Restoration of 71 240z

[Clay C]

All in all I am pleased with the Headers and exhaust from ZStory. I think the problem with the pipe angles has been addressed and the car sounds great to me. This is my first Zcar and I have never driven or been in another but it sounds very nice inside the car and out. Has enough sound to make it tough but not enough to wizz the neighbors off!

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Edited February 2, 2021 by Clay C

[Clay C]

This is where I stopped taking pictures and got to work. Most everything else was just putting all the parts back on. Still more problems to come but mostly just annoying old car stuff. 

[Clay C]

Had some wiring issues that took me a while to figure out. This car had dealer installed AC, I didn't put that back on though I may change my mind when summer rolls around and I'm sweating profusely all over my armor-all'd seats. Car seems to have plenty of power and it should handle AC without making it sluggish. I had some of that wiring for the AC jacked up and the whole thing with the blower motor wire changing colors was confusing. Somehow I had something connected that energized the radio housing! 

Wheel Cylinders started leaking, were working fine before but I guess they didn't like sitting on a shelf for a year. Ordered rebuild kits since this is a '71 and the replacements cost around $350.....PO must have already did the conversion to the later model cylinders cause that kit definitely wouldn't work.  

Ignition switch is wonkey now with the key. You have to persuade the key just right to turn in on and off and now the key will come out when the car is running. Not sure what that's about but I have a new switch ready to install. 

Of course after I had everything put back together and the new door cards on before I realized the locks wouldn't work and the windows weren't tracking right. If I do another one of these cars I should be able to cut my time in half after all the boneheaded things I have done on this one. Should have checked all of that before installing the door cards which aren't a breeze to install with the new clips. Locking problem ended up being simply the little plastic ends that are on the rods that connect to handle to the latch were ran out too far and wouldn't let the latch return enough so the locks could engage. Sounds easy but that was a head scratcher!

Worst of all is the windows. Got the Passenger side working pretty well but the left side is giving me fits. Window tips down in the frame on its way up. I've used this site to search on the adjustment and I'm sure I have all the adjustment I can to solve that problem but its still off. There is some slop in the track that the white roller bushings slide in. Best I can figure that slop is giving the window room to dip. I didn't have the roller guides on this car and now have those to install in the next day or so but I think that is more of a fix for the window leaning towards the outside. The white roller bearings/bushings are of course out of stock. 

 

[grannyknot]

Hey she looks great, worth all the extra work to get what you want.  Seeing that poor paint work for the first time  must have been soul crushing, hope they cut you slack on the bill.

[Clay C]

It was brutal! I've done the best I could and always knew I probably wouldn't end up with a Concours product. That being said I did expect a very nice finished product that I could be proud of....This was FAR from that.  My hats off to everyone here that is spending the time and money to get to that level! I can't imagine how long it takes and how expensive that becomes. I had an idea in my head how long this would take and how much money I would have in it......I have doubled both!

The guy that ran that shop was pretty embarrassed and did the right thing. In the end they did a nice job at their expense the second go around. Me and him are fairly close though, It could have been really bad if it were with someone I had no relationship with. 

[PsksiOm]

The first time I became acquainted with this car was at an exhibition in England in March 2020. I was pleasantly surprised that there were many companies there who were restoring classic cars.

[Kingman370]

Just saw this link today.  That first picture of your Z on the UHAUL trailer brought back memories.  Only after 3+ years and 3x the money I paid for it I unfortunately passed it on to the next guy to finish. Definitely a labor of love.  

 

 

[SurferD]

This brings back fond and not so fond memories of doing the same thing with my drivetrain. Be sure to check the rear diff strap holders bolted to the tunnel. Mine were rusty and flaking apart. Luckily I had a machine shop I was friends with fabricate new ones out of 3/16 stainless. They even wrote a cad program and used a laser cutter and bent them just like the stock ones. 
All the work will pay off in the end.