Who is Restoring an Old Car?

[glend]

I am nearing the end of a car restoration project, in my case a Citroen C3 Pluriel. Just curious to see who else might be trying to resurrect, rebuild, etc an old Car?

[oska]

Sweet! PIX please!!

[xelasnave]

I have a good friend who is restoring a car...hang on thats you.

Yes pictures and progress please.

Alex

[The Mekon]

I turned the car on the left into the one on the right!

Not quite, I have had the car for 40 years and done a fair bit of renovation over that time.

[The_bluester]

Sort of a couple in my place. I am in perpetual tweak and fix on a race car (Which has not seen the track in years, THIS is the year!) and I just picked up an old Nissan EXA turbo to tidy up (not really restore) and take on weekend club drive days with my son.

If he ever works up to it we have a friends Charger (VK I think) in my shed (A spot is has occupied for around 20 years) awaiting a full resto job. He is in his 50s and has had it since he was 18.

[glend]

You asked, here they are. Sorry the quality is so bad, blame it on downsizing to be able to post here.


Hugh amount of work over the past six months: new front struts and mounts, new sway bar links, new rear discs and pads, alloy wheels refurbished, four new tyres, Timing belt, water pump and auxiliary belt replaced, new throttle body, coolant flush, transmission fluid changed, old broken soft top removed (new hardtop being built now), and headlight restoration.


The attraction of this little car for me is its versatility, it can be configured in a number of ways: retacting soft top, fold down open top, spider config with roof and rear window stored under the floor, and mini ute, as it has a drop down tailgate. My version is now primarily a full time open spider, ute, but the roof arches can be reinstalled with the hard top (takes about 10 minutes). And being French it is a most comfortable little car to drive, with a sequential gearbox (with Auto option) and with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Only a 1.6L 16v four cylinder (TU5JP4 engine) but in such a light car it really moves.


I have been rushing to complete it, as at my age I don't have time to waste. It certainly gets lots of looks around the Lake area here, they are pretty rare in Australia.

[AstroViking]

Glen - that's a very handy car. What's it like to drive with the sequential gear box? (I have a motorcycle, so know all about being stuck in the wrong gear and frantically shifting up or down through all the intervening ratios...)

[glend]

Steve i used to ride a bike as well, so I know your issue. This sequential gear box is an automatic as well, there is a button to select automatic or manual operation. The gear box has its own ECU to manage the shifting, so if you leave it alone it will do up and down shifting as per a normal automatic but if you intervene on the paddles or the floor shifter, it will obey your over ride. I have yet to be caught out by it. On start it will default to auto mode

[Pepper]

I did get started on a 1975 mini clubman after being a Datsun guy my whole life. But then I was offered a nice, restored about 15years ago, 260z which I got for a song of my uncle.
It’s my fourth 260z, the 2seater model, and by far the nicest I’ve had.
I plan to repaint it and maaaaybe put the original motor back in but with a turbocharger.

[glend]

[QUOTE=Pepper;1584437]I did get started on a 1975 mini clubman after being a Datsun guy my whole life. But then I was offered a nice, restored about 15years ago, 260z which I got for a song of my uncle.
It’s my fourth 260z, the 2seater model, and by far the nicest I’ve had.
I plan to repaint it and maaaaybe put the original motor back in but with a turbocharger.[/QUOTE

Very nice 260Z. It looks very complete.

Personally, I think there is a good argument for leaving the 260z stock (no turbo). As an investment, a stock motor matching number car will always be worth much more than one that is modded. And I would not repaint it, just do a paint restoration. Just my 2 cents.

[The_bluester]

If I could wrangle my way back in to an S30 Z car (Unlikely when a good one costs as much as a couple of year old 370Z) I would build one like the last one my father and I had, which had an L28 with a ludicrous compression ratio, but now I would fit triple DCOE style throttle bodies and a modern ECU with knock control and flex fuel so it could run safely on 98RON unleaded but really work right on E85 when you can get it. Our old one ran best on Avgas when you could still lay your hands on that for road cars and just barely OK on 98 RON when that first became available.

I had multi throttle bodies and a much earlier EFI system on one of mine and the sound it made was just amazing.

The pics are of my old one being used in anger while I had it, and another from a couple of years ago when the current owner (Who I sold it to) had his brother pull it out of storage after 20+ years, get it sorted and drive it over to where he lives now. IMO Z cars look soooo much nicer with the rear bumper removed and sheet metal smoothed out, if I had another one even now I would be very tempted to do that again, but I would probably look for a way to run ECU wiring without making any new holes.

The yellow one is my "Permanently under works" race car.

[Pepper]

Hi Glen.
The value of having it stock does not matter to me, I won’t be selling this car.
I have the original L26, which I will fit the L28 fuel injected head and factory turbo gear. I need it go be at least as powerful as the 4.4L v8 that is in it now.
With the Z car these days , of course a stack car will be worth a lot, but even modified examples will still fetch Skyline GTR money these days.

