My Swiss 1972 S30 240Z rebuild project

[JDMjunkies.ch]

well that bob sharp is indeed a nice one but i prefer the JDM kind of stuff so i went with the kakimoto one. but it wasn't a lot cheaper with all the import, taxes and stuff at the end.

plus the fact kakimoto still has it on t heir homepage but doesn't have them in stock anymore nor do they produce it anymore. i tried to push them but now only very rare and used ones are available.

but im h appy with my purchase.

 

you Z guys are nuts........ 

i hope in a positive way, so i say thank you, sir :D

[Eagle_Adam]

I hope in a positive way, so i say thank you, sir :D

 

being nuts isnt always bad!!! keep at it man 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

240Z: Good news as mentioned yesterday:
Usually the grumpy bureaucrats at the car registration office aren't very helpful, but probably due to the nice wheater, yesterday the guy i had on the phone was:
He was kind enough to search my car in the nation-wide database and made me a printout.
You might remember my car came without any documents, and with this printout i now know where it was registered last (allowing me to get a original document again!) as well as when it was first registered (1972 as i thought), who drove it last (a lady :D) and what original colour it hat, etc.. Here you go:

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I want to push the bodyworks a bit so i try to get the bodyshop guy coming here and check the cars soon so i got a glimpse of what is possible and how i can prepare it the best. still don't know which chassis makes more sense to save etc. so here's a list i prepared with all the work that needs to be done so i can discuss it with the bodyshop-guy. TONS of work:

Both cars:
- Remove old paint
- Remove mirror holes in doors
- Add new fender mirrors (got the installation drawings)
- remove rust on doors etc (if needed)
- repair rear spoiler (Studs broken)
- Add Overfenders (and neatly cut and weld original (inner-)Fenders)
- Spotweld Original chassis for added safety and rigidity (??)
- Fit the Saito rollcage (screwed, not welded)
- Add and fit front air dam
- Replace frame rails
- Replace floor pans (Still need the seat console bases, probably reuse some original)
- remove dents and scratches if there are some
- Remove broken screws at a few points i wasn't able to get them out

Chassis A (White):
- replace front end (from black car)
- Replace rear panel (from black car)
- Remove welding signs from the roof window which was closed once.

Chassis B (Schwarz):
- Remove rust in rear inner wheel arches and tool storages.
- replace roof (from white chassis?)
- replace spare wheel mould (from white chassis?)

When done / Paintshop
- Fit and adjust hood, doors, fenders, hatch, wing,...
- Protect from rust in hollow parts
- Underfloor coating
- Preserve hollow pieces with special treatment
- Completetly primer and paint the car in
„Datsun 904, Kilimanjaro White“:

Now i'll have to discuss these points with the bodyshop and check time and money needed, as well as how i have to pay the work (monthly rate, pre-payment,...) i have no clue how they do payment on a job this big usually :) And then i have to figure out where the hell i get so much money to pay this :P

[JDMjunkies.ch]

NEWS :) Today i had the bodyshop guy here checking out my cars. The plan was to hear his thoughts and get a future plan for how it's gonna be done. and that's what happend:
The very nice guy showed up and checked my cars thoroughly for about 1,5 hours and explaining me a lot of things and showing me alot of things i haven't seen. also he explained about his previously owned JDM cars and the people he knows etc.
Note that he doesn't look very happy when i made a photo, but afterwords i explained about my blog and then he was happy agian :)

And here's the plan:
After checking both cars he mentioned it would make more sense to repair the black chassis and use the white one for spare-pieces because the white is more patched up and damaged while the black has only minor repairs and usual rust spots.
He also mentioned that he's a fabricator bodyguy and can make any kind of bodypanels by himself.
He quoted me 15 grand for a completely restored base shell including the bolt-on panels. but also explained it could easily be more work discovered at work. im ok with that.
Also he explained how i should continue: Store the whit car like i did, totally strip down the black chassis and have the paint stripped down from doors, hatch, hood, etc and have them primered. Then create a rolling jig for the black car and then i can deliver it for him to work. He also explained about how payment works with this kind of projects and was very kind and nice and seemed pretty interrested in this kind of stuff and has a big knowledge in japanese classics (which is rare in switzerland). In fact he even gave me a few contacts to people in the scene i'll contact during the next days!
So this gives me a whole truckload of motivation and i'm feeling i know where this project goes during the next months! great :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

