Patcon

Where in Texas are you? Texas is normally not awful to deal with, better in a small town than a big city. Some states wash cars out of the registration after a certain number of years. There should be 4 locations for the VIN on a 280Z I believe. The data plate on the passenger side strut tower under the hood, the dash, the drivers side door jamb and the engraving on the firewall above the brake booster. Do they all match? If they do fine. If they don't try the one from the firewall...

ahhhh "beer crawl" I'm so jealous!!!

YoshiDori The paint looks like it will clean up good. It may not hold the shine very long but it will look good on the big day. You're doing great on the wheels. I have a set that is very similar I need to work on in a similar manner.

You won't be able to tell the size and offset from a picture. They look like 15" wheels

After being on Stant's website, they evidently don't make one. If they don't I wouldn't know where to go next.... The other option would be to get an older gas lid with the chrome thumb latch. They made keyed locks that also fit the fuel tank door. I know they are findable if not domestically then in Aus or Japan. If you decide to go that route I can help you look... C

Nice looking car. Lots of nice little details. The floor mats, the rear hatch area looks good with the luggage straps not faded. Original looking radio. I suspect they want 30k or more though the way the auctions have been lately...

As Jim pointed out series one cars also suffered from some electrical issues that were fine tuned in later car... A full respray for me here on the Southern East coast is some where between 5,000 and 9,000 depending on the shop and work load. On the west coast I would add maybe 50% to that and you will have to use waterborne products. California is very strict on painting businesses and their cost of living is higher...

$30,000 is not very much to buy the car, restore and modify the car, possibly paint the car and get it back to the UK I agree a really solid car is 11k-15k Respray is 7k or more Mechanical rework is at least 5k Then interior, electrical, misc, seats & shipping If you were doing the work yourself you could probably do it but to have someone do it the US and then ship it to you sees difficult

That's a good idea Jim

Any thing you could use to take the paint off will probably destroy the bag. If you want it black, buy a new one from Banzai...

Evercoat sells plastic fillers and fiberglass products. If you go to a professional retailer see if they can advise you between the two. Fiberglass tends to stick better but is harder to sand. Plastic filler is much easier to sand but may not adhere as well. You really need a filler not a spot filler / glazing putty. They are designed for very small flaws and don't stick as well...

The pictures look good. Hard to see any flaws in those. Glad I could help...

Most of the filler I have seen want a course sanding finish 36 grit or 80 grit minimum. Is the filler you are using catalyzed? Also Bondo does not make the best products anymore...I would go with an Evercoat product

Thanks, The metric is fine and I will check it before I change it out. I have lots of buckets from customers jobs so I will be using 5 gallon buckets. Any particular vinegar? Just white vinegar?

What is your recipe for your electrolyte solution? I need to up my volume and this would be cheaper than buying another 1.5 gal kit

That's good info. I ordered a new power supply last night. It's 10 amp so it could handle 95% of what I might plate...I tried the 1 Ohm resister I bought to try to get my power supply to adjust but no dice

Blue, Is that #249? I didn't know you had it that far along!!! C

I considered it but don't have the funds right now. Glad Leon got it...

Ok. Today I messed with this some more. Set the Volts all the way up, Amps all the way down cut it on. Tried to crank the amps up and this is all I got without the resistor Added a 1 Ohm 100 Watt resistor, this is what I got Tried just the 1 Ohm resistor and tried to get the current up but no dice. According to this my power supply is bad... http://forum.caswellplating.com/forum/electroplating-questions/6724-my-power-supply-has-me-confused-can-t-control-current?t=6535

By the looks of your lady I would say your family is growing. You didn't post an asking price or I didn't see it...

The needle valves are probably stuck open or your electric fuel pump is applying more than 3 psi...

Unless the leak is coming from the cowl area...

From the looks of it, you'll be the passenger...

Be careful you don't tear the gaskets. There is a thread somewhere on rebuilding them and sourcing parts...

I am leaning towards Zed's position. Many coatings once cured don't take a second coat well with out scuffing, which is impossible in this instance