My RB26 260Z Project

[EF Ian]

Answer this question - not to us, none of us matter or have any say what so ever and you should pay no attention at all to any of us.

No, but listening to the viewpoints of others can help you make the right choice sometimes.

Make a list and think about it, 20k is a ****load in anyone's book.

I'm a simple guy, the list is short, so that helps. Pretty much, concrete the lane, get the car sorted, garage, get a boring practical car. Thats about it,luckily my house doesn't really require anything doing right now.

All assuming of course that you have the funds and don't need to get into debt and all that. Then it's a different equation.

I'd never do anything that would put me in a risk of being close to debt, only thing I've ever bought which I didn't buy outright is my house.

I've been saving my ass off for a while for this project. And it not as bad as it seems, I did get £8500 from insurance towards this, although a lot of that has already gone on bonnet, wings and other front end parts.

What does the £20k actually consist of? Is it just the repaint and fix the poor areas in the engine bay that you’ve mentioned? Or is there more involved?

No, way more involved, hence the £15k quote (not incuding vat or me getting the car there and back or extra costs from unexpected work)
Full back to bare metal
Repair any rust found
Repair crash damage
Some modifications to the bay I want done
Chassis stiffening - extending chassis frame rails to join up with rear subframe, some seam welding at rear, strengthening bars added to front traction rod area.
Full epoxy primer, colour primer, top coat then wet sanding to perfect finish.
Underneath will be done in high grade colour matched undercoat
All the metal work is done properly using old school hammers, wheels, stretchers and so on, minimal poly filler as they use lead filler for everything apart from the final minor areas.


Does it need full bare metal, possibly not, but only one way to find out and it would be much more expensive in the long term to just respray over the current body if it is hiding something that may come out in the next 5 years. At least if I go to bare metal I know exactly what I have. Could turn out the body, other than the floor pans I know about is perfectly mint and I could have saved a lot of money, . 95% of people who looked at the car would say its mint already but previous projects have taught me its better to do it all in one go and be sure. Theres also no way I could mentally handle having to strip the car for body repairs again.

The effort you've put into the car already, you should finish it. It might not be to as high a standard as you say, but it would be satisfactory to you obviously. And judging by this thread (from memory) it won't be half assed! You finish it, to your standard. It might take longer, but will be easier on the pocket. I would feel more satisfaction if it was me.

It will be finished either way, but if you mean finish it as in to the highest standard possible then I am with you.

I never realised the price of these things!

Oh yes, proper high end restoration work costs a fortune, skilled labour and a crazy amount of hours to do it properly is the reason. A lot of bodyshops do a decent but quick metal repair and a good coat of filler, nothing wrong with it, most people wouldn't pay for or need or want the next level up but its not the same standard as work finished so well in the metal you could almost just clear coat straight over it. I've had enough of repair work rusting out after a year or two, needs to be done right this time.

To repair for a example a very rusty S30 shell you could pick up these days for say £10k you would likely need to spend £30k all in to have the work done to the same standard.

Alternatively finish the garage and then do as much of the build yourself as possible.

Most of the build is done, at least what I can do myself, while I have bodywork experience I could never match the perfection of a pro in my garage.

I do want it finished before my next project though, as I plan for it to be a long term one and do virtually all the work myself, including welding if I ever find time to learn.

Finish it, you seem like the type of person wants it perfect. If you don’t make it perfect you’ll regret it.

To be honest, I'm not sure if you and I would take a similar point of view but when it's completed I would be more worried about wasting 14k on something I wasn't 100% on as opposed to wasting an extra 6k on something that I was so passionate about and into.

This is exactly what I am thinking, with the total cost of the build so far, an extra £6k or so isn't very much to have it finished to a level I am truly happy with and I do not want to regret it down the line.

 

[Lee A]

you only live once, if the money is there do it and finish it to a level you know will be perfect. With the potential resale price in the future I think it's a no brainer

 

[Woodcutter]

No, but listening to the viewpoints of others can help you make the right choice sometimes.



I'm a simple guy, the list is short, so that helps. Pretty much, concrete the lane, get the car sorted, garage, get a boring practical car. Thats about it,luckily my house doesn't really require anything doing right now.



I'd never do anything that would put me in a risk of being close to debt, only thing I've ever bought which I didn't buy outright is my house.

I've been saving my ass off for a while for this project. And it not as bad as it seems, I did get £8500 from insurance towards this, although a lot of that has already gone on bonnet, wings and other front end parts.





