A to Z

thanks. one step at a time

What I am doing right now is what I call my "firewall forward" project. Literally concentrating on the firewall forward, and luckily I have a good grip on it. Big job left is both front struts, they are coming out, and getting new inserts and sprigns, painted all up and then the lower arms and everything sanded up and painted....already have new ball joints and new end links for the rack and pinion steering....everything there all cleaned up and re-assembled. That is the big job left on "firewall forward".

It DOES get overwhelming. I changed my focus to "just a driver"....and "build it for me", as the scope of the project and the cost would have skyrocketed if I tried to maker it "like new". I had to do it, as it was getting stressful

Sent a question about this to ExpressPaint. Their reply was that because my clear doesn't have a catalyst, that they recommend 7-10 days cure time and just buff no sanding. We'll give it a shot!

put the hood on tonight.....need to adjust

the pics make it look glossy, but under the hood, the clear came out very rough and dull. Maybe it was too hot? I used the same clear on my lower valence and it came out great! Looks like I will have to sand the under hood paint with 2000 grit and get a polishing pad for my orbital sander! The paint looked like it was drying the instant it hit the surface! Well, there's 2-3 good coats of it, so it SHOULD buff out I hope. I hate painting. Like

All Metal filler is a God-send. I have had to use it quite a bit. being 80% metal and 20% resin, it doesn't shrink, and has the effect that Lead did in the old days for filing in "issues". My hood tip was filled with it for example. After it was sanded smooth, a bit of Bondo and all is well!

August 5th....time to paint the under hood and lower valence. Went ahead and sanded underneath with my orbital sander with 1000 grit. The edges and everything I did by hand. Found some bondo in the tip I didn't know about. Remember the slide hammers you screw in to a hole? Yeah that. As for the lower valence, the ends are repos I got off of eBay, the factory ends weren't in good shape....the repos fit perfect! I painted under the valence in gloss black and then did the top in the factory 904 Kilimanjaro White. Here are some pics of the days work.

My car came from Arizona. It was sold in Mesa, Arizona to a man from Phoenix who had it for 8 months, then sold it to an air force guy, who apparently parked it in a hanger for almost 30 years. So, although ti ended up in Michigan, it was spared the winters and salt!

I hope so. Every seam has surface rust.....typical for Datsun's at this age. When all is said and done, you have to spray some WD-40 in those cracks I guess to keep the car "alive". The boys in Yokohama had no idea the weather conditions in the USA I think.....I read that the first ones that came over started rusting on he way, and arrived with rust already! Salt air! So, they had to eat crow and spray a bit of undercoating under them....but it wasn't much! By the time the 280Z came about, it was much better, but in 1970-1973 it was a novelty!

Some more progress. Pulled the passenger fender off, fixed the rust, painted it up inside, painted the area around the strut....took the drivers fender back off, and finished painting for final assembly. I also got the door hinges all painted up prior to install. New fender bolts in. A lot more work than it looks like.

I remember a long time ago hearing about removing the rubber from the front strut isolators to lower the front end about another inch. Do any of you remember or know of this mod? Thanks.

But it's getting done. Thank you, Jesus.

here are some pics of my journey in a one gar garage:

I got a little bit more done today.....trans cooler mounted up, battery in, more lines fastened down, chopped out the old exhaust completely. Progress.

Hmmm....if it is not adhesive, then a single wrap of tape at the end would be needed, right?

A tad over 9 hours in the garage today. Continuing to put stuff back on, in the engine compartment. Radiator, shroud, fan and fan belt all back in, finished alternator setup, I got the Vacuum booster and new brake master cylinder back on, and then I got the carbs back on. Starting to see progress. Here are a couple pics of the day:

I doubt it. This is an exhausting amount of work.

any chips and nicks can be filled in with touch up paint. After it is dry, it can be wet sanded down and blend in with the factory paint to where you can't see it. So, there will be some of that.....some edges and spots, where the paint is very thin will will get a spot paint of white. The 1000 grit is a quick hit to give the clear something to grab on to. 3 coats, with the hope that I won't have to wet sand with 2000 and polish to get a shine out of it. My front and rear BRE spoilers will stay a semi-gloss black, which will also match the black stripe along the doors.

Today was a day of putting stuff back on. Starter, Alternator, battery tray, intake and exhaust manifolds. Putting the fuel and brake lines back down, etc. Managed to get the radiator and shroud ready for paint as well.

thanks.

The problem I may have, is the spots I have to touch up with my aerosol can, the paint requires a coat of clear over it.....so if I can get it to buff together and look right, then I won't have to clear whole sections.

Thanks all. This car has never been hit. My intention, is to use my orbital sander with 1000 grit paper and a spray bottle and wet sand the original paint. Then wipe it down with denatured alcohol, and spray Urethane clear over it. Anyone see a problem with that? The clear I sprayed in my engine compartment has A LOT of dirt in it. I will have to sand and buff some of it to make it smooth. Lessons being learned!

Again, when you are running an automatic trans, the headers won't work, so this is what you have to do....unless you are going to custom make your own headers I suppose. Instructions from machinist is to screw in the studs until they stop, then give them 1/4 turn....THAT'S IT!

Thanks. Here are 3 pics of my 1972 exhaust manifold. The bolts that hold the probes in have been there for 49 years....hence they are not coming out. So I cut them off and grounded it down smooth. I took it to a welding shop and they welded them all shut and grinded them down flat. On the next pic, you can see I cut off the 2-3 inch long probes, and was able to get in there with a Dremel grinder and flush the port probes. The last pic, the same with the 3 studs. They were a part of the manifold. Had a machine shop drill them out and heli-coil it. I got the new set of studs and bolts on eBay from the Z Depot. Lastly painted it in 1200 degree F flat black exhaust paint. So total including the paint was $125.