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Noll

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Noll last won the day on February 2

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About Noll

  • Birthday 04/22/1998

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    Ontario
  • Cars
    '74 260Z, '82 Lada Niva, 1991 Volvo 240

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  1. Made the last panel of this section, and fully welded + cleaned it all up: And made a couple more bits (the front bit needs some bends put into it still ofc): Before going any further I want to weld in the first bit to make sure it remains positioned 100% how I want, and to do that I need to finally weld on the outer quarter panel repair panel (so I can paint/seal the backside before i get rid of the access to it with the arch tub install), so that'll be the next job.
  2. Lil more last night, made a couple bits for the arch and tacked it all together. Last couple bits to make soon then full welding and cleanup of this section (nothing will be welded into the car until all the internal structure is repaired though ofc).
  3. ty! Mostly working on the Mini, but did squeeze in a lil process on this between that today. Needs some adjustment ofc, but new 'endcap' piece of the rear right inner arch (for lack of a better name for it) built and cleco'd in place roughly. With this in place now, next time I can start building the right third inner arch from the quarter panel inwards to this bit and the filler neck section; probably the most technical part of the inner arch shape, so once that is built the other 2/3rds will take no time at all. Dunno exactly how it'll turn out until I do it ofc, but i'm thinking something like this:
  4. Ok, time to stop procrastinating (have been busy too tbf) and update this again. Been working here and there when I haven't been feeling up to Mini work but still wanted to accomplish SOMETHING. Highlights/progress from the last month: Decided to re-do these front sections of the strut towers - they were the last original metal (aka thin af compared to what I've built) and I just wasn't a huge fan, plus was going to make some bits to fill the too-big gaps before welding anyway, so time for overkill. Having a shrinker and stretcher really has opened up what I can do/made stuff much faster and less work. All 16ga for these bits. And formed the other bits,cut off the last of the old, and welded it all in.Quite happy with the result. The very last bit that needed doing before the towers were done was the d/s rear section, so got started on that. Figured I should test-fit the interior trim before I committed, to make sure everything would fit. This snowballed into putting in pretty much all the rear lower interior and taking some pics - fair ways until this can all go in for good but this was a nice motivation boost to see how it will all be when done 🙂 Happy with fitment, so welded in the piece I cut out of that trailer fender. Some tweaks and a side filler panel and the last strut tower was done! Well, as done as they can be in place, I needed to weld the backsides of everything and do a bunch of cleanup before final install, plus there was some other stuff to get to before that too. new braided softlines showed up; should both be nice for pedal feel, and are 2" longer than stock so I know I'll have zero issues with the strut top lift at full extension. Back to metalwork, made up the very last brace piece for the strut towers I had forgotten, welded it in and removed the towers from the car. Back when i first fixed this area, the goal was more "make it solid but asap to get this thing on the road". The timeline has extended a lot since then and i'm at the point where i want everything to be the best it can be above all else, so time to redo it as overkill as possible. 16ga sheet for this too, making the top bend was a bit of a PITA. On to the internals. This was all technically fine, but again just made to be 'good enough' last time, so wasn't happy with it. The left brace section is the factory shape, but I figured it made more sense for it to come out to meet the outer layer so they could be welded together. Some templates, then bits, then rebuilt the other brace section. Mangled the hell out of the seatbelt stud plate getting it off but the stud itself was fine which is what matters. Quite happy with the end result there, much thicker than stock and the outer bit is all one piece instead of two overlapping sections (fun fact this is why older subaru rear quarters and strut towers rot, seam sealer fails at that overlap up where it's impossible to see with the strut tower in place, salty winter water gets flung up by the tires and gravity makes it run down into the seam, seam rots out, water runs into the cavity back there and starts to rot out the rear arches from the inside out). Just started on the other side inner arch today as I hadn't built that at all yet. This side will also get the same big upper section as the other side replaced, wanted to start with the inner arch though as the filler neck passthru has to be in the right spot to work. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53537438822_31e988aa34_b.jpg]
  5. Been about 2mo since I started the Z over the winter so figured I should. Ended up cranking for literally a minute before she caught fuel and fired, in hindsight I should have poured some gas down the float bowl vents first, d'oh. 50-year-old original starter the MVP tho, did it like a champ and she did fire happily to life once there was fuel at the carbs. Looks like I have an oil leak to deal with in the spring, must have missed a spot with sealant when I installed this fuel pump. (it's not leaking fuel, i tasted it to be sure lol) Also, oddly, after running for a few mins she stumbled for a second then totally shut off, and did the same ~10 mins later. Both times she fired right back up instantly with the key, so it can't be fuel (if bowls had been run dry somehow it wouldn't have fired without a bunch more cranking), and it's factory electronic ignition so not going to be dirty points or something like that. Given she fired up instantly like nothing had happened both times I'm thinking either a loose/corroded connection somewhere (idling made it shake in a certain way that it lost voltage for a sec? dunno), or a combination of low battery and external voltage regulator meaning that alt voltage dropped too low to sustain spark for long enough to shut off. Idk, if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears, it didn't happen again so hard to diagnose - will give her a good shakedown run come the spring and get the cobwebs out, plus check connections etc for peace of mind.
