CW240Z72

Both dog legs on the Z needed the same rust/damage repair. Fortunately the Klassic Fab pieces were a very close fit to the existing metal, both for the inner structure and outer body panel. The panel itself had slightly longer flanges which worked out great for trimming them down to fit the car. I also had to replace a section of the inner wheel well in the process. Overall not a bad job to do. I need to finish up the "spot welds" around the perimeter to make them appear more authentic.

Ha, I wish I was that quick! To date I’m a year into this build. Playing catch up on updates.

Passenger floor and frame rail final fitment before welding in. I’ve yet to use one of these Klassic Fab panels that wasn’t a top notch piece. Now the Bad Dog parts, that’s a different story. The rails and extensions needed a lot of work to get them to fit. So much so I feel making my own would have been easier. Was really surprised how bad they were (no pun intended). You can see above how off they were from the rear floor supports. This was the best fitting part of the set. Fortunately I was able to salvage them and wrap up the floor pan job.

Passenger side was a bit more interesting. The Z had a dealer installed AC system which was poorly done with holes cut into the firewall to route lines. I’ll be installing AC again in the car, but in a different manner. There was also some corrosion where the RH floor met the bottom of the firewall, below the battery tray. Rather than patch the holes from the AC and the rust, I opted to replace the whole section of firewall. I’ll also route the electrical elsewhere so this new panel will give me a clean start. Found these panel clamps at Harbor Freight. They’re great!

Pacing myself and double checking measurements, the drivers floor board was a straightforward job. First removing the frame rail and then drilling out the seat bracket spot welds. This allowed me to use them as temporary locating features for placing the new floor. Once the panel fit the body correctly, we then removed the seat reinforcement brackets and staged the floor for welding didn’t grab a picture of the drivers side, but the factory frame rail was first welded down before installing the Bad Dog reinforcement rails. In theory you could install only the Bad Dog rails, but I couldn’t get a good fit and finish with them alone.

After blasting the shell and bits were sealed up with a DTM primer in preparation for metal work/panel replacement. First area to address were the floors. Drivers floor showed little corrosion, but a good amount of damage. Passenger had both unfortunately. To fix this I ordered the complete floors from Klassic Fab JDM as well as the Bad Dog rails and extensions. Figured these would be a good improvement over the stock rails, especially when we throw a bit of horsepower at the car.

Absolutely. This will be a complete 180 from the silver car. More to come!

Same process I used on the Silver Z, we had the entire shell dustless blasted back to bare metal. I did have them avoid the roof to prevent potential damage. Being that the quarter panels were mainly original paint, they required very little effort to blast and a low risk for damage. Doors, hood, hatch, fenders - these only received blasting on the interior surfaces and around tight areas sanding would be difficult to complete. For these exterior panel surfaces we'll take those down to metal manually.

First major milestone - strip the Z down to a bare shell and get it on the rotisserie for media blasting. Took pictures throughout so that I could use as reference and documentation. Overall pretty solid car. Didn't uncover anything major (yet) on the body during the tear down. You might pick up the group of Klassic Fab JDM replacement panels underneath the car. I'll get to those shortly.

Here's day 1 of the build before the full blown tear down began. Pretty typical Texas car that didn't spend much time outdoors, if any at all. I believe we had pulled the front bumper to replicate the mounting brackets for another build at the time, but a complete car otherwise.

Figured I'd post up another build thread we've been working on for some time now, if anything for the entertainment of others to view. This is my personal Z I've had for some time now. Was actually in the process of tearing it down when a Series-1 came up for sale locally, temporarily putting the project on hold. If you're more interested in a completely bone stock resto you can hop over to that build thread here: Restoration of HLS30-12070 Back on the current build and some history on the car. It’s a late '72 build that had been sitting since '86 in dry storage when I bought it. 51K on the clock, few bumps and bruises but a very solid and complete car to work with. We did the typical work to get it road worthy again - brakes, suspension, fuel system, etc. Overall not a great deal of effort to get it running and driving. From there I drove it as-is for 6-7 years. Was really a great car, decently comfortable and reliable in stock form. Then I got the great idea that it was in dire need of some improvements, and the whole 'While I'm Here" mentality eventually lead me to stripping the car down to a bare shell and starting from scratch. More post to come from where the car started out to the latest progress on the project.

Thanks DC871F & Patcon. I was very happy with the end result today. Do I think it had more room to grow? You bet, but I don't build these cars to pay for the roof over my head. It's going to a great home and I'll be able to build up the next one

It is a bit of a shame how these are turning away from the hobby to a business like you mentioned. Always been a hobby for me. If I can find a Z (like the silver one) build it up, find it a new home, and fund my other Zs, I'm a happy camper. We got into the Z cars long time ago because the 70s muscle cars were out of our price range. Z cars were then affordable, so away we went. Community is great, part availability is decent, and quality aftermarket world is picking up. I'll enjoy and drive my '72. Like you I still see it as the $2500 car I bought so long ago but happy the rest of the world thinks higher of it.

I try to look at the skyrocketing value increase in a positive light. By that I mean it is worth going the extra mile to do things right on these cars because, well, they're worth it. Whether that means a restomod or period correct build. Even if you build a car with intentions to never sell (I have both scenarios) I do sleep a bit better at night knowing that I'm not dumping big $$$ into a car that's not worth anything. I can't tell you how many Zs I've worked on, looked to buy, or did buy, that had a $300 Macco paint job special done to them in the 90s. They simply weren't worth the hassle of a decent paint job then. I will agree the $310K Z was a huge outlier, whether that was real or not. The RNM silver Z yesterday at $98K blew my mind. After doing one of these up there was a LOT of painstaking work that car needed, and I'd imagine someone paying that kind of money wouldn't be doing the work themselves. You wouldn't be able to recoup your investments at that price point for sometime.

Got to keep in mind time zone differences. Our west coast friends are just now waking up.

I’m amazed at the RNM finish for that car. BaT drives a tough negotiating for reserves

Which Z is this about?

Yes, check out the thread for this Z I revamped the dealer AC system

AC hose routings bracket.

I think you hit it right on the head. We’ve seen a surge of driver quality Zs hit the market. Timing and presentation are two vital parts in a successful auction, lately one or both being absent in many. I think that’s pretty clear with the ‘72 being listed right now bringing in strong money. Had it not been presented so professionally, I’d doubt a car with a cracked dash, non-original engine, and filthy underside would pull that kind of money.

Mounting for the fog lights behind the grille

Here's a good one to watch https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-205/ Looks like a clean, honest Z that the current owner has had for more than 6 months. Nice to see figuring most auctions are from flippers who know almost nothing about the cars. I'm guessing mid $40K for this one based on other sales of excellent resto candidates and the fact that it's not a showroom example.

Something about that Z just doesn't sit well with me. I hope whoever bids on it had a chance to see it in person prior. The core support not being correct and additional braces up front that are present, but shouldn't be, indicates a pretty hard front end collision at some point in the Z's life.

4 hours left on this one. I am amazed at the positive response this one is getting with the sketchy front clip spliced in that's been done. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-206/ I followed the silver RNM '71 that finished up early this week on BaT. Was quite entertaining reading the comments and retaliations from the seller!

Been working on the videos for this Z recently. Here's the in-car driving video for anyone that's interested.