My RB26 260Z Project

[EF Ian]

All repair parts have been ordered, most will be arriving in time for metal work to start some time in January.








I decided to change my mirrors, this will take them off the doors and clean up the bodylines more, I'll not be using the bracket that they come with, I will be machining up an alloy bracket to mount them to the window frame.

 

[ossy2004]

keep up the great work

 

[Ged]

Will be worth doing it right in the end, takes longer costs more but theres nothing to keep you up at night. Looking foward to more!

 

[rupertfinch]

Yes. Yes Sir. Keep at it - this will be epic. I shall look forward to their FB updates.

 

[mayweather]

Looking forward to updates!

 

[robbiers2000]

Any updates love this thing

 

[EF Ian]

Any updates love this thing

Should be very soon.





Final parts arrived in March from Canada:

Metalwork should be starting very soon, this week or next. She was brought into the workshop on Friday last week. Can't wait to see some progress.

 

[chopaholic]

Can't wait to see some progress Ian.

 

[svensktoppen]

So doing up an old Datsun counts as essential work so they can still go to the workshop and work at it - excellent

Nice to see it's moving along! These things take time.

 

[EF Ian]

Can't wait to see some progress Ian.

Likewise

So doing up an old Datsun counts as essential wor

Of course it does

And to be fair its in the middle of no where, there is no risk of him coming into contact with anyone there or on the way there.

 

[svensktoppen]

No worries, I don't care, just great to see that some things are still happening despite all the palaver

He's probably bored silly like the rest of us as well and just happy to do anything just to do something. You might get it finished quicker this way with nothing much else to distract him

 

[EF Ian]

You might get it finished quicker this way with nothing much else to distract him

Unfortunately not, all they do are restore cars and they have a massive amount to get through, on a positive note though, at least it doesn't look like it will delay the work at all.

Current plan is to have it ready for pre paintwork by September, but I won't have it back until near the end of this year.

 

[EF Ian]

 

[PeteMoore]

You're not going to want to drive it when you get it back!
Going to be stunning once again.

 

[EF Ian]

You're not going to want to drive it when you get it back!

I miss driving it so much I don't think that will be an issue, still probably the most fun car I've ever driven. Properly Addictive. However it will always be on my mine how hard it would be to fix, how hard body parts are to get and the cost of it. Crashing for example a 100K sports car that only 5 or 6 years old in no really a problem, but when its a car you built yourself based on a shell that over 4 years old its much worse as its near impossible to replace, even with money.

Going to be stunning once again.

I can't wait, especially with the improvements.



Will still need some work done by you before it sees the road again. Like the sump and fitting of the Vibrant HD Clamps. How happy are you at building headers? I want to see if I can fit in an equal length down pipe on her, but I realise this is complicated.

 

[stevieturbo]

Once it's built and finished....make moulds of all the panels for future use and composite replacements if needed.

 

[EF Ian]

Sneak Peek

Dave will be giving me as much room as possible for wheels, if I can gain even 1 or 2 cm clearance that would be great.

 

[Ged]

Loving the progress on this, Are yiu going to "tub it" or just try and widen the body around it?

 

[EF Ian]

Are yiu going to "tub it" or just try and widen the body around it?

Realistically I won't gain much as its not really being tubbed or anything, but we will squeeze as much extra room from the lips as possible and perhaps try to space the rear quarters out very slightly since both are being cut out anyway and requite metal work. I will only be going from 225 tyres to 245 tyres so I don't need a huge amount more.




Some photo updates from last weeks work:

Plenty of hidden rust so I am glad its all being removed properly from all the hidden areas.

 

[EF Ian]

The quarter panel repairs sections don't fit great, but they can be made to work and its still better than starting from scratch.

Long way to go but its nice to see it started.

 

[svensktoppen]

Crikey, that's serious work going on there!

You'd better get wide-A wheels and tyres to fill that out - doesn't matter if you actually need them, it will just look so cool

 

[Big Pimp]

Dear lord. Between you and @Ged I don’t know who is madder!!!

awesome project tho...

 

[Ged]

Dear lord. Between you and @Ged I don’t know who is madder!!!

awesome project tho...

Ive never had the pleasure of meeting @EF Ian but im sure hes suitably mad lol

Those arches widened just a little will make it look class really add to the agresivness of it once its back on all 4's.

Curious to see what other things your going to change along the way, as I always find things I could have done better or differently after I get driving something.

 

[rupertfinch]

I always feel a little voyeuristic when this pops up on Resto Shacks Facebook feed. Love it. Can not wait to see the end result.

 

[EF Ian]

You'd better get wide-A wheels and tyres to fill that out - doesn't matter if you actually need them, it will just look so cool

She'll not look much different to stock so the wells will be very full of tyre. Although I am playing with ideas. The problem with any widening is there is only about 3-4 inches in front of the arches before the doors, that doesn't give much area to fade in wider arches and makes it very difficult to do and with the bumper only about 1.5" off the rear its even harder there.

Dear lord. Between you and @Ged I don’t know who is madder!!!

awesome project tho...

Thanks.

Nothing wrong with being mad, possibly a good thing. If I am mad, I'm quite happy being so.

Ive never had the pleasure of meeting @EF Ian but im sure hes suitably mad lol

Will hopefully meet at an RMS meet sometime in the future.

Those arches widened just a little will make it look class really add to the aggressiveness of it once its back on all 4's.

Will see what can be worked, probably will end up very little in trying to keep the overall look as close as possible to original style.

Curious to see what other things your going to change along the way, as I always find things I could have done better or differently after I get driving something.

Thats a good thing about driving it before bodywork, I have a list of improvements being made around the car. Some will be unseen and many you would only know if you had seen it before.

Can not wait to see the end result.

Still so far off. Can not wait to be driving it again, as much as I love the projects, this thing just begs to be driven. And at least once its done I can set up my garage and save up for another project to be completed slowly by me in my garage over many years while slowly expanding my tool/equipment collection.



Although I am also hoping this project gets enough Investment to go ahead and start production and I start working for them. By the way, if anyone is interested in having one and putting some money in let me know.