We are putting together some information about restoring Zcars. One of the items on the schedule is to put together a list of THINGS TO AVOID when restoring a Z.

While I've come up with a starter list, I figured it would be good to get the help from all of you.

If you have any ideas, please reply to this message and let's have a conversation in these forums. I'll start off with my reply to this message showing the list I've created so far...

Here's my starter list:

1) Avoid working by yourself. This doesn't necessarily mean that someone has to be with you every time you pull out the wrench. I am referring to 'mental stimulation' and the ability to talk about the particular area you are currently working on. Good ideas for this include an internet club like ours (http://www.classicZcars.com), an email mailing list, a local dealer, a local club, or even someone you know that has worked on Z's in the past. This is a great idea because if you have any kind of questions about the Z, you aren't stuck in the dark. I started my Z project on my own and was in the dark for such a long time..... when I found the mailing list, I was in heaven.

2) Avoid working without proper reference materials. An essential part of a restoration project is the ability to look up things like torque settings, assembly diagrams, electrical diagrams, and various related information. It also helps to look up your own parts before you head down to the dealer. Nothing is worse than trying to 'remember' what the part looks like (unless you have it with you) so the dealer can look it up on his microfiche. So, I recommend buying your own copy of the microfiche. We have this CD for sale on our main web page. Yep, it's a plug, but, we believe this is a product that should be a part of any restoration project. The best part of the CD is the ability to print your assembly diagram and either bring it out into the shop or bring it to the dealer with your parts highlighted. It will make their life much easier. Other essential items for a restoration are factory manuals, 3rd party manuals, and how-to articles either found in magazines such as Zcar Magazine, Sport Z Magaizine, internet sites, or just a friend who wrote something up on his/her own.

3) Keep track of all your bolts, screws, nuts, & small parts. I highly recommend buying a few of those hard plastic wall units. You know, they have little clear plastic drawers. Most of these units are very cheap. You can write the name of your item on the front of the drawer and it's easy to find your item at a later date. If you don't want to go this route, at least organize these items in small ziplock baggies. I can't express my support for this idea more. And, there WILL come a time when you want to put the car back together. Trying to search for these items after a long period of time (sometimes years) can be hell.

That's it for the moment..... do you have any other ideas?

I'd recommend buying the best quality base vehicle you can. Spending a few extra dollars upfront to get a solid car could save you a fortune down the track in body repairs. The only problem with this approach is it's hard to bring yourself to tear down a car in such good condition - my project car's original colour is 'gold' or though I would have described it as baby - @#$% brown so I have no problems tearing it down.

The other thing, if your base vehicle is a runner, drive it around for a few weeks/months to get used to it. It's a lot easier to identify problems (esp. mechanical) while using the car on a semi-regular basis.

Make sure you have the proper tools: There is nothing worse than finding out you don't have a flare nut wrench when you try to take a brake line loose, or not having the right size socket. Have a good selection of wrenches, sockets (6 point is best), screwdrivers, punches, drifts, along with the special tools needed for doing valve adjustments, wedge for the cam chain, head bolt socket, etc. You will need coil spring compressors, and a few other special tools for brake work and suspension work also. You don't need to spend thousands on the best tools, but buying a good quality tool the first time will save you many annoyances such as rounded off bolts etc.

Don't get in over your head: Taking a car apart completely is easy, putting it all back together is the hard part. If possible do it one section at a time, do the suspension, put it back on, do the engine, replace it, etc. Unless you are doing a complete chassis re-paint, it's much easier to remember where all the little bolts, nuts and clips go if you only do one corner at a time, or one sub-section at a time. It will also save you a lot of space to work in your garage, it's hard to believe how many pieces you can have sitting around in your way until you have completely stripped a chassis bare.