No, way more involved, hence the £15k quote (not incuding vat or me getting the car there and back or extra costs from unexpected work)
Full back to bare metal
Repair any rust found
Repair crash damage
Some modifications to the bay I want done
Chassis stiffening - extending chassis frame rails to join up with rear subframe, some seam welding at rear, strengthening bars added to front traction rod area.
Full epoxy primer, colour primer, top coat then wet sanding to perfect finish.
Underneath will be done in high grade colour matched undercoat
All the metal work is done properly using old school hammers, wheels, stretchers and so on, minimal poly filler as they use lead filler for everything apart from the final minor areas.


Does it need full bare metal, possibly not, but only one way to find out and it would be much more expensive in the long term to just respray over the current body if it is hiding something that may come out in the next 5 years. At least if I go to bare metal I know exactly what I have. Could turn out the body, other than the floor pans I know about is perfectly mint and I could have saved a lot of money, . 95% of people who looked at the car would say its mint already but previous projects have taught me its better to do it all in one go and be sure. Theres also no way I could mentally handle having to strip the car for body repairs again.






It will be finished either way, but if you mean finish it as in to the highest standard possible then I am with you.





Oh yes, proper high end restoration work costs a fortune, skilled labour and a crazy amount of hours to do it properly is the reason. A lot of bodyshops do a decent but quick metal repair and a good coat of filler, nothing wrong with it, most people wouldn't pay for or need or want the next level up but its not the same standard as work finished so well in the metal you could almost just clear coat straight over it. I've had enough of repair work rusting out after a year or two, needs to be done right this time.

To repair for a example a very rusty S30 shell you could pick up these days for say £10k you would likely need to spend £30k all in to have the work done to the same standard.




Most of the build is done, at least what I can do myself, while I have bodywork experience I could never match the perfection of a pro in my garage.

I do want it finished before my next project though, as I plan for it to be a long term one and do virtually all the work myself, including welding if I ever find time to learn.






This is exactly what I am thinking, with the total cost of the build so far, an extra £6k or so isn't very much to have it finished to a level I am truly happy with and I do not want to regret it down the line.

I'd be surprised if you can get all that work done, to the standard required, for £20k.

Nevertheless I say do it, and if you don't do it you may as well sell the car as you'll be sick looking at it if it's not done properly.

 

[stevieturbo]

Lets face it...the issue is less of whether it needs done.....but is a case of you want it done.

So do it, otherwise it will forever bug you about the car that you didnt do it.

Although if corrosion is the main concern....strip and blast the underside and lower areas only ? And any areas that need the damage repaired, rather than target the entire vehicle.
That should reduce workload, preparation and any fabrication.

 

[BarryPort]

So, I should be booking this in with Resto Shack this week but I am having trouble committing, I expect including transport there and back and adding some extra to the quote and including VAT it could cost up to £20k. Its so much money to me I have to question myself, sure I want the car right, perfect would be the desired outcome but £20k would finish my garage project and driveway or some garage work and a nice practical daily driver.. Or money for the future next project. However I can't leave it the way it is so I have to spend something on it, would I be annoyed with myself in the future if I don't go all out now?

I'd probably need about £3k once it done to get a new sump made, do some wiring work and pay Sean @ SMD to help me get the engine back in again without ruining the new paint. Although I'm not 100% on using him as if I can find somewhere to use with a lift for two days and get a friend to help I can manage it myself and save money.

What perceived you to believe that Resto Shack would factor in 1100 miles of covered transport into the quote?
If I bought a £20k car down South I wouldn’t expect the seller to offer free delivery.. and that’s just one way!

 

[Marc]

Will you want to drive the car if you get it absolutely mint? What happens if you get it back and get caught out on a wet day? What if it gets stone chips on it?

I think if you spend £20k getting it sorted you will be nervous every time you need to take it out a drive, and what then? Store it in the garage and look at it?

 

[svensktoppen]

I think if you spend £20k getting it sorted you will be nervous every time you need to take it out a drive, and what then? Store it in the garage and look at it?

Funnily enough I went through that exact equation with the Lotus when thinking about sorting out the paint work, etc. (she's at least fifty shades of yellow, bless her, lol ).

And discovered I don't actually care, I enjoy driving and using her, that's what makes me happy. The imperfections are just part of the charm, part of the history, part of the story. Better off using the money to keep her running and just driving and enjoying the car. Lord knows she's always covered from head to toe in dirt anyways

That's why I said "out of all the things you could do, what would make you happier".

Answer that honestly and it might surprise you.

 

[EF Ian]

I'd be surprised if you can get all that work done, to the standard required, for £20k.

Should be ok, keep in mind I shall be handing the car to them and receiving it back from them as a rolling shell and I have already removed all the sound deadening and any other areas I can to minimise their work. Of course this price will go up if there is any unexpected rust found.