Paul, sounds like a sweet car hour old man had. But I’m biased. The Zed car is THE most beautiful car ever built.

[AstroViking]

That is way cool...

Now I'm having the (insane) idea of fitting a sequential shifter into my car. :D

EDIT: Wow. I can change the gearbox in my Lancer from a standard manual to a sequential shift gearbox (with 7 gears!). I just need to upgrade my car to a Lancer EVO first. Rats.

[alan meehan]

Iam working on a project myself although the car is not a oldie it needed work 2006 KJ 65th Anniversary Jeep Cherokee i have done heaps of work on the 4wd running gear and about to replace the complete suspension on it.My purpose was to do some traveling, but things have slowed a bit at the moment.

[glend]

Haha, I owned a 2007 KJ CRD from 2007 until 2020, I know those Jeeps inside out. Check the PM I have sent you Alan.

:thumbsup:

[The_bluester]

One more pic, this was my dads one (One of several he had over the years, including my red one)

Of the lot, I wish I still had this one. I am not quite sure I would ay the S30 was THE most beautiful car ever built, but they have to be pretty close. What saddens me is that since I sold mine in 97, I have not yet found a car with a driving position as good as these things came out of the box with in 1969, almost no adjustability but they were just right. Nothing else I have owned or drive has matched it for such a natural and comfortable set of controls to sit behind. Admittedly with a seat upgrade, I used to drive mine between Melbourne and Sydney and get out feeling good, in my work car (Holden Trailblazer, IMO an awful car) I can barely sit in it for an hour without aches when I get out.

[Pepper]

Nice. And you’re right about the driving position. The only adjustability is the seat but they are really nice to sit behind the wheel.
I’ve just bought an injection manifold to start building my l26et.

[JA]

Here's my work in progress:
Lotus Elise ....

Best
JA

[Shano592]

I always wanted an XB Falcon Coupe to restore up, and always baulked at the times I could have snapped them up.


Last one I passed on was a 1975 (76?) XC Coupe with the round headlights. It had a factory 460ci motor in it, and was terrifying on the road. The guy wanted 9k for it, in stock condition (in 1993). Probably worth 10x that now...


EDIT: I feel like I have done my time under the bonnet. When the Pajero goes, it will be for a Model S. Time for some luxury.

[The_bluester]

I have always been fond of the Elise, though an Exige would be more my cup of tea I reckon.

[glend]

Very nice JA, you win maximum style points.

[JA]

Thanks Glen. I just need to find some spare time and continue the job....

Best
JA

[oska]

'98 WRX wagon, tickled. The lovely wife keeps it preserved with a protective layer of hay dust. Granted it's no Lotus or 260z but it does have a certain charm.

[Pepper]

John, may not be a 260z but the best looking model wrx they built in my opinion. I’m quite partial to the wagon shape too.

[Pepper]

Lately my attentions have been turned (still get in the obs some nights though) to removing the v8 from my 260z and replacing it with the L26 it came with.
Although it’s now fuel injected and turbocharged. Not far off finishing now, just have to sort out some fuel lines, clutch and exhaust.
Hopefully end up with around 250hp.

[Rainmaker]

I no longer dabble in car restoration but here is one I did a decade ago:

I found this 1989 Cirrus Blue BMW 635CSi is a shed in Queensland and spent a few hours and a couple of dollars to bring it back to life.....

[astronobob]

Some cool Nissan/Datsuns there, a mate back in my teens had the 240k which stuck to the road well.
Anywho, my restoration back in 1999 was this '67 if memory serves, 260C H330 series which had a slight flair and nicer profile in the panel lines, unlike the squarer H660 series.
Lot of rust, sagged susspension and the 5th cylinder kept shattering ring due to a warped bore, the block is same as the 280 engines so was able to bore it out 100 thou, which resulted in a 2.95 Litre engine (inline 6) oversized all intake and exhaust ports, reballanced crank and cams and ballanced the new conrods and pistons, re-jetted the carb and fitted custom made Hurricane extractors and an extra 1/2 inch diam exhaust system with 2 x 9inch hot-dogs and a seathrough muffler, sounded chunky and gurgled during decompressions, but by no means a fast car, more a show-pony. interior redesigned reupholstered etc and a rocken sound system. bla bla bling..

Before and after pics

[The_bluester]

Steve, looking like you are doing something similar to what I would do if I had my S30 Z car time again, though I would go naturally aspirated and multi throttle bodies. I assume you are using a modern ECU with the 36-1 trigger wheel on it? Wasted spark through individual coils or a trigger in place of the distributor to home it? I would love one of our old Z cars back, it had an insanely high compression L28 that ran best on Avgas back when you could get it, 98RON unleaded was just about enough and with a modern ECU (It had the original Hitachi twin SU clones on it) and a fuel composition sensor, flex tune it to be able to use E85, 98RON or anything in between with knock sensors to keep it safe. When I finally get my race car back on track, I have fitted an Emtron KV8 ECU to it for the same purpose basically MoTec function without spending MoTec money.

