Zedyone_kenobi

Right, I took a stab at filling the holes, and shooting it with a coat of 901 silver. Well as you can see the results are not exactly Pebble Beach..:stupid: So what am I to do, but sand it down and try again. This time I got more aggressive with my sandpaper. I started at 200, then 600, then 1500. I am getting happier as this goes on. What a long learning curve.. The surfaces are much smoother, and now I think I am ready for clear. I could sand and re-prime/re-paint forever, but what I learned is that this job is best done with the engine out. Next shots will be with a coat of clear, and then with the hardware installed!

Okay, I downloaded some pics as I have been working on them. As you know I tried my hand at some primitive body work. And I am both pleased and displeased with the results. First, my before pictures... This is the completely before picture before my optima died and I decided to replace my battery hold down to OEM and get new battery ignition wiring, which started this whole thing! First step is of course to remove all the extra nonsense that was in the way. I never did remove that strut bar, it just never seemed to be in the way to be honest. You can see the mismatched colors and spots and half a dozen extra holes where the AC stuff use to be. Now you can see my second coat of primer. I still had not filled in the holes at this point. All I keep doing is sanding, sanding, sanding. More and more, I think that this whole job should be done with the engine out of the car. I am trying my hand at this on the passenger fender, first, but I think I would like to do it all again, with the engine out. Add that to my do-to list right. Next steps are to fill in the holes. I decided to go with a tube application. Granted it is not the best, but it is sandable and comes recommended from a buddy of mine. It is called plastic metal. Made by Bondo. I have mixed feelings about using it, but I will give it a try and see where it goes.

THat was a bit coarse Gary, I would have said 650 and 19999, I mean, COME ON!

Okay progress has been slow,but today I took off the VIN plate and started polishing up the screws to put back in. I also did more sanding followed by my first coat of sandable primer. I will put this on in layers and work out all the scratches, nicks, I can. After I get it just right, I am going to hit it with several layers of base coat, and then some clear. Pics to follow.

I really like those wheels! You should polish them up

Just so you know, most wraps hold moisture close to the metal for extended periods of time. Add heat into the mix, and even stainless will break down after a while. Cannot say how fast it will be, but it does happen. Some subaru friends of mine had that happen to their stainless downpipes.

Just an update. I talked to the fellow this week about my dizzy rebuild. He is getting it on his bench before the end of the week and he will tell me what the euro dizzy is up to. I am looking forward to dropping that baby in there and running some aggressive advance curves.

copy that, saw other threads with tin foil used. Very good idea.

will do, pics to follow. I thought it was rivets. I will double check. Yeah, the engine is not out. I have a couple of projects planned in the next two months that I want the engine in for.

I have no idea!! I just bought one can of sandable primer, one can of basecoat, and one can of clear... I am taking pictures as I go, I will post them when I have made more progress.

I have decided to on the first bit of 'body work' I have ever tried (not counting refinishing my air cleaner). I am going to try to paint the engine bay fenders of my Z. They have long been scratch up from the dealer installed A/C hoses and canisters, etc. Plus it will give me a chance to really clean up the battery tray area. So far, I have removed everything from the passenger wheel well area. I mean everything but the VIN tag, I am going to leave that there and carefully tape over it. I have wet sanded the bejebus out of most of the area and I am working my way down to the frame rail. I am debating if I am going to remove the fuel lines or use a long brush to clean around them. Not sure. I have tested a small area of the touch up paint I ordered from http://www.automotivetouchup.com/ and it appears to be the real deal. I have an extra front valance that I am testing everything out on as well so I can see it in the sunlight. I think the color is pretty darn close to my 15 year old respray. Close enough for an engine bay anyway. So my first newbie question. I have half a dozen or so holes drilled in my fender for old A/C plumbing grommets, and places where the voltage regular had to be moved due to the compressor. What is the best way to fill in screw holes. Options that come to mind are: Small Welds Brazing Body filler JB weld (sandable if they make it) If I come across as a complete beginner at painting things I am. I know enough that prep is everything. Sand, clean, degrease, clean, use tack cloth, clean. Clean clean clean. If I do that, then my chances are better for a good result. So for a while, I will spend my time cleaning and sanding.

okay okay OKAY... I admit it. I did forget about the mustang II and the Fox body. Mostly the fox body to be honest. I am so ashamed!!

