What a deal

[zman525]

well i went Z shopping today and my luck was great. Im sure just about everyone here knows about my former Z which turned out to be a rust bucket. Well anyways im searching through some local ads and i find a 1976 280z in a few towns over. So i call the guy and i go down there to check it out today. I looked it over and couldnt find much wrong with it besides the obvious floor pans. Its a total project car that the resto was started on but never finished, and damn was this thing clean. It had brand new OEM fenders (not even screwed on yet). So i take them off to get a good look at the shell and it seems solid as a rock except a little rot spot near the very front end of it that is ready for a spot weld. Im lookin at data plates and stuff just to make sure its the right year and everything matches and blah blah and the thing turns out to be a california car! jeez my luck just keeps gettin better. So about a half an hour of checkin out the car and all that good stuff ( it needs a rear suspension rebuild, new tires, it has awesome racing rims, quarter pan work, and door work but i have perfect doors on my 240) We talk for awhile and I ask the guy the price and it turns out to only be $600!!! Then the story ends with me puttin a down payment on it and im pickin it up this weekend.. yay!

[GunnerRob]

Sounds like a good find zman. Check around the club here to make sure your '72 doors will fit your '76. I seem to recall at least one discussion where it was found that there were some differences between the two year models.

Don't forget to post pics!

[zman525]

dont worry i will post some pics if i can figure out how... ... anyways i believe they will fit ( i looked at the hinges and locking mechanisms). If they dont thats why they made welders and sheet metal I just cant believe i found a california Z in massachusetts for so cheap in a few towns over... Im just amazed :eek:

[mlc240z]

good for you!!

sounds like a great find.

us 'east coasters' have to stick together.

[zman525]

hahahah thanks... ill get some pics asap... im picking it up friday cant wait...

[zman525]

couple questions though... To treat the shell area underneath the fenders what should i do? clean it and prime it? or is there some stuff that is better. And with new OEM fenders should i prime them aswell? they came a solid black. just a few things i wasnt sure on. Thanks for the help.

[Carl Beck]

Hi zman525

The 240Z doors can be bolted on the 280Z... they just won't seal against the body seals. The inner wall of the 280Z doors is different. If you put 240Z doors on the 280Z the sealing surfaces won't match up... and you'll have a large gap that you can see light though.

For the fender horns.. that's what I call them anyway... That's the top of the inner fender, over which the front fenders bolt... These are actually as important, or more important to the structural strength of the unibody than the lower frame rails.. so you want to take good care of them.

Get some Scotch Bright pads.. green and brown.. a gallon of Ospho and a pint or quart of POR-15.

Remove any stray undercoating from them with mineral spirits.. then scrub them down to bare metal with the Scotch Bright pads, wetting the area down, and rinsing often with Ospho. With a little effort you should wind up with clean, bare metal..

Rinse the area down with water.. then blow it dry with dry compressed air.. Yes, you have to rinse the excess Ospho off with water.. don't worry, it will protect the bare metal from flash rust.

When it's clean, shinny, and DRY bare metal.. paint the bare metal with POR-15. You can use a brush on that area, as it isn't seen, and the POR-15 will flow out like glass anyway. Follow the directions on the POR-15 can... to the letter!. Wear latex gloves.. if you get it on your hands and it drys.. the only thing that will take it off is time... lots of time.. Catch it when it's wet, and you can use lacquer thinner to remove it.

A little goes a long way... so I'd buy a couple of pints rather than a quart. That way you can use one up before opening the next. If you have some left in a can, put wax paper across the top before you replace the lid.. and then make sure the lid is on tight. Any air at all and the stuff will turn to a rock in the can in no time. Forget the wax paper and you will have a very hard time getting the top off again..

POR-15 is intended to be applied directly to bare metal...it can be primed with a urethane primer when the POR-15 is slightly tacky.. but once it drys.. you can't get primer/paint to stick to it without sanding.. and it's very hard to sand!. Under the fenders there is no need to paint over it.. The manufacturer says that the best surface over which to apply it.. is slightly surface rusted metal.. as the rough surface offers better adherence... but I personally just don't like leaving iron oxide under any coating over steel..

Ospho is a brand name, that is common in Automotive Paint supply stores.. it's been around for decades. Ospho is actually a mild phosphoric acid solution. The acid will aid in stripping the old primer and surface rust off the part... then it will chemically convert iron oxide into iron phosphate.. in effect it stops rust dead in it's tracks.. and prevents flash rust from forming in the pores of the metal.

Once you get used to using this process.. it should take you about two hours per front fender horn. If you work slow.. maybe three hours per side.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl Beck

Clearwater, FL USA

http://ZHome.com

[zman525]

thanks a bunch man. Any idea where i could obtain POR-15? i hear about it everywhere here but havent been able to locate it. So pretty much clean off all the rust and coat it with POR-15 and i should be good?

[ChrisA]

thanks a bunch man. Any idea where i could obtain POR-15? i hear about it everywhere here but havent been able to locate it. So pretty much clean off all the rust and coat it with POR-15 and i should be good?

Hi Zman, google POR-15. I think they have a website. Here it is http://www.por15.com/

Much luck to you. You can take Carl Beck's advice to the bank by the way.

Chris

[Fun_in_my_z]

yup you sure can