My Swiss 1972 S30 240Z rebuild project

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Whoohoow :) If just every day would be as successful as today :P

As my friend Andy came over again to give me a hand and some advice in removing the engine and transmission i wanted to prepare a few things first and had a few small tasks to do:

 

1) Started to remove the tow hook but sadly broke off one stud, need to get it out when the car is on the rotisserie:

 

2) Then i removed a Ring that seems to be some isolation between the fuel tank and the inside of the car:

 

Ring & Rubber finally out:

 

3) Next i checked what they've done to the car previously. as you can see the rear skirt has been welded to the quarters, so everything is one piece now. as i want a genuine look again, i need to cut that into pieces and seems like i need to replace some bigger parts like the rear skirt, lowe quarters and mabe even the upper ones.

 

4) Removed also a few smaller pieces like for example those things who seem to hold the cowl panel in place:

 

5) Then my friend Andy showed up and we started to prepare for the engine to come out. first was removing the starter motor:

 

6) also removed the clutch cylinder and stuff (sadly forgot to make a picture)

 

7) Then continued with preparing the engine to come out, we decided to take engine and transmission out in two steps, so we fixed the Transmission and then removed the Valve cover.

But then we decided to use some bolts from the head to get the engine out istead of the head bolts:

 

8) Finally we got the eingine out there - yesss :)

 

 

9) And then also the transmission. Andy mentioned that the cogs on the main gear where slightly worn out, but i think it's still ok but possibly will replace it..

 

so that's it for today, now im able to remove the front suspension and rear. really happy with today's progress and big thanks to andy :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Here we go again...

Wanted to do a ton of things today, but at the end a few things didn't work out as planned.

 

for example: Got a few screws prepared to get the engine on the engine stand today, but then i figured out that it won't fit on the stand when the clutch is still in place.. argh! need to check that..

 

but now the good news:

 

some partes arrived here from zcarsource.com a greally great shop i really like to recommend!

rear used numberplate mounting panel:

 

and a genuine nissan new Transmission oil drain plug (mine was missing)

 

after i figured out that i won't be able to mount the engine on the stand i decided to work on the front axle/suspension and after everything was prepared and the engine was out i got it done in no time:

 

then i removed the clutch cylinder. man this thing looks horrible :/ totally rusted and as you can see they used a scew as push rod when they last reworked it..

 

continued with some smaller things like the hatch damper mounting bracket

 

and as next big task will be to remove all the brake lines (& clutch line) as well as the complete rear axle with differential i decided to prepare a bit and disconnected / bleeded the rear brake lines:

[JDMjunkies.ch]

oh btw: anyone knows how i get off the clutch assambly from the Engine? is it just to pull it off? didn't find any details in the service manual. thanks for your help :)

[Skib]

the clutch is just bolted to the flywheel and then the flywheel is bolted to the back of the crank.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

thanks skib that's exactly how it was :)

 

so, as i wanted to fold that engine lifter together and have it out of my workspace, i spent some time with that task today.

 

started to remove the clutch and flywheel. luckily a guy stopped by and wanted to sell me a car-lifter so i talked him into helping me get the flywheel off :)

sadly i broke three nuts who where holding the clutch onto the flywheel..

 

next was the cover-plate:

 

then i got the engine mounted on the engine stand:

 

and a shot from the intake/exhaust side:

 

i decided to get the valve cover mounted back on top to prevent dirt going into the valves and to have it out of the way:

 

so now the front end is almost completely torn down, only a few hoses and lines left :)

 

next big task will be the rear suspension, axle and differential :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

so here we go.. the project "stage 1" (strip the car to bare shell) is almost completed :D

 

after about two hours of work and hassling around with some rusty screws i finally managed to get the complete rear suspension assembly including the driveshafts and differential out - great :)

 

that's how i made my support for things coming down :D

 

and the complete assembly out of the back:

 

and some under-floor shots. please note the brown lines underneath are not rust - it's some kind of body-sealer the previos builder used and is coming through the white paint...

 

 

 

now only a few support brackets and brake lines are left, thenn stage 1 is complete and body repair will beginn :)

[Hyspeedz]

Great work. I really admire what you are doing in a relatively small work area. You are doing a great job. With that kind of thorough attention to detail, your project will be a great piece of work to be admired as well as enjoyed. It looks like your car has good bones, even though some things, e.g. using a screw in the clutch assembly are not exactly top drawer. Good luck with the project. I enjoy reading your updates and looking at the photos.

 

Hyspeedz

[Wide14u]

keep it up its moving right along

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Great work. I really admire what you are doing in a relatively small work area. You are doing a great job. With that kind of thorough attention to detail, your project will be a great piece of work to be admired as well as enjoyed. It looks like your car has good bones, even though some things, e.g. using a screw in the clutch assembly are not exactly top drawer. Good luck with the project. I enjoy reading your updates and looking at the photos.

