forchunet

Holy crap that looks really good man! I've never seen anybody weld the headlight buckets onto the frame. I can't wait to see how the finished product looks. Nice job on the quarters. Is that metal to metal filler that you used?

Bring a screwdriver and tap on the frame rails. If anything that used to be metal falls of or pries open tell the PO and use that as a bartering point.

Must have a heated garage because I can't stand working in this kind of weather/temperature. And you're in Connecticut! Wow... When spring rolls around I'm diving into my Z head first!

offer to buy the black one instead heh.

I wouldn't be worrying about that too much... It's definitely fixable if it is rusted through.

awesome work! Wish mine would turn out half as good.

yeah I too have doubts about their jack stands...

Hmm looks good Horatio. How did you get the bottom lip to line up? I did some fitting the other day and the little crease on the bottom didn't line up at all. maybe it will though when I cut out the old material?

Hm thanks for that bit of info. I'm gonna go splurge on some cheap pneumatic tools next time they're on sale heh!

Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah it seems like a daunting task but I need to learn somehow. I'm stocking up on quality tools and materials for now and waiting till its warmer out to tackle this thing. In the meantime I'm researching everything heh. Wish I could just jump right in though....

Does anybody have any experience with HF pneumatic tools? Their flange tool, orbital sanders, die grinder and angle grinders are soo cheap, felt pretty strong too...?

Hm just ordered front rear fenders, rocker panels, doglegs, and rear fenders all around from Tabco. Came up to $340+... Lets see how this adventure goes heh.

He got it for $200 so for that price what do you expect? Not a bad deal imo.

Good luck! You have more work to do than me but that means even more pride and a sense of satisfaction when its all done.

Rust wise... I have some tabco body panels on the way and some bad dog rails in the near future. That should take care of it for now.

Thanks for the advice. Fortunately for me I have all the time and some money to make this project happen. I plan to look at this as a learning experience and as a reward for myself for when I graduate college. And as I've realized thus far, working on my car is a great stress reliever!

But i've checked into tabco and was skeptical after reading the one post on it and seeing people criticize their fit... Their prices were great though!

Well the parts car was coming with a clean L28 and what not so I figured I might as well right? A tree fell on it and only the glass and the roof were damaged.

dont know if this was posted already but check it out. http://www.classiczcars.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=3474&cat=1

I may be picking up a 280z 2+2 as a parts car for my 78 Z. My question is, are the rear fenders and doglegs on the 2+2 compatible with the 2 seater Zs? I plan to cut them out and weld them onto my car. Thanks.

Wow this build is awesome! Your car seemed to have been in similar shape as mine when you first started... Your thread has given me a lot of inspiration! What have you done so far as rust. Did you weld in new panels or are you using mainly bondo/fiberglass as apparent in your pics? Sorry I can't answer your emissions question...

A little too late for the ATF. She idles lower now though. But I'll go back and buy some conventional oil...

I know don't you just love it?

Well Im changing the oil in my Z tomorrow for the first time. The PO didn't really give me much info on when he last changed the oil or what he used so I figured I might as well start fresh. My Z is a 78 and it's currently at 199K miles. I went ahead and bought 5 quarts of 10w30 Castrol Synthetic along with a quart of ATF to flush out the engine. I plan to add the ATF, change the oil filter with a generic one, run the engine for 5 minutes, drain oil, change filter with Mobil 1 filter, add the Castrol and call it a day. Does anybody see any glaring problems with what I have proposed. I read previous topics on this and everybody said to do something similar. Should I be using high mileage oil especially since Im nearing 200k? Lady at the store said I might want to go that route but when she had her back turned I asked her manager and he told me synthetic would be better.... heh. Thanks for any input whatsoever.

Oh and as for the front fenders... The drivers side is great. The passenger side still has a battery tray at least but you can see through behind the tire in a few spots. Will need a lot of work. The frame rails are good, not great but good. Planning to buy some baddog rails and welding them up there for added support, however.