DSheehan Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 So i'm a 19 year old college student from long island and if you don't know z cars are almost extinct here. I've been searching for almost 3 years for the right car and this past march i found a car to start the build. It's a 1974 260z i bought it off an older japanese man in brooklyn(who better to buy it from) off ebay. The plans are to keep daily driving this thing and getting some auto-x time in too. So this is how i bought her alittle rough but for the northeast and for the price irs not the worst. As you can see there is tons of work ahead of me but that's what its all about! Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Excellent body for Wrong Coast. Are those Supra or the Iron Cross rims from a Z? Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted July 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Excellent body for Wrong Coast. Are those Supra or the Iron Cross rims from a Z? They are Supra rims but the pictures make the body look better then it is. There's plenty of rust and rot to fix! Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted July 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 So about 2 months after owning the car I hit a deer on the highway doing 60 and thankfully it went under the car instead of over but it still did damage. Blew out the radiator a/c condenser and the lower radiator support. Just what i need come car show season. So the oem radiator was like $250 so i figure why not get the Mishimoto aluminum one for $315 and i found all the lower valence pieces from someone on eBay that guy was a life saver. So while the car was out of comission waiting on the radiator and valence parts to come in i figured id make a show shift knob to match my steering wheel. I've never seen a golf club as one before so I went for it. Quote Link to comment
Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy Posted July 3, 2014 Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 What's the story on that wheel? It looks like a very mature finished piece, I like it. Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted July 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 What's the story on that wheel? It looks like a very mature finished piece, I like it. Thank you! Its a nardi wheel with a Datsun emblem stuck to the middle it feels perfect for the car. Heres a better picture! 1 Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted July 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 So as i waited for the parts to come in i figured i should get to some body work while she was in the garage. I really just wanted to fix the drivers side front fender because it was the biggest eyesore on the car. So with a little persuasion a new piece of sheet metal and some bondo its almost perfect. Thanks to Kemperle for the color match its perfect. So the radiators in some body work done and the front valence put back together and i fabbed up a license plate bar to fill the hole where the bumper used to be. Off to some car meets/shows and more car parts are on the way including wheels and some flares! Fits like a glove big thanks to mishimoto for this excellent radiator temps don't move! its not pretty but its gonna do for now. sorry for poor iphone quality but you get the point. i'd say 5% of the body work complete for the whole car. License plate bar made from a piece of steel for some reason i have no pictures of it on the car. will provide one shortly if i remember. Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 So some more bad luck with the car finally got it up and running for 2 or 3 weeks and now the head gasket went. Made a nice puffy cloud on my way to work filled it up with water after work and drove her home to start the disassembling. With further disassembling i found some good stuff if you can't tell from the picture. So i'm gonna pull the head off and send it for a full rebuild all new everything. Hope to get to autocross at least one time this summer. Wheels are on the way and flares are in the garage. All ill say about the wheels is they are wide! Basing it off some stuff i've seen around the forums. One car in particular is Ben280. If you haven't seen his build you should its awesome! Some nice oil!! Find The difference? Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 So I've been really behind on updating this but I've come a long way since the last time i posted. well lets see. I started the main build process September 1st and the goal was to make it to H20i in ocean city Maryland by the 28th. That left me with 27 days to do almost a full resto. For all of you that don't know H20i is a huge car show in ocean city Maryland where all the "Stance" kids meet up and take over the city. I'm not going for the Stance look but i mean its a Datsun who doesn't appreciate it! So that was my goal. Heres what needed to be done. RockerPanels, holes in floor pan, rear hatch rust, fill rear bumper holes, full body work dents scratches etc., full fender flare set up, front airdam, full paint job, mock up wheels to find tires, and address all other problems. Seemed impossible considering im a full time student and work part time so i had a feeling i wasn't going to finish but heres the before pictures. Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 It's a lot harder then it looks to just take the wiz wheel and hack up the wheel well but it had to be done. Lots of measuring to ensure they will be perfect on both sides. This is my first night working on it and its already kicking my ass. But its a datsun what do you expect lol. But progress is being made. The antenna cable runs through the drive side just saying Mocking up the fronts just to see how it would look!!! And the back to because why not! Gonna be Fat More pictures of the ugly mess i have to deal with above the passenger tail light. More Cutting and measuring. Tokico lower springs incase you wanted to know this excites me! WIDE WIDE WIDE WIDE Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Next time out there i got the front fenders off and doors off for rocker panel install and to do the front fender body work. YUMMY who doesnt love some good rust Hacked up the passenger side got it all welded closed and filled where the bumper indent was. Got some duraglass on the drivers side to smooth out the edge and fix the imperfections. Bottom on the front fender looking good! :/ One beat up scratched and keyed door with the locks riveted on.. Went 3 for 3 on breaking headlight bucket studs! Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Well time for the rocker panel install. Figured id use as much of the new metal as possible so i cut everything out of the old one. These are from BlackDragonAuto.com beautiful pieces of metal. All Tack welding in exactly how i wanted it! Going to butt it up where the seam used to be and youll never know i was even here! Next on the list would be this and this and this!! Had this monza exhaust under my bed that came with the car i figured why not so i slapped looks and sounds really good! Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 On my way to school gonna test fit some tires on this bad boy. I heard you guys like them wide ;) And with a 235/60/15 on the 15x11 its looks beefy for awhile thought it was to balloonish but it grew on me and you'll see why!!! Its alittle bigger then the supra wheel i had on before :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 So i forgot to take pictures but i finished up the driver rocker panel and finished the rear wheel wells. Sprayed the door jams and rocker panels and prepped the rear for paint. Its a 2 stage base coat clear coat. I'm pretty sure it was deltron paint but it was color matched and wasnt cheap. I was going to go for a single stage cause i don't wanna keep the red but I figured might as well go balls to the wall. Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Front fenders back on all body work was done to fix the bottom. Now tim to cut these bad boys up for the extra meat in the front! Couple of nicks and dents in the hood so a thing coat of bondo will do the trick. Don't hate on me its a thin coat i promise!! Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 All Sanded down with 800 ready for color!!!!P.S This is on Sunday I'm supposed to leave Thursday for Maryland...... Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Well its Tuesday and i skipped class to get color on this bad boy! Worth it!! I've got 2 days to put it all back together. [/url] Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Well After a month of long nights I bolted the fender flares on thursday morning went to class then got in the car and left. Hoping there was no rubbing problems or anything. I picked up my friend and off we went 400miles in my 1974 260z hoping it would make it. Let me tell you these little cars amaze me i hammered this thing at 70-80 for 400 straight miles not even a hiccup. Drives straight as an arrow and surprisingly smooth. I would be afraid to drive this thing across country. H20i was one of the greatest experiences of my life so many great people made a couple datsun friends. If you have the chance look it up and go because you wont be disappointed. Thousands of cars everything from a Ferrari f40 to a rb30 240z. Well heres a couple pictures of my car down in Ocean City!! P.s i made itttttttt such a good feeling. I did blow a fuel line while i was down there but i scrapped up enough line and fittings to make it work till i got home. Thanks to the help of a great community of car people. Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 And here's a few pictures from a shoot I did with a friend of mine. Alittle Datsun Porn ;) This is my favorite picture of my car to Date these are a close second Quote Link to comment
DSheehan Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 And here's a dump of pictures at almost every angle i could think of. Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 Nice work! You pulled it together and now get to enjoy for a long time. All I can say is don't ever sell it ;) Quote Link to comment
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