My 1975 C110 Skyline Restoration

[PranK]

I'm loving this! 

Those bumpers look incredible!

[Adzmax]

I called into the auto trimmers and dropped off my door skins. The original interior is in really poor condition and it's blue anyhow so it all has to go. I've had a lot of trouble finding fabric to match the original vinyl but I think the pattern I've chosen should look pretty good once the whole car is trimmed.

 

These are the fabrics I've chosen.

[Adzmax]

Alan sourced some 3mm dense rubber to fit behind the vinyl to replicate the original depth around the stitched areas. Without it the panels would have looked too one dimensional and the stitched detail would not be as visible. One problem we found was that the bright work on the top of the passenger door was damaged, it looks etched. I had to track down some replacement door trims to cannibalise for parts.

One mistake I did make was I thought the GTR had a carpet base on the door skin, turns out it does not but hey at least it will stop the scuffs when I'm getting in and out. 

 

 

[Adzmax]

I picked up a LD28 crank years ago when they were the in thing for building 3.1ltr stroker motors, not sure that I'll go down this path as there has been so much development since then but it's still handy to have. 

[Adzmax]

I picked up a set of fully Restored Triple 44mm Mikunis restored to factory new condition in 2012.

Genuine Mikuni Manifold & Linkages

Genuine Mikuni 50mm Trumpets

Genuine Mikuni Soft Mounts

All new jets, pump diaphragms and gaskets etc

All hardware replated

[PranK]

Jesus, that interior!! 

[Adzmax]

3 minutes ago, PranK said:

Jesus, that interior!! 

He did a fantastic job, very reasonable price too. 

I removed more of the dash and fittings from the car. I also had a play with a spare cluster surround I had to see how easy it was to remove the wood grain finish. As some of you might be aware, underneath that wood grain trim is the raw aluminium finish used in the GTR. Obviously the same piece was used, it was simply covered for the non GTR models.

It turns out thinners or gun wash is very effective! I tested this on my spare piece and it worked a treat. The only common problem is a lot of pieces have corrosion "worms" in the finish. I'm not sure if this is a result of the trimming process? The first piece I tested was petty and I thought perhaps I'd make a mitre box and try and re-brush the alloy but it just didn't look good.

I decided I'd remove the second panel more carefully than the test piece so I wouldn't damage or bend the alloy. I tried using a heat gun but it's not fantastic. It looks like a contact adhesive is used on the back of the alloy panel to fix it to the plastic. I ended up pouring some gun wash in between the alloy and the plastic and then waited for it to dissolve the glue. Not great for the plastic but I do have a spare which I plan on spraying.

Once the alloy was off I made up a make shift bath with foil and left the piece if for about 30 mins or so.

Once the thinners does it's work the wood grain cover is reduced to a balloon like rubber and simply peels off. It's a bit tricky to get off the edges but with some care it all comes off.

The contact adhesive also peels off the back

Once all the glue and rubber is removed, if you are REALLY lucky you might fine a virtually perfect aluminium panel like I did. It's still a bit grubby in this pictures so I'll brush it with some more thinners tonight and give it a good scrub. It has some very minor corrosion spots but I'm not going to both fixing them, if anything we may try and clear it.

 

 

[Adzmax]

I pulled the cluster and gauges from the car when the interior came out. I'm always amazed my how much dust I find and where I find it. I guess I have to remember the car is 41years old, older than me! Anyhow I wanted to clean and service the lot, make sure that they were OK electronically and reset the ODO as the car is really being reborn, so it deserves 0 on the clock.

I've removed the clock on these as the GTR's had a 'Nissan' blanking plate instead of the clock. 

Reset the odometer back to 0, looking much cleaner now too.

I cut and polished up all the lenses, cleaned the housings, dials and needles, checked the circuit boards and components and then reassembled the lot. I'm trying to decide if I change the globes out for LED's or stick with bulbs for the warm glow they give. It's interesting how the bulb housings are painted in certain areas to restrict where the light shines. I think I'll have to play with this and see what looks right.

[Adzmax]

I ordered some replica fuel cap and breather covers from Japan which were great but no where close to fitting so I had to sand them down. I found a new lock mechanism and key then I had mounting hardware electroplated and reassembled to finish them off. 

[Adzmax]

We pulled the glass out over the weekend and the rest of the interior. The windscreen wasn't too bad, it obviously been replaced before because the sealant was still quite soft and workable. I used the heat gun and knife and managed to lift it out pretty easily in one piece, too bad it's chipped and needs to be replaced anyhow. The rear glass was a different story, the sealant was seriously hard and they heat gun didn't do much other than set it on fire.

My dad came up with the great idea of using his new Makita Mult-tool to cut though the sealant. It cut like a hot knife though butter, I would have been there for hours doing it by hand otherwise. We got the rear glass out with no scratches or cracks, I'm not sure if rear glass can be sourced?

I still have to clean up around the windscreen but both the front and rear seem to be in pretty good shape with only some very minor rust at the rear. On the drivers side there is a few clip mounts missing and some pin holes that will need to be fixed.

The inside looks pretty good too, some minor rust in the rear foot wells where water has sat around the drain holes and some surface on the sides but I'm very happy with the body so far. 

[PranK]

I want one of those multitools! 

You're doing a fab job of stopping me working today. I hope you're happy. 

[Adzmax]

Being the glutton for punishment I am, and wanting to use as many original parts as possible, I decided to bring in a rusty GTR grill I found in Japan. It was a lot cheaper that most I've seen going at around AUD $700 and considering a replica grill is close to AUD $600 I figured it was good value. I knew I was going to have to do some work on it but I wasn't sure just how much. I picked up the grill from Aaron at Import Monster and it was VERY rusty!

The top and back aren't too bad but the bottom is worse than I feared and will need to be replaced..

I'm not too fussed, I'll drill the pop rivets, dismantle the entire grill and then send the salvageable parts away for acid dipping and zinc plating. I'll take the bottom piece into a metal fabricator and hopefully they can knock me something up. Fingers crossed!

[Adzmax]

2 minutes ago, PranK said:

I want one of those multitools! 

You're doing a fab job of stopping me working today. I hope you're happy. 

They are brilliant, I've got 8 years of content to update here so best buckle in...

[PranK]

Can you do me a favour and post the original post date at the top of the updates? So far it seems that all this work happened over the same weekend.  

[Anfanee]

Oh god.....
I have work to do. Can you do this on the weekend?

[PranK]

1 minute ago, Anfanee said:

Oh god.....
I have work to do. Can you do this on the weekend?

 

Its too late man... That ship has sailed. We're committed now.

[Adzmax]

I had some used and NOS parts arrive...

A mint light cover, these are usually cracked and discoloured

Some black grab rails for the new black interior

Some NOS switches for the dash

And a NOS gear boot, choke cable and skyline badge for the dash.

And new rubbers for the window divide and bonnet.

I also picked up some power window mechanisms and switches. I'm missing a rear mech though. Not sure if I'll fit these yet or not, could be cool though.

[Anfanee]

And Harry... I need it by tonight.

[Adzmax]

I stripped more parts of the car including the dash and send a bunch of stuff off for plating and powder coating. A bunch of parts also arrived...

New washer bottle

New fuel cap

New indicators

New steering column cover

One part of the door seals

And some new window seals for the stainless trim

I'm trying to track down some replacement weather seals for the stainless trim that sits on the top of the doors and the base of the small rear coupe windows. Not sure where I'm going to find these.

I had a chat with Jalopy when I was at 2day Nostelgic this year and I got the impression they were starting to reproduce more C110 rubbers so fingers crossed! 

 

[Anfanee]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

new old stock.

 

Got cha.