 

Thanks mate :) well i really hear this all t he time, but it's just the project that count's so it doesent matter if it's cold or a lack of space, with some good ideas you can handle it all. and as i mentioned earlier, it just makes the project even better when done in a small garage and not a professional workshop :)

the car has really good bones, but the last time it was reworked i believe the guys didn't have the source of international z-parts dealers and things like ebay. they got all parts from local z-shops and junkayrds, so that's the reason why they didn't use repair plates and didn't buy things like a new slave clutch cilynder.

 

im still glad with the car i've chosend and im happy i will be the one who brings it back to it's old glory and undoes all the stuff that happend to her in the past :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Started a lit late today, therefore not too much progress. had to fix the sound system in my daily first, after it's repaired again now :)

well it's gonna be a short update - just started to remove the rear upper diff support and all the brakelines:

 

before (marked all the lines)

 

 

rear brakeline distribution stuff:

 

front brakelines and clutch line out:

 

 

and the upper differential support bracket / belt:

 

now only a few screws in the rear left and the shell is completely stripped :)

will be so much easier to install this stuff when i have a rotisserie.

 

sadly i had to cut off a lot of the screws as most of them where rotten, so i will need to cut a lot of new threads...

[Wide14u]

this is just one of the best threads that i have ever seen the detail is great it up

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Here we go, spent a few minues at the garage, removed the last two screws and finally all th e brake lines to the rear:

 

so finally i have a bare-naked and completely stripped shell :)

cleaned up my garage a bit and took some pictures:

 

 

well, now i think i will take a little break, have to get my rotisserie built first until i can move on, and im thinking of to maybe get a rollcage into the car, but first have to think a bout it maybe a bit more..

 

we'll see. but at least i managed with out any big idea about cars to get it completely stripped without any big damage on myself or the car. that's just great :D

 

after the rotisserie is built i will continue with removing paint, get the primer on and remove a lot of hidden rust and rotten metal..

have a nice weekend guys :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So another short update for you who might wonder what's going on at the moment :D

first i made bit research and planed my rotisserie today. was y bit of calculating, drawing sketches and making an order list for my nearby steel shop.

I asked them for a quote and if i can afford it i will order the steel parts cutted into right dimensions and ready to weld. we'll see :)

 

then i thought as phase one is completed it would be time for a litte review of work done so far:

this is how it looked five months ago when i found it stored away from the previous owner:

 

and that's how it looks now (5 months later). until yet i didn't have too many big problems and i still am highly motivated on getting things done. but of course some bigger questions are unsanswered yet, but im pretty sure there's a solution for everything :) im still searching the internet for great upgrade-parts and things and i have to say i've got a nice list of rare and uneen JDM-stuff for the Lady. but i've learned from previous project that it would't make a lot of sense to spend money on things like an interieur mirror a this point.. so i'll have to wait with a lot of stuff and spend the money at different points. but that's just the way to do it right i think :)

 

btw: thanks for all your comments and feedbacks, really gives me some always-needed motivation to go ahead :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Yeah i know, "just do it" is the slogan of a famous sports wear brand, but it's a pretty good slogan :D at some points in my project i just have to do it. I coud think about how to do stuff for weeks but then nothing will ever be done, so today i decided to just do some things even if im not really sure if its the best possible way to get it done :)

 

1) I'm telling you all the time how important it is to buy parts only short before you need them. i tend to buy expensive useless parts early and then don't have any money where it really would be needed. so i decided already before i started with this project to NOT do so this time. but today i just found one of these hard-to-get rare JDM parts on Yahoo auctions so i just had to buy it. the item is discontinued and this one was actually a brand-new out of the box item. was really expensive but i just had to have it for my project. hope i can show you soon what i bought myself today :D

 

2) same with the rotisserie. i could spend another 3 weeks thinking about how to improve design, stiffnes and stuff but at the end i decided to just order the pieces i need. total 35 pieces, cut into right lenght. cost me about 400$ including delivery but everything will be done right then and i just have to get them welded together.. really expensive. but yeah. i just did it and im sure the project keeps on going :D parts should arrive here on wednsday..

 

3) no post without a picture :D got a used drivers side window from a reader called Franco from italy. greetings to italy man, thanks for your help :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Yeah i've got some news again :)

 

1) the steel parts for the rotisserie are delayed one day, but at least the shop told me to deliver them for free because of the delay. i should have the parts here tomorrow and that's ok :)

 

2) I work as an endoscopy repair technican at my daily job, but unfortunately these are medical devices who require big monitors, lot of cables and have big processing units, so i bought myself a cheap USB-endoscope-camaera device with LED lighting included. after i figured out that my laptop monitor was broken i installed a setup that worked and checked different cavities in the car to see how much rust is inside..

 

actually the camera quality really sucks compared to our company's high definition endoscopic-camers with Xenon lighting etc, but i think it did the job and as i bought it at a local discounter store it only costed 40 bucks :)

now that's how it looked inside the passengers-side air channel (on top of the front wheel housing). some surface-rust and some spider-webs but i think some por-15 will do the job..

 

Mostly i only had some surface rust, like seen her at the bottom of the A-pillar (drivers side foot-area side wall...)

