Remember how I said earlier that those TV shows lead one to believe that a "build" can be completed in days or weeks, or even months? Well, that's simply not the case. To do it right, there is a lot of assembly, disassembly, reassembly, and so on. This build is no different.
A few weeks went by where ALL we did was ponder the reassembly process after paint. Since the car would be stripped of every last bolt, nut, and fastener, this HAD to be right. With the car mostly assembled, sitting on a set of crappy 350Z rollers (for ease of movement), we could envision the entire reassembly process.
We slapped on some rattle-can primer to make it look uniform. The ZG flares were fitted and modified, and the holes were drilled. Since these would be attached with stainless button-head fasteners, I used a nutsert tool to place the nuts in the fenders for easy installation (and removal, in case one gets scraped or dinged). If anything needed to be test-fitted, cut, welded, or modified, now was the time.
Some small stuff came to mind, but by and large, I think she's ready for the next act.
NOW comes the painstaking process of disassembling the entire car, in order to prep for paint. I cleared off an entire bank of shelves, started collecting boxes and bags, broke out the labelmaker, and removed everything in the reverse order of assembly. Obviously, since it would be going back on the rotisserie, I needed to leave the suspension for last.
Lots of photos, lots of notes, and lots of organizing... Not knowing how long body and paint work would take, I had to be prepared to lose a lot of details (ones memory isn't what it used to be, so take notes kids!)
With the car completely stripped and back on the rotisserie, it was time to do some of the things on our list in preparation for paint.
One of these tasks was to reinforce the front fender lip. Since the fenders were cut to accommodate the ZG flares, I was concerned about the loss of rigidity from removing the fender lip. I recall seeing an episode of Full Custom Garage where Ian had addressed this very issue. Off to the metal shop to buy 1/8" diameter steel tubing.
Stripping the old paint (and our quickie primer):
Using my tubing straightener (from the custom brake line section earlier), I recalled that if the rollers on the tool are a little too tight, it will curl the metal rather than straightening it. I measured the length I needed for each fender, ran it through the straightener, and eventually achieved an exact replica of the fender lip curvature. Lots of tack welds and the fenders were stiffer than factory!
You can also see the nutserts for the flare attachment in the pics below.
Another smallish project - I wanted to replace the mounting studs in the "sugar scoops" (headlight housings) with larger, more sturdy bits. I welded in some M6x1.0 studs, which will allow them to be tightened firmly to the fenders.
