would like advice on paint dullness, flaking, rust (pictures)

[BadDog]

Since I can't afford a paint job for a few years (or build a garage soon to try it myself ) I'm wondering if there's something i can do to help the appearance of my roof, and fix the paint flaking around my sunroof and rear window (due to the PO's paint job).

The roof isn't bad, just dull. I tried a "de-oxidizing" polish (a turtle wax one?) to no avail. I'm considering a fine-cut polishing compound (like 3M "for heavy oxidation") and if that doesn't work, try wet-sanding with some super-fine sandpaper... any thoughts?

I'm also wondering if I could super-fine sand the flaking pictured below to keep it from getting worse, kind of smooth it all out. I think it's just from too much paint and poor masking when the PO painted it.

The worst visible rust on the car is under my hatch, also pictured below. I'm pretty sure it's rusted through the metal, at least by a pinhole or two. I'm wondering if I should attack it to slow it down, then start looking for a rust-free hatch, or if it's cost-effective (and realistic) to save it.

Last but not least, there's some scary bubbling underneath my hatch carpet, on the driver's side, behind the wheel well and next to the spare tire well. I'm not sure if there's rust underneath because there's some kind of rubberized gunk under the paint. Hopefully the paint is just bubbling? If it's rust, I imagine it's through the metal by now and probably a nightmare to fix due to it's location.

[BadDog]

sunroof area flaking

[BadDog]

hatch glass area flaking

[BadDog]

hatch lid rust

[BadDog]

trunk bubbles

[EScanlon]

Unfortunately you are discovering one of the "joys" of being a Z owner.

Some of the pictures you posted show typical rust, and others show the problems with most typical budget paint jobs.

Right now, about the only thing I would suggest, is that you slow down.

From your posts, you are basically beginning to dismantle the car and hoping that just one more fix and the car will be perfect. All you will succeed in doing is finding ONE MORE THING TO FIX.

Here's a post to help you with the door problems you posted on a different post:

http://zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=1&i=222776&t=222738

Now regarding your paint around the sunroof and hatch, from the paint ON the gasket, it's apparent that the peeling you are experiencing is from water seepage beneath the paint. The only fix that I know of, is to sand down and apply a new small shot of paint in such a way as to avoid the lip. Unfortunately, it is tricky and it is usually better to remove these items in order to avoid such a lip in the first place.

The rust on the hatch, give it a spot treatment and leave it for later. POR-15 makes a good product to help slow / stop that rust. Try to get some into that area from the inside of the panel.

The bubbling of the tar paper is typical. All you can do is scrape it off, fix the rust / holes etc and reapply the tar paper.

There are many things you've addressed, and ONE post isn't going to get you all the answers.

As a suggestion, I would suggest you concentrate first on the MECHANICAL goodies. That is, are the brakes in good condition, how about steering, then suspension, and of course, what's the condition of the engine. As you work your way through these items address those items and the surrounding areas. THEN go to the cosmetics. Down the road you can do a good paint job, do a good rust removal and the like. Mind you, first evaluate the car, make sure you address those components that qualify as serious and dangerous rust right away, otherwise you won't have a foundation on which to make the other items rest on.

Like I said, welcome to the club.

[BadDog]

Thanks, Escanlon. Mechanically, the car is pretty good. I've got the engine running well, the brakes are good, suspension is good, exhaust mostly replaced (needs tweaked). The car's actually in such good shape that I want to make sure I don't wait too long to do something about the rust where it has started. I've been focusing on getting the car driveable for extended jaunts, like when I take it to work and sometimes end up driving ~150 miles throughout the course of my day.

[kmack]

EScanlon has some good ideas and direction.

The paint flaking on your roof can stopped rather quickly (about 15-20 minutes). Flake off all the raised, loose portions of paint, then sand the edges smooth, but don't sand too much. Don't sand into the underlaying paint. Once you have sanded the edges, then take some clear nail polish (ask your wife/girlfriend/or just some woman at work) and paint the edges. This will help keep water from seeping under the edge of the paint and making it flake up more. (Note: this is only a temporary fix to allow you to focus on other things.)

The issues with your hatch are directly related to rust, nothing else. The only thing to do for now is like EScanlon said, put some sort of treatment on it, inside and out, and focus on ther things. A complete swap of a good hatch is best, and a repair of the hatch will take quite some time. For now, treat it and leave it.

