Restoration of BringaTrailer 240z - HLS30-35883

[Patcon]

Thats probablythe thing I hate most about body work! The assemble, disassemble, reassemble, disassemble ...

[inline6]

I had today off from work, so I worked on adjusting the tail light panel to make the trim panels and license light fit better.  A straight edge laid across the hatch latch opening revealed a slight gap on the left side.  Because the top panel of the tail light panel is not flat, I used sections of flat bar and a good quality C clamp to persuade the low spot upward.  The hole just to the left of the flat bar in the third pic is the license light (left) mounting hole.   
 

    

 

After raising that up, I had improved things by about 1/32".  I reinstalled the license light and the measurements on each side were equal.  

    

 

Unfortunately, I still had a gap between the license light assembly and the left tail light panel (first pic).  The right side still fit nicely (second pic).  Given that the license light was level, I pointed my attention at the left tail light panel.  A little work with hammer and dolly and the "ledge" was brought downward to meet the license light assembly (third pic):  

 

    

 

Here is the license light assembly after finishing the fitting work:

 

Next, I turned my attention to the bottom of the three trim panels.  I measured the depth of the middle license panel at the left, center, and right - the right side was pushed in by 2 mm compared to the left and middle.  So, I had to work a bit on the "stand off" to which the right side of the license panel secures.  

 

    

 

It was still not 100% right, even with the work I had done on it originally (it was squashed a bit when the car was hit).  I was able to straighten it out the needed amount so that the depth readings were the same: left, middle, and right.  Finally, I test fit the hatch and looked at the gaps at the top and bottom of the three panels:

   

 

  

 

The fitting of all these bits took many hours, however, I think I finally have it.  Next, I will pic back up on filler work on the tail light panel and get that looking really nice.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by inline6

[inline6]

I heard from Steve at Precision Plating yesterday.  They will be plating my parts in about a week.  I am excited to get them back soon and hope they look amazing.

[inline6]

It's been too long since I provided an update!  Well, I have worked on the car very little in the last month.  I was sick for a couple of weeks with a cold (or Covid19 - who knows) and also injured my wrist in a soccer game (I'm a keeper 😛), and it has been pretty dang cold, so I haven't been spending many hours in the garage.  I also was busy (and stressed) with the process of buying another car to add to my collection, however it is not a Datsun, so it might not be interesting to y'all.  Its a P car, so if you have interest: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11TKy03xPCheKGSkzxDvpRYW0BNLmyCSn?usp=sharing

Steve at Precision ran into some equipment issues, so plating the parts has suffered a delay.  Hope that the parts are being plated soon.  With warmer weather arriving and delivery of plated parts imminent, progress should resume soon.  
 

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by inline6

[Patcon]

That's a nice "P" car!

[siteunseen]

2 syllable P car. I love it! 

[inline6]

49 minutes ago, Patcon said:

That's a nice "P" car!

Thanks.  It is similar to my favorite toy from my childhood - a Remote Control car I had when I was 12:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j8jiEC7IjXTNtWj_4ekyiU77dE3rFqWe/view?usp=sharing

Edited March 3, 2022 by inline6

[siteunseen]

46 minutes ago, inline6 said:

Thanks.  It is similar to my favorite toy from my childhood - a Remote Control car I had when I was 12:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j8jiEC7IjXTNtWj_4ekyiU77dE3rFqWe/view?usp=sharing

That's  my story too. I had a Ruf 911 slot car body on a Whisper Jet frame. 20 years later I bought a '82 911SC. Kept it 10 years or so then got my brain back and bought my high school car, #305 280Z. Best decision ever, eh one of the top 10.

 

[siteunseen]

I bought this 25? years ago.

Finally got a real one.

 

[inline6]

2 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

I bought this 25? years ago.

Finally got a real one.

 

Nice - I like that you got the matching plate in place there too.

[inline6]

I guess I have taken a pretty long break.  Looking back over the last couple of months, the progress has been little and the updates few.  I have, however, been waiting on some hardware to be plated, and quite bit of it showed up on Saturday!

I spent many hours on my living room floor hunting down fasteners using my spreadsheet and ruler, and putting them back into their respective zip lock bags with labels which identify where they go on the car.  I have many hours to go!  

None of the larger parts have come back yet, but I was in desperate need of the fasteners for the hood, hood hinge plates, fenders, inner fender supports, cowl, inspection doors, and hatch hinges.  Especially for the inner fender supports and the fenders, I am proceeding with my plan to do final assembly before paint, meaning these parts will not be coming off the car when it goes to the booth for paint - nor after.  Final primer coats, sanding, etc. will be done with all fasteners torqued to spec.  The inner fender supports and foam rubber seals push on the fenders when the fenders are bolted in place.  The fender panels, therefore, "move" a little when bolted down.  To get them as straight as possible, I need them fully secured when doing final sanding.  

So, here are a few pics. 

    

    

    

 

I am pleased with how most everything I have received looks.  Part of what is special about this car is how little rust it had.  That carries over to the fasteners as well.  For me, there is substantial value here when it comes to the fasteners because they haven't suffered the rust pitting that many do. 

The olive drab doesn't match the factory color well, but it looks pretty nice as the only reasonable alternative I think.  I didn't send anything else to get that color - I missed including a couple small brackets, but those look ok as original anyway.  Only a small number of bolts do not look as shiny as I would prefer.  And for some reason, hex nuts came out exceedingly shiny. 

I am hopeful that the large parts will come out nice.  
 

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by inline6

[inline6]

Some actual assembly has occurred.  It's been almost four years since I bought the car, and so much of my time has been spent tearing it down, stripping, sanding, etc., but I finally got to put something back on the car!  Pics showing the repainted driver side inner fender support, rubber seal to seal against the inside of the fender, along with original clips to hold it in place, and pics of newly plated outer fender hardware:

    I

    

 

I'm not sure why the factory put a flexible sealer along the top edge of the pinch weld on the inner fender area, but I replicated it as best I could.  It is interesting to note that underneath the old material was bare metal.  I scrapped it away and used wax and silicone remover to clean the area.  I then used Eastwood Flexible Strip Caulk to replicate the original.

    

 

I added as many strips as were needed and then hand formed them together in one solid mass to cover up the pinch weld area (third pic is the finished product):

    

 

Interestingly, you can see that the original material got pushed downward where the clip is located (see third pic here):

    

 

Something I did that is a bit different than factory - I added some double sided 3m tape so that the rubber seal would be more securely fastened than would be otherwise with just the little "s" clips.  In the third pic, you can see the caulk was displaced in a similar way when I pushed the clip "home" into position.

    

 

The seal doesn't do a particularly good job of sealing the "upper shelf" area from dirt and debris coming from in the wheel well area, but it helps.  Maybe with this 3M product the sealing occurring here will be slightly improved.  Pic of the product I used, and rubber seal installed.