OldAndyAndTheSea

HEAT. HEAT. and more HEAT.

looking good! I saw your car a couple weeks ago visiting David. Definitely not a bad place to start. I'm excited for your progress. I'll be watching

Yep. Here's the info on the collar differences. http://www.zparts.com/zptech/articles/trans_swap%20parts/4tobear_specs1.html

Merry Christmas. Hopefully all our Datsun's got the presents they asked for... Mine got some turbo wrap! Hope everyone has some fantastic holidays!

What girlfriend? Simpler.

Car and progress looks good! I'll say that my experience with ANY spray can "Clear" has consistently come up short to my acceptable standards. Seems that 1 out of 3 cans may actually lay a "decent-ish" finish. The rest spray and give results like you saw. That being said, I like the engine enamel you used. Just not the clear. I'm 100% sure they have a gloss orange. I'd shoot that with no clear. You'll have better results.

Agreed 100% Anything worth having never comes easy. It's a labor of love. Some have it, others; don't. And I mean c'mon...We live in the age of the internet....5 minutes and Google have answered near ALL my life's questions.

Headwork Headwork Headwork indeed.

All I know is that I am intrigued. Keep us posted.

Yeah, I wouldnt go too far making it perfect. I wouldn't risk making a "Good looking spot" and have the rest come up short aesthetically, And a big plus (to me) would be the use of a GOOD paint, not spray paint. If you're gonna paint it, paint it with a hard paint. Nothing more annoying than draining your fuel and having your gas tank turn back into a rusty hulk from the gasoline (paint stripper)

Gah!!! So lucky. This is on my summer build list. Enjoy those beauts!

800 grit is a bit too smooth.. Especially asking primer to stick to it. The way I was taught to do any refinishing process is usually something around the following. So you have a car you want to paint... It has some rusty spots. 1. Media blast all rust (sandblaster or something of the sorts) cheap harbor freight kits work fine. once rust is taken car of and cleaned. You can always clean the rust the same way I describe below, but it is VERY difficult to not have it come back without blasting it. 2. Strip entire car of any paint (some people like using stripper, like previously mentioned, I prefer a soft and fine 6 inch wire wheel on my grinder.) Wear a mask. Protect your lungs. Goggles too. once the car is stripped of paint 3. Fix any problem areas in the metal (body work stage, now you fix dents, remember: work the metal first, don't just add Bondo. Work the metal in the reverse of how the damage occurred. The rule "First in, last out" comes to mind) So work your way from the least damaged areas to the deepest worst part of the damage. Don't start at the lowest point of the dent first and try to pound or push it out, that will most likely warp the steel, and add to your troubles. once the dents are roughed out 4. Sand entire vehicle with the following progression: 40-60 Grit initially (for Bondo and first sanding stages body work areas, don't need to sand the whole car with this grit if it isn't damaged) 80-100 Grit (smoothing out your worked area, and taking care of any scratches left by paint removal) Don't skimp this step, anything you can feel with your fingernail will be a MOUNTAIN under paint. Take your time. 150-180 Grit (sand the rest of the car/area to be refinished (Make sure you are using "X" patterns while sanding, as you will continue this process until the end) if you don't know what that is let me know. Primer does NOT like to stick to anything above this grit really (smoother than 180). The smoothing/straightening stage really happens next. 5. Now you PRIME the vehicle/area to be refinished: there are lots of different primers too. The process usually progresses something like this: Etch Primer (LIGHTLY over bare metal areas) --> Filler or High build primer --> Primer Surfacer --> Primer Sealer Each of those stages is allowed to fully dry and is sanded (with the exception of the etch primer, spray your first coat of high build primer over this) with the same 180 grit, and eventually, when you are sanding the final layer of primer sealer, you move up to 220 dry (or 320 wet) I prefer wet, as it saves dust. (Don't forget to continue using "X" pattern sanding techniques, and guide coat, which I can also explain if need be. Its basically just flat black spray paint that you lightly coat the areas to be sanded with; this allows a visual cue as to the straightness of a panel. PM me if you have questions) So now your car is fully primed, and sanded with 220 dry (or 320 wet) and hopefully its looking straight at this point. 6. Now you may begin to START thinking about paint. Now this is a very generalized idea of how to refinish an area. There are most definitely fine details I left out, but for the sake of space I will answer them when/if they come up. Not everyone works the same way. This is the way I was taught. I am a certified auto body technician. If you have ANY questions, please feel free to contact me. I don't mind one bit helping people with paint/body work questions. Best of luck!

