Rainman

The car looks incredible Brent! Have fun putting her back together and keep the photos coming.. Just got mine off the rotisserie today. Photos are in the "What have you done today" forum..

Thanks for following my work guys! I'm enjoying the process of making this car better than new after owning it for the last 19 years.. I like the silver suspension pieces as well Bonzi Lon, it really stands out against the blue underside of the car... Thanks for reminding me about the final suspension torquing Leon, I'll make sure it's done when the car is on the alignment rack. I've just 'snugged' the suspension pieces for now. It's a long road GraphiteZ but it is very rewarding to touch, clean and renew every part on your car.. Looking back through my photos, the car has been on the rotisserie for 12 months 2 weeks and 3 days. It has certainly come a long way in that time. I'm so happy to have it back on it's own four wheels!! Got the stub axle bolts torqued to spec today, filled the differential with gear oil, installed the half shafts and rear sway bar. Assembled the front hubs, brakes and calipers. The undercarriage is ready to go with the exception of the final torquing as Leon pointed out... Not so many photos today but it does look like a 'car' again!!

Finished up the rear suspension installation with the exception of the sway bar. Rear brakes and e-brake installed as well. Should be off the rotisserie tomorrow!!

Thanks Leon and Steve... I've been busy bending new brake lines.. Previous owners used a pair of pliers/vice grips a few too many times on the originals. A couple photos showing the carnage as well as the nice new piece. The hard lines that run behind the rear backing plate from the flexible line to the rear wheel cylinder take some time to recreate. I started with a 24" section of new tubing and used all but 8" of it.. One of the lines is stock and the other I bent. Not bad for a pilot!

Starting a thread to share the reassembly progress of my early 260Z after the rotisserie refresh.. I've posted some photos of the progress in various threads but want to consolidate this into one spot for the remainder of the process. This seems like the right place for it so here goes... After some major massaging, finally got the R/T Mount installed and the driver side rear suspension is hanging as well. Couldn't resist the urge to put a wheel and tire on it.

That's incredible Brent.. Fantastic work and the stripe is cool too!

Assembled front and rear suspension components over the past couple days...

The transistorized ignition in the 260Z has been problematic for me.. Had trouble with my early 260Z many years ago but it had different symptoms than you're having. My car would simply die after a random period of time, most notably in traffic when the engine bay would heat up from sitting there for example. It didn't over heat, just got heat soaked.. I let it sit for twenty minutes with the hood open while I checked things for spark, fuel etc.. The spark was absent initially but it would return after a short time, then start up and run again.. Until it finally quit all together. Since you've been through the fuel system, even checking for bad gas with a fresh fuel charge in the lawn mower tank.. I would move the front three spark plugs to different cylinders and see if the fouling follows. If the fowling continues in the same cylinders, try moving the plug wires to different cylinders and see if the trouble follows.. On second thought, these items are cheap enough to simply replace so that may be an exercise in futility, you're call on that.. I am suspicious of the transistorized pick up in the distributor. It takes the place of the mechanical points and sits next to a little magnetic collar on the distributor shaft. The problem my 260Z had was caused by the transistorized pick up. I replaced it and it's been fine since. Unfortunately I can't offer any way to test it and I can't explain why it would act any differently under acceleration versus idle... It seems that if it were the cause of the problem, it would behave the same at idle...?? I've talked you into a complete circle here... I hope this helps and maybe someone else will be able to point you in the right direction as far as troubleshooting this electronic part...??

Looking great CG! Give some thought to replacing the steering rack bushings while you're that deep as well.. It'll be much easier with the engine and most of the front suspension off as you have it now. Oh and be sure and install some bump-steer spacers as well since you are lowering the car. They're a common (and fairly cheap) addition when lowering the car to help preserve the original suspension geometry. You can find them at Motor Sport Auto (MSA). I ran the dual Weber DGVs on my 260Z for several years. I had a hard time getting them to run right, I hope they work out better for you.. Keep up the great work! Tom

Resistor won't do it, will need a capacitor in the power lead. Not sure this will help since you mention the noise going away once the car is running at operating temp. Give the capacitor a try, I don't know the specific type but the sales guys at your local radio shack or stereo shop should be able to recommend the proper capacitance rating. Hope this helps..

