280Z Full Restore in 5 months, hopefully.

[Virto]

I don't think it's going to take you anywhere near 5 months to get this car done at your present rate.

Love the pics

Chris

I know, right? He's done more in 5 minutes of each day he's had the car than I've done in 5 years.

[rcb280z]

Impressive CG240Z! keep them pics a comin! I'm getting motivated again.

[Zed Head]

The u-joints kicked my arse on the half shafts, the ears on the yolks were bent in so I couldn't get the C clips on. Had to heat them all up and give them some good smacks with a big hammer.

The toughest thing about the front suspension was putting the urethane Tension arm bushings in. They have absolutely no give, so trying to get the bar to line up with the control arm was no easy task.

Hope you didn't get things mis-aligned with the banging. Nissan actually sold, or still does sell, sets of matched C clips of various thickness to get the joint perfectly centered and toleranced. It may be that your yokes were just on the narrow side, not bent at all. Probably could have sanded or ground down the clips instead. For future reference, if you get some vibration. Also, if you heat the yokes up while removing the old joints they come out much easier, and less likely to bend the yoke. Future ref again.

On the TC rod bushings - I fought mine also when I first installed them, then found out later that they drop right in if you install them with the car on the ground. There's room. You could probably get the same effect by jacking a wheel up partially. With the suspension hanging the alignment is not right for installation.

Looks great.

[CG240Z]

Thanks for motivation guys! I'm trying to get it done. The upside of moving this fast is that it's harder to lose motivation. My last project I moved a lot slower and got lost in the weeds.

[CG240Z]

Hope you didn't get things mis-aligned with the banging. Nissan actually sold, or still does sell, sets of matched C clips of various thickness to get the joint perfectly centered and toleranced. It may be that your yokes were just on the narrow side, not bent at all. Probably could have sanded or ground down the clips instead. For future reference, if you get some vibration. Also, if you heat the yokes up while removing the old joints they come out much easier, and less likely to bend the yoke. Future ref again.

On the TC rod bushings - I fought mine also when I first installed them, then found out later that they drop right in if you install them with the car on the ground. There's room. You could probably get the same effect by jacking a wheel up partially. With the suspension hanging the alignment is not right for installation.

Looks great.

Tricks of the trade. Thanks for the insight. The yokes were so close together that I couldn't see any gap for the rings. I measured them all with a micrometer and everyone was different. My fingers are crossed I don't get any vibration.

[CG240Z]

Went to the dealership today to order some parts. This bad boy was sitting outside, 370 Nismo. Only $52k. :paranoid: Ouch! I'm not sure she's worth all that, but it's definitely a good looking car.

[CG240Z]

Engine and trans are in, not hooked up, but in! I was going to start hooking it up, but shifted my focus to body work. It's the most time consuming part.

(Trans is sitting next to the car in this picture)

The transmission put up a good fight, I'm installing polyurethane bushings everywhere, and they are such a pain. They are over sized compared to the stock rubber and makes everything barely fit.

I did notice I had a broken exhaust stud in the head. Worked a couple hours on it with easy outs, no luck. Looks like I'm going to have to drill it out and get a helicoil in it.

As you can see, I only use the best tools with my easy outs.

I take the 55' Chevy out for parts runs.

Got the jams, rear spoiler, front/rear bumper, hood, and front air dam primed.

Rear bumper holes welded up, next is to get some filler over it to smooth things out.

I work for the government so as of now I'm furloughed, to me it means more time to work on the Datsun! We'll see what happens tonight to see if I get more Datsun time or not.

[mjr45]

You are a madman! Can't wait to see the final product, keep it up.

[hr369]

You are so lucky. I work for the govt too but unfortunately i'm deemed essential and have to work

thru the shutdown. I would love to have a week or two off to work on the z.

[CG240Z]

Thanks for the responses. When I wrote that I thought I wasn't essential, apparently I am, and I got sent down to Florida for the shutdown. So now I'm getting the exact opposite, no time to work on the Z!! It's killing me. My dad has been doing some tinkering on it while I'm gone. He started mocking up the fenders. Apperently they are fitting like Chinese fenders, and not OEM fitment. That's disappointing to hear because the whole point of buying new fenders was to save time, now it's going to take time to get these to fit. Just how it goes in the Datsun world. Hopefully this shutdown will end soon so I can get back to work on it!

[CG240Z]

I've been meaning to throw in some updates, but everyone knows how the busy schedule goes, it gets in the way of Z time. First update is that aftermarket parts have been kicking my arse!

I purchased new fenders from Black Dragon. The fit was absolutely horrid! First glance, they appear to be very well made fenders, but fitment is a whole other issue. Right off the bat they wouldn't bolt up correctly, had to do some grinding near the headlight bezel to even get them to set into place. Next problem was the gaps were incredibly bad, not an even gap anywhere. The doors were hitting the fenders, the hood was hitting the fenders, and there was a 1.5" between the fenders and cowling. My dad spent about 40 hrs working on them, trying to get everything aligned. Welding in some metal on some gaps, grinding other parts, etc. They absolutely would not fit. So for ****s and giggles, I said lets try my rusty original fenders. I pop them on and BAM, all the gaps are perfect and fitment is perfect. Ended up cutting on the $600 Black Dragon fenders and using them as patch panels for my original fenders. The BD fenders were a complete waste of money and time. I called the company and told them about all my fitment issues and they said they've never heard of any problems before. I told them they must have never actually tried to use these fenders, because there was absolutely no way they would work. Needless to say, they were unable to resolve my issue or cared to help.

Secondly, I bought a set of 240 fiberglass bumpers off ebay, the front bumper was about 5-6 inches too wide and the rear bumper's angles were completely wrong. The ends of it were pointed at a 45 degree angle away from the car. Also the "brackets" that came welded on them were complete junk and I had to fabricate and reweld my own. So for the front bumper I ended up cutting it in 3 pieces, shortening it, and re-fiberglassing it back together. The rear I cut the sides off and glassed in my own. Both bumpers turned out great, after hours of work that shouldn't have needed to be done.

Here's a picture of where I cut the bumper into 3 pieces, mounted the sides, and then measured the inside piece for proper fitment.

Sorry for the rant guys, but I expect after spending good money on parts, they would be produced with some kind of quality control. It seems lately whatever I buy doesn't come close to fitting. I do have good news though, that's coming in my next post.

[CG240Z]

Now for some good news! The car has been painted! I had three day weekend, so pops and I put in some serious hours and shot it Sunday. It came out really well, but once I do the final wetsand on it to smooth out a few minor things, the paint will be great! I am beyond pleased with the results. The cars still on jacks so I haven't been able to roll it out yet to see it in the sun completely. The car is easier to work on when it's on jack stands.

Here we rolled the car outside to look for any more imperfections before we put the final coat of primer on.

After I primed it, doing the final wet sand before we apply paint.

The night before painting was a late night, even had the girlfriend helping tape up.

Paint booth all set up and ready to paint.

3 coats of base and a gallon of clear later I have a shiny car!

Test fitted the front bumper and it looks great. You can't beat the lines on a Z. Now it's how fast can I put this car back together! The plan is by February 1st. It's past my original goal, but I'm okay with that. I knew from the beginning there would be delays, and there definitely has been.