I brought my red 240Z back home this afternoon, following the successful re-skinning of the roof to eliminate the sunroof. Here are some before and after pictures. I don't have pictures of the process itself just yet, we couldn't get his camera to download to my laptop (bad USB cable, I think), so I'll have to wait for him to e-mail them to me before I can post them. Soon, I hope.

Looks great! Looks like a guidecoat of primer on those pics? Whatever it is, it gives an unfair wavy appearance on the pics...I'm sure it's nice and smooth. Looking forward to seeing final paint!

Yeah, guidecoat. The real surface is near perfect.

very nice job!

once you get some paint on there no one would ever know that it had a hole in the top.

now it's time to graft the sun roof skin onto the yellow Z haha. jk of course

I wish I had a set of those slotted mags for my Z

How much did it cost for the labor etc. and how long did it take????

thanks,

Carl B.

Arne

The work looks great-can't wait for the in progress pics!

Will

Congrats on a successful operation, glad to hear (and see) the patient is doing well! I'll look forward to seeing the pics of the surgery in progress! :classic:

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished product.

........now it's time to graft the sun roof skin onto the yellow Z haha.........

Nah, the yellow Z is now a Z roadster candidate.:classic:

Hey Arne,

Looks like the plan is coming together. Really looks great. Just a thought. Maybe thats an easier way for me to get the headline glue off for that new headliner

B

very nice, I prefer the Z's without the sunroofs

Very nice Arne! The new paint itch is going to get more intense now. Did your metal man give you an idea of the level of difficulty or any problems doing this transplant? Before you reinstall the headliner, it would be the perfect time to research a good spray on stiffiner to apply to the underside.

very nice job!

once you get some paint on there no one would ever know that it had a hole in the top.

That was (obviously) the idea. And yes, he did did the job I was hoping for.

I wish I had a set of those slotted mags for my Z

They aren't a matched set, the rears are a deeper offset than the front. Unless I can find something scrap to throw on it, they will go to the crusher with the remains of the shell later this Spring.

How much did it cost for the labor etc. and how long did it take????

thanks,

Carl B.

The work was done at Evolution Auto Body, a one-man (Scott Daniels) shop in Salem, OR, basically next door to ZTherapy. I don't know how many S30 roofs he has re-skinned, but I do know that mine was not his first, probably more like his fifth or sixth. I could tell the first time we talked that he knew exactly what he was doing. And he is incredibly affordable. I supplied the donor roof, and the total was all of $450! He invoiced me 14 hours at $30/hr. That included a couple hours to do a touch of rust repair under the windshield seal on the donor roof. I dropped the car off Monday afternoon, and picked it up late Friday, so four days. I can't recommend him enough for this type of work.

Very nice Arne! The new paint itch is going to get more intense now.

It's more than an itch. Now that the car is back home, I'm going to strip it the rest of the way down and deliver it to my local paint shop week after next. I would have let Scott do the whole re-paint, but he said he is so busy that he's not taking in any full repaints right now. But he said squeezing in a roof skin job was no problem. So I'll have the rest of the paint done locally.

Did your metal man give you an idea of the level of difficulty or any problems doing this transplant?

No problems, other than the above-mentioned rust repair on the donor roof prior to welding it together. The job is fairly straightforward. Drill out all the spot welds on the donor panel to remove it intact, cut the bad roof off the car and grind down (not drill) the spot welds on the car, and re-weld the new panel into place. I'm certain that any competent sheet metal guy could do it, but I'm glad I picked one who has done it on these cars before.

Before you reinstall the headliner, it would be the perfect time to research a good spray on stiffiner to apply to the underside.

Done. Scott cleaned and applied a nice glossy epoxy to the underside before he welded it on as part of the job. Perhaps it's not a stiffener, but it sure seems like it might be. On the trip back home (60 miles) the car seemed much quieter, even without any headliner.