Project THESEUS: A '74 260z

[Homeboyx]

Awesome awesome thread and progress! Seriously motivating me to pick up an affordable welder and somehow learn on my rust eyesores. What welder are you using if you don’t mind me asking?

[Noll]

8 hours ago, Homeboyx said:

Awesome awesome thread and progress! Seriously motivating me to pick up an affordable welder and somehow learn on my rust eyesores. What welder are you using if you don’t mind me asking?

 

Thanks! Go for it, it's a seriously handy skill to have. There's obviously a learning curve, but if you practice on some scrap metal and make sure you're getting good penetration the visual quality is 2nd.

 

I've been using a Lincoln 140, which I really like. Was relatively inexpensive, but really does good work and is simple to setup/tweak. Make sure you go with gas shielded; it is quite possible to weld sheetmetal with flux-core, but is way more of a pain and likely to blow holes in the metal.

 

https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-ca/equipment/Pages/product.aspx?product=K2658-1(LincolnElectric)

[MikeRL411]

14 hours ago, Noll said:

 

Thanks! Go for it, it's a seriously handy skill to have. There's obviously a learning curve, but if you practice on some scrap metal and make sure you're getting good penetration the visual quality is 2nd.

 

I've been using a Lincoln 140, which I really like. Was relatively inexpensive, but really does good work and is simple to setup/tweak. Make sure you go with gas shielded; it is quite possible to weld sheetmetal with flux-core, but is way more of a pain and likely to blow holes in the metal.

 

https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-ca/equipment/Pages/product.aspx?product=K2658-1(LincolnElectric)

 

Good old Lincoln squirt gun !

[Noll]

7 hours ago, MikeRL411 said:

 

Good old Lincoln squirt gun !

 

Yep! Nothing fancy, but does the job well and it's pretty versatile.

 

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Carried on where I left off last time by fixing the front kick panel that the cowl drain goes through and the other bits around it that needed work.

Took a little, but got the curve right.




Welded in, and template for the kick panel in progress. Shoutout to cereal boxes.




To metal, and welded in. Once I get to the bodywork stage I'll clean the hole out a little with a flap wheel on my die grinder.






Ground down the welds on the floor/inside, and got the clutch footrest in.

 

I'll deal with that rust under the inner wing at some point in the future; possibly when I have the car on its side so I don't have to weld the outer panel back on from below.

 

 

[Noll]

Well, my wheels have finally arrived! Can't wait to get this thing done. Stepped back and just stood there grinning for a minute once it was on.

Going to get tires on tomorrow so I can see how much I need to lower for my desired rideheight. Still need to decide if I want to paint the wheels, but the clear finish is growing on me.



It's sitting at slight positive camber currently, so once I get camber plates on, roll the fender lips, and possibly do a a degree or two of neg camber it should all fit perfectly.




 

[Spoona_Jay21]

Great work dude! excited to see it slowly Taking Shape! Between You and "Soup Classic Auto's" on YouTube, Ya'll have motivated me to Hopefully pick up a welder this weekend, and start repairs on the 720's Sheetmetal! 

 

and.. THOSE WHEELS!!!!!!!!  Fucking DROOLING!!!! 💗💗💗💗

[Noll]

7 hours ago, Spoona_Jay21 said:

Great work dude! excited to see it slowly Taking Shape! Between You and "Soup Classic Auto's" on YouTube, Ya'll have motivated me to Hopefully pick up a welder this weekend, and start repairs on the 720's Sheetmetal! 

 

and.. THOSE WHEELS!!!!!!!!  Fucking DROOLING!!!! 💗💗💗💗

 

Thanks, getting there! Oh nice, I stumbled across a Soup a couple months back, the work he puts into the stop-motion is absurd. Go for it! Nothing more satisfying than having less holes in your vehicle lol.

 

Oh yeah, I am super happy with the wheels. They look even better in person than in pics. I was initially a little unsure as to if I had made the right call when I changed my order, but I am very glad I did now.

[Noll]

Ok, tires are on! Quick photoshop to a rough hide-height.

[Noll]

Got the passenger floor cut out today. This was way easier than it should have been due to rust. Before:








And out. Work will be required, but honestly it looks better than the other side did for how far the rust has spread.






it initially looks like way more of this "shelf" is intact, which is nice.




I have replacement panels for most of this stuff, and the inner wheelarch is an easy patch.





"For sale - datsun floor, only used once"




This came in today too; will be super useful for eliminating oil-canning on the hatch, roof, and hood.




next up is to weld in bracing then cut the rocker off.