Although if corrosion is the main concern....strip and blast the underside and lower areas only ? And any areas that need the damage repaired, rather than target the entire vehicle.
That should reduce workload, preparation and any fabrication.

Its something I could discuss with them if the feel there is no need to do it all. But like I mentioned in a previous post, I am not prepared to find rust appear in a couple of years from somewhere I didn't do because I had tried to save a couple of grand. Rust =

What perceived you to believe that Resto Shack would factor in 1100 miles of covered transport into the quote?
If I bought a £20k car down South I wouldn’t expect the seller to offer free delivery.. and that’s just one way!

I'm sorry, I don't understand, where did I mention that I thought they would or should be adding transport into their quote?

There wasn't even a question or issue about transport? Only mentioning because its an extra over work done in NI.

Will you want to drive the car if you get it absolutely mint? What happens if you get it back and get caught out on a wet day? What if it gets stone chips on it?

I think if you spend £20k getting it sorted you will be nervous every time you need to take it out a drive, and what then? Store it in the garage and look at it?

Potentially, but probably not, wouldn't be any different to how it was before as all the visible parts of the car where already mint and I still drove it a lot, though never in the rain, luckily I've never been caught out by that yet, even when down in Dublin and in England.

 

[EF Ian]

So I've booked her in with Resto Shack, won't be until near April that they can fit me in, so, still a long way off having this on the road again but it does give me more time to save which means it won't be such a stretch.


Will be glad when its all finished, hopefully she'll be looking better than ever and I can be happy its rust free everywhere, never imagined it would be out of action for so long.


So if anyone can recommend options to transport it over there I am open to ideas.





The more I thought about it the more I decided that I had to do it the best I can as I've tried to do everything on this Dream build of mine to the best standards available to me. It could well be the last full on build I do so if I'm going to only get one chance I'll do it right. I do however hope this is not the case though, I plan on another full build once I have bought a practical daily, concreted the lane (hopefully in time for the Datsun being back on the road) and finished my garage so I am able to do the work. It will be a much slower build though because of money, but if it takes me 6 years to do, its all good. I managed this one because I put off buying a house for two years. I kind of want to answer the question which I am possibly the only one to have asked. And that is, can I fit an S85 V10 into an FD3S?

 

[svensktoppen]

Keep the dream alive

 

[Woodcutter]

For transport, speak to Steven at CCRS.

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Do it right and do it once, as you say would be heart braking to find rust or something in a few years because corners were cut.

I tried to do everything right on the Cafe Racer i built, i have it basically as i want it now, people say sure its just an old bike not worth it etc etc, it is to me! And its a keeper so it has to be right

 

[svensktoppen]

That cafe racer is something else

 

[EF Ian]

I tried to do everything right on the Cafe Racer i built, i have it basically as i want it now, people say sure its just an old bike not worth it etc etc, it is to me! And its a keeper so it has to be right

Pretty sure there is no thread for this, all so pretty sure there should have been. I love cafe racers, want one myself sometime.

Doesn't matter what people think as long as you love it and get value from it, some people will never get it. Like my captain who drives an Aston Martin, doesn't understand why I don't just buy a car that needs no work, sure I could have put all the money from this build into a really fancy modern sportscar but than I'd have never have had the satisfaction of designing and building something unique and special myself and it wouldn't give me the same driving satisfaction as this does.

For transport, speak to Steven at CCRS.

Thanks, I'll check them out.

Need to go over with the car myself when they start the work, but it might be better that I just fly over separate so looking at few options before I try and find a trailer, and borrow a pickup and tow it over myself.

 

[RoniN]

Pretty sure there is no thread for this, all so pretty sure there should have been. I love cafe racers, want one myself sometime.

1979 Honda CB550 Café/Brat, Father & Son Build

Brilliant build by @S2K-Aaron

Cheers

 

[S2K-Aaron]

@RoniN
@svensktoppen
@EF Ian

Cheers fellas will update the thread sometime this weekend.

 

[EF Ian]

Looking forward to getting this over to the resto shop in March. Will be great to finally get it started and hopefully have it back on the road this year.

Been keeping myself busy at night sorting some details and parts, got a finned diff cover to go on and keep my OS Giken CLSD cooler, decided to go for a manual line lock on the rear brakes instead of an electronic one on the front in the bay. Decided how I want the underneath to look, got some Vibrant HD Clamps ready to go onto the intercooler as I've never been happy with the hose clamp setup there.




I found a set of wheels I would like and in a size (custom made) that would let me run 245's on the rear under stock arches. This all sounds great until you try find tyres that are 245/44/16 and realise that the only options available that I have fond are Toyo R888R's and Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R's and I'm not sure either of those are what you really want to run on the road all the time.

