The Build From Hell

[BRN32]

^Ya, after I over filled it like a tool...she'd shoot the dipstick out! thought I had issues, but comp is good, runs smooth, pulls hard.

[MarusGTR]

Doesn't matter how new or old a skyline is, the frame rails can cave in if you don't jack at the 2 safety points. I've seen that on 5 GTRs and 1 GTS which is everyone of them I worked on.

I was adamant on using the Xed jack points and lower control arm mounts for the jack stands but my friend's a certified mechanic and he helped me one day; he assured me it would be fine since we'd be using some heavy duty ones with thick heads... lesson learned.

[BRN32]

In the manual it also shows special blocks for lifting at the jacking points. Once the sill seems are flattened it's pretty much game over.

[speedfreak]

I was thinking of doing the VAC form on my headlight too while doing the bixenon conversion. Really curious to see yours when done GL with the project!!

[BRN32]

Quicky update.

I removed the majority of the rear quarter and found the reason for the rust. The passenger side was re-skinned and the body shop must of done a poor job of prepping and/or sealing the inner areas at the lower seams and poor job of prepping the window shelf before reinstalling the glass. The inner structure is still very solid except at the bumper mount area where the tail, quarter, inner trunk well panels meet. The metal there is fairly flat and patching it should be a breeze.

The only spot that looks like it'll be a pain is the inner/outer sill and floor, this area will be a pain to get it straight enough to weld on the new rocker. I would suggest to anyone with severely crushed jacking zones to examine the seams and welds inside and out very closely as hidden damage may open the door for rust issues later on.

I'll try and get some more pic's up this weekend.

[BRN32]

Busy day today, started removing the majority of the outer sill/rocker and started pounding out the inner sill and floor pan.

Here's what the inner cavity/ inner sills looked like.


I'd like to get the front part of the inner sill, reinforcement, and a section floorpan from the seat mount to firewall to replace this section (anyone?) or I'll just patch it with new tin.

Couple shots of the inner sill after doing some rough hammering, it'll look much cleaner after I massage it with proper hammers and dollies.


Looking way better than when I first started. The front floor pan has dropped over 1 1/2" and 1'' behind the seat member. I need to remove the last of the rocker into the front wheel well to get the sill straighter and the floor dropped more. The floor/sill/rocker is almost straightened out, just have to remove the reinforcement to get the last little bit.

I need to order one more piece of new steel from Nissan, rocker/wheel well reinforcement for the back. One example of hidden **** that can sneak up and turn a minty shell into crap like mine if not caught in time. First pic is the front sill/floor from inside the sill cavity. The sheet metal and welds have been separated and cancer has taken hold. Second, again separation of the seam has allowed moisture and crap in starting rot.


Back trunk/wheel well situation, missing an inspection plug and poor sealing after quarter replacement allowed crap to happen back here. Rust crept up all the way to the tail panel. mostly flat metal so patching should go smooth. Pic of old replacement skin also.





That's all for Sunday's fun, will be doing more tomorrow and posting results.

[flipridah17]

Kudos for rescuing this car!

[Ghost]

Not many have the balls to do a major restoration... and proper one... your added to my list of heroes.

Keep up the great work, don't get discouraged and good luck

[BRN32]

Thanks for the props, guys! Tho I'm a little bummed out about my glass situation, as my budget for this year is nearly blown, I'm still plodding along. Took a week off of working on the car, but will get back at it this afternoon.
Think I'm going to give Nissan a call today to and price out the inner sill as it'll be easier to replace it than hammer and patch it, need the outer sill extension also.

[BRN32]

Back with an update finally!

The inner sill was totally fubar and needed replacing, so back to Nissan and ordered it along with new rear rotors, hicas ball joint and clips for re-installing the quarter glass. Was late fall by this time so was forced to pack it in for the year.

I got new rear glass this spring from Terrh (many thanks!) With the warmer weather work has begun again. Started off swapping in some Ikeya Formula camber arms for the back, that I picked up a coulpe years ago for a steal- brand new for $250 shipped from a member here, Adam at Feast lists these at almost $400 before shipping and such...

Next on the list was the ball joint. With a crazy-arse socket, broken c-clamp and some heat the old unit came out fairly easy(minimal swearing).

Slapped a bit of motor oil on the new joint and slid her in smooth, followed by the rotors. When I ordered these I thought "man, OEM rotors are friggin expensive! ($250 ea) Understood why when I opened the boxes... I'm guessing these are V or Nur specs?

Pic of the new inner and outer sills and the bitched old inner sill still on the car before the fun of drilling and grinding started again.

Spent a few hours yesterday removing the last remnants of the outer sill between the door and front wheel well and 80% of the inner. Hammered on the floor for a while and straightened out most of the jacking damage that I could with a couple of ball peens, I need to steal( borrow) pops hammer and dollies to do the rest. For s**ts and giggles I clamped the outer sill and rear extension in place just to boost the enthusiasm since some parts of the job has been a bit of a heart breaker. Looking better tho!!

Later today will be getting the last 8"'s of inner sill at the back wheel well out and whatever else I can do until I get the floor done.

[Sri-LanKING]

Kudos for rescuing this car! can't wait for more updates!

[cschepp]

How much did you pay for the ikeya suspension?

[BRN32]

$250 delivered to my door!