240ZBUILTBYME 1971 240z HS-001063 Project Sheena

[Racer X]

17 hours ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

 

Nice to see you're makeing headway Ryan. It can be challenging dealing with bonehead "repairs" by other people, and undoing poorly executed work trying. 

 

Is that a Monaro next to your Z?

 

Oh, and best wishes for the soon to be addition to your familial unit!

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Racer X

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Thanks X! 

Yes they cause more damage than repair usually...

its a Holden Torana LX or LH, I’m not an expert on holdens, always been an import freak... but these are very rare to find unrestored. It isn’t mine unfortunately....

though my uncle does have a fully restored Holden Monaro GTS HQ which does make the knees go weak, I’ll see if I can get a photo sometime, it doesn’t see daylight often unfortunately....

Ryan 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

So not a great deal done on the car lately, had a terrible bout of influenza which took 3 weeks to kick. And had a week long course in between all of that... 

i did however get my hands on a second hand spot welder! It’s had a fall and is missing some parts but it should do the job. Got it for $350 (AUD)

Missing arms/electrodes and a 15a power plug. So didn’t get to test it prior to purchase, but the guy seemed trustworthy and said he hardly used it and said to bring it back if it doesn’t work.  Not too big a deal.

Opened it up today to see if anything internal was damaged when they dropped it. All looks good inside. I’ll try straighten it up later. 

Plan to use this on frame rails, floor pans, rear hatch panel, rear valance, inner/outer rockers, a few other spots and roof skin replacement if I end up doing that on my own. I’m hoping it will save a lot of time and effort.

Edited October 20, 2020 by 240ZBUILTBYME

[240ZBUILTBYME]

received the outer rockers and rear hatch panel from KFvintagejdm. Panels look really good especially rockers, very oem looking, I don’t know how they compare to tabco items. Even have the captive nuts for the front fenders.

Rear hatch has a pressing that is not quite straight but I’m not fussed as no one will be seeing it. 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

This week also swapped my diff for my new Subaru R180 LSD diff with kemeari flange adapters. Looks very nice... I will tidy up the back plate a bit more and throw some clear on at some point. 

This is officially the first completed part for the car! Unfortunately it wasn’t done by me but I’m celebrating nonetheless! LSD in a 240z for under 2k.( AUD)

Also picked up a second hand RHS door skin, got it for 2/3s the price of a new one so that’s a win. Has surface rust but good otherwise. Also collected my steering wheel, might need a new horn pad but I’ll research how well they can be restored, it’s not really a circle anymore and internal foam is perishing due to age.  Photos of these to come 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

And here is the total progress for the week, it’s not much but it’s something. First frame completed for the chassis jig, this will bolt into the front sub frame holes, still need to add some angle for the bolt points. (Hope @ConVerTT is proud his design is being replicated across the globe) 

This took me about 1.5 - 2 hours. It’s the second time I’ve welded and the first time I’ve done any metal fabrication on my own. My main goal was to keep it square. Had to cut out and reweld a few times due to welding/tacking in the wrong sequence which pulled the frame out of square. 

What I learnt was: 

- tack on opposing sides so they pull against each other as they cool

- weld the fillet weld t joins before you weld the flare bevel welds (where the beveled corner meets the cut edge on a t join)

-when welding the flare bevel weld work mainly on the bevel corner edge and work back into the straight edge occasionally or you blow holes. Also lay flare bevel welds flat so they are facing up, so the molten metal falls into the gap. Not sure if this all makes sense, it does in my head...

- tack the whole frame together before you do any full welds 

Came out square! I’m stoked, next few frames should go heaps quicker. 

Ryan

Edited October 22, 2020 by 240ZBUILTBYME

[Racer X]

1 hour ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

And here is the total progress for the week, it’s not much but it’s something. First frame completed for the chassis jig, this will bolt into the front sub frame holes, still need to add some angle for the bolt points. (Hope @ConVerTT is proud his design is being replicated across the globe) 

This took me about 1.5 - 2 hours. It’s the second time I’ve welded and the first time I’ve done any metal fabrication on my own. My main goal was to keep it square. Had to cut out and reweld a few times due to welding/tacking in the wrong sequence which pulled the frame out of square. 

What I learnt was: 

- tack on opposing sides so they pull against each other as they cool

- weld the fillet weld t joins before you weld the flare bevel welds (where the beveled corner meets the cut edge on a t join)

-when welding the flare bevel weld work mainly on the bevel corner edge and work back into the straight edge occasionally or you blow holes. Also lay flare bevel welds flat so they are facing up, so the molten metal falls into the gap. Not sure if this all makes sense, it does in my head...

- tack the whole frame together before you do any full welds 

Came out square! I’m stoked, next few frames should go heaps quicker. 

Ryan

Nice weld beads Ryan.

The guy who taught me welding said anytime you can move the workpiece to position the weld under the arc it produces the best join. The puddle is easiest to control in that position, rather than vertically or upside down.

Other positions are possible, but it is trickier to manage the puddle and keep the heat where it needs to be.

[ConVerTT]

2 hours ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

And here is the total progress for the week, it’s not much but it’s something. First frame completed for the chassis jig, this will bolt into the front sub frame holes, still need to add some angle for the bolt points. (Hope @ConVerTT is proud his design is being replicated across the globe) 

This took me about 1.5 - 2 hours. It’s the second time I’ve welded and the first time I’ve done any metal fabrication on my own. My main goal was to keep it square. Had to cut out and reweld a few times due to welding/tacking in the wrong sequence which pulled the frame out of square. 

What I learnt was: 

- tack on opposing sides so they pull against each other as they cool

- weld the fillet weld t joins before you weld the flare bevel welds (where the beveled corner meets the cut edge on a t join)

-when welding the flare bevel weld work mainly on the bevel corner edge and work back into the straight edge occasionally or you blow holes. Also lay flare bevel welds flat so they are facing up, so the molten metal falls into the gap. Not sure if this all makes sense, it does in my head...

- tack the whole frame together before you do any full welds 

Came out square! I’m stoked, next few frames should go heaps quicker. 

Ryan

Go Ryan go!  Super Glad that post helped somebody! 😉🙏

Edited October 22, 2020 by ConVerTT

[240ZBUILTBYME]

6 hours ago, ConVerTT said:

Go Ryan go!  Super Glad that post helped somebody! 😉🙏

Haha im going!!! I’m sure it’s helped a few, I have some further questions on it, I’ll send you a PM

ryan 

[240ZBUILTBYME]

On 10/22/2020 at 10:31 AM, Racer X said:

Nice weld beads Ryan.

The guy who taught me welding said anytime you can move the workpiece to position the weld under the arc it produces the best join. The puddle is easiest to control in that position, rather than vertically or upside down.

Other positions are possible, but it is trickier to manage the puddle and keep the heat where it needs to be.

Thanks X

That sounds like good advice, I will remember that one, initially I tried to weld it with the frame upright but was blowing holes like a dolphin...