 

worst place was defintily at the rear end of the driver's side rocker panel..

 

and i even found some screws underneath the divers side floor pan :)

 

not too bad i think. doesn't need too much repair, we'll see how it looks outside underneath the paint..

 

now it's time to buy some parts on the internet :D more updates coming soon..

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just a short update:

As mentioned yesterday a load of pre-cutted steel arrived here today, so i'll be able to mount the rotisserie.. now just have to find someone who can weld this together for me :)

 

[Dirk Diggler]

It looks like who ever had that car before you did the same think you are doing now. You don't see suspension parts and stripped shells that clean on a 40 year old vehicle

[JDMjunkies.ch]

@ Dirk: Yeah, they've done pretty much the same as i did, but also they did a lot t hings the wrong way. for example the paint had a lot of drops and it wasn't completely stripped like it's now.. also rust-repair wasn't done really properly. so it have could be done much better back in the days. interrieur and other parts where really in bad condition and they welded (cleaned) together a lot of body panels. now i have to cut them agian.. kinda sucks.. but nah.. it's gonna be a great car in a few months or years :D

 

Btw. my neightbour just told me to weld the rotisserie during the upcoming week. so hopefully next saturday i'll be able to put the car up in the air :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Sorry for the lack of updates during the last week or so.. im sucking for them even more than you do :)

 

anyway, last saturday i went to visit member Stev vom the JNC forum who kindly offered me to help me weld the rotisserie together. and then i found out that he also had a Laurel C30 in progress of restoration so one more reason to head there.. :)

 

so here we go - first a few shots of his project - Datsun 1800 aka Laurel C30 - what a beauty. and even in better condition than my Z! crazy :)

 

 

 

and while i was checking the car my man Stev was welding the rotisserie for me - Really Aprecciate your work, man! well done :)

 

 

and if this would'nt be enough he also had a bunch of genuine swiss and totally Mint old datsun dealer catalogues, and gave me one for free. how cool is that?!!! :)

 

now if you're wondering why you don't see any pics of the completed rotisserie: Work took way longer than we both expected, and at the end the completed stuff din't fit into my tiny little car, so i had to leave it there. i'll head there soon again (need to organize a transporter or something..) and pick the parts up.. also a few things didn't work as planned, so i have to get a smaller tube for the inner hinge-thingy and then have to give it a last few tweaks but im really hapy with the result and can't thank you much enough steav :) thanks mate and see ya soon :)

[kneesamo]

Awesome work man!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just a shortie, today (more tomorrow..)

 

Picked up some more steel today, after i ordered two parts slightly too big at my first order, so here are smaller ones to complete the rotisserie build soon :D

[JDMjunkies.ch]

My first order from MSA arrived here today, and im pretty happy :)

 

1) Clutch master cylinder:

 

2) Clutch slave cylinder:

 

3) and last but not least: Genuine nissan tail upper repair panel (because mine was almost completely deleted when they replaced those tail lights...)

 

that's it for today.. work on the rotisserie will continue early next week. so sad i can't do anything at the moment :/

[JDMjunkies.ch]

On the project goes :)

 

Got a big Van yesterday and went out to Aarau and picked up the rotisserie base stands yesterday and here they are:

 

now the upper pieces also had some great progress thanks to stev and i brought them to a local steel workshop today and they told me to finish the last welds and do a few minor tweaks until friday, so i should be able to pick up the completed upper mounts on friday, sounds great to me, so hopefully i'll be able to start the mounting on saturday.. so happy to finally have some progress again :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Woohoo, finally i have some good news:

 

1) Just got a mail from japan that my friends there are doing well and that particular special-parts-order i made a few weeks ago is shipped out towards switzerland :)

 

2) Got a phone-call from the nearby metal-fabrication company that the rotisserie-work is now complete. So i directly headed there and picked up the upper parts and put the pieces together:

Looked like this then:

 

as you can see the car will be raised about 25cm (front, rear about 50cm!), but after i was shocked a bit first i figured out that thats because otherwise you won't have enough space to rotate the car. works fine :)

 

well the rotisserie still needs a lot of work. need to drill a lot of holes and that's not too easy with a cheap drilling-machine (altough i bought some titanium drill-heads :D) and 10mm thick steel. At least i got a few holes into the chassis and marked up where i will need to drill the holes tomorrow.. will need a lot of work bot hopefully i'll be able to get the most done tomorrow..

Test fitting and marking for holes:

 

drilling the wholes where i can put a screw in to "stop" the rotisserie from rotating in different positions:

 

that's it for today. more tomorrow...

[JDMjunkies.ch]

on we go :)

 

1) Drilled some holes into the front chassis bars and mounted the front upper support:

 

 

2) Drilled some holes for "the brake"

 

3) Added some grease to the rotating parts so it will rotate easier:

 

4) Mounted the rear support brace:

 

 

so it's finally done now and just needs to be lifted into the two base-stands but actually two persons where not enough for the rear end so i have to do it when more people are around.

really happy with the progress and hope the whole stuff is strong enough and will last :)