Barefootdan's 280z Build

[Barefootdan]

Thank you!! I’ll be sure to do more videos when everything is sorted. I can’t wait to hear it a couple thousand rpm higher 😈

[EuroDat]

5 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Excellent!! I love the video. And the editing. I know you probably didn't intend it to come off this way, but I see:

"Happy guy pulls his Z out of the garage all nice and gentle like. Drives like Grandma down to the end of his street. 
Once out of sight of his house (and the camera), he gives the car a proper high RPM thrashing!
After enjoying the crap out of himself, he pulls back down his street slowly and carefully just like Grandma, thinking nobody's the wiser."

That's what I get.    

LOL!! I also love the giggling at the beginning. Whoever was taking that part of the video knew you were having a great time and was very happy for you!

Yeah, I got that too. Kind of doctor Jekyll and mr Hide theme.

Sorry officer, I just lost control for a minute. Not the car, just lost control of myself. 

Edited November 20, 2021 by EuroDat

[Av8ferg]

Great video, we need more cow bell next time!!
Congrats on getting it road worthy. It’s more work than one thinks and why some many project cars never get finished.
Even after I finish my Z and make the interior look like it wasn’t parked on Venus for a decade my wife will probably never want to ride in it.
1. Too Loud
2. Too Bumpy
3. No XM radio
4. No heated seats
5. Too many rattles
6. Embarrassed to be seen by others
7. Smells funny
8. No cup holders
9. “Is that gas I smell”
10. No airbags...”Is this safe”

If you watch this video below and don’t laugh then you have no soul! One of my favorite movies.

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[S30Driver]

9 minutes ago, Av8ferg said:

Even after I finish my Z and make the interior look like it wasn’t parked on Venus for a decade my wife will probably never want to ride in it.
1. Too Loud
2. Too Bumpy
3. No XM radio
4. No heated seats
5. Too many rattles
6. Embarrassed to be seen by others
7. Smells funny
8. No cup holders
9. “Is that gas I smell”
10. No airbags...”Is this safe”

You can fix 4 & 5 when you redo the interior and seats.   #6, have her wear dark sunglasses.  #8, a console armrest with cupholders.  And 7 & 9, only offer her a ride when she is getting over a cold.    The rest, you're on your own ...

[Barefootdan]

I have started the prep for cleaning out the interior rust and patching my floor pans. I have the full interior out, wiring harness and heater core included. I started to strip away the surface rust and also the paint in preparation for POR-15. Although, the more research I do, it seems like stripping the paint on non-rusted areas is not needed? Am I doing any benefit to stripping the paint or just wasting time? 

[Patcon]

I would say no to stripping paint in areas that it's not needed

[Av8ferg]

My floor pans had some mild surface rust in a few areas that I cleaned and put POR-15 on I didn’t strip the paint that was not showing signs of rust. I did run the POR-15 slightly into the pained areas to ensure complete coverage.


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[Barefootdan]

Thanks @Patcon and @Av8ferg! 
 

That makes me feel better about not getting every nook and cranny. I ended up doing most of the front half to make sure the scraps of tar were also taken care off. I stopped in the center console after reading the feedback. Not sure if it looks better now or worse since we can see all the rot 😅 I’ll POR15 the nearly everything except the rear hatch that has sound deadening still. It’s solid back there so no need and it’s under carpet. Ill do the front by the storage compartments and spare tire well for uniformity and there’s slight surface rust. The annoying part of over at least!

[Barefootdan]

Spent some time getting a grasp on the floor pan patches. If you’re scared of shoddy body work, look away now! First time ever doing something like this so I’m just aiming for function over form 😅 I originally had about 4 small cuts in the driver panel but then I realized it is probably way easier to just make one large cut  looking back I should have made it a nice square but I was trying to keep as much original floor as possible.

 

I used 18g steel sheet to get my panels. A trusty hammer to form it and a lot of hand bending for the curves. I really need a bench vise…

 

 

I warned you to not look didn’t I?! 
Well if you’re still reading after THAT then I’ll let you know I’m about 80% there. A few more bends I want to get straighter and closer, I’d like to smooth off the corners and edges, and cut out my holes for the drain plugs. I’ll then use rivets in the corners and down the frame rails to hold down the sheet. This, combined with 3M panel bond and seam sealer should give me a decent patch….functionally. I could probably get away with only panel bond but the old school in me begs for a mechanical bond in addition to the chemical bond. 
 

Once the seam sealer and panel bond cure I’ll be doing POR15 over the entire floor to hide my “body work”. 
 

Happy Thanksgiving 🙂 

[EuroDat]

On 11/20/2021 at 1:21 PM, Av8ferg said:

Even after I finish my Z and make the interior look like it wasn’t parked on Venus for a decade my wife will probably never want to ride in it.
1. Too Loud
2. Too Bumpy
3. No XM radio
4. No heated seats
5. Too many rattles
6. Embarrassed to be seen by others
7. Smells funny
8. No cup holders
9. “Is that gas I smell”
10. No airbags...”Is this safe”

 

 

My wife took my 280Z for a test drive once and I doubt she will ever do that again. We almost missed the driveway. When she finally parked is and rattled of your top ten plus "stupid car has no power steering". Her last remark was; I can't beleive you wasted all your time on that...

[EuroDat]

29 minutes ago, Barefootdan said:

I used 18g steel sheet to get my panels. A trusty hammer to form it and a lot of hand bending for the 

Well if you’re still reading after THAT then I’ll let you know I’m about 80% there. A few more bends I want to get straighter and closer, I’d like to smooth off the corners and edges, and cut out my holes for the drain plugs. I’ll then use rivets in the corners and down the frame rails to hold down the sheet. This, combined with 3M panel bond and seam sealer should give me a decent patch….functionally. I could probably get away with only panel bond but the old school in me begs for a mechanical bond in addition to the chemical bond. 
 

Once the seam sealer and panel bond cure I’ll be doing POR15 over the entire floor to hide my “body work”. 
 

Happy Thanksgiving 🙂 

I'm no expert at rust repairs, but the floor does have a degree of structual rigidity and riviting the patches may compromise that.

@grannyknot has done a couple of S30 restorations and knows more about this than I ever would. Maybe he can enlighten me at least.

[grannyknot]

If you have no other options then a rivet is better than nothing but if you want a permanent fix then it really should be welded,  mind you, the new panel bonds are tremendously strong and as long as the both sides to be bonded are properly prepared then you could probably get away with what you're planning to do.  If the metal of the original floor pan has any rust then you'll need to sand that down to clean fresh metal and be sure that epoxy seam never sees any water, seal it a couple of times.

I haven't used the 3M bond before but comparable products that I have used recommend 80 grit sanding of both surfaces. Your car is coming along well, do you think you will have it on the road next spring?