My RB26 260Z Project

[svensktoppen]

Just stick to what fits Ian and have fun. If you want to race seriously then you want slicks anyway, so don't go overboard while it's primarily a road car.

 

[svensktoppen]

You're bound to know about these guys, but this looks cool

MZR 50 Anniversary – MZR Roadsports

No idea what their conversions cost, no doubt eye-watering, lol.

 

[EF Ian]

Yeah, been following them for a while.

Their prices start at £90k base so the MZR 50 will most likely be over £100k. Beautiful cars though. I always wanted to make and sell singer style S30's, they just beat me to it. To be fair I'd never have had enough money to start something like that.



I must update this thread sometime.

 

[IL]

@EF Ian where are you at with her now?

 

[EF Ian]

Shes with Restoshack, just waiting for them to make a start, hopefully wont be long now, can't wait. Aiming to get her back from them around November, so its going to be a long process.


I'll perhaps redo the rear wiring while home in July, at least the main part of it, I can leave the end and connections to do once I have the car there. Would also be good to get the sump ready for the engine to go back in, must liaise with @PeteMoore about this.

 

[EF Ian]

So a little update. The car is with Restoshack and work is underway, currently waiting on it getting blasted and unfortunately the blaster can't do it until Mid August. Before that happens mounts will be made for the rotisserie, anything needing shaved in the engine bay will be removed, and underneath the underseal will all be scraped off.



On her way to England, I used CCRS and definitely can recommend them.

At the other side:

Some part updates:

Got a wiper motor from a Honda Civic to refurb, this should be a decent upgrade to the original motor, not that I plan to need the wipers much.

Converted my gauge wiring harness to a quick disconnect autosport bulkhead connector and added an oil temperature sensor as I stupidly forgot to include one originally.

Will be refurbing and using a finned diff cover to make sure my OS Giken CLSD doesn't get too hot.

The intercooler will be converted to Vibrant HD clamps

Will be upgrading the drop mounts and dog bone to these billet units. It does annoy me that the caps are black so I will be changing them to gunmetal grey, at the moment I am thinking that all the suspension parts underneath will go gunmetal grey.

I have sound deadening ready for the rebuild:

 

[EF Ian]

Stripdown

 

[EF Ian]

Stripped and mounted to a trolley:



Most of this lot won't be going back on. It will look a whole lot nice afterwards. Finned diff, adjustable arms, billet drop mounts and dogbone and the moustache bar and driveshafts will be refreshed.

Test fitting the super light wings, these things way nothing, I want to reinforce them a bit so they will end up slightly heavier but will still be a decent weight saving over stock, coupled with the dry carbon bonnet and that should save about 16kg from the front end.

And one thing I messed up on during engine bay resto, didn't remove the bonnet hinge mounts and this was underneath. You learn from your mistake, not making any mistakes like that this time, everything has come off.

 

[IL]

FairPlay for doing round two on this.. haven’t read the last few pages but are you keeping it a road car or going further track focused?

 

[EF Ian]

FairPlay for doing round two on this.. haven’t read the last few pages but are you keeping it a road car or going further track focused?

Thanks, Its a long and expensive road but it will be worth it. Can't wait to see it looking better than new and in 100% mint condition everywhere.

Use will be the same as before, mostly road but with track day and drag strip capability.

 

[svensktoppen]

Full commitment, full Kudos

Looks like you're in good hands there

 

[EF Ian]

Full commitment, full Kudos

Made me think of deadpool for some reason.

Looks like you're in good hands there

Yes, I believe Resto shack will do a top class job, happy to find somewhere I an trust to leave my car and not worry about any shortcuts being made as its not like they are just a drive down the road and I can't just call in often.

 

[svensktoppen]

A place like that lives and dies by its reputation.

There are no certainties in this world but they'll likely be as good a set of hands as you'll find.

Great to see they make the effort to keep you updated as well, not just a black hole where you drop the car in and then something comes out two years later with no idea what's happened in between.

 

[EF Ian]

There are no certainties in this world but they'll likely be as good a set of hands as you'll find.

Yeah, I believe so.

Great to see they make the effort to keep you updated as well, not just a black hole where you drop the car in and then something comes out two years later with no idea what's happened in between.

Another thing that helps you trust them. They send me weekly updates and send me a lot of photos of all the work they do and will message me if theres anything they are not sure about. They are't actually taking bookings anymore as they are booked solid for over a year, they are building up a very good reputation.

 

[Ben P]

Wow some work going on for sure. Should be a very sorted car when you have it finished.

Excuse my ignorance bit did this car not have a restore/repaint by Ag Automotive in the past year or two?