  6. Smart, less work than carefully masking with tape! I have once or twice, haven't been successful though, it requires a considerable amount of strength to go fast enough to actually get it to fire haha. I want to see if I can succeed one day though.
  7. Worry not, i have a Mann brand filter (common good brand for euro stuff) in a box for when I do the spring oil change 🙂 . That was just to get it on the road - couldn't find the right filter on short notice, but found this NOS in a box of parts that came with the Niva. It's from the 90s or earlier so I so believe before Fram's quality nosedived. But yeah, oil change will happen in the spring.
  8. Ty all! And yeah, sorry for the massive amount of photos in one post haha, I know myself enough to know I had to just get it done and posted or i would procrastinate even longer so that was easier to make myself get done than splitting it up into a bunch of posts. Also yeah Duncan, i'm amazed it was picking up fuel at all lol, and that that sender actually works after i cleaned it up (with a load of brake and carb cleaner and scrubbing). 15+ years of sitting with half a tank of gas will do that I suppose. The car didn't care though, fired right up on the nasty stuff and sat and idled the very first time i got it running years ago. Was clogging fuel filters on a regular basis after I got it roadworthy before cleaning the tank (they're in the engine bay, took 2 mins to remove/shake out or swap in another filter, and keep driving when it happened so nbd) but that was the only symptom at all.
  9. ok there we go, posted properly 🙂 . That about brings us to the present day.
  10. Took it to a car meet shortly after getting her road legal, was a fun time and the first nighttime drive on the way home: Old muffler gave up the ghost (old mouse nest rotted it from inside I think), so whipped something up: aaaand ran out of gas with over 1/2 a tank showing. The gauge was very unreliable, so decided it was time to fix that. Tank access on these is from inside - means the tank rotting out under the car doesn't happen which is nice 🙂 . Found and got rid of the very last mouse evidence in the car. hmm yes, that would explain the non-functional fuel gauge lol. I'm still impressed that the car was running fine on this gas: the sender cleaned up surprisingly well, had to do a lil soldering but got it working again. Will prob replace it eventually but it's alright for now. Got the tank cleaned by a radiator shop, and put it back in: Back on the road, but not running happily. Checked plugs and compression and all was good there. Turns out the secondary carb butterfly had seized closed, making it run super rich all the time. Got a carb from someone to swap on and back in business. winter arrived: made a cupholder out of plumbing pipe: More winter stuff, doing what it's built for 🙂 and going up an offroad hill through a foot of snow with no complaints: Got around to buying and installing a battery isolator for when it's not being driven, just because why not: Nice weather returned, and passed 1000km since getting it roadworthy: headlight bulb that I think was from 1982 burnt out, so replaced both. Plus more general pics. Figured out why the alternator wasn't always charging lol, and sorted that (replaced the cig lighter socket at the same time for one that was a normal depth for modern accessories to work in it): Underside is in great shape 🙂 : Added some insulation under the hood to cut down on engine noise at high cruising RPM. This did way more than I expected, makes the cabin a much more pleasant place. Datsun rescue mission when my friend's T3 balljoint sheered in half: Noticed a ripped CV boot on the Niva so ordered parts to deal with it at some point, and a couple of brake pistons had seized so freed them up and lubricated the seals with a little brake grease to make sure it couldn't happen again altered the cupholder to move it back so the hi/low range lever didn't foul when there was a drink in there. It's just shoe-goo'd in so no harm to the console when i eventually remove it to put something nicer in she is not geared for top end lol, 4000rpm in top gear at 100kmh/60mph Went exploring down a fire road one day, it eventually got too tight to turn around (like, barely ATV trail width), so had to keep pressing thru until I got out the other end which i thankfully did. No pics of the worst bits because i was focusing on not scratching up the sides and roof too bad lol, there were a couple gnarly rock ledges to climb but she did great. Only took pics in the dark for some reason, but parts order arrived so replaced the plugs, wires, air filter, and added front mudflaps: found a bit of MIG wire the factory painted over 42 years ago which was amusing: time to do the CV boot finally. as part of that, i had to remove the balljoints on that side, and while the balljoints themselves were in fine shape, the hardware for them was incredibly corroded and siezed, so this was a multi-day battle. Ended up doing all 4 balljoints as I had new ones and didn't want to spread out the