240ZBUILTBYME 1971 240z HS-001063 Project Sheena

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Progress has been steady lately, but the deeper I get into this the more I feel like throwing in the towel… you will see why shortly…

unpicked the beaver panel today, all went well with no surprises. Now I will have good access to repair the box section behind it.

couldn’t resist putting the replacement piece on to see

moved onto the roof skin next. As I began I felt a sense of impending doom…

wire wheeled the rain rail to reveal the spot welds.

before 

after 

ah no, Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a giant frickin hole over the A pillar. Gazing into the darkness of this chasm I felt like my soul was being pulled from my body along with all my motivation for this project….

it was like gazing into the eye of Sauron himself….

Where the roof skin joins the rear quarter was also a huge hole. I’m yet to perform the archeological dig to extract the bog artifact from its resting place 

 

I didn’t even bother trying to unpick the spot welds, I just cut what little metal was left. Then I did a lot of swearing, bird flipping and inanimate object abusing. 

 

then I unpicked the rear of the roof skin. I used a 25mm scraper blade to help check if the panels were separated and to separate the last bits that were holding on, this allowed me to do minimal damage to either panel. I found it incredibly useful.

I found the roof skin was tacked the roof structure in the corners where they couldn’t get the spot welder, I believe this is from factory if anyone can confirm. 

so halfway to having the roof off now, should knock it off next session, then start tackling the rear quarter panels. 

I feel like Captain America, I keep getting beat to the ground by this car, but somehow I manage to pick myself up and utter “I can do this all day….” But lately I’ve been getting ever so close to throwing in the towel. 

[Racer X]

2 hours ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

Progress has been steady lately, but the deeper I get into this the more I feel like throwing in the towel… you will see why shortly…

unpicked the beaver panel today, all went well with no surprises. Now I will have good access to repair the box section behind it.

couldn’t resist putting the replacement piece on to see

moved onto the roof skin next. As I began I felt a sense of impending doom…

wire wheeled the rain rail to reveal the spot welds.

before 

after 

ah no, Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a giant frickin hole over the A pillar. Gazing into the darkness of this chasm I felt like my soul was being pulled from my body along with all my motivation for this project….

it was like gazing into the eye of Sauron himself….

Where the roof skin joins the rear quarter was also a huge hole. I’m yet to perform the archeological dig to extract the bog artifact from its resting place 

 

I didn’t even bother trying to unpick the spot welds, I just cut what little metal was left. Then I did a lot of swearing, bird flipping and inanimate object abusing. 

 

then I unpicked the rear of the roof skin. I used a 25mm scraper blade to help check if the panels were separated and to separate the last bits that were holding on, this allowed me to do minimal damage to either panel. I found it incredibly useful.

I found the roof skin was tacked the roof structure in the corners where they couldn’t get the spot welder, I believe this is from factory if anyone can confirm. 

so halfway to having the roof off now, should knock it off next session, then start tackling the rear quarter panels. 

I feel like Captain America, I keep getting beat to the ground by this car, but somehow I manage to pick myself up and utter “I can do this all day….” But lately I’ve been getting ever so close to throwing in the towel. 

Looks like you’re making headway. Awesome!

Trouble is, I use a dark theme, and when you post the text gets formatted black, and the dark theme doesn’t correct dark text to a lighter color, and I can’t read your comments.

It looks like this:

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Racer X

[Patcon]

That's always hard to see when you dig into a project. Anytime you see rust bubbles,  just assume there's a hole behind it. Almost always is...

At some point the surprises will end and you will start getting nice new metal in place

[dutchzcarguy]

WOW, just... WOW!!  Even the roof is rotten away..  I had a 240z with doors.. the lower sides were made of putty..  I made by hand some new doors (lower parts)  and it was A LOT of work but worth it..

I believe i told you in the beginning to look close at every panel before you put one dollar into this project, but don't be sad.. there are many guys that fell for a wreck and had to buy themselves another car..  I think to restore this one it's gonna take A LOT of (Very expensive) parts, can't you buy a better one and keep the parts from this one for spareparts?  I have had one for spareparts and it was a big plus!

How is your 280zx? daily driver?

[Patcon]

I disagree with dutchzcarguy. These cars are rare in Australia. Most of these parts are readily availabl, albeit not local. Find a roof skin and push on ahead!

[dutchzcarguy]

7 hours ago, Patcon said:

Find a roof skin and push on ahead!

Okay Charles, he could try that but i think they are very scarce..  and then all the other holes like behind the rear bumper, the inner panels are rotten away.. 

Mart.

[240ZBUILTBYME]

On 9/14/2022 at 11:16 PM, Racer X said:

Trouble is, I use a dark theme

Yes you’ve mentioned this, I must remember to type my post out here and then copy to my Aussie forum. But surely this is an easy fix for whoever is managing the site? 
 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

14 hours ago, Patcon said:

disagree with dutchzcarguy. These cars are rare in Australia. Most of these parts are readily availabl, albeit not local. Find a roof skin and push on ahead!

You’re right patcon they are rare over here and even more so in Western Australia.

good news though is I already have a donor roof! 

On 9/15/2022 at 3:51 PM, dutchzcarguy said:

can't you buy a better one and keep the parts from this one for spareparts?  I have had one for spareparts and it was a big plus!

I have thought about buying another one but any car I buy will probably be restored, not many survivor cars this neck of the woods, and so I will have no idea what’s under the paint or the quality of the repairs and just find myself back where I started. With a rusty Datsun. Plus I would be spending a minimum of 40,000 to 50,000. The cheap unfinished projects are extremely rare in my state.

[Racer X]

7 minutes ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

Yes you’ve mentioned this, …..
 

I did?

Sorry, eh? My memory is going.

No worries, I don’t think it is anything you’re doing, but rather an anomaly of the forum software.

 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Just now, Racer X said:

I did?

Sorry, eh? My memory is going.

No worries, I don’t think it is anything you’re doing, but rather an anomaly of the forum software.

 

Yeah lol

ita because I’m copying it from the Aussie forum. So it’s rich text. I’ll try to remember to write my posts on here first. As there’s no dark version on the Aussie one. 

[Racer X]

Just now, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

Yeah lol

ita because I’m copying it from the Aussie forum. So it’s rich text. I’ll try to remember to write my posts on here first. As there’s no dark version on the Aussie one. 

Aha!

That might be it then.

 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

On 9/15/2022 at 3:51 PM, dutchzcarguy said:

How is your 280zx? daily driver?

Mart the 280zx is brilliant! I did the manual swap, installed a fidanza aluminum flywheel while I was in there, completely changes the car having the manual and the flywheel makes it rev much more freely. I’ve been driving it at least once a week and I love it.

also installed the recaro LX. Makes a huge difference to spirited driving as I’m not struggling to stay in my seat anymore!

If the 240z defeats me I’d love to do a turbo build on the zx. It’s just such a great car, just needs more power to overcome the extra weight!