This leaves the option of having a spare set of two for the rear for extra traction at drag/track events, but if I won't be running them all the time then does it make more sense to get 17's as this opens up a much bigger choice of tyre, 17's look too big on a z but so wouldn't want them all round but for my performance set it would be fine, this would allow me to run 255/40/17 in AD08R's, but then if its a performance only set should I then not be using something like a Trofeo R? But then I can just run this on a 16" setup in 245, does the extra size of the 255 make much difference? I believe I can run a 8.5" wheel in 16" and if I go to 17" I can run a 9" wheels under stock arches due to extra shock clearance, not bad for a car that came stock with 5.5" wheels.

So many questions, and no easy choice, why can't they just make bigger sizes in 16", life would be so much easier.



Would look very similar to these:

Realistically though in 16's the most common size would be 245/45 but that's still only 8" wheel territory. But there are a few makes of tyre in that size or near.

You can go alot wider than that on 16inch performance tyre, but they aren’t cheap I can get you a performance based tyre in a 315 section width. Though they aren’t cheap

Yes Emarked and fully road legal
Go right up to a 315 section width in a 16inch
Various brands also make them

So what tyres you can actually use on the road are available in 245/ 40or45 /16?

 

[acsmyth]

Must be some craic putting the power down with 245 tyres.

Can't wait to see this when it's all sorted!

 

[svensktoppen]

888 are fine on the road in the summer half of the year. Just take care in standing water, but with your car that would be true whatever tyres you run.

They're completely wasted as a road tyre though, you'll never get the full performance out of them tootling about on the road, they need heat in them to get the best out of them. They're also expensive and will wear quickly.

But even running cold on the road they're still better than most road tyres and perfectly safe.

As soon as the temperature drops much below 10 degrees or so it's a different story. You might as well be running on bars of wet soap. This is also true for AD08, T1R, etc.

The Trofeo would be closer to the AD08 - primarily a road tyre designed for road performance primarily, rather than an all out track tyre like the 888. Like the AD08 they too will lose performance very quickly when temperatures drop.

For track use it's the reverse, the 888 are head and shoulders above the others. Easily worth 10-15% over AD08 in terms of lap times, and won't fade. Think cut slicks rather than jumped up road tyre.

The only real competitor would be the A048 and a few trackday specials like that. Also popular as wet tyres for rallying, hill climbs, etc.

Or actual slicks (worth another 10-15% over 888/A048).

 

[EF Ian]

Must be some craic putting the power down with 245 tyres.

Wouldn't know, only run 225's up to now. Actually puts the power down impressively well once the tyres are warmed up. 245 tyres should surely help with first gear traction though and would surely decrease my 0-60, 0-100 and 1/4 mile times.

Can't wait to see this when it's all sorted!

I can't wait for it to be sorted, its been a long road and I've put a lot into it.



@ svensktoppen
Thanks for the info. Sounds like I might be able to give 245/16 Trofeo R's a go and see how they fare and later on can get a second set of wheels once I decide 16 or 17 inch,

 

[IL]

Toyo's are Good, but id be trying some Avon ZZR or ZZS they are due to be released in that size shortly by the looks of the website.

ZZR | Avon Motorsport

 

[EF Ian]

Toyo's are Good, but id be trying some Avon ZZR or ZZS they are due to be released in that size shortly by the looks of the website.

ZZR | Avon Motorsport

Awesome, lets hope that pans out. Thanks for the heads up. Although these will probably be closer to an R888R than to an ADO8R

Whenever I order the wheels I'l order the rear in 8.5" so I'll be able to run either 225 or 245 tyres so I'll not be stuck.

 

[IL]

Awesome, lets hope that pans out. Thanks for the heads up. Although these will probably be closer to an R888R than to an ADO8R

Whenever I order the wheels I'l order the rear in 8.5" so I'll be able to run either 225 or 245 tyres so I'll not be stuck.

don't you have something like 600hp to put down? Can you go wider on the Rim width?

I would normally run a 245 (Avon ACB10) on up to a 10" wide rim for track work, albeit that is on 13" Dia.

 

[EF Ian]

don't you have something like 600hp to put down? Can you go wider on the Rim width?

No, just under 500, can't go any wider on 16's with stock arches, 8.5 is pushing it. Can go up to 9" with 17's at max but 17's look too big for the car so would probably only consider them for track/drag/airstrip work only. 8.5" is already 3" wider than stock.

 

[svensktoppen]

Toyo's are Good, but id be trying some Avon ZZR or ZZS they are due to be released in that size shortly by the looks of the website.

ZZR | Avon Motorsport

All the Lotus sizes too, that's great to see, tyres are getting hard to source in S1 sizes