SN 00042 Restoration; The Older Twin

[inline6]

Yes, thanks for the info.  I really appreciate it.  Like most things with these cars at this point in time, the cost can vary wildly from shop to shop, and it depends on the actual work performed, obviously. 

My car was about as rust free as you can find, but even so, I found rust damage I wouldn't want to leave unaddressed inside the rear most part of the rocker panels where the quarter panel folds over.  For the car you are doing now, I'd recommend putting a scope inside there and checking that area out, if you don't already have plans to open that area up.  

[jayhawk]

I can confirm that my 240Z that was restored by Motorman7 did win Best Exterior at the 2023 ZCON in Ontario.  I also did have Miguel do single stage paint, as I wanted it restored to the way it was when I drove it off the dealer's lot, which Motorman7's restoration achieved spectacularly.    For the 2023 ZCON in Ontario, I did have it professionally polished (regular wax, not ceramic) before the show. 

The judges also seemed impressed with the condition of the undercarriage, which was Motorman7's work. (photo attached)  It was that undercarriage that caused me to start down the rabbit hole of show competitions.   Got 1st Place Stock at the 2021 ZCON in Colorado Springs, and 1st in Class at the 2022 Hillsborough Concours d;Elegance,  but now the wife is complaining about her cleaning duties at these events... 😁 

So it time to turn it back into a daily driver.  Maybe turn it into something like the modded Z in the attached photo? 😆

Edited November 21, 2024 by jayhawk

[motorman7]

@jayhawk Thanks for the kind words.  Not sure if I would support the raised look though  😝.

Found something interesting on the two small hood access doors. There is a little tab riveted on the end of the doors.  Later models had this all as one piece.

[dspillman]

3-4 versions of the “early” inspection lid that used plastic clips….

[olympianZ]

@jayhawk - nice photo's. Did you go with paint or powder coat on the undercarriage component? Assume paint as you wanted it to be like when driving it off the lot. Thanks

[motorman7]

It's powdercoat on all the suspension parts.   I only use paint on the differential and CV/half shafts.

Also took a little 'artistic license' with rear suspension.  Diff rear cover and half shafts should be black. 

[motorman7]

Continuing to break down parts. Also sorting hardware into yellow and silver zinc tubs for eventual plating. This is actually going along pretty well as most undercarriage parts are in good shape, just very dirty.  Pics are below.

[motorman7]

I took the block and head to the machine shop today.  The cylinders look pretty smooth with very little ridge on top, so I am hoping that we just need to do a hone on the cylinders so we can keep the standard size pistons.  That way we just replace bearings and rings.

The head looked to be in good shape and I am guessing that it has had work done on it previously.  The head gasket was a standard Fel-Pro, so the head has obviously been off before. Machine shop will look the head over and fix as needed.  

Also, looks like the crank has been balanced previously due to the holes and light shaving on the crank arms.  Will have the machine shop confirm.  Pics below

[motorman7]

I sorted the parts that need to be re-plated by color, yellow zinc or clear zinc.  I did a quick clean to knock off excess dirt and wire wheeled the areas where there was paint overspray from the previous paint job. I put some shrink sleeve over the plastic portion of the carb linkage to protect them during the cleaning process.  I also plugged the holes of the carb and smog accessories to prevent the fluids from entering inside.   I then put the small parts in gallon zip lock bags.  I had one box of the clear/silver zinc parts, and 3 boxes of the yellow/gold zinc parts.  I used three boxes for the yellow zinc because of the excess weight (USPS flat rate shipping box). Each box weighed approximately 20 pounds  For the plating process, the 3 yellow/gold zinc parts will be thrown into a single barrel, so the charge will be for just one yellow zinc barrel plate.

The plating company does a good job of cleaning the smaller parts in their prep process.  I am guessing it is either a vibe or tumble process along with a chemical clean that they use to clean the parts to remove dirt and rust.

I spent a bit more time cleaning the long tubes and larger parts as they will be rack plated and I do not think they get cleaned as well.  On the long tubes I put in a large diameter bend in order get the parts to fit in my 4 foot shipping box. They said they can accomodate parts up to 6 feet in length.

All plating is done by Sav-On plating in Phoenix, AZ.  They have done a great job with my parts on previous restorations.

Pics Below

[motorman7]

I am starting to clean up parts now, so figured I would start with the differential.  A lot of the undercarriage parts have a healthy coating of dirt on them as you can see in the picture of the differential below. I think the combination of dirt and oil on the parts created a nice protective coating as there does not appear to be much rust....just a lot of oily dirt.

Typically I would leave the aluminum bare on the differential as I think that looks very cool, however, we are planning on making this as close to the original as possible so the entire diff, except for the stud threads, are painted black.  Pics below.

 

Edited December 24, 2024 by motorman7