As for the bubbles in your tar inside, I had some just like that on my floor boards. When I peeled it up, there wasn't any rust just clean shiney metal. The bumps were just from irregularities in the tar mat. The only way you'll know for sure is to peel it up.

Get your self a heat gun or a halogen work light and place it close (but not too close, about 3") to the tar for about 1-2 minutes. Then take a putty knife and slide it under the tar mat. It should be pliable enough to just peel up. Then you can see how it looks underneath.

Good luck on the project and have fun with the car.

[BadDog]

Thanks kmack, I'll try some of that this weekend if possible. I've got more pressing issues now, it seems she blows at least 1 fuse every 4 or 5 times I drive her; I don't remember that happening with my '78 280Z 12 years ago (different electrical system entirely, I guess)... I wonder if there's some way to update the electricals... so my luck, I drove the car to a friend's house last night about 30 miles from home. I go to leave, and the headlights don't work. 2 blown fuses. 10 minutes of cussing and I've got a new 10 and 15 in place (should be 2 10's), then going up the onramp to the highway I lose one of my original 29-year-old hubcaps in the weeds. I searched for it for about 15 minutes, to no avail Now my back hurts from the seats from the driving the car 2 days in a row... either I'm not meant for a car this old or she's telling me wants to me tastefully updated/modified

[EScanlon]

1) Go back in daylight, SOON and find your hubcap. Otherwise the litter patrol will get it and you're out.

2) Check the way your seat is mounted. There could be one or two spacers under each bolt to raise the front / rear of the seat to accomodate the ORIGINAL user of the car. You may be more comfortable with one or none, or if that's what you have with two spacers. The spacers are hexagonal shaped plastic nuts that screw on the bolts to raise the seat.

3) Also check the operation of your seat. The 73 seat not only allowed you to tilt it forward to allow access to the rear cargo area, they also reclined. The little handle that allows the tilt also allows you to tilt and lock in place so that you aren't sitting ram rod straight up.

4) Your fuse box. Go through and clean and tighten ALL the connections to all the fuses you have. Do a continuity check on them, don't just check them visually. This is the source of the vast majority of problems on the 240Z's. Use a bit of sand paper or an old INK eraser pencil to clean the inside of the fuse holder contact. Then press the holder halves closer together to ensure snug tight contact on the fuse.

When you check the fuses, do a continuity check, not just look to see if the wire is visible. Can't tell you how many times this has bitten other Z drivers. The continuity check will tell you that the fuse element you see IS in fact good.

5) When you get the time, get to the connectors at your headlights and check to make sure they are clean and free of corrosion. Then if you have the long jumper cables on your meter, check to see what kind of resistance you read from the headlight back to the fuse box. If it reads a value higher than barely there, then you might look into frayed connections, frayed and therefore shorting insulation, broken wires, or just run a supplementary wire to reduce the resistance and hence the possibility of blowing fuses.

just my 2¢

[BadDog]

1) Got it. It was about 50' from the apex and upside down.

2) I've checked the spacers, they're all there. I think most of the problem is that the seatback is loose on one side; I'm going to remove the seat and see what I can tighten up while it's out of the car.

3) I think the other problem I have with the seat is that it's most upright position (least amount of recline?) isn't anywhere close to my daily driver, so I'm just not used to it, which can cause fatigure in and of itself...

4) To do the continuity check, what should I do? I have an analog multimeter. Disconnect the car battery and check for resistance somwhere?

5) The headlight fuses have blown once (both at once) and the radio/console light fuse has blown twice. I'll check the headlight connections for corrosion (one is an original Koito (sp?) headlight).

Thanks yet again Escanlon. I gotta find someone with a 240Z who's closer to where I live for some "hands-on" assistance with my car... I've tried to contact an almost-local club via their website but haven't heard back... maybe I'll meet some good folks at the annual "Northeast Z Adventure 2002" coming up July 27th & 28th at Burdick Nissan in Syracuse (for instance, I'd like to check my valve clearance and cam timing, but am a little afraid to try it myself, even after watching it on video I've got a feeling it's off, because with my spark timing set right, my engine feels really rough at high RPM. I've retarded the timing a little and it's gone away which I guess tells me it's pinging or semething)

[hmsports]

If you are wanting to avoid dullness and flakes, stay off the Honda and Mustang web sites....