After the Visit of the Bodyshop-guy i now have a goal again and that's stripping the black car to bare shell to so i'll be able to bring it to the bodyshop by the end of the year and have the chassis done in a year probably :D So i started to push things on the black chassis today:
1) Removed the starter motor so it will be easier to remove the engine (hopefully in 2 days :D)






also wanted to remove the speedo-sensor but actually those damn screws were stuck, so i let them soak in WD40:


2) Next was the steering wheel:






3) and last but not least the tank lock door thingy. you also might notice a bit of rust underneath which i discovered today after removing some "bubbles" in the paintjob....


anyway i feel like i'm back to the project after now not wanting to do too much before knowing any goal for a while now. Next im hoping to get the engine and tranny out :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

A while ago, the famous JDM legends shop had a contest on their facebook page and, well, i won it :)
Today a package from USA arrived with a nice JDMlegends Tee and a few stickers, which i will proudly put on my car once it's done. Great! And big thanks to Eric and Ryan over at JDMlegends!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

First the bad news: I've planned to get a lot of work done this week due to swiss labour day and so on, but of course i had to get a damn cold exactly during this time so i'm currently lying in my bed with fever and other uncool stuff...

Now to the good news: I made a few phone calls around the country to different registration stations and Authorities and this led me back to the original car's documents which i - 50 bucks later - got an original copy from now. This will alow me to get the car registered when it's done. great - my car has documents :D

[72240z]

 

also wanted to remove the speedo-sensor but actually those damn screws were stuck, so i let them soak in WD40:

 

 

 

Thats the clutch slave not speedo gear. Follow the black speedo cable in the top of the pic and it will lead you to the gear. It's only held in my one 10mm. 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

haha yeah thanks for the input, what was i thinking when i wrote this. of course i meant the slave cylinder... ;)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I still have a damn flu, but somehow it got so boring laying around in front of the tv - i just had to get something done. so i went to the garage and started with no special goal in my mind. Seems like sometimes it's the best to work without pressure :)

1) Got the clutch slave cylinder out after i had it soaked in WD40 for a few days:


2) Next was the Fuel pump to be removed:


3) jacked up the front end and put it on jackstands and prepared the engine hoist / Lifter:


4) removed the engine mount-bolts and lifter the L24 out with no problems :)


Big hole here :D


5) put the engine on an old tire because it's a great way to store engines :D


next step will be the dashboard i think. it's coming along again :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

We have a day off here in switzerland so i spent an hour at the garage and removed the transmission:
1) Jacked up the rear end and put it on jackstands so i was able to unbolt the driveshaft:


2) Unbolted the driveshaft from the transmission and unbolted  the transmission mount. and out it came:


and out of the car it is :)


also started to uninstall the fuel tank but have to drain it first :D

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Finally winter is gone (well yeah, in June!!) and summer arrived so motivation and weather is back to get some stuff done.
Worked with the fuel tank today:
Removed the Fuel lock thingy:


And all the hoses and stuff connected to the tank:


and after an hour of work i finally got it out:


also started at some other areas but need to soak a few bits in WD40 before i'm able to remove them completely, see next update :D

And yeah, had birthday last week and my good friend danny amazingly bought me this Nürburgring gift box which includes a Caterham drift training workshop at the Nürburgring as a gift. Damn - this will be fun :)

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Spent two hours at the garage today and got a lot of stuff done:
1) finally got the stuck scews at the trunk lid out:


2) Then started to prepare for the dashboard removal, so started with the glove box first.
On the glove box liner there are three japanese katakana characters (ス イ ス) which means Su-I-Su and stands for Suisse. So this is the proof it's a swiss market car and not an import vehicle:


and out the glove box lid is:


3) then removed the steering rack coupler:


which finally allowed me to remove the complete steering column :-)

 

[Eagle_Adam]

said it before and ill say it again, LOVE all the pics!!! 