Bob, I reckon that would be maybe a 77 not a 67 I used to have the car below, a 71 240C coupe (P230 series) which was the body shape before that one of yours (The P330) In typical Nissan/Datsun style there was also a 260C with the L26 engine put in the P230 body, and I believe there was also a P330 280C with the L28 in the car you have, before the 1980s brick shaped 280C came along. I really wish I still had the 240C, it was a very cool car being a pillarless hardtop (Though it had the body rigidity of a bowl of custard) and now worth silly money as they are so rare. Any that come up normally sell for telephone number money and get shipped back to Japan! Rubbish angle photo taken in the late 80's and literally the only photo of the car that I have, you would reckon on a car that I liked, I would have taken more photos of it. My dad rebuilt it in 86 having bought it from the wreckers after a crash, and I have seen three others in all that time. They only bought in about 120 of these back in 71. I bought it from my parents and sold it back to them too, for the red Z car in the second pic, which I also really wish I still had. The blue one was the insane compression ratio car.

[astronobob]

Interesting and all coming back to me now you mention Paul, and yes '77 sounds right, I remember either the transport department or a RWC mech mentioned I could register as a 'Classic nearing its 25ys of age at the time. Was also a tad excited when it would reach 30ys and rego as a Vintage, but apparently they ceased allowing 30y old cars becoming a Vintage if made after 1975,, i think, something like that..
Funny you mention your 240C having 'body-roll, my 260C was as bad I reckon, I replaced the rear springs with a 'Hardened bottom leaf, that with the wide 225 deep-dish rims and lowered front 205's helped somewhat and mitigated the slight oversteer it suffered aswell.
My son had the 280C for about 6months, he wrote-off 6 cars in 5yrs of getting his licence, I dont think hes mine, Lol
I was thinking of chasing up a Z model but I ended up back on a Bike, being a 2000 Kwaka ZZR 1100, still got it, it's a bullet with the 'Ram-Air' feature.
I may have some 260C restore pics on a hardrive somewhere if I got nothing better to do one day.
Oh, I got the missus a 180b SSS Coupe back in the early '90's, Twin T-U carbs but was an Auto and engine a little tired but did the job.
I remember back in the early 80's when bying my 1st cars looking the Paper, Classified section and there were definately more Nisan-Datsun cars in there than any other vehicle at the time, popular and plenty of em because the average australian didnt want a big holden, ford, chrysler etc :thumbsup:
HavaGoodN

[glend]

I am attaching a link here, to the NSW Regulation concerning Classic Cars.

This can apply to cars which are 30 years of age.

https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/vehicle-registration/how-to-register/classic-vehicles-registration/registering-and-using-a-classic-vehicle

Interesting is the requirement to belong to a recognise and listed Club or Organisation.

For those of us with cars younger than the "Classic" regulation or simply wanting to avoid that pool, regulations effective in your year or manufacture seem to be the only requirement. For example, a 2003 vehicle would not be expected to have modern mandated ADRs related to autonomous braking, lane change avoidance, etc. Said vehicle would still need to pass the annual NSW Safety Inspection (also known as the Pink Slip).

I do not know what regulations apply in the other states/territory, but perhaps residents there can share their knowledge.

[Pepper]

Paul.

Yes I’m using a modern ecu. A Microsquirt.
It will be a wasted spark type deal using Ls3 coils.
Distributor is gone, which is good as o don’t think ittd fit in there now anyways!
ITB’s would have been nice but I got a couple of factory efi manifolds for cheap which I redrilled the injector holes to fit some modern o’ring type injectors. The head also needed redrill if so it would bolt up and the intake ports notched out for the injectors. Easy job with the die grinder though.
Was thinking about full sequential ignition but the computer to do it was around 3k.
I’m getting close to being able to fire it up. Only have to get an exhaust made, and wire it up. Clutch is on the way now, going to be using a 280zx flywheel with an rb30 clutch attached.

[The_bluester]

I did something like that with one of the factory manifolds on my Z car once, before I changed to individual throttles (Which made a glorious noise)

One thing you would want to look at is the factory throttle body if that is what you still have on it (It looks like it) most of them on the old L series were tiny, even the one on my RB20DET is far bigger.

I had to go a lot more sophisticated ECU wise than an MS as I will hopefully be asking more like 350HP or more out of my RB20 so knock control with individual cylinder timing trims, drive by wire to be able to have multiple throttle maps to make the car useable on a wet track etc really matter to me. Even traction control if I decided to set it up. The car was a bit of a bear on a wet track with 280HP before so it needs something.

[AstroViking]

Oh, cool!! I had a bike that I converted from carbs to EFI, using a Megasquirt v1.0, way back in 2005/2006.

I never got around to properly tuning the map for it, as life-and-stuff got in the way.

Found the "Hey it works!" post that I did... So long ago now.

https://www.msruns.com/viewtopic.php?t=15240

Cheers,
V

[Astrofire]

‘68 Pontiac Firebird nut-n-bolt resto since 1999 :D