suffering to some future time when the other side needed doing lol added some mesh to the cabin air intake to keep small critters out, and welded a handle on the fuel filler cap because especially in the winter it's a bear to get enough grip on to unscrew. noticed some rust showing up on the driver's door (grr, i just painted stuff not that long ago), so cleaned it up to discover some small holes. Longer-term i'll buy a doorskin and do a partial or complete skin replacement (partial most likely to preserve the decals if possible), but for now I just wanted it presentable and to not get worse, so cleanup/rust converter/fibreglass filler/rust paint/rollered-on touchup paint was the move for the time being, then I sprayed the hell out of the inside of the door with Fluid Film. The right way to do the wrong thing 😛 Got everything sorted just in time for winter to hit - the Niva is amusingly my only car at the moment as everything else is either broken, not finished, or will NOT see the snow and salt (the 260z). Installed some little aftermarket thingies to keep the quarter windows closed as the factory latches keep falling off even with the correct glue and prep. Made a roof rack so my family could bring the xmas tree home with the Niva because why not: More winter pics: ground clearanceee 😛
  11. Been finally updating some of my other threads, so time for this one too 🙂 . God, nearly 2 yrs since the last post, whoops lol. Fair bit has happened with the Niva since then, i'll just post up pics and list off stuff in chronological order as best as I can recall I suppose. Hit enter too soon, oops. Pics etc to come shortly.
  12. Also, totally spaced on posting these pics my photographer friend took while we were doing the Mille, so here:
  13. Ty all 🙂 . Not updating as much now it's not an active project ofc, but I didn't want the thread to just die as soon as I got the car roadworthy. Plenty of mods/changes planned for this upcoming year that I'll aim to document too. The Pony is one hell of a survivor, that's for sure! Super cool lil car and surprisingly a total blast to drive (no tach made it interesting though as not a car I was used to and didn't want to overrev on downshifts haha). It was driven as the sweep car on the event (making sure nobody got left behind, basically), and the owner drives the hell out of it. And yeah, it was a total blast, and a great way to torture test the car. No major issues really (i'll make a proper header heat shield in the spring, and probably a fan shroud), so I am very happy. It's a very nice blue on the 944, and it was a fun car to drive; that 4cyl is surprisingly torque-y. Oh, and I just did the math, and the Z has done 9243 miles / 14875.17 km since I got it on the road thus far 🙂 . Have never not made it home under my own power, and the few issues I've had have generally been relatively minor and almost all due to the few things I didn't replace during the rebuild (water pump bearing went last yr, the CV joint in my previous post, etc etc). I'd have no worries driving it anywhere in north america on a moments notice if needed.
  14. God, I am bad at keeping stuff updated lol. Time to update this thread, the rest of last year ended up being a busy time for the Z (in a good way). Upgraded the taillights to LED: Came across a friend on the way home one night: You can haul surprisingly a lot in a Z 😛 Alternator decided to die, a couple days before a big trip. Not ideal. my first thought of the culprit was the voltage regulator as it looked like a capacitor exploded inside, so got a NOS one from a friend and swapped that in. Turns out the like 2-year-old reman alternator had died though. the shaft play probably wasn't the only issue, but it sure was obvious. No time to get a new one before the trip (nowhere with local stock), but was able to cobble one together from parts of my busted one and two other dismantled ones a friend loaned me. A bolt of course decided to snap off in the bracket, but i was able to rob the one off my 280zx parts motor and throw the car back together. Great success! I've never seen the amp gauge actually move the entire time I've owned the car until now lol Some other final mods/checks before the trip; figured out the rear end clunk i've had since getting the Z roadworthy lmao. loctited and torqued to spec, much better. Tried to make a tool to remove the diff fill plug to check the level (because there is NO access in the car), but it was on wayyy too tight so I resorted to drilling a hole and using my impact The rear tires were getting low on tread from camber wear, so had them de-mounted, flipped, and re-balanced so the best tread was on the inside to last a bit longer: Installed a USB port/voltmeter that wasn't right were my knee was trying to go like the stock cigarette lighter port, and chopped up a pen to reduce slop in my 240sx transmission's short shifter lol Wanted the exhaust to be a little less drone at certain RPMs, so did a quick proof of concept with a bunch of steel wool. It worked suprisingly well (10db drop in the cabin at idle, and