Well, I wound up with another low VIN Z...

[doradox]

Also, my painter has worked on lots of Z's and said that he found a couple of unusual things near the hatch that he hadn't seen before. He said the top of the hatch opening has lead along the inner edge. You can see the lighter colored line along the top of the hatch opening on photo #7. Also the seams where the roof is jointed to the quarter panels was welded differently than he has seen before. I believe he said it was welded along the entire seem rather than stitch welded. The rear of the car had all of its original paint on it before it was stripped, so that is how it left the factory.

-Mike

I just removed the roof skin on an early 72 and it was fully welded at the joints between the roof and quarter.

Steve

[Mike B]

Hi Mike,

About the writing on the rear metal panel,I agree Eiji-san and Alan. Upper portion of the

rear panel had got the burr, so they needed be smooth out.

Nice car,Mike! And I have got an used oscillator for you, but it is really old and I do not know if it works or not.Anyway it is a small gift for you,I will send soon.

kats

Hi Kats, thanks for taking a look at the writing. It was very unexpected to find. I enjoy seeing these kind of hidden "graffitos".

My car thanks you for the complement. I think it will be really nice once it is finished. Since the original hood was damaged I was able to get a used hood from a 1/70 car so that it would be correct for this early car.

A working oscillator would be great. I will keep my fingers crossed and thanks again!

-Mike

[Mike B]

After evaluating the condition of the front end, we discovered more damage than originally expected due to to the collision that caused the car to be parked in the mid 80's. The passenger side front rail and inner fender were also damaged in a prior collision and not repaired well. I had kept the front clip from another early car that I parted a few years ago, so we decided to use it to replace the entire front end on the car. Here are some pictures of the front end mocked up for fit. Everything, including the NOS fenders and doors, lined up great. The last few pictures are with it all welded back together now. He's still cleaning up the engine bay and it needs a little more minor body work, but hopefully it will ready for primer before too long.

-Mike

[jellobob777]

Mike its looking great ! I have found the same writing under the paint on parts (A rear Hatch)as new as 1972 ,I find it interesting it survives the liquid stripper and yet is never visible through the paint ?? Hopefully i will get #33 started soon .Your updates are an inspiration .

[geezer]

Grafting the front clip on where you did worked out really well. Those are really good photos Mike, showing how the alignment was achieved. Very nice!

[Mike B]

Mike its looking great ! I have found the same writing under the paint on parts (A rear Hatch)as new as 1972 ,I find it interesting it survives the liquid stripper and yet is never visible through the paint ?? Hopefully i will get #33 started soon .Your updates are an inspiration .

Yes, it was interesting to see that the hidden writing survived the liquid stripper. I can't take any credit for the body and paint work. My abilities are limited to taking it apart and putting it all back together. I can't wait to see #33 restored, since it is a twin to my #32.

Grafting the front clip on where you did worked out really well. Those are really good photos Mike, showing how the alignment was achieved. Very nice!

Thanks Ron. I think it worked out well to graft it in behind the TC rod mounts. The body guy had to take the different layers apart and then weld them back together. He has the in process pictures on his camera, so I will get them when I get the car back and can post them if people are interested. If I had known I would actually end up using the whole clip I would have been a lot more careful when I cut it off. Fortunately the battery tray on #210 was in great shape. That area was totally rusted through on the donor car.

-Mike

[cozye]

wow. nice work.

[Mike B]

Here are the latest pictures from today. The epoxy primer coat is done on the shell. I am hoping to get the car back by the end of January.

-Mike

[JohnnyO]

Looks great Mike. Makes me want to do it all again.

[geezer]

This one is moving along at a pretty quick pace Mike. It looks like it is being taped off for undercoating or bedliner, before paint. What are you using? I use those cheap foam earplugs for keeping paint, etc. out of threaded holes. Next obvious question...what color have you decided on?

[Mike B]

Hi Ron,

Yes, it is being taped off for spray-on paintable bedliner in the wheel wells and I decided to carry it up on the top of the inner fenders too for additional protection. I debated about whether I wanted anything other than just the primer and paint, since the early cars didn't have much, if any, real undercoating. The bedliner doesn't have a lot of texture, so it won't really be that noticeable after it is painted.

I'm not one for changing colors, so I will be staying with the original 904 white, but with a base and clear coat instead of a single stage. White is not my favorite color, but not my least favorite either, so kind of middle of the road for me. After seeing pictures of Diseazed's white 1970 I think it will look similar after it is done (borrowed photo attached below). I plan to put a BRE spook on it and leave it black. There was an original black spook on the car when I got it, so I think it will be nice to put one back on to retain a bit of the car's history. I plan on upgrading this car a bit too, so the spook will be a good addition anyway. I will also put of a set of 15" American Racing LeMans wheels on the car.

-Mike

Edited January 3, 2011 by Mike B

[geezer]

I think Guy's white '70 is absolutely beautiful in 904 white and yours surely will be also. The 15" American Racing LeMans wheels will be the icing on the cake! I don't even want to guess how difficult it would be to find a set of those wheels, They are amazing!

I also used the spray on bedliner in exacly the same manner. I sprayed the inner cowl with it after repairing the chimney rust damage as well. It is a very tough and durable material with an appropriate texture too.