Datsun 240Z Barn find Restoration! cont.

[mattbibbey]

This was only really an option for me last year. In order for me to now buy a rust free californian car and convert it to right hand drive would be far beyond my finacial means . I had a quote for left to right conversion last year of £2000. Then i'd have to buy a car, ship it here and pay all the taxes, duties and any other charges, i'm a soldier, i can't afford it! ( sadly)

So in light of all that i feel that i HAVE to crack on and make do with what i have. To that end I've been in contact with a company called Fourways Engeneering. They have a lot of experience with Z's but also Classic Aston Martins and Ferraris, so they're obviously good. To fix the two floor pans, the two front chassis member/rails and the radiator core support panel he has quoted me £1600 for the manufacture and about £2000 for the labour cost. This sounds like a lot but i suppose that a rust free 240Z chassis is worth more than what it will have cost me to that point. My next tour of Afghanistan will pay for it.

At the moment I've been struggling to find places to do the work in the UK. If anyone else has had any structural work done on their Z in the UK i'd appretiate some numbers! haha. So far I've found Auto-active ( based in bristol), Fourways Engeneering and the Z farm ( based in Yorkshire). The Z farm have sold a few of their fully restored cars for £23,000+ ! these Z's are getting rare over here i guess.

Thanks again for taking the time to read and respond!!

Matt

[mattbibbey]

I have encountered another problem tonight! Shock! I'm trying to get the tail lights off the car but the screws just turn and turn. I can see the end of it that's outside and it is turning also. I'm not sure what to do. My rear panel is rust free so i don't want to damage that and the european tail lights are about 200 pounds ( 320 US) each so as you can imagine, i don't want to damage those either! I would get a junior hacksaw in there and saw the heads off the screws but as you know there isn't enough room.

Grateful for ideas. Hope someone has done this before.

Matt

[EScanlon]

What you see turning from the outside, are acorn nuts. The sides of their individual pockets in the light housings are supposed to hold them fast while you insert/remove the screws that hold the light in place.

Unfortunately, sometimes the nuts get corroded in place on the screw and you have your result, a spinning nut that is stronger than the surrounding plastic which is supposed to hold it firm.

If the condition of your light gaskets is such that there isn't anything to save, then peel off the rubber around the nut and insert a flat tipped screwdriver, or if you have a long needle nose pair of pliers use it to grip the nut with them. Then you can, hopefully, unscrew the lights from the body.

The nuts are encased in the plastic, which might mean you will have to remove them once you have the lights out. It's tricky, but you can do it.

HTH

E

[mattbibbey]

yeah, i've got a pair of snipe nose pliers but it's difficult to get them far enough into that reccess to grip the acorn nut. I'll keep trying but i think the nuts are siezed on too which is always helpful haha! As long i'm not the only one who struggles with these things I don't mind so much.

Cheers

Matt

[EScanlon]

Sadly no, you're not the only one that has had their share of "fun" with those.

You might get a grip on them, and see if by "tightening" them just a tad, you might break the screw loose from the nut and can then remove the screw normally.

It's not impossible to remove them, just a regular Pain In The Arse (PITA).

E

[HS30-H]

To that end I've been in contact with a company called Fourways Engeneering. They have a lot of experience with Z's but also Classic Aston Martins and Ferraris, so they're obviously good. To fix the two floor pans, the two front chassis member/rails and the radiator core support panel he has quoted me £1600 for the manufacture and about £2000 for the labour cost. This sounds like a lot but i suppose that a rust free 240Z chassis is worth more than what it will have cost me to that point. My next tour of Afghanistan will pay for it.

Matt,

Geoff and his team at Fourways Engineering are good friends of mine, and I'd certainly recommend their work - as long as you don't ask them to cut any corners due to costs. They know what they are doing, and have done the same repairs on many similar UK market cars. To repair it all properly, and with structural integrity as well as accuracy, is a really big job.

They replaced the floors on my Fairlady Z-L project car some years ago, and did lots of other prep work on the body before they painted it. You'd be very welcome to come over to my garages and see the car in person if you have time.

I've got a good bonnet and tailgate that you could buy if you really think you need them. No need to take them yet, as they are not going anywhere ( they are hanging on the garage wall ) and you will need to do lots of other work before you need them. They are there for when you need them.

I'm still worried about the true condition of the air tubes / upper supports. Have you investigated them fully yet?

Cheers,

Alan T.

[mattbibbey]

Alan,

Really grateful ( as always) for your comment and offer of a good sale! I will definately take you up on both offers. But, like you said, i've got it all to do first. Bonnet and tailgate are a low priority. Geoff at fourways seemed like a nice guy and i looked at their website. If someone trusts them with their Aston Martin DB4, then they must be really good. And like you said, I don't want any corners cut. I want a really good, original example of a 240Z. If that costs me an enormous amount then (grudgingly) so be it!

At the moment, i'm still struggling with the wings, a few of the bolts sheered off and others just won't budge. I'm going to have to cut off the bolts securing the front of the wings to the headlight cowl and the bit underneath that. But it's a bit tricky in my small garage .

[mattbibbey]

What part of london are you in?

[HS30-H]

The cars are garaged in the N13 postcode, and I live just a few miles down the road now.

Quite easy for you to get to I think. Take the M40 down to M25, go clockwise, off at Junction 24 and then south on A111, which takes you all the way there. Drop me a PM here if you want to set something up date / time wise.

Cheers,

Alan T.

[mattbibbey]

Alan,

N13, is that Enfield? I'm thinking about getting the whole car dipped in whatever it is that stripps all the paint and rust off. A friend of mine had his 60's dub camper van dipped and he was really pleased with it. Obviously my engine and everything else would be out. Is there any good reason why i shouldn't do this?

Cheers

Matt

[mattbibbey]

Those siezed acorn nuts holding the tail lights in are not budging! I'm going to have to cut the screw heads off to get them out. Any ideas how i can do that. It'll be very difficult to reach the ones at the bottom edge of the lights.

Cheers

Matt

[EScanlon]

I don't know what tools you have available to you, nor if some of the names I will use will "translate".

When I had this same problem on my 71 refresh years ago (8 or so), I used a DREMEL tool with it's cable attachment in conjuction with a needle nose VISE-GRIP. (I used caps on the brand names that have become accepted as identifying the tool. I'll presume you know them by such, or if not you can look them up by those names.)

The Dremel was used to grind out the indent in the screw head to ease the introduction of a drill bit. Then I replaced the grinding stone attachment with a drill bit until the screw head was removed. The Vise-Grips were used to grasp the screw head while I ground and drilled.

That was the procedure on the hard to reach screws (the lower and extreme outside). The easier to reach ones, I was able to grind off the screw head with a 4" Grinder and a cut-off wheel disk. I also tried the Dremel with cut off wheels, but ended up chewing up a lot of wheels and little progress, your results could differ.

In both cases, while the screw head WILL get very hot, try to minimize the length of time you grind so that it won't melt the plastic base of the light.

I wish there were an easier way, but there isn't. Sadly, with the fuel vapor hoses, the supports for the tail-lamp plastic cover and the hatch shelf overhang.... it's a very tight fit.

Hope this helps.

Enrique