omg! my z is awesome! new suspension and more..

[ajmcforester]

I used mother but if you need a little rougher in spots that headlight polish system would work (the headlight stuff might take the detail out so try others first). I'd recommend a buff-ball they weren't out when I did mine. I was lucky enough to trick about 5 neighborhood kids to help out with this so I might have been better than one buff-ball. I'd do as much as you can on the car with these panels before you take them down. They are thin and easy to brake and almost 40 years ya they want to brake. They are ABS so you can get white ABS glue for cracks I just apply it to the back with some fiberglass mesh tape (find the glue in plumbing and the fiberglass tape next to the plaster).

Heat gun trick actually works areas that just won't buff out gently heat the area with a fanning pattern. You just want to bring it to the point just before it starts to become playable. Keep the heat gun moving the whole time or it won't work. You will see the color revive right in front of your eyes.

On the vinyl I use 5% white vinegar (what you get in the store) mixed down with a 10:1 hot water, and a whole bunch of elbow grease (hot water will save a lot of time). Be careful with what ever you use on old vinyl I'd keep it mild and more elbow grease. In some spots also try baking soda with a little water and a stiff brush. Remember the white is actually an off white don't mix the vinegar water and the backing soda unless it is a nasty area, and only to get the crud down then finish with one or the other on that spot. Otherwise you will have white stains that will be inconsistent.

[cozye]

I used mother but if you need a little rougher in spots that headlight polish system would work (the headlight stuff might take the detail out so try others first). I'd recommend a buff-ball they weren't out when I did mine. I was lucky enough to trick about 5 neighborhood kids to help out with this so I might have been better than one buff-ball. I'd do as much as you can on the car with these panels before you take them down. They are thin and easy to brake and almost 40 years ya they want to brake. They are ABS so you can get white ABS glue for cracks I just apply it to the back with some fiberglass mesh tape (find the glue in plumbing and the fiberglass tape next to the plaster).

Heat gun trick actually works areas that just won't buff out gently heat the area with a fanning pattern. You just want to bring it to the point just before it starts to become playable. Keep the heat gun moving the whole time or it won't work. You will see the color revive right in front of your eyes.

On the vinyl I use 5% white vinegar (what you get in the store) mixed down with a 10:1 hot water, and a whole bunch of elbow grease (hot water will save a lot of time). Be careful with what ever you use on old vinyl I'd keep it mild and more elbow grease. In some spots also try baking soda with a little water and a stiff brush. Remember the white is actually an off white don't mix the vinegar water and the backing soda unless it is a nasty area, and only to get the crud down then finish with one or the other on that spot. Otherwise you will have white stains that will be inconsistent.

Cool. thanks for the ideas. My seat belt covers are off due to recent strut installation, so I may test on these and see if I can make a difference without using the dye.

[Bonzi Lon]

I used the SEM Vinyl Dye for the plastic panels in my off white 73 and am pleased with the results. Super White 15103. IIRC, ordered 2 cans, $29 shipped, used 1 1/4 cans. Note: The original rear panel was fubar, so ordered one in off white from MSA. It arrived with SEM 15103 over black plastic. Ordered the off white rivits and they were more tan in color so had to spray them also. It takes alot to scratch it off, and easily touched up. All plastic matches now.

Bonzi Lon

[herbsteiner]

Bonzi

Thanks for the info on the SEM leather dye. I too have a '73 with off-white interior, and I know what you mean about the MSA rivets being a tad too dark. I also have some discoloration on my tranny tunnel vinyl that needs addressing as well.

Eric, hope you and the family are having a great Christmas up there in KY!

[ajmcforester]

Cool. thanks for the ideas. My seat belt covers are off due to recent strut installation, so I may test on these and see if I can make a difference without using the dye.

If you dye the stuff the closer and cleaner it is the better. I've dyed a dash in a 66 corvette once he didn't clean his as well as my spots and he had me do the whole thing for him. In return he bought the Holly four barrel for my 80 Datsun 210, one of the best upgrades I've done to a car

[MEZZZ]

congrats, I read your original post with great envy. I too did the suspension last year, poly kit, r/t diff mount, toyota brake upgrade, rebuilt rear brakes, eibachs, tokico illuminas, 15 inch rewinds with toyo tires. New ball joints, outer tie rods, pacesetter monza exhuast, etc. Unlike you taking a couple weekends, mine took me a couple months . After doing the front, it felt better, not great. I was told to do the rear, its old and the front is new. After doing the entire rear (dropping it all out, painting everything, etc including the tank), I anxiuosly got in and took it for a spin. I was figuring the car would feel like yours, tight, new, exciting.

It still doesnt feel quite right to me. I havent had the front end aligned yet. I did pay close attention to all torque specs, etc. The Illuminas are all set at the 2 setting. I was hoping for the wow feeling you got but it just wasnt there. It does feel MUCH better than it did, it was creaky, groaning, shaking, etc.

Soon after I did it, I had to put the car on the back burner as my wife planned a total (read: expensive) kitchen renovation...damn DYI Network

2 months later and its finished and I am about to embark on the Z again.

Only thing I did not replace was the rack itself...it just still feels a little loose to me. Your story has inspired me though, congrats

Edited December 26, 2010 by MEZZZ

[cozye]

bonzi, thanks for the SEM color number. I figured I'd have to look that up at some point and figure it out. Now you saved me the trouble.

