My 240sx to 350sx restoration/conversion build thread

[Taylor008]

Looks REALLY clean. I've stripped out the sound deadening, now I just have a little bit of the residue that I need to get off so I can paint! I'll try the paint thinner. Keep it up!

[SirSilvia]

looks amazing so far man

[stylepointzz]

WOW. thank you for the inspiration. Keep up the good work. /subscribed

[jesse_tijero7]

freakin....NICE!!! im starting to do that to the s13 HB shell i just bought...ur thread helped me out a lot man.ill sum pics soon.

[s13importuner7]

your like a god. that is so clean! makes me want to do this to mine. what kind of noise insulin did you use for the first layer? is dynamat anygood? how much did all that cost you? just for the first layer. looks amazing dude. nice work!

[d3m14n]

good stuff man. the paint thinner worked like a charm on that tar residue. thanks for sharing such an informative and inspirational thread.

[gregfarz78]

Another small update I cleaned up the clutch, brake, and gas pedal they were a little dirty and rusty so I painted those too kinda anal I know you'll never see it but I hate rust and I'll know its there lol

Before

After

Everything looks 100x better with a fresh coat of paint

[gregfarz78]

Found a local guy selling near mint 350z cloth seats, got these for $250 I thought it was a steal. Here they are I vacuumed and cleaned them up, a detailing guy gave me a tip use a 8:1 mixture of water to woolite detergent with a soft brissle brush it worked like a charm



I love the feel of these seats BTW but I wouldn't recommend them if you're over say 250lbs, I'm only 150 and they hug me pretty good so they aren't fat guy approved seats
Modified by gregfarz78 at 7:29 PM 4/26/2009

[gregfarz78]

Made a lot of progress this weekend...

The trim in the trunk was ugly and beat up on top of that it was just bare plastic, so I decided to reupholster them and make it look new inspired by Broadfield



I just used speaker enclosure carpet b/c it stretches nicely around odd shapes

vs.

Complete!

Here's what it looked like when I got the car haha

Reupholstered the rear deck too

The old one was SHOT so I cut out a new one

and finished it with carpet

Sun visors dyed black to match the rest of the interior, Dupli Color Vinyl Dye this stuff is really good matches OEM almost perfect

Did the 3rd brake light too from 80s blue to black

Finally installed the headliner

Seat mocked up

[Didderson]

Man this is going to be one clean car. I hope you finish it this summer so we can see it!

[gregfarz78]

Man this is going to be one clean car. I hope you finish it this summer so we can see it!

lol I wish man but probably won't happen this year, when the interior is finished I need to wait till we move my garage is too tiny to do any body or engine work and my HOA would flip if I pulled it out into my driveway

[Brandon1605]

Ok, the vinyl die you are using, does it work on the dash and plastic trim? My interior is a dark brown. Now, the trim and stuff is no issue... I could just try to find black replacements, but the dash is another issue entirely. So, would this stuff work on all of the vinyl/plastic? And have you had any time to see how it wears and holds up with age?

[gregfarz78]

Ok, the vinyl die you are using, does it work on the dash and plastic trim? My interior is a dark brown. Now, the trim and stuff is no issue... I could just try to find black replacements, but the dash is another issue entirely. So, would this stuff work on all of the vinyl/plastic? And have you had any time to see how it wears and holds up with age?

It works on the plastic trim I've sprayed a few peices b/c mine was blue and it looks great, the key is prep make sure you clean the old dirty trim really really well get all the dirt/oil/grime off of it first. Don't know if I would use it on the dash might be worth a shot I mean its only $7/can and you would probably need 2 cans to do the entire dash. Not sure how it will hold up b/c the car hasn't been driven in a long time but I did a scratch test to see if it would chip off easily and it didn't. It wasn't that great on the carpet it worked but kinda makes the carpet stiff.

[urcaptnspeaking]

It will work on the dash nicely if you do prep it right (liek greg said)

GREG! the carpet yes it makes it "stiff" take a tire cleaning brush or any scrub brush and scrub in small circles over the entire carpet. It will "break up" the fibers and make it feel factory again. It was a trick I used when I worked at a car lot (trial and error methods) which worked the best for me. Get back to me after/if you do this and tell me how it worked for you.