Why the change. Sorry if covered already I haven't read the whole thread

 

[EF Ian]

Wow some work going on for sure. Should be a very sorted car when you have it finished.

Thats the hope, want it better than new, mint body and paint, shell stiffer than original, sorted brakes, engine, gearbox, drive-chain and suspension, new bushes, bearings, bolts and ball-joints all round. Then I'll just maintain it the best I can.

Excuse my ignorance bit did this car not have a restore/repaint by Ag Automotive in the past year or two?

Why the change. Sorry if covered already I haven't read the whole thread

We just did the front end, everything from the windscreen forward, that should all be good apart from the areas we missed behind the bonnet hinge mounts. Now the body is apparently mint, but there were some areas on the shell (inner) that needed work, floor pans, some parts around where the steering column mounts and the inside bottom of the scuttle panel area and two 10p sized rust holes where the rear inner wells join the floor.

This all started from the minor crash when someone pulled out right in front of me (Click for link >>> My RB26 260Z Project ) That needed repaired and I don't want to be doing body work on this again (if left I'd only end up doing the bay a third time eventually as the rust on the inside of the bulkhead would eventually appear though to the bay) so decided best to do the whole car at once properly and then I can be confident its rust free everywhere while leaving it mint outside, inside and underneath and at the same time I can make some improvements to the engine bay cosmetics post swap and add some touches to the chassis that I want in order to add stiffness as I've decided not to run a cage.

 

[EF Ian]

Some of the alterations to the bay:

1: Both holes for headlight wires being removed, they will be tucked to run underneath the front.
2: Bolt holes being removed/smoothed
3: All spot weld dimples being smoothed off
4: Washer fitting being relocated inside scuttle panel for cleaner look thus removing both the fittings and the tube going to them
5 & 6: Unused brackets being removed
7: Wiper wiring and hole through bulkhead being removed, wiring will be run under scuttle panel from far side of bay
8: Unused bolt holes being removed
9: More unused bolt holes
10: Yet more bolt holes to be removed and smoothed
11: Wanted to relocate this but couldn't find anywhere else suitable
12: The pass side hole for the intercooler piping is being enlarged as its too tight a fit at the moment an I want change this to an HD clamp fitting.
13: There are some more areas not visible in the photos where there are holes, unused brackets and so on that will also see work.

 

[svensktoppen]

Serious OCD there, it looks immaculate already there to me

All in the detail, do it right once

 

[rupertfinch]

I follow them on Facebook and got excited when it appeared on their feed. I suspect you won’t be disappointed! It will be stunning.

 

[EF Ian]

Serious OCD there, it looks immaculate already there to me

All in the detail, do it right once

Yeah, it probably is a bit of OCD. I'm sure I've spent hours standing and staring while trying to find ways to improve it.

All in details, its what makes it stand out, even if I'm the only one who notices.

I follow them on Facebook and got excited when it appeared on their feed. I suspect you won’t be disappointed! It will be stunning.

I expect so. Never seen less than exceptional work from them.

 

[EF Ian]

So, since I can't help with the body restoration (still waiting to get blasted anyhow) I've been doing what I can with the parts I have with me.


Starting with the starter:

Then the propshaft, I thought this was going to be an easy job, but there was rust under the paint so I had to take it all back to bare metal:

Thottle Pedal. Unlike the other items I decided to have this one powedercoated.

Going to be updating to this Honda wiper motor as the original one is a bit lame:

I'm not putting something looking like that in my restored car though.


Thats better:

Some parts only needed a clean:

Next I turned my attention to the heater box:

Radiator was looking a bit rusty and the foam around the core had disintegrated

 

[EF Ian]

Lastly it was on to the fan box. This was looking a bit sorry for itself.

Took it apart:

I cleaned all the parts up and removed all the old foam which had turned to powder

Sent some parts for blasting with TJC powdercoating

Primed them:

Sprayed them, wasn't easy as the one on the right has lots of brackets, gaps, internal parts, edges and so on which all needed to be properly coated. Also for larger jobs like this I really need to get an air/water separator. A 300L compressor was planned as part of my garage extension but that hasn't happened yet so still working from a small one.

Started reassembly:

All back together and with the foam all replaced and the heater core flushed it should operate better than before. They definitely don't look >40 years old now.

 

[da.murf]

fantastic work so far!! going to be amazing when finished!!!

 

[TalkToFrank]

Lethal!

 

[svensktoppen]

You have far too much time on your hands, lol Good work!

Be careful with the radiator, looks like you painted it? That will reduce its efficiency.