Edited December 4, 2019 by Noll

[grannyknot]

Hey Noll, didn't know you were over here, love the wheels, keep it up.

[Noll]

Just now, grannyknot said:

Hey Noll, didn't know you were over here, love the wheels, keep it up.

 

 

Yep! I've thought about making a thread on Hybridz too, but feel like I'm wayyyy to far along at this point to play catch-up in that regard. Thanks! It's definitely getting there, can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

 

Been meaning to ask you - how's the front hood strut conversion holding up? I saw that on your build thread for your grey Z, and figured it looked like a really solid idea to steal for my car haha.

[grannyknot]

The little gas struts, yes they work well, I'm still looking for a strut that pushes up with a bit more force but these are okay. I only did it to gain more room for a cold air intake and filter.

[Noll]

4 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

The little gas struts, yes they work well, I'm still looking for a strut that pushes up with a bit more force but these are okay. I only did it to gain more room for a cold air intake and filter.

 

Good to hear! I'll do some research before buying the ones spec'd in your post to see if there's anything stronger. I don't have a need for them from that perspective as of yet, but I figure it'll clean things up a bit and makes life easier for me in the future if i do ever do an engine swap and require more space for an intercooler etc - I'll make the mounts now before painting everything at once. Plus, I am considering getting some hellas mounted behind the grille for extra nighttime light, and the lack of torsion bar would open up mounting spots more.

 

[Homeboyx]

Looks like you’re just blasting away at this project! Those wheels look on point as they are for my taste. By the way, would you recommend getting a multiprocessor welder or to just stick to a one type welder? 
 

p.s. noob question, but how is that shrinking disk used exactly? Never seen one before.. 🤔

Edited December 6, 2019 by Homeboyx

[Noll]

2 hours ago, Homeboyx said:

Looks like you’re just blasting away at this project! Those wheels look on point as they are for my taste. By the way, would you recommend getting a multiprocessor welder or to just stick to a one type welder? 
 

p.s. noob question, but how is that shrinking disk used exactly? Never seen one before.. 🤔

 

Thanks! Hoping to have it roadworthy early this upcoming summer, but there is still a ton left to do.

 

I don't have any experience with the multiprocess stuff as of yet, but I'd imagine it's a case of them being good as long as you aim for the middle of the price range or above. So far I haven't run into anything my MIG can't do on this project.

 

It'll be my first time using one too, but the principle is basically that if you heat up metal and cool it quickly, it shrinks - same reason welding can make panels wavy etc if you add too much heat. The disk applies friction to the high spots (flat disk means it will only touch the raised areas), then you cool with water or compressed air and repeat.

[Homeboyx]

Let me know how that disk works out for you, I’ve only seen the little torch with hammer and dolly method so I’m definitely curious to see if that actually works like it shows on the demonstration video. 

[Noll]

10 hours ago, Homeboyx said:

Let me know how that disk works out for you, I’ve only seen the little torch with hammer and dolly method so I’m definitely curious to see if that actually works like it shows on the demonstration video. 

Oh for sure, will do! May give it a shot on the hatch tomorrow.

[Noll]

Still a bunch of little flattening to do to get the hatch properly smooth, but that's the bulk of the work done.

 

And started cutting the unneeded stuff off the rocker to prep for welding it back together properly:

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Noll

[Homeboyx]

Sweet! Good to know the disk worked out for you. I’m definitely going to pick one up when my time comes.

[Noll]

More rocker work today.

Cut out most of the bad:






This corner shouldn't actually be too bad to fix.




And began the process of mixing and matching bits to make one complete rocker.

[Noll]

Bunch more patching done, the rocker is nearly ready to go on once the welds are cleaned up and I rebuild the bits it welds to on the car.

[Draker]

Nice work on this!! Stick with it!

 

 

[Noll]

On 12/13/2019 at 11:52 AM, Draker said:

Nice work on this!! Stick with it!

 

 

 

Thanks! It's been a long haul so far, but this side if the car is going way faster now that I've done it once.

 

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Worked on the rear interior floor corner today. Turned this:




into this:



Next up will be to get the unibody structure and seatbelt stuff in that area rebuilt.

[Homeboyx]

Probably a dumb question but where do you get the replacement metal you’re welding on? Always a metal yard or do you salavge it? Thicknesses?

[WAGON JON]

This is by far the most impressive, jaw-dropping, fantastic, enthusiastic, mind-blowing, pile of junk to mountain of glory car builds I have ever witnessed! My hat is off to you and many accolades!!! Keep on going and don't stop until your done!! This is fully a grass-roots build. 😎

Edited December 15, 2019 by WAGON JON