Buy your replacement parts ahead of time: Nothing is worse than to tear apart your car and then when you go to re-assemble it and find out the parts you need aren't the right ones or aren't in the box. Get them, check them, then take the car apart. While I'm on the subject of parts, if you are rebuilding the suspension, do everything at once that requires disassembling of the car. For example,if you want to replace the suspension bushings, replace the springs, and strut cartridges, ball joints, etc. at the same time. You can always change the swaybars at a later date without taking the suspension apart, or change a brake caliper. There is no sense in taking the same pieces apart over and over, do whatever you need to rebuild the section all at once, then move on to the next on the list.

Avoid the "gotta have it" syndrome: Don't buy something for the car just because you read or heard from a couple people that it was the greatest thing for a Z. Buy what you want or need to finish with the car the way YOU want it, you can always go back and change something a year later, because by next year there may be something even better on the market. Just becdause it looks good on another car, doesn't mean it will suit you on yours. In other words, take your time, and choose your parts and upgrades well. Nothing worse than buying something, and finding out it isn't what you expected, then trying to sell it to someone else after you installed it and yanked it off in frustration.

I'll stop and let someone else have a chance now....

make sure to learn that you need to take out the metal inner sleeve before putting new polyurethane bushings in. it will save you a lot of profanity

Never forget to remove your wrenches/screwdrivers/etc. from the top of the radiator/radiator support before you slam the hood down!

Andy "Interesting, that conical dent coming OUT of my hood is exactly 14mm." Coradeschi

Before tearing into your car, dig around and find out all that is needing to be repaired. Find out as much as you can. If you know what's wrong before you start, that might determine what you can perform and what will have to be done by a professional. Then research the techniques to fix it before you start. Knowing what's involved in a repair process ahead of time will be to your advantage later so you don't get frustrated with something you can't finish or disgusted with a bad outcome. And learn to be patient when working on your car. Anytime you try to start rushing a repair, something will always get compromised. Better to take your time and end up with a quality looking repair than to rush and botch the job.

Remember, patience is a virtue.... Just ask our fearless leader Mike about his car.... (I can't laugh too hard, Mike. Mine's been almost 9 years in the making.)

Make sure your facilities are at least double the space you think you'll need and that you'll have use of them for twice as long as you plan on taking to restore the car.

I began doing work on my '75 280 in a large two car garage with my '77 in the corner as a reference/parts car. The '75 was pretty much torn apart and the floor was covered with misc parts when the landlord put the house on the market!! Holy crap! Three days notice and I had all kinds of people walking through the garage stepping over all kinds of parts. I quickly gathered up the parts and put them in boxes (messing up my system of disassembly) and signed a lease on another house with only a one car garage. The '77 was towed to a storage space (actually bigger than my new garage) while the '75 was shoved into the new garage with hardly enough room to walk around. Now I'm in the middle of all this work with no place to get it done except the driveway. I should have had a long term lease...

Find a nice heated garage.... and a good friend who is a mechanic!!

Speaking of avoiding mistakes. How does one find an honest, knowledgeable, and reliable mechanic? Recently I acquired a '71 240Z that has 30,000 original miles and is supposedly totally original except for the wheels, filters, and wiper blades. The car underwent replacement of all fluids and filters and was then parked in a garage under a car cover for the last 6 years. The mechanic that was to restore the car has turned out to be a total flake. Trusting the car to someone I find in the yellow pages scares me. I live in the Portland, Oregon: Vancouver/Washington area.

Lyle Nelson

When you want to strip the interior panels, don't begin at the sides or the rear, start with rear roof panel and then work top down

When replacing the old rubber on your mustache bar with eurathane, BURN out the old rubber with a torch. This leaves the metal sleeve intact. You will need this metal sleeve for the eurathane bushing to fit properly.

A twelve pack of cheap beer, an engine rebuild, in a hurry...

It's amazing how quickly an investment can end up in the scrap heap when you forget the oil (Luckily it was only a VW Bug)

Two lessons learned:

1 - Don't drink and build

2 - Don't drink cheap beer

I must qualify this... it was 15 years ago when I was in the Air Force and didn't make much money - now I wait until after working on the Z to sit back and enjoy a cold one or ten.