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Blog ConchZ

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About this blog

Entries in this blog

Moved

Been a long time between posts, due somewhat to relocating to Kansas City, MO for a job transfer. Miss Key West, but KC is nice, and most of my family are here. I can also afford suitable housing, with lots of garage space, making it easier to work on the car and store parts. I just noticed it has been two years since I got the paint done. I had a few initial problems with the paint, but once those were fixed, it has held up great for two years now. I just removed the gas tank to solve a le

ConchZ

ConchZ

Making progress on all fronts

Well, I got the little rust issues fixed to my satisfaction. I also got the headliner problem solved. The headliner I bought had an issue where it separated from the foam that was attached to it, literally falling on my head. The foam was sorta greasy feeling, so I didn't want to re-use it. I searched all over the darn island for some foam. A fabric shop(one of two we have) directed me to a Nicaraguan guy who does upholstery work. I ended up paying the guy $180 to put up new foam and a new

ConchZ

ConchZ

two steps forward, one step back

haven't been writing as much as I thought I would. Hurricane season snuck up on me. I ride hurricanes for a living, and there's been a lot of new stuff to keep up with. Anyway, the car came back from the body shop in late May. The paint job looks great. However, it may only be skin deep. They cut a lot of rust out, replacing it with new metal. However, they somehow missed some rust in a few places. The rust became apparent under the paint very quickly. I've got some rust bubbles on the

ConchZ

ConchZ

Got car back. Things to do with dash out.

Got the car back last thursday. The paint and body work turned out great. Its not all back together yet, so I don't really want to show it off. In fact, its further apart than when I got it back. I took the dash out to fix the one crack in it. That came out well. While I had it out, I've been working on a few things. I've lubed the HVAC control cables. I found that many of my duct work connections weren't really connected anymore, so I've cleaned and refitted them. I've taken the lenses

ConchZ

ConchZ

Still Waiting

The car has been in the body shop since the first week of January. Its getting close to done. The floors have been replaced. The right rear quarter has been replaced. Its been stripped, sanded, blocked, primed, sealed and then sprayed with three coats of 115 blue, with three coats of clear. Problem is, the clear has some little specks in it that wet sanding didn't take out. More wet sanding, then more clear coats. Happily the shop didn't even think of passing it off to me, they just calle

ConchZ

ConchZ

Body Work Status

My floors and support rails came in from Charlie Osborne at Zedd Findings. Bruce the body wizzard calls them patch panels, and not replacement panels. He's got them in, but they didn't cover enough of the drivers side floor, in front. He wishes they would cover more area, but comments that they are good heavy steel, and are a correct match if you want the factory look. He just fabbed up some more metal for the areas they didn't cover. Go Bruce. Luckily the passenger side barely needed any

ConchZ

ConchZ

How I picked a body shop

Picking a body shop is obviously a big deal. The work is expensive, and if you pick wrong, you end up paying a lot for shoddy work. Here's how I did it. I took the car to four shops. I brought them a list of what I expected done, and what I would do before bringing the car in for work. Mainly, I was willing to remove the interior. I was not willing to remove the bumpers or other exterior parts. More on that later. I also brought them a list of parts and the sources I had found for those p

ConchZ

ConchZ

Introduction

This blog will be about the purchase and refreshment of a 1973 240Z. I had been searching off and on for a classic car to drive on a semi-daily basis. After about 2 years, I settled on the 240Z. It met most of my criteria, which were: 1) Low enough cost that I won't feel bad driving it around. 2) Parts and technical information are easy to find. 3) Somewhat rare. 4) Somewhat practical. I found that because Nissan used a lot of the same parts for many years, you can still get almost anyth

ConchZ

ConchZ



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  • Blog Comments

    • I'm still waiting on a hoist to free up before I can start bolting the new brake parts on my Z, but I did make the drill jig today.  I started with a 12mm thick Mustang wheel spacer with a pilot.  I then made a drawing to layout the holes needed.  I transfered the drawing onto the spacer and I drilled three new 1/8" holes through the jig (spacer) so I'd have the correct 4x114.3mm holes.  One hole is shared from the original 5 lug rotor.  I then bolted the jig onto the Mustang rotor and simply dr
    • Local radiator repair shops used to be plentiful but getting harder to find.  Some of them just specialize in big truck-heavy equipment radiators.  I will be needing to do the same for my project.  I have heard good reports on gas tank RENU but there are none of those franchises in my area.  Good luck, John-Lugoff, SC
    • Decided to go with the 240sx conversion. Main reason is it’s strictly for the street and the parts were easy to source. What I didn’t realize was the 14” wheels won’t clear the caliper. Now looking for a set of 4 lug 15” rims and tires I can use during the build process. Can anyone recommend a temporary solution as far as make and model preferably a steel wheel that I can use until I’m ready to buy the wheel and tire combination at the end of the project? Thanks again for all the help out there.
    • There are several reasons to use the S197 rear brakes.  The rotors are larger diameter than the SVO rotors and they are vented.  The calipers have larger pistons to give them more power.  The big beef with the Maxima rears is that they don't offer as much stopping power as the stock drums.  The S197 rears allow the addition of an adjustable proportioning valve.  The Maxima rears cannot utilize an adjustable prop since the prop needs to be all the way open to get close to enough rear bias. 
    • Any particular reason to use S197 Mustang 5-lug brakes?  The Fox body SVO Mustangs had rear discs with 4-lug.  It's a popular swap to use SVO or T-bird Turbo Coupe rear brakes to retrofit discs to other Fox body Mustangs.  These parts are still pretty common (probably available as a kit).  Might be worth checking to see if they'll fit.
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