Starting down the long road to new paint...

[Rainman]

Hello All!!

I haven't posted in a very long while but am starting a complete refurb on my early 260Z.. I've had the car for 17 years and it's looked the same ever since I bought it in 1993. It quit running in 1995 and sat for 11 years until I woke it up in 2006. I've enjoyed driving it for the past four years and done a few mods, adding new headers and a Rebello 3.1L stroker in 2008. Now it's time for new paint.. Here's a before pic..

Started tearing her apart on November 21st and made good progress with the help of a great friend from Lithia Nissan and my Brother-in-Law, Steve. I've got a rotisserie that was loaned to me by some very generous and helpful 'Z Car Club of Southern Oregon' members (Thanks Steve and Ken!!). In the past eleven days or so, all that remains on the car is the rear suspension and drive train. Steve helped me get the engine and transmission out and all the parts transferred to the storage unit over one very long day. My Dad helped me get the asphalt floor board insulation and the remainder of the interior out of the car while he was visiting over the past few days.

I had to rearrange my garage to accommodate the car with the rotisserie attached and thankfully, it will fit in the garage. The rotisserie is attached to the car but I have yet to true it up and tighten all the hardware. I also removed the front suspension from the car yesterday with the exception of the front sway bar which has a broken nut inside the frame rail. Bummer!!

So here are a few pics of where I'm at now...

No more of that nasty insulation on the floorboards...

There is a little rust that will need to be repaired...

Looks good other than that...

I will keep updating this as I make more progress.. You can also check out all the photos on my photobucket site, linked here...

http://s286.photobucket.com/home/Rainman6801/index

Thanks for reading!!

[ZCurves]

Very nice decomposition. Now the big question is.....What color??

Gentlemen...Let The Games Begin!

BTW, although I retained the OEM 510 Lt. Met Blue on my Z, I am currently turned on to the Candy Orange and Candy Green that is on the current Chevrolet Camaro.

[Richard Oben]

It looks like the car was originally silver, but red is good too. Nice work, the tearing apart is the easy part, wait until you have to put it together, Richard.

[Rainman]

Thanks for the replies Richard and Andrew!!

Yes, the tear-down is the easy part for sure though the rear suspension gave me fits and would've been easier with some type of transmission jack... My little floor jack didn't quite make the grade! All the major components are off the car now. Still need to remove the e-brake hardware, hard fuel lines and brake lines before I go back to work on Thursday. That'll be easy once it's firmly on the rotisserie.. Famous last words!!

As for the color.. I'm leaning toward a blue of some variety. Nissan offers a metallic blue (B17) on the current line that would look good... BMW has some nice shades as well. This choice may be tougher than putting the car back together!! Wish me luck!!

[Bonzi Lon]

Blue would be pretty.

This is real close to 115 blue metalic, and Datona Blue.

Bonzi Lon

[Arne]

If I were doing a non-original blue, I think that rather than a modern color, I'd reach back to other vintage car makers. Maybe Marina blue (late '60's Chevy), for example. I think a color like that could really enhance the lines of an S30.

[Rainman]

Thanks for the input Arne, I'll have to research that.

[five&dime]

A while back I saw an S30 online in a medium blue/grey color. It was one of the best colors I have ever seen on a Z. I thought it was on this site but can't remember for sure.

[ZCurves]

There was this Blueish-Turquoise color that Infinity used on the G35 and Sedan a few years ago. Very unique.

I think that you might need to buy a bottle of aspirin and go look at the PPG catalog!

But...Do not be afraid to ask a paint shop to spray you a few samples before you make up your mind. You can place the samples on different parts of the car and see which one flips your wig! It will definitely make you more comfortable with your decision.

[Rainman]

Thanks for the reply Andrew! The color choice is looming and I'm beginning to waffle.. I'm sure the 260 will look great in every color I see. The same charcoal gray as my Subaru? Sure! It's going to be a tough choice!!! Thankfully I don't have to choose right now...

The good news is the body is on the rotisserie and it's nice and stable. I'm taking apart the doors now and need to get the suspension pieces torn apart and all the hardware over to a friend's place. He's got a cleaner/polisher for all the nuts and bolts. That'll be great!

The bad news is I leave for work soon and won't be able to work on it again until near the end of January. Oh well, it's good to have a job and I'll be able to really go to town on it when I get home!!

[Rainman]

I spent the last week removing all the undercoating. Started sanding the paint off the bigger areas of the car but ran out of time before it was scheduled to go to Ferguson's Fabrication in Merlin, Oregon. They have the car now for rust repair, some filling of various holes in the body and finally media blasting. Still need to get the hood, doors and grille up to them today, that stuff wouldn't fit in the truck on the first trip...

Everyone at Ferguson's is great and they are making great progress as you can see by the photos they sent me last night after one day at work. Should start media blasting soon.

More pictures at my photobucket account if you're interested.. I think I posted it earlier.

[esmit208]

NICE WORK RAINMAN

Project 3/72 looks like that with the exception of the rotisserie. Can someone point me in the right direction of getting a rotisserie. I need it mostly to put the floors back in mine when I get ready to weld them from the bottom. Sandblasting the bottom would be a lot easier as well if it were upside down. I could fabricate one but the time and effort would take away from the task at hand. More pics of Project 3/72 will be posted soon.