Dash OUT!

Last weekend was another success!  I started in the morning stripping all parts off the doors and then pulled them off.  Everything cam off nicely.  The driver's door seemed to have a little work done on the main bend on the outside of the door.  There were a few drill holes and some Bondo.  That was the forst place on the car that I have found that has had body work!  I can work with that.  Everything else is REALLY straight and will be a pleasure to restore..... Except for the the floorboards!  I have a bit of rust down there, but nothing that can't be cut out and replaced.

After the doors cam out with the windows, I took all parts upstairs to the Z's bedroom.  The room is quite full and much more still needs to get loaded in there.  The baggies are working nicely and my labeling methods seem to be holding up.  We will see when I need to locate an item for refinishing and installing on the new body.  

The day ended with the dash coming out.  This was no easy endeavor.   Richard, Chuck, and I worked all around the thing removing screws, bolts, hose fittings, and a lot of pulling.  Most of the problem lied in accessing of the fasteners.  The serpent of a wiring harness weighs more than what is in the rest of the car!    I have no idea how you could get in there to replace a gauge with the dash still in the car.  As it came out, so did years of dust and crumbling foam.  This all just added to the the historic smell of the Z.  Just like good whiskey.  

The rest of the week looks busy with orchestra, but the weekend should turn out to be another productive one.  More pics and stories to come.  Gotta jet to work:(

Engine is OUT!!!

This weekend was a blast!  I had 3 friends come over to help me really get some work done.  Dave made it here on Wed to get everything prepped for the engine pull.  Then on Sun, Chuck and Richard were able to remove the engine and mount it on the stand.  Each person did their part!  The problem is Dave spent all that time getting the engine bay cleared, and was unable to be here for the pull.  I hope the pictures did it justice.  None of this would have happened without the the help from you three.  Thanks!

The crane worked perfectly, and the garage door as still left open.  Shutting it would have given us a few more inches up there for clearance, but we made it work.  The surprising thing was how much of a tilt was needed to get the thing out with the transmission attached.  Using the load leveler was the ONLY way to go.  We could dial in the tilt and adjust as the engine was lifted and then lowered.  The crane was carefully wheeled away from the car with the load and there were no problems.  The concrete floor allowed it to move just fine.  Chuck and Katherine were able to manage the swing on the pendulum of Hell.

Richard showed up just in time.  The engine was pulled, but I had no idea how to get it on the stand.  After a little maneuvering of the stand, and obtaining longer bolts, he got it secured to the stand.  Now it will will be easily accessed for the tear down and rebuild.  I have to say, it's a little fun being able to wheel the engine around the garage to work on it.

Nice weekend you guys and Katherine has the up most patience for dealing with the 240Z crew.  Thanks!

Engine Crane

With help from Strunk, I loaded an engine crane and an engine stand into the truck after school.  This beauty can lift 2 tons, but where the arm is reaching, it will lift 1/2 a ton.  This should be fine for the Z's little engine.  I thought this pic was cool.  More will come when the project begins tomorrow morning.