drone gone!), so made a slide-in thingy for the exhaust Sounds damn good: Was getting some belt squeal, so, not having time to get another belt, i made do with the tensioner off the 280ZX motor: Test drive was to a car meet: Roadtrip begins, mile 0! Plan was to drive a few hundred km to Toronto, pick up my friend who was doing the photography for a classic car event called the Maple Mille, head a few hours north that same day, and act as the camera car all weekend. First leg went well, and ended up at a rather cool warehouse. Noticed a leak from the thermostat housing (again, grrr), but the coolant level hadn't dropped so ignored it for the time being. kept checking on it throught the weekend and it stayed fine thankfully. Some other friends were coming along on this trip in their own car, and the exhaust had just broken to the point it was hitting the road. We had access to a lift, but no real tools or supplies, and it had gotten into the evening, so I ended up welding some plumbing pipe into their exhaust with a borrowed flux core welder, while surrounded by a load of expensive cars lol. Ended up behind the wheel of a Porsche 944 while heading back to my friends place to drop off their stuff and car (the porsche). Was mildly surreal to be following my own car haha We ended up getting to the hotel at like 1am, and then had to wake up at 6. Not great, but the day made up for it. Nice parking lot views in the morning: Our job was basically to take shortcuts ahead of everyone else, find photo spots, wait for everyone to drive by to be photographed, and repeat. This meant a *lot* of high-speed driving on twisty back roads, and we beat the hell out of the car. The first stop of the day was quite peaceful though, and we met a friendly doggo: The lunch stop The rest of the next couple days passed in a blur, some highlights below. Ended up behind the wheel of a Hyundai Pony at one point which was neat. Also made the best u-turn i've ever done in my life, but sadly there's no video 😞 . we missed a turn, there was a slightly sandy t-junction 150ft past it that was empty, i tipped into it in 2nd gear,flicked the rear end around with tires spinning, did a perfect like 200 degree turn and straightened up, hitting redline on the way back out of the junction. I am genuinely sad I don't have footage lol, it was *perfect*. Just after 1000 miles, at the event finish line (or rather, shortly before, but managed to limp the car there one carb worth of fuel), I found out that apparently we'd driven the car hard enough over the weekend to heat soak the carb fuel bowl lines so bad the front one split, and the other one was about to. Nobody had the right sized hose on hand, so we bade do with some 1/4" line from a volkswagen beetle and some extra tight hose clamps to get me home. Few hours more, and ended up back at my friends place where we parted ways. A friend I made over the weekend was heading back my way too, so we spent ~5 hours convoying through the rain and darkness until I eventually got home. 1,407 hard backroad miles (2264 km) in 4 days, not bad for the ol' girl 🙂 . Started taking stock of things the next morning. We drove this thing haaaaaard, so much brake dust on everything and the rear quarters were coated with rubber lol (even AFTER hours of driving in the rain). (remember I demounted/flipped the rear tires, hence the backwards looking wear pattern) Got some Tygon tubing for the carbs, and we got allll my money's worth out of the brake pads. Angle grinder tool works great for retracting the spinny piston on the Maxima calipers 🙂 . Cleaned up the wheels: Not really related to anything, but the headlights work great with the relay harness I made way back 🙂 Noticed the rear LCA bushings were shot (somehow, they're new polyurethane from the restoration), and the Z was my only working daily at that time, so I did some janky stuff with some aluminum sheet to get by until the winter: a really bad noise showed up a couple days after the roadtrip that sounded like rubbing; I saw this dust shield weld was broken so I thought it was the culprit, but it was in fact a bad CV joint (i welded up the dust shield ofc). replaced that and back on the road. She normally doesn't rub, but 2 people + weekends worth of gear + hard driving was enough it seems haha last bit of driving before the winter: First snow arrived, so got her tucked up for the winter: That brings us to the present. There's a lot of stuff i want to fix/improve/mod/etc for the next driving season, but that'll have to wait until the garage isn't full of other cars like it currently is.
  15. Oh, and more mini progress, got the bootlid done and quite happy with the result. Will need a skim of filler, but with MIG on such a big flat panel that's inevitable. (I will make it its own thread soon, i promise 😛 ) (oh and the larger panel gap at the bottom is how it was before, pretty sure the bottom lip of the shell there has been messed with before; that area needs rust repair so i'll make the gap even when i sort that)
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