Also by using the same dye greg used on the carpet for the headliner works really well too and looks REALLY good. But make sure you even out the color. If youre not careful you may have a darker spot than the rest or vise versa. Use the brush method (mentioned above) on the headliner too for a factory feel (check out my build thread in my Sig on how i did it)

[Brandon1605]

Thanks for the info. I plan to follow this thread since Im considering a full tear down like the OP is doing to get everything clean. Greg, how would you recommend cleaning the under side of the car? Mine has a ton of road grime and sludge looking stuff from an ongoing oil leak. Once I fix the oil leak, I really want to get it as clean as I possibly can. I know it wont stay clean, but I cant see leaving it the way it is now. Ill try to get a pic later if I can. Any suggestions?

Oh, and where did you get the die?

[gregfarz78]

The underside will be a bit harder the guy I bought the car off of did it for me, good use of a fork lift don't ya think lol



unless you can put it on a rotisserie or have access to a lift I guess just get some simple green or something and start scrubbing away with a brush

[j-z]

very sweet and clean project you got going on there!! if i were to do another street 240 this is how i would do it!! very scrumptious bro

[Brandon1605]

Yea, I have access to a lift. I run a small automotive repair shop, so I have a full garage at my disposal. Did he use degreasers? I have a pressure washer and all the Purple Power I can throw at it, so if that will work, Ill do it tonight.

Also:

tooltopia.comSEM Paints (SEM15243) Color Coat - Satin BlackPart#: SEM15243Manufacturer Part#: annv-pb(Qty: 2 x $11.13)Discounted Item. You Paid: $10.02

Twice the price of normal spray paint but everything I've read people rave about it so I'll see how good it actually is. I tried the krylon fusion in my spec v its a decent match but still has a little sheen to it so I'll see how this works and take a side by side comparison pic.

Did you ever use this stuff and how did it turn out?

[gregfarz78]

So this weekend's project was removing the crappy tint off the rear windshield. I did a little research and no one really had a good way to remove tint w/o damaging the rear defroster unless you have access to a steamer to steam it off which I don't. I almost said screw it I'll just take out the rear window and buy a new one but I had some aircraft stripper laying around and its some nasty stuff so figured got nothing to lose lets give it a shot. To my surprise it worked great, sprayed it on let it sit for 15-20 mins and it ate away at the old tint then I scrape it right off, repeat a few times till its all gone. It wasn't easy probably spent 4-6 hours but at least I saved a few hundred on buying a new windshield. BTW after all that work its eventually going to get retinted probably 5-10% but I had to get all the old crap off anyway. Do yourself a favor if you buy DIY tint don't get the cheap stuff b/c its a b**** to get off

Before:

After

Someone here told me it would eat through the glass all I have to say to that is LOL

[Ajax]

I'm thoroughly impressed by that window job. My hatch glass is nicked here and there and is technically not legal so I may need to try this at some point.

[irax]

please tell me your going to repaint it two tone? please, there doesn't need to be any more destroying of classic two tone cars.

[1990-240sxsr20det]

Wow man this is looking awesome! I love how clean it is already. The red dash support is hawt and the headlines looks really clear..hell the whole this does. Keep up the awesome work

[1990-240sxsr20det]

*headliner

sorry

[a_ahmed]

woah subscribed nice work

[law]

Great work..very inspiring. keep it up

[Fidel_Cashflo]

This is a badass project build, Im gonna order that carpet kit, and I really just wanna say your amazing... I could never have the time or patience to do something so tedious as to take down and prep every single piece of a vehicle.. Mad props bro..

[DJ Raijin]

if I had a 240, this is how I would do it. Sil40 style with a VQ35 in it. I/H/E and a nice suspension set up with a good tune. I think it would be a blast to drive.

Big up for this epic undertaking.

[gregfarz78]

please tell me your going to repaint it two tone? please, there doesn't need to be any more destroying of classic two tone cars.

lol I'm still debating all OEM white or charcoal gray or maybe two tone it with both...thats a while off yet I'll have to do some photoshopping

[ca18detgabby]

dear god this is unbelieveably clean.

[White Comet]

my vote is for the green 2 tone but it'll look good with the other color choices too