 

Keep at it man 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Spent some time in the garage today and had some nice progress:
1) Removed the wiper motor and windshield squirter stuff:




2) next adress was starting preparation of the dashboard removal, so started with the wiring stuff, and screws, dashboard is loose now but still need to disconnect a few wires and the speedometer-cable, etc..


Oh and also removed the shifter boot *lol*:


this is how i ended up today:

[Busta Nut]

Damn dude....nice.....rip and tear!!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Had a little time with the fairlady again today and after an hour of disconnecting cables, wires and hoses i finally got the dashboard out:


here it is:


and had some time left so i also removed the blower and started to remove the heater:

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

At this point i have to thank my big friends Manuel and Stefan for the non-stop support of my project! Big thanks, guys!
They lately went to Japan and visited some shops (Kakimoto, Rubber-soul, Rocky Auto, NISMO,..) and thought they'd bring something for me. So at one point i got a message they bought some cool stuff for me. and finally today a package showed up in my mailbox and i can't be happier:
1) a geniuine G-Works Magazine (S30Z Fairlady special Nr.2 (I already Own Nr1 :D)):


It's like the HyperRev magazine for classics. Lot of parts information, Links,...


Detailed description of mechanics and stuff... Kind of the Holy bible for tuners and fans :)


And then they also bought me this pretty heavy Metal Fairlady Z Emblem, brand new and pure bling. Absolutely love it! Thanks again guys, can't thank you enough :)

 

[dsc201knoc]

Wow man... this is awesome... I just picked up a 74 260z today.. :thumbup:

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Had some nice progress today:
1) Removed the chrome drip rails:


2) Then the side windows:


3) and last but not least the Heater core with the heater controls:


Seems like it's coming along, i'm pretty happy with today's progress :)


that's how Nr.2 looks now :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Last Saturday my friend Stev organized a visit at a former car recyling Company which now has been sold and the new owner is selling-out a lot of stuff. So naturally we had to visit. I Also met Jerome petitjean of Swiss Zcarracingteam fame with his beautiful Datsun Violet A10 SSS (Datsun 160J). I'll present you that car in a following post.
The place ws Huge and they had kinda everything for oldtimers in an unbelievable amount:
Doors and hoods for all kind of 70ies and 80ies cars:


Engine anyone? :)


trunks:


Toyota Corona doors in any factory colour :)


the owner even offered on a weird Humus sausage and chicken wraps for free :)


A Huge room full of leaf springs (!!!)


or maybe you're more into steering racks?


Looking for a Transmission maybe? :)


Or a Driveshaft?


Maybe complete rear axles? :)


Huge amounts auf rare gauges and electronics:


Shelves full of Alternators and starter engines:


Classic car grilles:


This is me with my "shopping cart" :D Sadly all the Z-parts have been sold a while ago. but my friends bought a lot of stuff for their rare Datsuns.


I Couldn't help myself but buy these two grilles: A nice Toyota Corolla E30 grille and a beautiful Mazda RX-2 Grille complete with RE- and Super-deluxe badge. both in great condition. Will hang them above my bed and put them up for sale if someone is willing to pay a good price :)

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

If you wonder why progress is so slow on my Z project - this is the reason:

Got a lot of stuff done on my EK9, a few small fixes but also installing the Advan RG wheels and a Tein flex suspension, including aligment and everything.
Still have a few small things to do but want to focus on my Z project again:

A few days ago i got some small stuff done:
1) Removed the gas venturi hose from the trunk:


2) Got the clutch master cylinder out and prepared the pedal box for removement:


3) Removed the gas pedal:


4) Removed the hatch lock :)


Then my Friend Danny showed up with his RHD Prodrive P1 so we decided to head out to the famous blackforest roads for a little drive and than ended up having a few beers at his home :)

 

[Eagle_Adam]

there has to be a small corner i can come sleep in for a few weeks while i look around that dismantler.. 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I wonder how you ever could sleep when there is so much to discover :)