameter of the spot welds its invisible

[grannyknot]

The reason that a lot of Z's rust out in that area is because the rain gutter ends too soon and dumps water right on to that spot and that spot also slopes back in toward the car so the water just sits in a pool until it evaporates.  I started adding an extension on to the rain gutters to remove the water completely.

 

[inline6]

Ah... that is pretty slick.  A very smart and elegant solution.  

[inline6]

About 1.5 to 2 hours tonight to get the right side panel this far:

 

Before finishing the welding and adding the rosette welds, I make sure the back edge line is right:

 

A few close ups:
    

Rightmost edge (bottom of the third pic in the set) is a tad off compared to the original, but a bit of seam sealer goes here and will cover that up without issue.  "X" marks are where rosette welds will go.  

Wonder if the plating process has been started on my parts.  But, I told them they could take their time.  I've got many hours left of body work to invest in the tail light panel to bring it up to the same level as the rest of the car.  Plus, I have plenty of other projects to keep busy with.  Definitely starting to feel a lot closer to getting this thing painted.  I will check in with the place I have in mind to paint it and see about getting the car painted in March or April.  

Edited January 5, 2022 by inline6

[DC871F]

On 1/2/2022 at 9:33 PM, grannyknot said:

The reason that a lot of Z's rust out in that area is because the rain gutter ends too soon and dumps water right on to that spot and that spot also slopes back in toward the car so the water just sits in a pool until it evaporates.  I started adding an extension on to the rain gutters to remove the water completely.

 

Ok, that's awesome. I may have to do this on my project.

[siteunseen]

16 hours ago, DC871F said:

Ok, that's awesome. I may have to do this on my project.

I don't have the skills like Grannyknot does but I did see the short rain channel problem way back when so now I always pop the hatch and dry that area after washing or the rare rained on times.

I actually open the hood, hatch and both doors and blow the whole car off with my backpack blower before towel drying.

Have you read about the cowl drain behind the passenger's front tire?

 

[DC871F]

7 hours ago, siteunseen said:

Have you read about the cowl drain behind the passenger's front tire?

 

I did a while ago and forgot about this. I'll be adding these to my build. Thanks for sharing.

[inline6]

Good stuff  - another way to keep water from repeatedly wetting a vulnerable area on our Z cars. 🙂

[inline6]

I finished the repair to the right side of the tail light panel today.  Then I grabbed the tail light trim panels and the new plastic rivet-like fasteners (note the size of these original parts - some people use the wrong fasteners here) and worked on fitment.  It is best to test fit and massage things now rather than after paint.  Generally, the fit of my panels is good, however I have been able to improve it.  The tail light finisher panels are made of thin metal and are easily tweaked.  This car was tapped from behind, so I am making sure to spend time here to make things right.  

I used a small belt sander to clean up the edges of the panels... in some areas I removed material from the edges to improve the fit where the tail light panels overlap with the car body.

    

    

    

 

I have many hours of hammer and dolly work in the tail light panel.  I even had to shrink parts of the panel below the bumper line.  In fact, I will also need to do some shrinking around the top left corner of the right tail light opening.  It is pushed in a bit and is "oil canning" when I move it back where it belongs.  I believe it got pushed in a tad when the car was tapped in the rear.

 

[inline6]

Picking up on the tail light panel, I applied some filler and worked further on the tail light trim panel fit.  I also got out the new old stock (nos) license light assembly to check its fit.  I am glad I did because I have a fit problem.  I did not expect it, but better to find out now than after paint.  It is wise to check panel fit as body work is done, especially in areas that it is known that a car was damaged.  This is a new learning for me that I discovered during the restoration of this car.  

Using a bright LCD light at a 90 degree angle helps show high and low areas:

    

    

 

The tail light trim panels are pretty flimsy pieces of metal, generally speaking.  Over 50 years, they likely have taken some abuse and therefore, it is a really good idea to get them to fit perfectly before covering them (and the car) in paint.  The gap between the right panel (first pic just below) and the quarter panel (right edge) is a tad narrower than the same gap on the left panel to the quarter panel.  Also, it is hard to see (third pic just below), but the bottom edge of the three trim panels (left, right, and license) does not stay in line with the sheet metal on the car.  In the center, the body of the car sticks out a bit more than on the two ends.

    

 

Because this car was hit in the rear lightly, I am checking all of the fit and adjusting.  These two pics are of the left and right side of the center, license plate trim panel.  There are small sheet metal stand offs that locate the bottom of the panel away from the body.  A .5 mm difference was measured - so I need to adjust it.  While I am at it, I want to make sure the gap around the left, bottom and right edges of the three panels is as uniform as possible.  The left lower corner (third pic) is inconsistent and much wider than...

    

 

the right lower corner (first pic).  There was no damage to the car in these inside corners, so this fit is "factory".  The second and third pic show the width of the gap along the bottom.  It looks pretty good.

    

 

The license plate light doesn't fit very well at the moment.  Glad I tested fit.  The top edge of the panel needs some adjusting to bring the left side mounting screw area upwards a bit:

    

 

More hours down, and more to go for sure on this area.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by inline6