Good news about the new rubber and such Brent! Yep, that's how it starts.. a very noticeable 'not so sure' feeling. It's closely followed by a large outflow of cash from the savings account!! Be afraid... very afraid. I'm just being dramatic.. Mostly due to my lack of skill at planning for this refresh.. I'm getting near the end now (famous last words) and hope to have my 260Z off the rotisserie this weekend and back on it's suspension shortly there after. I'll keep you updated!!

Zealous and Grantf... Here are the Nissan part numbers I have for the door moldings which do include the stainless trim. Had to get up in the attic and dig these up, should have noted which side of the car they go on. Let me know if you need that and I'll sort that out too. 80820-N4401 Molding Assy Front Door 80821-N4401 Moldling - Door

The Isis system looks like a very easy way to modernize the Z electrical system.. I suppose it depends on the ultimate goal of the restoration is.. There are cheaper ways to make the system better than original by adding the relay kits that Julio mentioned, but if you intend to convert to LED lighting, and want to add some neat-o automatic features that the modern cars have like dimming interior lights, headlights that turn off 30 secs after the ignition is powered off, etc.. then this is a great way to do it. I really like the theft features this system incorporates.. Great piece of mind as they are very easy to break into hotwire..

Thanks for passing along the details on the valve adjustment intervals! I've had a 3.1 Rebello in my early '74 260Z for the past two years. Very reliable and tuning hasn't been difficult.. You'll love it over the long haul as well!! Sounds like I'm a bit behind in the valve adjustments though.... Will get right on that!!

It's been very exciting and a challenge as well.. Everything I try to put back on the car isn't nice enough or clean enough to go with the fresh paint. It's really enhancing my OCD!! As far as parts go, I'm really lucky with the parts department at Lithia Nissan here in Medford.. I've developed a great relationship with the guys at the counter down there. They're great about looking up parts for me and tracking down the hard to get items. Most of my seals are OEM I think save just a few pieces.. I bought Kia Sportage weather stripping for the doors and either the windshield or hatch glass moulding is aftermarket... I'm amazed by the variety of parts still available from Nissan. It's a bit of a distance from Alabama but I'm happy to put you in touch with them if you like, just send a PM..

Looking good Brent!! I'm right there with you and Ollie on the resto with my early 260Z. Mine is still on the rotisserie, with Nissan Monterey Blue (370Z color) inside and out... Keep us posted!! Tom

I bought these from Nissan a couple years ago. Shoot me a PM if you need the part number.

Not even one bid... Very unfortunate.

My Rebello 3.1 stroker with triple Mikunis, 3-2-1 JetHot coated header and Ansa tip sounds just like that.... I love it!!

Nice find!

Very nicely done! I've been thinking of what to do with that line as well, my 260Z has triples also. Keep up the good work and please keep the pics coming...

You'll find another good source listing cars for sale at hybridz.org as well... There's a good selection out there..

Thanks Healeyalt... Didn't mean to hijack your thread, just wanted to show you what I found.. I might have discovered the original paint color under there somewhere had I been more careful but it's a job that isn't terribly enjoyable as you're now aware!! The car was going in for media blasting after the undercoating removal so I wasn't worried about scratching up the metal. The fun part has begun in earnest.... Putting it all back together... You're right though, it is very much worth the hard work.. Thanks again!! Tom

I've used the stock radiator in my Rebello 3.1L powered 260Z for two years and had no problems at all. Medford may be a few degrees cooler than Sacramento but it routinely exceeds 104 degrees here during the summer and my stock radiator has been trouble free. Why not have your stock core boiled out and the leak repaired at your local radiator shop? It might cost you $40 total.. Just a thought..

It took me a week to get all the undercoating off my early 260Z this year while it was on the rotisserie. I used elbow grease and a scraper similar to an excessively flattened screw driver (from Harbor Freight) to remove it. The only paint underneath was a very thin coat of light yellow protective paint, not the original color of the car which was silver. This yellow paint must be a corrosion prohibitor similar to the green phos-coating used to protect the sheet metal on new airplanes while they are being built. In this photo, nearly all the undercoating is removed. I used some brake cleaner to completely remove all the residue from a portion of the spare tire well just for fun... I found the same yellow paint under the tar insulation mat used in the interior.. Notice the areas under the tar mat have the same light yellow paint and the surrounding area is covered by the stock silver. Just relaying my experience....