Body & Paint

Right, tomorrow I start on my 280Z. It is white .... I want it black. I fully intend to strip it back to steel, fix what I find under the paint (and that could be a scary thing) then get it into a paint shop for the paint work. Any recommendations on what to do or not to do? I will take the major panels off (hood, hatch, doors), but is it worth removing the front quarter panels? I am also going to pop all the glass out of it - any advice on how best to do that? (especially the rear side glass - I can't find any instructions on how to get those out and have rust at the bottom edge of each). While she's a shell ... what are the must dos? Thanks for any advice, Cheers, Ross.

Delivered a '79 to the crusher today and had to walk down and peruse all the Z's they had. Only one or two 240's, maybe 5 each 75-76 and 77-78 and about 6 ZX's.....ANYWAY... They have this shell of a Z there that has flared fenders. Not just flared wheel openings, but full widening of the front and rear body, like a GT car. Like a 944 Porsche kinda. The front fenders are about 2" wider than the door area and there are vents at the rear of the fenders....The rear fenders just flare staright out and wrap around the back. Everything is fibreglas. There is no hood, and the headlight buckets are converted to square lights (YUUUUUUCK!) with a sort of wide rubber gasket ar…

Has anyone deleted some/most/all of the chrome on their car, and if so how does it look. I've heard of some people cutting off the drip rails, and does this look odd or too custom. Right now the chrome that I still have is the frame around the windshield, rear hatch, the door windows, the mini windows, the drip rails, and the rear tail lights. I've decided to shave the bumpers, bumper mounts, side turn signals, handles, hatch key, fuel door, antennae, fender emblems, rear quarter emblems, and hood ornament. I'm doing this to 'release' the natural body lines of the z that are hidden by superflous junk. I may get the z emblem off the new 350z's fender and use it as the hood…

What would be a reasonable starting point for cost to have a Z repainted? I want a good job but not gold plated or anything with some minor body work for hail damage like dents, maybe a dozen or so and removal of some body trim. 1. Same color 2. Change in color I've got a couple preliminary over-the-phone estimates starting at $1,500 up to $6,000. Thanks in advance.

I was checking out JC Whitney online and found that they have an air dam for 240s. Does anyone have any experience with these dams (that will admit it)? I like the idea of a fiber glass air dam with a rubber skirt. On another note I was as Shasta this weekend and someone told me that the urethane dams distort while driving . Any comments on this?

I have a 76 280Z that would make a good restoration project (needs motor, trans, battery & pass. floor repair), but I don't have the inclination to do it myself right now. At least not now after finally finishing my 240. Although at some point I will attempt a convertible project....but that's another topic. Anyway, the point of my question is this. The quarter panels, rocker panels, hatch, rear-facia, etc. on this car are very clean. No rust. The only rust on this car is under the battery and the front part of the floor. I'm tempted to cut this car up and salvage the body panels out of it (cutting only spot-welds) and then part out the panels. But before I do…

www.speedhut.com makes custom gauges for many different cars and offers a model development program. I have already talked to them about becoming a "model leader" for 240z's. These are sweet gauges with indiglo backlighting and your choice of background color, text color, logos, ect. They will do this for around $120 per set of gauges including everything you need. This sounds like a lot but when you consider that autometer gauges cost about $40 each and there is a big hassle with fitting them in the dash $120 sound great. The only draw back is we need 30 people to order to get the development started. I have already sent them a set of gauges for 73 240z, these are the sa…

Hi, I recently ordered Japanese Cherry Wood from veneerz.com for my car. Looks very nice prices are also very reasonable. I installed the kit myself, the process is described on the site and is fairly quick and simple. You will save around 100 bucks if you do it yourself.:classic:

I know about the four bolts in front of the grill, but what else is holding on the front bumper?

Can I fit retractable seat belts to a 240 if so what make? Need to be an Australian specific brand. Thanks.

A question for the CCZCC folks: I’m in the process of purchasing a ’72 240Z and would like some recommendations for a good body and paint shop in the SB or SLO county area. I found a car with no rust, low miles, but a lot of door dings. Thanks!

Is this the miracle cure it's made out to be or not? Is it flexible? If applied to a panel that flexes, will it chip off? Is there any reason why I shouldn't just dip the whole bare frame and body in the stuff and then primer and paint on top of it? Chris