shooze Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Hey Guys! Over the last year or two I've very slowly been restoring a 260Z. I thought Id paste the topic over from the Z Club for some of you 350/370 guys to see! So............... Following a vast amount of cocking around before getting this car, (See here: http://zclub.net/for...my-2-2-a-2.html) I finally managed to get it home and have started to do some work to it. Its a 1978 260Z 2 seater. Its pretty solid body wise. The rear arches are starting to go and there is a hole in the drivers floor pan that has been badly patched. The inner wings are pretty sound though, as is most of the engine bay bar the rad support panel and bonnet support panel. Anyways, here are some photos! Just after picking it up! Safely back at my garage Starting the stripdown! Edited January 25, 2016 by shooze 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 After removing the panels I started to strip the interior: And start taking the loom out of both the engine bay and the interior. This was scary stuff for me! Everything is labelled using white elec tape and a perm marker ready to be installed again once the shell has been worked.... Engine bay with the loom stripped. The car was originally white, but someone has very badly painted it red in the past! I think it will go back to white when I come around to getting it painted.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Managed to get the engine out a few weekends ago! Sooo easy compared to a more modern car like the S2000 I did last year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Right well I dropped the car off on Thursday at Hockley. Fingers crossed it doesn't come back in a bag... Spent most of early last week scraping underseal off the bottom and chipping sound deadening out of the top! Heres some photos from my journey up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbax Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Thanks for sharing, I love reading these and seeing the progress. I remember a similar build with a white 240 Samurai a few years back with some great pix but cant find any links to it now sadly because it would have inspired you no end to see what you will no doubt achieve after many hours of graft. P.S. Brave man - while I can weild a spanner and tackle most engineering jobs, I don't think I'd have the bottle to tackle that much and those electrics make me feel nausea just looking at them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Hey guys, Thanks for all the comments! I got the car back from Hockly Motorsport a few days ago, all blasted and now in bare metal with a thin coat of plastic (from the plastic media used to blast it). Its not toooo bad. Or at least there are no nasty suprises apart from those I already knew about. Its still a LOT of work to do and quotes to have it welded elsewhere are around the £5k mark! Anyway, here are some photos: The only thing that concerns me is the creasing in the floor pan around where the rear arches and transmission tunnel meet that can be seen in this photo. Can someone confirm to me that their Z was the same when in bare metal? Im sure there has been no serious damage to the shell and there are no signs of a repair, but its odd that this creasing is there. Is it from the factory? And finally back at home safe in the garage! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) A few updates guys. NJ have been working on the shell on and off for the past few months now and they are making some progress :bow: They have repaired and fabricated a few sections of rust around the windscreen under the dash, floorpan, the front strut area and front wheel well. Drivers Floorpan Attempted to keep the patterning standard on the fabricated pan. Under the dashboard area. This all needed to be jigged up with the steering column as it was around the column mounts. Front crossmember repairs: Bonnet mount and front of air tubes fabbed up and on: New outer front suspension turret skin: Edited January 25, 2016 by shooze 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Floydbax - Cheers mate! At the moment its in the bodyshop waiting for me to choose a bloody colour! Im so indecisive!!! Then the fun of rebuilding it starts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veilside z Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Looking good. I love the original orange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbax Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Damn - I just tried searching again for that build I mentioned but no luck, if you saw that then you would have no indecision the original Datsun white (might have been 'polar white!!') looked stunning. That shell looks in amazing condition hard to believe its as old as it is, bet you breathed a huge sigh of relief Keep the pix coming, if anything for keeping your own record of the rebuild, it will bode well for you in the future. Done properly as you are doing that thing will never owe you anything P.S. If you add me on the FaceBook page have a look in one of my photo albums from Manila Auto Salon,, there's a few pix of a mint white 260Z there you might like to see Edited January 25, 2016 by Floydbax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike k-g Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Hats off to you mate ..wish i had your skills.. Good luck with it. Mike K-g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Love seeing stuff like this... Good luck and I'll be watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robchriscross Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Thanks for sharing your project keep it coming Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Great build just wish I could find a 240/60/80z to do that's not silly money. Edited January 25, 2016 by ZEUS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Subscribed. Love car restorations, ...used to work for a classic car restorers when I was a little younger so it's always something I find interesting. We worked mainly on MG's, Triumphs & Austin Healeys but with a few other randoms thrown in including two Astons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoundDog Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 This is going to be a great build and will be watching with great interest. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Looking forward to seeing this progress. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Cool project, in for the re-build. Thanks for posting it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev T Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Great project, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Just fyi ~ You might want to visit the NEC Restoration & Classic Car show shooze in March especially if you're after inspiration or just some more parts. Link: http://www.necrestorationshow.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justthejedi Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Great stuff, wish I learn't how to do this when I was younger, thanks for sharing, love these cars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted March 24, 2016 Author Share Posted March 24, 2016 (edited) Just fyi ~ You might want to visit the NEC Restoration & Classic Car show shooze in March especially if you're after inspiration or just some more parts. Link: http://www.necrestorationshow.com/ Hey guys! Sorry not been on for a while! The car is being undercoated at the moment and Im trying to decide on the colour. Its either going to be Safari Gold or Light Blue Metallic I think. I also quite like the green too but I don't think its sporty enough for me. I do like them in white but not enough to paint my own that colour I don't think! I like a bright coloured car! I went to the restorations show Bought a few tools and things from there! Edited March 24, 2016 by shooze 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooze Posted March 24, 2016 Author Share Posted March 24, 2016 Thanks for sharing, I love reading these and seeing the progress. I remember a similar build with a white 240 Samurai a few years back with some great pix but cant find any links to it now sadly because it would have inspired you no end to see what you will no doubt achieve after many hours of graft. P.S. Brave man - while I can weild a spanner and tackle most engineering jobs, I don't think I'd have the bottle to tackle that much and those electrics make me feel nausea just looking at them I have to say, I am mildly shitting myself about sticking the loom back in. Not sure weather I should be getting a new one made up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Safari gold gets my vote. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeezeebaba Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Safari gold gets my vote. ^ +1 ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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