I thought I remember having difficulty finding these as well. I could have swore I bought them through black dragon though.. I'll look at my records, and see what I turn up. And I wouldn't risk trying to save them. I scratched the bajesus out of my drivers window rolling it up and down a couple times on a hardened gasket, while I attempted to do a similar "recondition" EDIT: Found it. Page 17 of Black Dragon's Online Catalog Item(s) (8) Molding-LH with seal Molding-RH with seal

Indeed. Haha

I know I still have occasional trouble with my new gasket in the drivers side top corner. Start there, and just go along and trace the gasket. Check for voids or cracks, those will definitely leak.

Yep, I once paid a dude a couple hundred bucks to watch me pull an old boiler out of my basement with my tractor... Hired him to do the job. Ideally so I didn't have to...But......He didn't even bring a crowbar....... And that sucks about your spring hats...

Sounds like the top of the gasket to your windshield is probably to blame. I'd bet water is seeping into the headliner through some void in the old gasket and then its dripping on you from there. or it could be something completely unrelated. Haha. Do some investigating.

It's definitely getting colder. Ugh....heating season....Definitely jealous of you warm climate Z guys. Anyways, I have been cutting, and mocking together my exhaust from the turbo back. I'll try to start welding the pieces together tomorrow, if I get the time. Here are some initial pictures. Fitment is pretty good. Nothing that can't be tweaked. EDIT: NOV 29 Got my clutch today! Now I can pull my motor and swap oil pump, pickup, and pan! Yahoo!

...............my........god.............

Yeah, that's no fun. 500 bucks goes a long way somewhere else on the car....But, being a body guy, that price doesn't surprise me. That being said, I definitely would have just bought a Harbor Freight sand blaster kit for 10 bucks and a ton of media and gone to town. Spend maybe 4 hours and about 30 bucks. I'm with you though, when it comes to paint and body work, anything short of perfection is unacceptable. Lets hope you get the car back and the bay looks like a million bucks! (or at least hopefully 500... haha) Hope all goes well! Cheers!

Yeah dude, looks good. After that first sand and buff, you'll be able to count the hairs on your neck. Make sure you wear shades. Hate to get a sunburn

Fiberglass doesn't rust. Metal Does. Metal doesn't crack. Fiberglass does. Personally, if the fiberglass panels don't need a million hours of body work done to them, I'd go glass. Eliminate all possibility for rust on an extremely rust prone vehicle.

I'm "always here" so that says enough. I'm definitely thankful for HybridZ Thanks to all who have taught me Either way, HybridZ will still remain my first and last activity of the day.

Finished my intake manifold. I deleted the only previous remaining bung, and tapped an additional 1/16 npt hole for another dedicated vacuum line for my blow off valve) So basically I had to repaint the whole thing. And I had just received my exhaust materials so I decided to pull my headers, and started to think, exhaust routing. Here's a layout of how my exhaust will work out. Stock T3 --> MSA Downpipe --> 2.5" - 3" Adapter (6" long) --> 3" Exhaust --> Dynomax Ultraflo muffler I'll weld everything so it is one piece, except the muffler, because I want to keep that interchangeable. I added the flanges for ease. I was torn between using vband clamps, but I've had good luck with these flanges in the past, so I'm confident they will seal my exhaust plenty fine, especially with the gasket. Here's a better representation. And with my headers off the car I was free to do my first mock up. I still have to pull my motor and swap parts, but I'm stoked with how clean the new setup will look. Everything fit!!!(one thing I forgot to mention is my relocation of the PCV valve on the N42 intake.) Here's a picture

I LOVE and am currently contemplating painting my engine bay Battleship Gray But I'll probably stick with black, since it makes my motor "POP"