Patcon

That's great stuff and it helps to have the right tools and experience... C

The offers always open... Charles

Very nice. It is much easier when working with OEM panels and parts. Looks great and sealed better than factory... Charles

We are not real close, but if I can help let me know. You might could drive it up and we could tighten things up... C

Actually I think you have done really well for the amount of work you have completed. If you have any kind of life at all 6 months is not bad. I only get one or two weekends a month to work on my project cars so it takes a lot of time to make any progress. I have done about the same amount of work on 2 different cars but the difference is it has taken me years not months C

If cash is tight, a good running motor with good compression is cheaper than the machine work and parts it will take to rebuild what you have. Also it will be quicker than waiting on a machine shop...FWIW Charles

Is that a NOS door skin? How did you roll the edge? Where did you find all the NOS parts? Front upper frame support, possibly outer wheel wells, etc.. Pretty work Charles

I agree that is a lot of welding and grinding. You did a good job fabbing the rocker areas. Many people just buy the replacement rockers and cut out the patches they need. How long was it from going on the rotisserie to the last pictures? Charles

Thanks, I will look into that... C

E-tek, the way I heard it was you "there is good, fast and cheap, you can have any two..." or "...you can only have two of the three..." Charles

That sounds like a good nights work, congrats Charles

I did some googling on this and didn't come up with anything. How would you go about making a VS grinder/ buffer? C

Sean240z, How tall are you? I have often wondered if I could even wear a helmet in a 240z. The cars have a tremendous amount of room for a car of this age but I am 6'5" so was just curious... Charles

Be careful where you throw all the sparks they damage glass and interior panels... C

I agree with Leon. The last engine I built was a 350 chevy which is fairly cheap to rebuild and I had $3500 or so in just the long block, no injection , exhaust or ignition. I did all the assembly work, motor removal and install. The guys at Rebello build a good motor and they can back it up with numbers, experience and history. If you are good at what you do you aught to be able to charge a reasonable price for head work, machine work , parts selection, precleaning, assembly, start up, break in, crating it up and shipping it to your door ready to go into your car. There is no free lunch... As for the swap it seems cheap up front but take Zed Heads advice and sit down and add up the nickels and dimes. That's where the swap gets expensive. New fuel lines, line adaptors, electric fuel pump, pressure regulator, fabbing mounts, cooling, exhaust work, etc. It adds up quick. $50 here $75 there before long you have spent some real money. This is not a critique or your notion to make a hybrid Z. Most guys do it for shear power but I doubt many do it because its dramatically cheaper. As a matter of fact many of the really cools hybrid swaps I have seen cost a lot more than 7k plus there are tuning headaches, unique problems to your swap etc. My 2 cents... Leon the paragraphs are for you...

Did you find any flares while you were there? C

Very nice as always. Steve, do you know up to what number car these would have been on? Charles

I agree with John, the price is too low to be able to take your time and do it right. It took me 40 hours to do my first floorboard all sealed and painted. I could do it faster on the next one. Bondo is a terrible sealant, it is not waterproof and will wick moisture to unprotected metal. If you decide to fill it and the gaps are too wide for a good body sealant, fiberglass "cat hair" would be a better choice than bondo. If it were mine I would think anything over 3/32" was a big gap, just my opinion. I hate it that you are in this situation, it can be hard a pain to fix a sloppy repair... Charles

I think some of that is regional. CA,OR & WA tend to have a good number of these cars just from reading the "I spy" thread. Here in the deep south I very rarely see them on the road and the projects tend to be very rusty. I suspect the Northeast and the Midwest is even worse... Charles

"What are you doing????" That made me laugh, I could see one of my girls saying that... Charles

I believe there are a number of guys here who have used this kit. They might be able to give you some tips if you need specific help. You might want to add Caswell in the thread title to catch someone's eye... Charles

I second that. It may be a truly low number car and I am not sure beating it up with cones would be my first choice...condition translates not only into money but time, if you are going to do the work yourself. I am 5 years into one of my restorations currently... Charles

Madkaw, why brass? C

I have tried to do some plastic buffing with buffers that run at those speeds and have found it very easy to melt the plastic. I would like to get a 2 speed buffing wheel like Eastwood sells but the initial investment is getting in the way. I guess the main point is anything above 2000 rpms will melt the plastic quickly use caution... Charles

The VIN is a great place to start. If it is a 1969 car it is likely a low number car and would deserve special consideration if its not a rust bucket. A stroker project is not a cheap endeavor, even in the most econo minded setups that I have seen. If you could afford Rebello that would be a sure fire way to end up with good useable power and reliability. Building your own motor takes some attention to detail and what works on a 2jz does not necessarily translate to a 40 year old Nissan motor. 2jz is a dual cam cross breathing engine; a totally different animal than a Nissan L6 type engine. That is why many of the people on Hybrid Z do the swaps they do is because many times it is easier, cheaper or both to just swap or swap and turbo for significant gains. The VIN is the right place to start and some pictures would be good, especially the rust prone areas: battery tray, rocker panels, rear wheel arches, floor boards, dog legs... Charles