het976

Justinr54321...If you are still in the area when you get to that part, you are welcome to come down and use the powder coater. I can do parts up that will fit in a standard kitchen oven, but I am working on a system to double that so I can do L6 cam covers.

Mezzz thanks for the kind words. I have worked on my patience factor. (and having my own powder coating system helps too). It is a labor of love.

I am in Vancouver, WA...Near Portland. Am I any closer? I will be willing to help if I can.

I can relate to Overpaid... As for Patience -and skills and tools and money...I got my Z back after being gone for 10 years and as I started rebuilding it, I was embarrassed about what passed for Craftsmanship when I was 25. That is how I know fiberglassing rust repair is not a good idea. I bought a used Harbor Freight (with out gas) wire feed...that is how I know name brand stuff is the way to go (can't get parts). Now I wait until I can afford the right tool, pay to have it done (very rare) or find someone who knows how and will teach me. And of course use this site to learn how real craftsman work.

Here is a shot of the s-bend on mine, so you see it can be done.

Bleed fitting goes to the top. I had to reshape my S lines slightly to get them to line up with the Toyota Calipers, buy they did line up OK. I did the reshape by hand.

Back to the welder issue. You can rent wire feed welders at most tool rental places. The True Value down the street has them. When I did the floor pans and frame rails in my Z, I rented a 220 volt for a weekend and it was about $125.00. I flew my son (pro welder) in for the weekend and we knocked it out, but it took 2-12 hour days with both of us working, but we also fabricated new mounts for the BMW seats. Since then I bought a 110 volt Miller wire feed that does everything I need. Good investment. I would stay away from the Harbor Freight ones, rent one or buy a name brand. Depending on how you do the patch - edge butt (hard for a beginner) or overlapping (a lot easier), make sure you seam seal any openings or overlaps.

a7dz...I am planning for Canby, that is the goal...to have Z done and the Roadster presentable. Looking forward to seeing yours there. I have to say, I would not be nearly as far along with out this site. The Honda heater and wiper upgrades as well as the dash restore all came from this site. A lot of smart and creative folks here. I hope to be able to contribute something back.

I would add my welcome from the Pacific Northwest...Looks like you have a nice start on a good project and at a great price. Z's are great to learn on, simple, sexy and easy work on. When you get it done, you will have something you can call your own. Welcome to Z ownership.

If you use the filler, it might help to put a piece of poly screen mesh (like for a screen door) on the back side to help the filler bond...if you can get to the back...after filling the hole use some filler on the back side and cover the mesh, like a sandwich. I did this 20 years ago and the filled holes are still holding

The only problem with the Moss kit is $$$$. I may finish it and sell it or I may just sell it as is. I like the B well enough, but my other half has adopted a "real" Fairlady. We have 1968 Datsun 1600 roadster with a Toyota 1800RG (twin cam 2 liter with dual Solex carbs - Good for about 165 HP in the car) engine and 5 speed. She is a little diamond in the rough, rust free and runs and drives really great, just needs some detail. Next up on the project block as soon as the Z is done.

It's all true...In the words of Jimmy Buffett..."I made up a few things and there's some I forgot"... Some details may have been left out in case my sons ever read this. But really it is even worse...The straw that broke it's back was that the canoe was stuffed full too, literally to the gunnels. If not for that, I think we could have gotten away with it. I used to haul the canoe everywhere with just a foam pad and some rope. In fact it was that trip that got me to buy the ski boat, everyone else had them and I only had that stinking canoe (later traded the canoe for a Honda 125 Elsinore).

Thanks for the comment on the car (see it’s history in my introduction a couple of days ago). The hardest part of the clock thing was finding the movement. I killed several I had hanging around here until setting off on my quest to Wal-Mart. The most head scratching I did was figuring out how to attach the leads for the remote battery holder. The leads in the clock will not solder (stainless?). I got a spring the same dia. as a battery and found rubber stoppers for each end, put spade connectors on the remote holder leads and wedged them in with the spring. Worked really well. If this does not make sense I will recreate it and post some pics.

The MGB is a 1979...with zero rust (CA car). If I finish it, I will do either the Sebring kit, chrome bumpers or some other form of no-bumpers. She is really nice, but I also have a 68 311 Roadster, so I don't really need another convertible.

Even more amazing was that I was on a flight back from Denver when the Auction was to close. The PO told me there was a guy who was bugging him to "Buy it Now" and was willing to pay anything to get her. I put in a max bid like $350 more than his last bid, got on the plane expecting to be shut out. When I got off the plane in Portland and fired up my PDA, it said "congratulations...." Turns out the guy who wanted it got confused on the time the auction ended and missed out. He called the PO all upset and said..."If the guy who won it does not come through...." I guess it was meant to be. Sure is expensive though...but I can see the end from here...just a few more months.

If you can't find the one at Michaels, the one I used from Wal-Mart was $5.00 and worked almost perfectly. It is shaped like a miniature old style round alarm clock. Take it apart...the Z hands fit almost exactly, the hour hand fits perfect, the minute hand fit well but I did a drop of superglue to make sure it stayed attached. There was some trimming needed, but it was easy. I took me less than an hour. BTW, I used my favorite double stick foam tape to attach the face to the new clock. Worked great.

I had a totaled BPE that I took the drivetrain out of for my Z. It was a real BPE with the correct paint code and original black paint. It did not have the pinstripe graphics however. Someone may have taken them off or I have heard that not all came with them. And no the car could not be saved...both ends were trashed, the rear floor was buckled 6 inches - only the drivers door was not damaged.

240ZX....thanks...It was an amazing meeting when I went over the owner's house. It was like meeting an old friend who had changed but still looked the same. There are times when I still don't believe it is in my garage. It is funny...as I work on it...I will find things and think...I remember when I did that or when that happened. The down side is I now see what a hack job I did on the poor girl in the past. Youth and inexperience...

I got stopped more than once questioning if I could see in my rear view mirrors (really could not, but always faked it). My boat was only 14 1/2 ft so it was small and light. It did have an 85 HP Merc on it, so it was also fast. Boat ramps were always fun...kind of like the bleach box at the drags...

Here are some pics in the gallery. The stripes are gone...I will get some updated photos on in a bit. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=13985