So this is my project rewind.

 

The OLD mission

 

To restore a 94 UK manual TT back to bone stock. However the car will be run as an OEM+ to include larger wheels and a double din radio with OEM part ready to be refitted for the right occasion.

 

The NEW mission

 

To build my dream OEM+ 300zx

 

History

 

The car was registered in May 94 and given as a company car to a banker.

 

In May 96 the banker bought the car outright and covered a total of 94073 miles. Throughout these years the car was serviced at a local Nissan dealer.

 

In December 2001 a registered forum user bought the car. At this point the owner, Mark, had intended to keep the car and started to customise it. These modifications include the flip paint job, 5 way adjustable shocks, Mania 18inch wheels, custom exhaust, larger brakes, poly bushes to the dif and rear subframe, helix clutch, cone air filter, deleted headlight washer, ICE and a top hard pipe kit. Mark covered a further 15883 bringing the total to 109956.

Marks For Sale post

 

The car

 

Overall the condition of the car seemed good. The body work had a few issues including rust in the engine bay near both suspension mounts, paint bubbling on the spoiler and a cracked off side mirror surround. However the biggest issue with the car was the colour! The finish was very VERY good and to stand next to the car made it much more agreeable than any photo achieved, in fact I actually quite like it. The problem though is matching the colour: after talking to a few paint shops their verdicts were touch up work is impossible (thankfully there is 1/2ltr of the original paint which I'm hoping will cover the new spoiler and mirror). Eventually it will need a full re-spray.

The interior is in good shape for its age, a few scuff marks in the leather and it's looking very dry, a hole in the centre radio surround where I imagine an alarm light went and the alcantara is looking very flat.

 

 

So I hope you enjoy the following updates as I try to bring my car back to the 90s.

 

Cheers,

Chris.

Edited September 29, 20187 yr by Chris300

6 hours ago, Stephen said:

It that not stinking your house out? 

A little bit but it’s too cold to spray outside and I had a reasonable vent path.

On ‎09‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 13:47, Gaz 300 said:

Like new Chris ?

Agreed - it's these little details that make a big difference..... Nice work Chris

Colour went on today. Overall I’m very happy, the paint laid down very well, my only issue is that the colour is a little lighter than the OEM colour in my opinion.

Looks great Chris top job mate. ?

9 minutes ago, Gaz 300 said:

Looks great Chris top job mate. ?

Thanks mate. I’ve still got to put the lacquer on and I’m excited to see it fitted, should look really good with the newly plated nuts and bolts. ??

Yesterday I gave the PS pot a good rub down with some 1200 grit paper and applied the lacquer.

Without question this was the hardest paint to apply and unfortunately I have created a few runs. It’s nothing that I can’t fix but I’m a little frustrated with myself that I was so heavy handed with this coat. ?‍♂️

I’ve now got to wait a week for the lacquer to really go off before I can start the shave, rub down and  buff. ?

On the plus side the lacquer has mad the pot look a lot darker, it’s still not as dark as OEM but I’m sure only a few would notice the difference when fitted. ?

All fitted.

From this...

 

to this...

 

Thats an awesome turnaround ?

Nice job Chris. BTW, the HICAS rubber pipe is not fully seated:

20 minutes ago, Gaz 300 said:

Thats an awesome turnaround ?

Thanks mate. Next is to fit my cleaned washer tank.

1 minute ago, AndrewG said:

Nice job Chris. BTW, the HICAS rubber pipe is not fully seated:

Thanks Andrew. ? It’s not been clamped up yet (as you see) as I want to give it a flush after I put the cooler rad back on.

6 minutes ago, Chris300 said:

I have to say your workshop is very well appointed!

 

Board...

Done the insides?

Very nice, excellent work.

1 hour ago, AndrewG said:

Done the insides?

Not to a satisfactory standard Andrew. I did get a load of muck out but I couldn’t get the angles required, my product left too much residue and my cloth (tampon) left a load of fibre on the glass. 

Tampon??? Wet wipes my dear boy...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zcar-owners.net%2Fcgi-bin%2Fdiy_bbs%2Fcbbs.cgi%3Fmode%3Dal2%26namber%3D25%26rev%3D%26no%3D0

2 minutes ago, AndrewG said:

Tampon??? Wet wipes my dear boy...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zcar-owners.net%2Fcgi-bin%2Fdiy_bbs%2Fcbbs.cgi%3Fmode%3Dal2%26namber%3D25%26rev%3D%26no%3D0

I was just reading that post again. Don’t know why I thought it was a tampon that got used. ?

I haven't been following this but it popped up in my email for some reason tonight and I must say it's very interesting. How did you clean that washer tank?

11 minutes ago, Jeff said:

I haven't been following this but it popped up in my email for some reason tonight and I must say it's very interesting. How did you clean that washer tank?

Hi Jeff

I left it soaking in a few different products (bleach, bicarbonate soda, vanish etc...). Vanish gave the best result.

I also filled the tank half way with cold water and added a fist full of chickpeas to dislodge all the gunk from the inside.

Interesting, thanks for the update. Good luck with your project, mine is laid up rotting away nicely, awaiting a rebuild like you're doing. Got the time now, but no money! All the best.

7 minutes ago, Jeff said:

Interesting, thanks for the update. Good luck with your project, mine is laid up rotting away nicely, awaiting a rebuild like you're doing. Got the time now, but no money! All the best.

A lot of the work I’m doing at the moment isn’t very expensive, just time consuming. But in fairness my car was perfectly serviceable to start with, just not been as loved over the later years by the previous owner. Pick a small area to work on mate, start a “project thread” and get to work. ?

 

Be careful when you tap the cogs ‘home’, the plastic carcass could be brittle and may crack if you’re heavy handed.

Using a long reach socket helps, plenty of grease is good also once installed.

So that was easier than I thought it was going to be.

I also tried cleaning the inside of the glass but I’m unhappy with the results. However it will do for now as I want to rebuild the front end ready for an MOT later in May.