Okay, this is just, um... BEAUTIFUL... yup, my bumperettes are coming off.. SOON!

So much win in that post right there. I have said it for years to mostly deaf ears. The retro thing, is using the nostalgia of customers to sell a car. If you think about it, what are they doing really. Buy designing a car that looked mostly like a an older model.. you are telling that buyer.. "remember when we did not totally suck" The other big problem with going retro, is after that, where do you go from there? Do you follow all the previous years designs. Is the 2014 Camaro going to look like the 1970 Z28? You cannot evolve a brand for 35 years slowly adjusting it to the market and changing it, and then go full retro. You just cannot pick back up after the retro fad is over. GM, and Dodge have designed themselves into a box. The mustang however, has gradually changed and never really strayed that far from the original. The vette has done quite well too. And the pinnacle of design evolution is the 911.

I still need to do this. I will probably get around to it when I drop the tranny AND we are done with 100 degree days.

Great job Slingblade! Looking forward to your continuing improvements.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

congrats!!! great job!

If the car is all original, why ruin it with a stroker or V8 conversion. There are so few original Z's left. It is your car and you can do what you want, but cars that are converted to V8's are never brought back to original and that means one less Z car to represent the brand. Why not build up the L24 in it?

There is so much not stock in that car it is hard to tell. The side panels front and rear bumper, the hood, the numerous scoops, the steering wheel. It could be any model year really from 1970-1977. the lack of turn signal in the grill would make me lean toward an earlier car but that can ALL be modded. My question to you if I should dare ask it, is why a swap. I mean a swapped LSX is about as common place as a honda civic. Leaving the L-series in there and building it up would be more original. Not so sound like a downer, but the L series is a great race proven platform to make very good power.

Well I just installed an Interstate MT-24 battery. Fits the OEM battery holder wonderfully. I am going to see how it responds to the car. It maintains right at 13 volts just sitting there. More power to my accessories and coil must be good thing. My alternator will not have to work so hard at night I am hoping. My old battery would not get above 12.1 volts ever. I am going to get some new fancy battery cables and then hook it all back up today.

I headed down to my local saturday night car show last evening and noticed something that I never noticed before. I installed the 60 amp alternator conversion from MSA and have been happy with the output I have been getting. Very happy actually. I did notice something peculiar. When I turn my lights on at idle, the car literally loses about 150 rpm. It feels like an AC compressor has turned on. Now I understand that with the headlight harness installed the lights draw directly from the battery. Is that alternator trying to charge the battery so hard that it becomes that hard to turn? I know alternators take HP to run, but never thought it would be that much. This all could be because my battery is on its last leg as well. I have tried to charge it numerous times, and it never gets to beyond 12.1 volts. I have tried a dedicated battery charger at 5 amps and 10 amps, and I have a tried a trickle charger at 0.75 amps. THe battery will get to 12.1 volts pretty quickly, but if I leave it a day , it always drops to 11.7 volts. Could the alternator be trying to charge a battery that will not take a charge and is working overtime to accomplish this. Well, this is my theory. Any other takers. I am going to buy a new battery today to see what happens. By the way, I am running an 8 year old optima that has say for numerous years with the previous owner.

I am just curious buddy. Since ANSA is still technically in business, it seems you could get in trouble for selling these in any kind of quantity using their name. Maybe you should call them ANZA just to keep yourself out of any legal issues. I know it is anal, but I have seen things like this happen in the Subaru world with replica parts.

mortensen, I will see if I can ask the fellows at advanced distributors to do just that. I can ask for any setting I want, and they will make it happen. If I keep the static timing at 17 degrees and make the centrifugal advance more like 17-19 versus 12, then that would put me into the mid thirties like you mention and I could run without a VA. By your opinion then you think that if I were fully advanced by 2500-2700 rpm it would be a sweet spot for my stock L24 with headers and exhaust. I was just going to let them refub it and put a new pertronix in, I had not thought about recurving it. Very interesting thoughts though.

I do not think it would be bad, but I am pretty sure that is the original vacuum advance, and I would wager that it is probably leaky. I do not see any reason a US vacuum advance would not work, but if the plate inside is limited to 11 degrees, then 11 degrees is all I am going to get. I will have to see. I need to clean it up a bit.