78_280z

Ended up using the Z for my graduation project was judged by a group of people and graded. We had to write a paper and such over it so it gave me a reason to take it out and give her a quick wash. Ready for the engine to sit back in!? Nah couldn't get over the ugly transmission so pulled that out and gave it a sand and respray. (Good thing I did classic Z problem with the stuck trans filler bolt! That was fun . With the trans done I could finally put everything back into the car. Was ready to see some sort of progress instead of throwing money around. I ordered a new flywheel thinking it would be better but I was shipped the wrong one frustrated pissed and not willing to wait I called in another favor from a friend with a machine shop who resurfaced my original flywheel the next morning turned out gorgeous and at 1/4th the cost of that new one should have just done it the first time. Live and learn... Got the clutch mounted and trans on and shoe horned the extremely long setup into the car by my self.

With the engine all sorted to the point where I could move on I focused my attention on the nasty engine bay. Really all it needed was a lot of TLC I got lucky with my battery tray being perfect and everything just surface rust through the bay. I wire wheeled everything then sprayed it with por15 rust stopper product and coated it with silver chassis saver for protection. I then went over it and re scuffed everything with a scotch brite pad and sprayed self etching primer over it all. over 30hrs of prep work I would say but the end result was pretty good for a home paint job! For the final color and paint I went with my rattle can skills. Yes hate on spray paint but I went with a factory color matched silver paint from the local auto part store and let me tell you after some coats and a good hand followed with clear it turned out about as good as I could ask for! Now the very front was left with a little bit of cancer so I cut that out and patched it followed by some paint. How she sat for awhile: