EScanlon

From the original post, and the specific mention of rust, I presume you are talking about the Steel Rims that were original to the car. That being the case, Rick has it exactly right. Sandblast both sides, then my preference is to use an epoxy primer. Simply due to the ease of adhesion, and the fact that you can get the self etching, and in most cases I am familiar with, you also get the benefit of not having to scuff / sand before topcoating as long as you do it within a certain time frame. Then apply your choice of paint, whether enamel or lacquer. Personally I prefer the enamel. You're not going for a candy apple finish on your wheels, (and if you are, then we must shift gears completely), you're going for color and protection from further rust. Enamel is a little bit more friendly in a harsh environment than lacquer. Lacquer can chip very readily and once chipped tends to continue flaking at that spot unless repaired. As far as wire brushing, I would first strip whatever paint you can from the wheel with paint stripper. Then neutralize that stuff, and THEN wire brush what you have left. Then primer, followed by paint.

What Eastwood is selling is a color match paint to the original style of paint in the 70's, 80's etc. It is a satin silver with high silver content. Very pretty and very specific to those years. Same thing with the black, if you aren't looking for a specific color MATCH, and that is the key word, then you can use any paint you want. The problem with most of the ~other~ paints is how durable they are in a given environment. Wheels are notorious for getting a lot of grime on them as well as brake dust. Both of which are notorious for causing problems with paint. Also don't forget that although they don't get as hot as an engine manifold or the like they do get hot, so keep that in mind when you get your paint. As with all paint jobs, make sure you prep the wheels right and you should be fine.

2MZ, Did you mean 1/8 or 1/18 scale? The reason I ask is that the Kyosho ARE 1/18, and their cost is nowhere near 80 bucks each, I think I bought mine for just under $30.00 each.

There is another way of tackling this monster. It will eventually make it much easier to remove and reinstall that vent flap box. However, it does require a bit more work to get there. The problem you are having is that you are trying to do all this work WITHOUT removing the dash, commendable but not the easiest way to do this job. If you were about 30" tall, and could snake up there, it would still be a tight fit. The fresh air flap is mounted to the bottom of the cowl bucket and there is a putty gasket there. The fan / motor are easier left on it and remove them as a unit. The ducting to the defroster vents might be blocking access to the cowl bucket, and in addition to that you are trying to avoid the glove box. Personally, although complicated, it isn't HARD to remove the dash. With that out of the way you can effect a proper and complete fix and it won't give you any trouble in the future. It will take you about 2 hours (because of the learning curve) to remove the dash, then about an hour to fix what you need to fix in the flap box (2 if it needs rebuilt), then about 1.5 hours to reassemble. 2¢

Which panel did the guy have? I see 1 panel that definitely needs replacing, the one from the light indent all the way to the valance. The light openings and the top panel for that are possibilities but they look saveable. The one that will need to be fabricated is an L shaped piece that will go between the spare tire well and the back of the bumper mounting plate. Both of those will need to be pulled back and fix or replace the mounting beam(s) Mind you, I'm quoting real worst case scenario because I haven't looked at the car proper, just your pictures. Since the guy you took it to has a correct panel for your vehicle is a good sign but only if he was the one to get it and not by the owner of the other car that was in there getting fixed. Why not ask the shop for the number of the guy who had the 240z fixed and ask him his opinion of the shop? That might be the best clue and / or information. Don't feel bad asking for references, you ARE hiring him to do work for you, that makes you the boss. The key thing is that it IS repairable. Is it a nasty hit in a hard to fix area, unfortunately yes. A good body man can either straighten or replace the metal involved. A good chunk of it just needs straightening, but again it depends on the skill and time available from a good body man. So the key question in all this, is who is paying for it? Keep us posted.

Sadly, there is some hidden damage there that MUST be replaced if you're going to enjoy that car again. In front and above the bumper mounting bolts there is a rectangular cavity that runs the width of the car. This goes from the right most seam between the cargo floor and the side panel where the plastic interior part mounts to all the way to the left side. This is strictly a reinforcement strut for the cargo area, but it also provides some critical sice to side structure for the Gas tank and rear end mounts. It is not difficult nor even hard to fix, but you have to know it's there. You can see it's presence and condition by looking at the damage to the spare tire well. The bumper can be replaced, although good re-chromeable blanks are getting scarcer. I would definitely take it to a specialty body shop. They'll be the most expensive, but they may be the only ones that can REALLY fix this car.

The jury will always be out on bondo. Where years ago, metal craftsmen would carefully and laboriously restore the sheet metal of a car using pick hammers, slap files, melted lead and very careful cooper like techniques, that has been simplified to grind, slap a coat of hardening polyesther resins and shave and smooth to fit. Sadly, very few of us can afford the former treatment, and must instead rely (at least on our newer cars) on simple replacement, whereas those vehicles for which off the shelf replacement parts are no longer available, we must therefore resort to this "lost" art. The main reason your "patch" isn't sticking may be because of the difference in expansion coefficients, or it may be as simple as that your hood is "washboarding". That's a term for what happens when the metal panel is pushed against the normal contour and it "pops" or / "boing" into an inverted, or deformed contour. This is common on large flat panels. Roof, Hood, Hatch, Doors, Side Panels etc. The patch will not be able to stretch / shrink when this happens. It eventually gets cracked / loosened enough that it suddenly "pops" off. You need to bump back that "dent" while shrinking the metal. This is where body men use that "meat tenderizer" hammer / dolly. Depending on what needs to be done, sometimes doing a quench shrink is what is required. Until you've stiffened the metal again you are going to have a problem. There is also another technique whereby you counter strike the dent in order to eliminate the washboarding, although you don't shrink the metal and you still have a sizeable thickness of bondo. Not the best of repairs, but it is an Earl Shive Technique. 2¢

If you are truly looking at "stripping" the car down to it's bare bones in order to do a proper color change, then DEFINITELY take the front quarter panels (aka fenders) off. There are at least 7 problem spots on the fenders that I can think of. All of these are a major PITA to deal with ON the car, and relatively easy OFF the car. And I am sure that others can think of additional items to this list. 1) The space directly under the headlight "scoop". Almost impossible to get up there and do a good cleaning job, let alone rust-proof if not rusty, or remove rust if there. Pull it. 2) On the fender just back of the headlight "scoop". Moisture gets trapped between the fender and the scoop. Many shops and back yard mechanics fail to use a bit of caulking there to avoid water staying there. 3) Area around front turn signal lenses (early 240). 4)The cup for the headlight. This is right in line for debris off the wheel, I'll bet it's rusty on the top half. 5) Fender "wing" that extends to the windshield just above the door, between the cowl and door. This is reinforced on the back with the support member that is visible when the door is open. Very little true rust-proofing done at the factory here, and it is susceptible to dirt and grit from the wheel well area. 6) The fender support just back of the wheel. This is usually NOT painted from the back side. If it rusts through you now have major problems. Back side is impossible to see from wheel side OR the door side. Only way of addressing this piece is to remove the quarter panel. 7) The front most section of the rocker panel. The cowl area "bucket" drains right on top of this. (stupid design) and is a prime and notorious problem rust area. Best open it up now to make sure you can fix what you might find. Lastly, the non-hardening caulking (dum dum) and the closed cell foam fender support is bound to be shot, both need replacing on just about every car I've seen. They are an integral part of the weather sealing system and so often the first to be ignored and forgotten. Another item that should also be looked at are the rubber fender seals. In my opinion, these are practically worthless as seals, but they do try to prevent water from splashing up from the wheel and over the frame pinch weld and into the engine compartment. So, you might as well check them out. So, bottom line, if you are doing all that other work you mentioned, pulling windshield, hatch glass, doors, hatch, etc etc, you would be woefully remiss if you did not pull the front quarter panels and fixed the problems that I can almost bet are there. 2¢

He might have already ~made~ the deal with a friend of his who is selling a Cavalier and your Dad is just hoping that you will like the gift. At which point you need to consider if you are willing to save to buy your own Z while upsetting your Dad, or accept his gift, have some transportation and STILL save up the money to buy a Z.

Look at www.zhome.com They have an extensive list of differences, similarities etc.

Ahh, now I know where you are referring to as far as welding. IMO I don't think you are going to gain much other than the welding experience and the expense if you are paying someone else. Check the pinch welds, if they are in good condition then rust-proof instead of welding. I've been using POR wherever I've exposed metal that shows the original galvanizing and no paint. Also wherever I know that metal will be "hidden" but yet susceptible to moisture or direct water. The inner part of the fenders have already been POR'ed and they look great. I've just pressure washed the fenderwell and removed 98% of the undercoating. I plan on wire brushing / stripping the rest and then using POR to coat all exposed metal. Afterwards I'll be treating all the pinch welds and metal overlaps to the POR Seam sealer just to make sure there are no openings to allow water to creep in. I haven't yet decided whether I'll be using any Body Shutz undercoating or any other form of undercoating even though it would help as far as road noise and rock chips underneath. Make sure that you either replace or restore the rubber skirt gasket that goes in the top part of the frame to seal the top part of the fender. This is part of the weather sealing that Datsun used. Personally, I think it's a stop gap and not very effective, but it DOES help stop some of the road grunge you run into. Don't forget to make sure that the little rubber triangle skirt gaskets are in good shape on the bottom of the fender support bracket. Before I forget, do yourself a favor and check the plastic sleeves that go on your headlight, turn and side markers. Mine were so cracked that they fell apart in removing the lights from the housings. Also check the back of the headlight "acorn" / cup or whatever you want to call it. It is directly exposed to the grit blast from the tire so put something on it to protect it from rusting. I personally went out and bought all Stainless Screws for this area. I had snapped off so many in removal that I had to replace them anyhow, and I know that it was mostly due to metal fatigue due to rust. By the way, the non hardening caulking I was referring to is 3m 08578 Strip-Calk. It comes in strips and they are packaged in between wax paper. You basically take a strip lay it on the edge you want and tighten down the bolts, or you can place it between two pieces of wax paper and pre-squish it to flatten it. This is the stuff that Wick Humble refers to as "dum-dum". Lastly, take the time NOW to at least run a tap through all the fixed nuts. Then when you reassemble, use lock washers and some Never-Seize. Yes, Never-Seize. Loc-tite is great but the problem here isn't that they'll rattle loose, at least not if you use the proper lock washers. The problem is that if you ever need to remove the fender again you don't want to have to once again have the screws rusted in place. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

Next to the FSM, I like the Clymer's manual which is out of print but you can still find it here and there. For the 240 and 260 I heartily recommend the early version which has a black border on the cover around a blue background picture of a Red Z with slotted mags. This covers many items as much in depth as the FSM, so it can be extremely helpful. The later version had the same picture BUT it had a RED top section, and they deleted some critical sections. In my opinion it's ok for engine work, but unfortunately all the body ducting and interior components are omitted. Of all, Chilton's, in my opinion, is next to worthless. Haynes is much better than the Chilton's but it also is very lacking in interior and other sections. Get the FSM, although expensive, it is definitely worth it.

Not sure as to where you plan to run a full weld seam in that area, but it sounds as though you might be looking to do much more work than you need to. Several items of interest and attention in that area. You'll note that the drain tube for the cowling is right behind the fender support bracket, and the hose ends just a couple inches into the cavity. This is the source of the majority of sand and gunk behind the fender. The "drain" hole is actually the space between the fender and the inner brace on the fender. NOT a good idea and a prime rust spot for the 240 /260 / 280 series vehicles. I'm doing that mod right now, and although NOT concours it is something that will eliminate that problem. I'm running a small section of hose from the drain to the space between the inner support and the body. In this manner the water that seeps into the cowling area will in turn drain directly to ground rather than into the space behind the fender. As far as the inner fender support, make sure that the inner edge has the non hardening caulking still in good shape and that the outer edge also has the closed cell foam rubber also in good shape. The back of the fender (closest to the door) also takes closed cell foam rubber. You might have a hard time finding this as a loose item, but Pickup Truck Camper Tape is the same thing. You might have to double tape it to achieve the same thickness. The top seam should also get a strip of caulking to keep it sealed. There's another potential trouble spot up there as well. If you look at the edge where the top of the fender screws onto the lip, (essentially the engine compartment) you will note that there is a "drain hole" that is usually (in my experience) clogged with the original seam sealer used at the factory. You need to open this up so that the water can actually drain. Also when you put your fender back on, put a small strip of non hardening caulking between the headlight scoop and the fender itself as well as on the top edge right by the engine compartment. There are other things in there to check, but the biggest is probably to give it a good shot of either paint or POR. Especially in the areas where water can get trapped. 2¢

I've tried half a dozen different polishes including Mothers, Never Dull, Brasso, Eagle One, and more than I can remember their name. I've even done the red rouge, the green rouge, and the white rouge with different bonnets, cloths, techniques etc etc. Of all of these by far the SIMPLEST and QUICKEST was Artesan Metal Polish from the POR folks. The others work from Ok to Well, but the Artesan was able in all instances to IMPROVE the appearance of the previous polish. When used by itself it didn't require any more effort than the others. Just my 2¢

Get the Kyosho! I have several of these and the Kyosho are by far even better in detail and accuracy than the Franklin Mint one. 2¢

Admit it, you either rode around all night with the Refrigerator sitting next to you, and sand bags in the cargo hatch OR a friend of yours has put lead in every body cavity on the car. All this in the space of an hour? Hmmm, sounds a little too incredible.

James240 actually said what I meant to say better. What I meant by my post is that if done with care and precision on a platform that definitely supports the modification, it will look nice, professional and most of all appropriate. If not, however, it will look poor. I agree with James, too many times the V8 conversion doesn't stop at just swapping out the engine, they go on and on adding on things that purportedly will make it a) faster, louder, c) more impressive; and unfortunately, end up leaving the car like the second individual in my original post. That is, fine as far as the individual is concerned, but everyone else has doubts. I wasn't referring to your car as any of the things you posted. My main point then, was that too many mods are done without thought to anything other than your own internal mind's eye, and sometimes that fails to take into account many other salient factors. 2¢

But in Australia they measure from Right to Left as opposed to from Left to Right as we do here in the U.S.. Mike: the market I was referring to was that on-line market that would put the logo on the t-shirts, mouse pads, coffee cups etc. Know you were looking into something like that, but don't know if you ever did or what you finally did.

Car's not yet being reworked, so not yet, but I'd be interested. By the way Mike, what club type stuff did you contract to get at that market? Enrique

I apologize up front to anyone that may be offended by this analogy: Years ago, I met two transexual women. (People born Male who changed their sex to Female) One of them was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, and I found it totally unbelievable that she used to be a man. I accepted her word for it, but I could never be absolutely sure unless....... and I didn't care to pursue. The other one was so drastically obviously a man in a dress, (imagine Mike Tyson in a short dress!) as to make you shudder. As far as the first woman, the change / modification was so obvious as to be justifiable in and of itself. The second is what some modifications remind me of. Not only did the question WHY? comes to mind, but also that feeling of what a shame. That's the problem with some modifications. Some are obvious and some are mistakes to everyone but the person who did the mod. When it comes to engine transplants, if the original car is in good to excellent condition and it is complete, then I suggest you sell it to someone who WANTS the car in THAT condition. Then buy a car that needs or would benefit from the engine transplant. My 2¢, hopefully I haven't offended anyone.

I have a 71 so can't say that I would have something equivalent to look at to help you out, but have heard that that is the location for the fusible link box. You also don't mention the color of the wires going into that connector nor the color of the wires on the wiring harness where it connects. That may be a big help in getting it identified.

Ozlime: Give Andy Russell, the Datsun Dude, an e-mail at: z@datsundude.com He is the guy you see on e-Bay with the Firewall Grommet Kits, as well as the Hood Bumper etc. He's knowledgeable on how to ship to Australia as well. I forget how much he asks for the kit, but I guarantee it's reasonable, and the parts are OEM. Enrique Scanlon

N/M

Friend of mine had the same problem, he said he finally solved it by smacking from the front. Yes, the front. This is how he did it. Align the studs so that they are in a "diamond", i.e. one at the 12, one at 3, 6 and 9 as if they were the points on a clock. Then smack with a dead blow rubber hammer at the 2 o'clock position and if necessary at the 7, then the 11 and 5. Rotate about an "hour" and repeat. The point you are smacking is the outermost flat part of the drum just as it starts to curve back towards the differential. The intent is to get the drum to "****" itself and when it does to smack on the exact opposite side. This movement will get it dislodged. A preventative measure he did, and have no news yet as to how good it is, nor what the long term effects are, is to apply a thin coating of Never Seize compound around the center hole in the drum and very lightly on the flat face of the lug hub where it comes into contact with the brake drum. I emphasize that he said a LIGHT coating, just enough to get it to not rust and not stick. Hope this helps.

You CAN disassemble the switch almost in it's entirety, but you MUST be able to work with very small pieces. I'm referring to the tiny springs and contacts in the switch itself. If you have difficulty working with them, I would suggest you get a new switch. 2¢