MikeW

Are the hatch interior plastic panels still present? Is so, what shape are they in?

I think drilling them out would be taking it to the extreme. I seriously doubt that someone would have done this intentionally. It's more likely that years of crud have simply caused them to stick and a little more persuasion is needed. I would first try spaying them thoroughly with carb cleaner and if that doesn't work I'd try something a little more effective like PB Blaster.

According to a site I just Googled for: "Stainless components have a strength typically 87.5% of the same size fixing of grade 8.8 steel"

ZMeFly: Any updates on this scary story?

Octane is a measure of how easily the fuel ignites. It's not a measure of how much power is in the fuel. Higher octane is needed as the compression ratio goes up to prevent pre-detonation (or pinging). Cars that require premium fuel do so because of higher compression ratios. If your car is not pinging on 89 octane then 93 octane isn't going to do you a bit of good. You're just wasting your money. It may be that the premium fuel has other benefits (like better additives, etc) but don't buy more octane that you need. My understanding is also that AvGas contains some lead which can certainly be harmful to newer cars (but probably not our old Z cars since they were designed for leaded fuels).

I wonder why that method worked but the normal bleeding procedure didn't. It doesn't seem all that different to me - using your thumb instead of the bleed screw.

I don't think that's how lojack works. The system is essentially passive, listening for an activation signal. The activation signal is not transmitted until the car is reported stolen. At that point the system starts emitting a radio beacon that the police have to actually home in on like tracking a bear with a radio collar. That's a lot different than, for instance, a GPS based system (like what some trucking companies use) where at any point someone could effectively watch where you've been and where you are.

My understanding is that the marine clean removes any oils or other substances that will cause the POR15 to not stick well. I doubt that you'd have any of those problems on top of a fresh coat and the marine clean probably wouldn't help with any dust that got stuck while things were still wet. I don't think the metal ready by itself has any rust prevention abilities. In fact, I think it's only really needed on clean, smooth metal to help the POR15 stick. It actually etches the metal. The rust prevention comes from the POR15 paint itself because it bonds to the metal and hardens. This hard layer is a moisture barrier which is why it prevents the rust.

I'm not aware of this dent. There is a hump the runs lengthwise right above the frame rails on either side. There are also some depressions in both pans that are probably for structural support. Do you have a picture? There are plenty of pictures in the galleries here of floorpans and floorpan rust repairs. Here's a good shot that shows the humps and depressions I was talking about: http://www.datsunzparts.com/FLOORS1B.JPG

Richard Kiel ("Jaws") was actually Jackie Chan's driving partner in the forgetable sequel "Cannonball Run II". This was the movie where Burt Reynolds was an Army general. Even Frank Sinatra made an appearance. As I recall even though it was supposed to be the same cross country race it appeared to be filmed entirely in the California desert. The original: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082136/ The sequel: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087032/

Interesting trivia: This was the first US movie with Jackie Chan (1981). He was the driver of Subaru with the jet engine in the back and night vision goggles who later got into a fight with a bunch of bikers. Jackie got the idea of running outtakes at the end of his movies from this film. http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/cannonball_run.htm

That's clearly a '70 whereas the other is clearly a '73 (except for the carbs).

Something similar to this happened in Atlanta a few years ago. A fully loaded tanker truck rear ended a car in the middle of the night. The driver of the car stalled in a center lane and just left it there without hazard lights on. It just so happened that this occurred under the bridge of one of the busiest highway intersections in town (6 lanes crossing 8 lanes). The heat was enough to suspect structural damage to the steel girders and the bridge had to be closed for repairs. Based on what I've seen of traffic around DC you had better hope a long term shutdown isn't required.

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Perhaps I could pay some up front and more as needed to cover things.

Whoa!!! This doesn't make sense. Who diagnosed it? Unless it was a doctor then they're just guessing. If it was a doctor but not at an ER I would assume that the doctor would arrange transportation immediately to the nearest ICU. I can't imagine anyone being afraid of getting treatment for something that's potentially life threatening. In this case, the treatment may not actually be all that difficult or expensive but getting treatment is critical. It sounds like you might need some help trying to get them to listen.

Sorry to hear about this. I read several links that Google turned up and it looks like the outcome likely depends on how soon it was discovered and treated. The scary part appears to be if it progresses to septic shock. However, it also looks like treatment with enough antibiotics soon enough can prevent it from getting that far. Obviously this person is already being treated at a hospital so there's not much more to be done. I'd keep reading stuff on the internet and hope that it was caught in time. Good luck ...

Power steering? I suspect the appraiser meant to circle brakes ...

Thanks for the advice, guys. It may not be as questionable as it might sound from my initial description. While he does the work at home he does appear to be set up for it and has been doing it for years. I took a look around at his work areas as well as the two jobs he currently has going and my gut says it looks reasonable. This isn't just an on the side thing but rather his full time business that he just happens to run out of his house. He said he would take all of the glass out, take the doors off, and basically get all of the places where the original paint was. He pointed out all of the small defects in the body work that I already knew about and some that I didn't. He said the first step would be to hit it with a flat board sander and find all of the problem areas. He prefers to weld small patch panels as needed as opposed to replacing entire body parts. He only uses PPG paints if that makes any difference. He said he would take off the cowl panel and really clean up all of the slots that were neglected during previous paint jobs. The job would probably take 4 weeks if that's all he's working on and I'd be welcome to stop by and watch the progress. Really, everything seemed reasonable other than asking for money up front. Does this extra information change anything? Does anyone here know anyone else they can recommend in the Atlanta area?

I've found someone to do a proper paint job and his estimate of $4-$4.5K seems in line with what others have said a good job will cost. I still need to check out some references but so far it looks good. I actually got his name from the local store that sells auto paints so I figure they probably know a lot of people in the business. I do however have one question for you guys. He says he would want 1/2 the money up front to cover supplies and the initial labor. Is this a reasonable request? He does all of the work at home so he doesn't have the bankroll of a large paint and body shop.

I suspect they're there simply to reduce weight. As you said they were covered already so it's not like any air flows through there or anything like that.

I suspect they're there simply to reduce weight. As you said they were covered already so it's not like any air flows through there or anything like that.

First of all, there really isn't a '69. It's common for cars of a given model year to be built towards the end of the previous year. Therefore the early 1970 cars were built in late 1969. Since the earliest Z cars are considered more desirable those built in 1969 are certainly the earliest. In the USA, at least, 1973 cars had to meet more stringent emissions regulations. Nissan used so-called "flat top" carbs for '73. Many people don't like thes and instead prefer the earlier "round top" carbs. Also, the bumpers for 1973 were pushed out from the body a bit to improve crash worthiness.

Yes. From what I can tell, the old foam core may be part of the problem. I'm guessing that if you tried to peel the old vinyl from the core it would take clumps of the foam with it - thereby leaving a bumpy, uneven surface. Doing that to the whole pad might then make it hard to smooth it out back to the proper level with some kind of filler. JimK, if you're reading this perhaps you can respond.

Well, I'm not going to peel off the new vinyl to find out. It may be that the old vinyl was just left around the instrument holes. I did trim some of the new vinyl and what appeared to be old vinyl back to get my speedometer and tachometer back in. I agree that the new vinyl is thicker and that might be contributing to the problem. I'm actually happy at this point so I don't want it to sound like I'm complaining.

I'd like to see that. Can you take a picture or two?