Dave W 1971/240Z rebuild

[grannyknot]

Hey guys, back again with a new project!  I'll let Dave fill you in on all the cars history  but over the next nine months will tear her down and address all the issues that haven't been tackled already.

From what I understand, over the last couple of decades Dave has been working slowly restoring individual parts and doing some body work.  He has done some very nice work as you will see, for right now I'm going to take stock of what still has to be done and make a plan for this winter when I'll bring it into the shop for rust surgery.

At first glance it has rust in all the usual areas but overall  is a good candidate to become a very nice driver.

After we backed it down off of the flat bed and into its spot, I opened the door and was greeted by that lovely musty old car smell, dried mould, stale gas with a hint of mouse pee, Glorious! I hadn't realized how much I missed that scent.

Just a few pics to start with and many more to follow.

 

 

[grannyknot]

A few more,

 

[Namerow]

Nice to have you back again!  Looking forward to your always-insightful assessments and always-creative solutions.

[davewormald]

So first I'd like to say how excited I am to have @grannyknot working on the car! I first joined this forum in 2020, and saw that he was one of the few local Ontario members, and one who had done some really cool projects. I hoped we'd be able to meet up at some point. This is even better!

The "short" history of this car, as known by me, is that I bought it in 1994, from the late Ken Stahl, of Ken's Mostly British/The Z Doctor, who had purchased it in Georgia and trailered it to Ontario. I don't know anything about its history prior to that, though I'd like to. I'd had 1973, and 1972 240Zs back in the mid-80's and a 280ZX after that. I guess this one was an early mid-life crisis car. I drove it for about five years, winter(!) and summer while commuting 70km to my office in downtown Toronto. My lack of time and maintenance over those years resulted in the car becoming unreliable, and it was starting to rust, so I parked it in my garage for 20 years! During that time, I somehow managed not to think about it at all, until someone told me about the green Z that sold for $300k on BAT. Not that I'll ever sell the car, but it made me go and poke at it, which rekindled my old obsession. I'm no mechanic, but I was able to kick off the slow process of reviving it starting in 2020. I posted a couple of times about what I was doing in this forum:

and

The time I had available to work on the car evaporated last year when we decided to sell the house in the country (on 2.5 acres with a three car garage) that we'd lived in for more than 25 years. I've just moved to a condo we're renting for a year in Collingwood, Ontario. I finally had to admit to myself that I wouldn't be able to continue to work on the car in the condo's underground garage. As mentioned above, I was pretty excited when I messaged grannyknot on this forum and he said he was looking for a new project. Let the fun begin!

Edited June 23, 2023 by davewormald

[grannyknot]

This is a very original car, hardly any mods and so far haven't noticed any missing pieces that get lost along the way.

Started with some of the fun stuff, the front grill is in perfect condition, just needs to be dismantled, cleaned, sanded and re-coated.

The steering wheel is coming out well, need to let the varnish cure a bit more, very humid here right now.

 

 

[grannyknot]

A couple of other parts finished, I had the front marker lamps in a citric acid bath for 2.5 days but the metal part of the bulb is rust welded to the housing which means the spring underneath the contact pad is probably disintegrated too. 

[grannyknot]

I tore down the fuel pump today and if I didn't know better I would swear the gaskets were new, fresh and clean, no aging. This car has led a sheltered life.

I'm assuming this burgundy Velour seat cover is an aftermarket item from back in the day, it's in good shape and I dare say it fits better than the new seat covers will.

I gave the rad and acid flush and a new coat of paint, clean and resprayed the air cleaner box.

What do you guys think about the brake booster? Should we just send it in to be rebuilt or clean it up and put it back into service?  I'm not hearing any rust rattling around inside and I believe the leak was coming from the back of the master cylinder.

If I test it to see if it passes the vacuum test is that good enough to assume it is still working properly?

 

[Patcon]

That's a grungy booster!!! I think I would rebuild that...

I had the same velour seats in my first 240z. The were in the car when I bought it in about 86'. I believe they were original to the car

[jfa.series1]

25 minutes ago, Patcon said:

 

I had the same velour seats in my first 240z. The were in the car when I bought it in about 86'. I believe they were original to the car

When I look at the underside pic of the seat, I see some pretty rough attachments at the various seat barbs suggesting those covers are not OE. The factory would never have released seats like that. Also the vinyl is exceptiionally smooth, doesn't show the typical grain of OE seat covers.

[davewormald]

That's a grungy booster!!! I think I would rebuild that...
I had the same velour seats in my first 240z. The were in the car when I bought it in about 86'. I believe they were original to the car

I had assumed that the seats were re-covered at some point before I bought the car, but I've never seen another Z with the same ones. If the cushions weren't shot, they'd be ok. They're more comfortable than vinyl!

I asked in another thread at one point whether anyone knows why people cut the long nose off the air filter cover? I've seen some pictures on BaT that looked the same, but I'm not sure why people do it.

Sent from my SM-S908W using Tapatalk

[psdenno]

1 hour ago, jfa.series1 said:

When I look at the underside pic of the seat, I see some pretty rough attachments at the various seat barbs suggesting those covers are not OE. The factory would never have released seats like that. Also the vinyl is exceptiionally smooth, doesn't show the typical grain of OE seat covers.

My Z has a 4/71 build date just like this one and my seats have the fabric strapping below the seat cushion.  This one appears to have the metal cushion supports like on later cars.  Replacement seats from a later model Z?

[jfa.series1]

14 hours ago, psdenno said:

My Z has a 4/71 build date just like this one and my seats have the fabric strapping below the seat cushion.  This one appears to have the metal cushion supports like on later cars.  Replacement seats from a later model Z?

Agreed. I just helped a buddy recover his 280Z seats, they had the same spring design.