240ZBUILTBYME 1971 240z HS-001063 Project Sheena

[dutchzcarguy]

17 hours ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

do a turbo build on the zx. It’s just such a great car, just needs more power

You did a NICE job on the 280zx!!  👍 

Yeah, the 280zx is a great car to drive but the 240z is much more nimble, I like them both very much... i was thinking of placing a fidanza flywheel but the price is overhere ... eh.. i find it a bit high for a piece of aluminium and some steel screwed to it..

Yes.. i still haven't put back my 280 engine, last time i worked on my 280zx was october last year or so... pfff.. (I still hear them say those doctors, oh yes you can live easely without a thyroid.. they took half but i'm a wreck since 2010.. had pills in 2 sorts but to no relief.  I'm again on levotheroxine but the only thing i experience is a bad temper.. and agressive  (Towards printers that don't print haha... i kicked it's arse!!)  The higher the medication the more agressiv i get.. so STAY OUT OF MY WAY!!! 🤬  (just kidding..)

Edited September 17, 2022 by dutchzcarguy

[240ZBUILTBYME]

On 9/17/2022 at 4:20 PM, dutchzcarguy said:

bit high for a piece of aluminium and some steel screwed to it..

I think it’s one of the best bang for your buck mods, it made a huge difference to the rev speed. It’s nearly 10kg lighter than the stock flywheel, that’s a huge reduction in rotating mass! 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Racer let me know if you can see this post ok?

Another long day of drilling out spot welds on the roof skin. I can see why metal works are the most expensive part of restoring a car, it’s so time consuming. 

can anyone tell me about the joint between the rear quarter and roof skin? Mine seemed to be oxy welded or brazed together, is this factory? There was lead wiping which I burnt off, I ended up cutting the joint with a grinder but wondering if there’s a better way.

 

I also found the front corners were welded in, there was no other way so I just cut joint and part of the skin with my 5 inch, I really must get so Roloc attachments and small cutting discs for my die grinder. I managed not to damage any structures underneath. 

i found the front and rear of the roof skin easy to unpick, the LHS was just cut as there was barely anything left, I found the RHS rain rail joint extremely difficult to unpick, I came close to just cutting it with a grinder on more than one occasion, but I persevered and I’m glad I did. There is just no room to work, I tried modifying my scraper blade so I could hammer it along as I went, but that wasn’t effective. In the end I used a sharpened flathead screwdriver to break the joints after drilling.

 

there was a small amount of mangling which was unavoidable but overall very happy with how cleanly I was able to unpick the roof. I’m hoping to sell the skin to someone who needs to fill in their sunroof hole as the center of the skin is excellent.

Was surprised to find the RHS to be very clean, some pitting at the rear quarter joint but overall a good result.

the LHS is a $^!# show, as expected, it’s going to take a lot of work to rebuild the whole structure, rear quarter join is completely gone. 

[Patcon]

That would be a great use of that old roof skin

The joint at the A pillar and B pillar are leaded. Be careful working with that. You can easily get lead exposure!

I don't know if the joint was welded or brazed but we were told by Matsuo? that those areas were designed to flex some. So making them too rigid could be detrimental. So it wouldn't be surprising if those areas were brazed

[dutchzcarguy]

Wow, exiting to see your perseverance!  Wow!! 

8 hours ago, Patcon said:

That would be a great use of that old roof skin

I would sell the roofskin to someone that had a sunroof in it!  I think there are enough enthousiasts that need/want one..

For repairs i use 0,7 0,8 and 1mm special car chassis steel with zinclayer..  The best handling stuff is the 0,8 mm as it's pliable and weld-able. I sprayed the welds with special zincspray and before welding you should take off the zinc on the spots you weld because of the damps, not so good for your health.. (Watch out.. you have only one body..  we all think we are invincible when we are young but please buy good stuff to protect yourself! Sometimes i think i feel so damn bad of the fumes i got when welding a old Z.. or took the old paint off.. i don't know but there is bad stuff in these old cars.)

[Racer X]

On 9/19/2022 at 6:01 AM, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

Racer let me know if you can see this post ok?

Another long day of drilling out spot welds on the roof skin. I can see why metal works are the most expensive part of restoring a car, it’s so time consuming. 

can anyone tell me about the joint between the rear quarter and roof skin? Mine seemed to be oxy welded or brazed together, is this factory? There was lead wiping which I burnt off, I ended up cutting the joint with a grinder but wondering if there’s a better way.

