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How do you shave the rear of a Z


CarolinaZ

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I know ..ok now before someone says something like "use a new blade and go slowly" the question is what is the process and what all is involved in doing it , I realize remove the stock bumper as well as the piece between the bumper nad the body, but once that is accomplished what all has to be done to get the rounded smooth shaved look that so many of the Z's on here have. Are there any body kits that are available or is it done with sheetmetal , fiberglass from scratch or what..and what is the estimated expense , I want to shave the rear , air dam the front then add a BRE spoiler or wing on the rear.

 

Thanks

 

Carolina Z

 

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/7/19818140818.jpg&s=f10

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Hey Im going to be doing the same thing soon. What im planning on doing is now that I have the shock absorbers out continue to take out the mounting brackets on the inside of the rear end sheetmetal that create small bumps with holes for bolts. Once those are hammered in and are smooth Ill take one large piece of sheetmetal and pull it around the back so that the edges of the sheetmetal stop a little more then a quarter of an inch away from each edge(edge below tail lights, corners on sides of the car and the lower edge. Once welded on Ill use bondo to smooth out where the sheet metal stopped. I havent done it yet but Im pretty sure Itll work fine. Good Luck.

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My plan was always to cut out the indents and weld in new metal, flush. then just smooth with filler and an asston of good high build and move along!

 

Im speaking from a 240 standpoint of course. I'll have to look at it again to make sure, but really, I thought it wouldnt be much more than adding some flush metal to replace the indents for the bumper.

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well for my 280, i cleaned the back of the panel really well (gas tank side) and applied a layer of fiberglass behind all of the open holes. Then filled the holes with fiberglass re-inforced bondo. (i know....but i had no welder, access to a welder, or someone who could weld). In hind sight, it probably would have been better to fill in the holes with smaller layers of fiberglass kinda pancaked. but o well. Then i smoothed the whole thing out with filler bondo (small layer, most of it sanded away).

 

It came out pretty well, still have some blocking to do. Took a weekend. (fiberglass layed on friday, let harden over night....bondo filled sat, let harden, filled/smoothed sunday)

 

here's the thread for it.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=110833

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  • 2 months later...

Well, I shaved my today. I will attach some picks. I did run into some snags. Here's what I did.

 

1- Removed the bumper and all rubber trim

2- Remove the driver's side cartridge

there were three nuts inside the hatch towards the rear by the factory preaker bracket on the floor area

3- Drop the gas tank (use care the bolts holding the tank straps will break and are $5 and a week out from dealer so I made my own replacement from a u-bolt and welded the top of the old j-bolt to it for the right size catch) you must detach the fill/large hose (remove the wheel well cover in the r/r wheel area to gain access the the fill hose to pull it down, and two hoses running from the top of the tank to the overflow tank before you try to drop it and the sensor plug I was able to support the tank without removing the hoses to the pump and all and just shifted it down and to the side to acess the right cartridgeNote all these areas are best reached by removing all interior platic trim around the interior hatch area.

4- reinstall the gas tank and all the hoses

5- grind the lip off the back side of the cut outs in the rear skirt

6- weld metal behind the cut outs and where the bumper cart. brackets came through the rear skirt

7- fill the bolt holes with two part body panel adhesive

8- use good bondo to build up the skirt to a smooth surface

 

----here is where I have made it to so far----

9- sand and finish bondo to make a nice surface to prime and so on

 

I say bondo, but I am using a commercial grade bondo type filler I just dont remember the name of it. I got it from my friends shop.

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I know ..ok now before someone says something like "use a new blade and go slowly" the question is what is the process and what all is involved in doing it , I realize remove the stock bumper as well as the piece between the bumper nad the body, but once that is accomplished what all has to be done to get the rounded smooth shaved look that so many of the Z's on here have. Are there any body kits that are available or is it done with sheetmetal , fiberglass from scratch or what..and what is the estimated expense , I want to shave the rear , air dam the front then add a BRE spoiler or wing on the rear.

 

Thanks

 

Carolina Z

 

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/7/19818140818.jpg&s=f10

HEY, thats a pic of MY CAR!!! I welded sheet mtel over the holes, grinded smooth, body filler, sand smooth...bada-bing-paint it!

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Easiest thing to do is cut sheet metal to fit the size of the holes your Z has. Weld them in. Silicone the back for corrosion purposes and build up a lot of body filler on the back. Preferably something like All-Metal that will be tougher in an area that might flex. Sand it all down with a long flat block (80ish). Look for any high spots in the metal and tap them down with a hammer. Reapply the body filler until you have a nice flat surface. Then apply glazing putty, sand that down with a long block and a higher grit (220ish).

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heres a question , all the Z's I have seen shave the rear ends are early models that don't have a major dip in it my 81 does. All they require is a fill not like like what mine will require. btw are you not supposed to use any filler whether bondo brand or not, is there different quality.2ndpatchos.jpg

 

as you can see it is going to require a piece made to fit. I am really concerned about the body fill issue thou

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heres a question , all the Z's I have seen shave the rear ends are early models that don't have a major dip in it my 81 does. All they require is a fill not like like what mine will require. btw are you not supposed to use any filler whether bondo brand or not, is there different quality.2ndpatchos.jpg

 

as you can see it is going to require a piece made to fit. I am really concerned about the body fill issue thou

 

 

I guess Im going to run into that same problem with my 79 too:(

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woodboxer, I'm not sure exactly what you just said.

 

I'm assuming you're worried because it's a dip and not a hole? All you have to do is cut a plate to fit and weld it in flush with the higher part of the panel. If you're really worried you could even drill a hole in the back of the panel so you don't have a pocket of air trapped in there after you weld and bondo it shut. Why would that matter? I doubt it would, but it would at least reduce the stress put on it by altitude change (assuming you ever drive it up a serious mountain). That said, it's probably not even necessary.

 

As for bondo. Don't use bondo on anything that's going to be more than 1/8in think. It even says on the can. It doesn't have much structural integrity, so it can't handle any loading. If you have something that needs more serious treatment, use something like all-metal (and/or welding). Lead is great too but I hear it takes a lot of practice.

 

When you're all done, use glazing putty over it.

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Does anyone know how to remove the 3 holed mounting brackets that make the sheetmetal stick out? I looked under the car and it looks as if theyre welded to the frame rails. Anyone taken these off. If you were to you might want to reinforce the rear sheetmetal somehow just in case.

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