I've decided that it is time to build one of my dream cars. I've wanted a classic Z car since I was probably 15 or 16. When I first got interested in cars the cars that I dreamed about were classic mustangs and Z's. 6-7 years later I've finally gotten started on my dream weekend cruiser.
The base for the project is a 1971 240z. All original (so far as I know) with 88k, this particular example of the breed has been sitting for a good long time. The last inspection sticker is for 1981 so its been off the road for 28 years, though it remained in running condition for a good portion of that time.
The original owner of the car was rear ended in it after some years of driving it and for whatever reason got so disgusted that he parked the car in his garage. 15 years later he died and his widow sold the car to the guy I got it from. It passed out of his ownership and back into it before I purchased it from him.
The condition of the car now is pretty good, especially for rust-prone original Z's. It has very little rust and what rust there is does not appear to be serious. The interior is pretty well gone from age and sun, and there are some rubs here and there that will need to be massaged out, but nothing serious.
I picked the car up last Saturday before heading to mineral wells for the drift event and the same day picked up my RB25 from mrhollister. The RB will be the new powerplant for the old Z. The L-series is a cool engine, but I have a fondness for the RB25 left over from the swap I did into chixwithtrix's 240sx.
Pics:
There's a lot to do so I don't really have a detailed plan of attack but the project should go about in this order:
Tear-down and inspection:- Inspect L-series engine for condition and attempt to get running before selling- Strip all interior and exterior panels off the car- Strip the car of paint- Inspect everything for rust damageRestoration and bodywork- Repair any rust damage found in tear-down- Metalwork to repair dents and dings, mostly on roof- Shave some markers and body lines- Modify stock fenders for overfendersFabrication- Mock up RB25 and make motor mounts if necessary- Weld in chassis bracing (no cage, just reinforcement)- Determine what power-steering rack to use- Cut holes as necessary for intercooler, radiator, air conditioning, etcRebuild- Too much to list here but I'll be rebuilding the car from the sheet metal up with nice new and refinished parts. This will take the bulk of my time and money.
Wish me luck everyone, this will be a long and expensive project, but I hope to have one of the nicer engine-swapped Z's in Texas once I get it finished.
I also just picked up a free 280Z shell today. Not in near as good a shape as the 240, but it is salvageable... not sure what I'll end up doing with it. It would be easiest to part it out and use some of it for the 240 and make money on the rest but there's just a part of me that wants to work on it and see it run. I'll probably try and convince a buddy of mine from Houston to come up and restore it along side my 240. Its hard to pass up a free Z...
It does have nice clean un-dented fenders which will be making their way over to my 240 as soon as I make sure there's no bondo hidden somewhere. I'll also be borrowing some of the interior from the 280 for the 240, but thats a while off anyway.
Modified by iBang at 5:12 PM 2/28/2009