Herb, xmas with the family has been nice! My parents drove up from San Antonio, so we have a little Texas with us. Hope yours has gone well.

Mezz, sounds like you did everything right? Did you do the rack bushings ? I'm not sure what yours feels like, only difference is that I used the Tokico HP's. Did you do the steering coupler bushing too? Mine was way loose and suspension was toast before I started, so it was night and day. Maybe yours was better to start ? You did put the longer springs in the back, right ? I seemed to notice that some people have confused which springs go where and it's not easy to tell.

[MEZZZ]

Cozye,

thanks for the reply. Yes, I did all the bushings including the rack. I did the ball and socket bushing on the arms and also replaced the coupling (what a pain that was).

I cannot remember if I put the long in front or back, I remember reading the ones ending in 1 went up front. I cannot remember if they were the shorter but I do remember not having to use the spring compressor on the front but I did on the back. My rear does sit up higher in the back also.

Anyway, I didnt mean to jack your thread, only wanted to congratulate you. The suspension is a big job to do! I took everything out and cleaned off 32 years of grime, painted and reinstalled the entire suspension/brake system using new parts. It might be that the front end is a bit out of line or maybe I need to dial the shocks to a higher number to get the feel I was hoping for. Now that the kitchen is complete (18K later, the things I could have done to my Z with that ), its too damn cold to work much on it.

I will figure it out, your car looks nice from the photo, I like the bumper. I went with the fiberglass front bumper from MSA and found a steel one off of a 73 for the rear. I bought mounting brackets for the conversion and they worked well. I love the look of the smaller ones as well. If you havent done the rear, you have to drop the tank to get the strut off the right side, while it was out I closed up the strut holes in the rear valance...good luck

[cozye]

Yeah, the 001 went in front. I reckon one of the reasons mine went faster is that I didn't repaint everything under the car. I thought about it, but decided I didn't want to redo the whole bottom of the car due to time and the fact that this car is a driver. Additionally the original owner had this car aftermarket undercoated, so most of that undercoating is still in tact. When I paint it, I'll re black the wheel wells and call it good. Also, I had already gone through the brake system thoroughly so I didn't have to go through those parts.

I know the rear bumper will be a bit more of a job and I'll need to drop the tank. Thats one of the reasons I did the front first to get it out of the way and get on a roll with it.

[MEZZZ]

You and I are on the same page there. I did the front first, knowing I had to drop the tank for the rear bumper. I had taken a sawzall to the strut so I could mount it in advance. When it came time to do the rear, I pulled out EVERYTHING. Got under it with a wire wheel and cleaned it up. It too had undercoating on it and it was in very good shape but filthy. I thought, "while I am at it" and I am glad I did it. Messy job to be sure and no one will ever see it unless I put it up on a lift but I know its under there : )

For the wheel wells, I used the same spray on undercoating and they look great. I used these brackets for the conversion, front and rear.

http://www.zccjdm.com/catalog.php/azcarbum/dt93256/pd1790406/280Z_TO_240Z_FF__RR__BUMPER_CONVERSION_BRACKETS_

Edited December 26, 2010 by MEZZZ

[cozye]

You and I are on the same page there. I did the front first, knowing I had to drop the tank for the rear bumper. I had taken a sawzall to the strut so I could mount it in advance. When it came time to do the rear, I pulled out EVERYTHING. Got under it with a wire wheel and cleaned it up. It too had undercoating on it and it was in very good shape but filthy. I thought, "while I am at it" and I am glad I did it. Messy job to be sure and no one will ever see it unless I put it up on a lift but I know its under there : )

For the wheel wells, I used the same spray on undercoating and they look great. I used these brackets for the conversion, front and rear.

http://www.zccjdm.com/catalog.php/azcarbum/dt93256/pd1790406/280Z_TO_240Z_FF__RR__BUMPER_CONVERSION_BRACKETS_

Thanks for the input. I actually made my own front brackets, but they are very similar to these. I thought about buying these but it wasn't hard to make mine and I did use the same bolt holes as the factory struts so I didn't have to drill anything on the front. The rear I will likely do something very similar to the ones you have posted, but will probably just cut and weld some 1.5" steel instead of bending. That way I can mock it up and trim the joints a bit easier for a good fit. Bending and fitting is a bit harder for me since it takes a lot more effort to bend and it's not as precise as cutting and welding.

I did get the rear bumper off last night. I still have to get the struts out and will work on that this week. While I've got the trim panels off and while I'm patching holes on the rear apron, I'm going to go ahead and weld in a patch on my rear hatch sill and fix that too. So I'll likely be working on it all week/weekend.

I haven't researched yet, but whats involved in getting that rear sheet metal filler off the apron? Looks like its just tack welded on, so I figured I'd have to cut and grind it off.

[MEZZZ]

Are you talking about that little piece about (doing it from memory) less than an inch tall and maybe 2 inches wide that is tacked on behind where the bumper is? It is slightly off center below the license plate area. The worst part of the rear was the interior panels so you could get to the nuts from the inside. On my car, I drilled a hole to catch the stock 240 numper in the drivers side and easily reached in where the antenna is located to secure the nut. The passenger side however, was a PITA because the filler neck for the gas tank is in the way. I ended up drilling a small hole from under the car to accept a socket to tighten it up.