 

I also found the front corners were welded in, there was no other way so I just cut joint and part of the skin with my 5 inch, I really must get so Roloc attachments and small cutting discs for my die grinder. I managed not to damage any structures underneath. 

i found the front and rear of the roof skin easy to unpick, the LHS was just cut as there was barely anything left, I found the RHS rain rail joint extremely difficult to unpick, I came close to just cutting it with a grinder on more than one occasion, but I persevered and I’m glad I did. There is just no room to work, I tried modifying my scraper blade so I could hammer it along as I went, but that wasn’t effective. In the end I used a sharpened flathead screwdriver to break the joints after drilling.

 

there was a small amount of mangling which was unavoidable but overall very happy with how cleanly I was able to unpick the roof. I’m hoping to sell the skin to someone who needs to fill in their sunroof hole as the center of the skin is excellent.

Was surprised to find the RHS to be very clean, some pitting at the rear quarter joint but overall a good result.

the LHS is a $^!# show, as expected, it’s going to take a lot of work to rebuild the whole structure, rear quarter join is completely gone. 

Yes Ryan, it is very readable now, thanks!

The progress looks good too. As mentioned, the roof to windshield pillars and roof to quarter pillars are spot welded or brazed, then filled and smoothed with lead. Using a propane torch to melt the lead out usually works well, and after installing the replacement roof using the same torch to place new lead (or the tin substitute used today) also works well.

And now, rust mitigation!

Have fun.

 

 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Just a short video on my dashboard tear down. If you’ve done the job before don’t bother but may make a good reference for some who haven’t. This footage is over a year old now, finally got round to editing, amazing how much two kids and a wife can bleed you of spare time. 

I’m trying a different style of video with better editing and less talking in front of the camera (which I hate) and more narration. Similar to jethro bronner who does some very nice Alfa Romeo videos. It allows me to get more work done as I don’t have to do 100 takes trying to articulate something and I can write out a script of what I want to say in the editing process instead of trying to make it up on the spot. Any constructive criticism is welcomed.

 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Short video on me going to build the rear rotisserie mounts but then changing plans to repairing the rear valance but then changing plans to removing all the panels. Gotta go with the flow I guess….

 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Continuing on with panel removal I started on the LHS rear quarter panel, before starting I decided to strip the paint, Im undecided if Im going to reuse this quarter panel, I have all the necessary replacement panels to patch it (tabco rear wheel arches, KFV lower rear section and my spare roof has healthy looking pieces around the rear quarter window i could use )but would be much easier to just replace the full KFV quarter panel. but cost of shipping is beyond ridiculous. was quoted  $4167USD including shipping..... more than i paid for the car! 

Surprisingly besides the rooted doglegs, wheel arches and rusted out quarter window sections its a very clean panel, one minor bit of dodgy patching on the very corner but otherwise clean. 

check out the more than inch worth of bog in the rear arch.... some real artisans worked on this car...

The arches are pretty much non existant so i stripped until i found the rust and decided to leave the bog and cut around it, same with the dogleg. 

Ive drilled out majority of the spotwelds, only the C pillar/rear quarter window area to go. One question i have is does anyone know if there are any spotwelds in the below location onto the underlying panel that creates the curve of the rear window?

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by 240ZBUILTBYME

[dutchzcarguy]

WAUW !!! Those guys were not painters.. they were sculpturers!!  Over a inch of .. as you call it bog.. WAUW !!!

4 hours ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

does anyone know if there are any spotwelds in the below location onto the underlying panel that creates the curve of the rear window?

I really would not know but if you clean up the surface really good you should see the welds if there are any. Maybe a small camera inside to check for them?  (endoscope)

[Patcon]

I took these on the way up from the deer blind. Does this help?

Looks like 5 spot welds on the bottom section. there are some on the top too you can just barely see

[240ZBUILTBYME]

23 minutes ago, Patcon said:

I took these on the way up from the deer blind. Does this help

Looks like 5 spot welds on the bottom section. there are some on the top too you can just barely see

Thanks! Yes this does help! somewhat anyway, they're very difficult to see for some reason, its going to be fun trying to find them...

Edited October 15, 2022 by 240ZBUILTBYME