New owner of a 78 coupe

[Bojanglez280]

I live in Smyrna. Thanks for the kind words. I am working on getting it going.

Today I went and purchased a new fuel filter and fuel hose to replace the old set up, but will not be putting them on until next weekend. My cousin currently has my air compressor and he is coming over next weekend (with my compressor). I want to disconnect the fuel lines and blow them out before reconnecting everything. Also, I have to go get new clamps for miscellaneous things that have been removed and I want to replace 35 year old clamps, screws, bolts....etc. I started the process of trying to remove the front end (fenders, front grille, hood, etc.) Didn't really look into instructions in the FSM until after I hit a ??? moment. But, when I came inside the air conditioning felt nice and my wife was back home from being gone all day, so I am stopping for the night. I may go back out tomorrow and see if I can manage to get the rest of the front end off. Next weekend, my cousin and I will be making a strong push to attempting to "turn it over" for the first time. Not sure if that will be possible, but that is our goal.

I can see the light at the end (or beginning) of the tunnel. Just need to continue to be patient and realistic, which I feel I have been so far. Thanks for reading. Wish me luck!

Jamie

[grantf]

Cool keep us updated. more pics!

[Bojanglez280]

New Clutch Master Cylinder-Put this on this spring.

New Slave, Clutch Fork Boot, and Clutch Hose-Waiting on getting my new hard line installed so I can install these.

Passenger Floor Pan

[Bojanglez280]

Contrary to the looks of it, no the mower is not being used to hold up the hood

What a mess...

To be installed between (future tank) and pump. May put between pump and engine bay filter for now. Will probably be trying to start the car out of a 2 gallon gas tank or something of that sort until I get a new tank.

This is what fell onto the ground upon loosening the 12mm bolts that attach the front fender. All this was trapped up in there!!

New Fuel Filter and Hose previously mentioned.

New Distributor Cap and Rotor. Also new NGK Spark Plug Wires

Thanks for looking. Hope this entertains those who asked.

Jamie

[Bojanglez280]

Sorry the pictures are taken at night. It has been anywhere from 106-113 degrees this week and I simply haven't worked on it during the day. Heck, I took these tonight at 10 or so, and it was 97. What in the world is going on in Tennessee?!?!

[grantf]

cool, you're car reminds me of my 77 when I first got it. Clogged fuel, rust, P.O. hacks. You are a brave one saving that car with the rust issues, but I am happy it has been saved from the grave. Keep up the good work. Will you do your own welding on the body or hire out?

[Bojanglez280]

cool, you're car reminds me of my 77 when I first got it. Clogged fuel, rust, P.O. hacks. You are a brave one saving that car with the rust issues, but I am happy it has been saved from the grave. Keep up the good work. Will you do your own welding on the body or hire out?

I will be honest to say...I don't know yet. I am not even sure how far I want to go with it. I am kind of taking it literally one part at a time. I don't like the thought of saying, I am going to drop 10+ grand and make this thing as nice as it was brand new, but I love the cars to much to constantly look at rust holes etc. Since I am a school teacher / baseball and football coach I am not blessed with a ton of free time. When I do have free time, I don't always get to work on the car.

I am not a mechanic, I have never been trained by a mechanic, I don't know how to do body work....but I want to learn how to do everything. My father-in-law is a mechanic by trade and a very good one. He knows how to do body work, but in reality he does not want to "do my car for me". He is more than willing to help me and answer questions and teach me how to do this and that, but most of what I know has come from my years of driving and just taking stuff apart, and putting it back together. I've had (in this order) an '88 BMW 735i, '97 Nissan Hardbody pickup, '94 Civic with a GSR motor swap, '92 Prelude Si, and now my '03 4Runner. Each of which I have worked on myself. The only thing I have not serviced myself, was my Prelude that needed engine rebuild work done. Had that sent off.

To wrap up this long beat around the bush answer...I don't know what I am going to do yet. I want the car to be trustworthy mechanically, safe to jump in and ride with no worries. Once it gets to that point, I will see what all I want to do with the body. I would like to do some of the work myself, but realize my own limits. At the end of the day I paid $600 for what is going to be years worth of fun times, learning, and a lifetime of memories. My wife graduates next month with a doctorate in physical therapy, so I safely assume our financial situation won't be as tight as it is now in the future. If we make more.....eh.....maybe the old Z will be nicer than I currently anticipate.

Thanks for checking in,

Jamie

[EhlersRS]

Jamie,

Thanks for sharing the photos. So you aren't too far from my old stomping grounds in Chatt. I'd say my 240Z has more rust than yours because it's a Midwest car. Have you checked into replacement repair panels yet for the car? There are several online sources for prefabricated panels, such as thezstore.com (MSA), blackdragonauto.com, and datsunzparts.com (Zedd Findings). MSA gets their panels from second sources, such as Zedd Findings. There are also suppliers of used Z parts, such as zbarn.com which is located in Middle TN. One of the good things about restoring a Z is the parts are readily available, but sometimes you have to search. Sounds like we have similar tastes when it comes to cars. I still own my 1997 Nissan Hardbody that I bought new in Chatt and my second car was a '86 Prelude. Keep up the good work on the car!

Robert S.

[Bojanglez280]

I appreciate it. I have used MSA mainly for parts so far. For a few routine things, I just use O'Reily Auto. I did not realize the Z Barn was in Maryville. That's only a few hours from me. I know you can get prefab panels. I had planned on using some in certain areas of need. I would love to do some of the body work myself. We will just see how things go along the journey. First things first, get the car running and road worthy (safe).

Jamie

[EhlersRS]

Jamie,

It's good to have a plan, because it helps overcome the "overwhelming" feelings! I plan to get the car running before I dissasemble it for the restoration. I will probably take the car for a spin before that, but I don't plan to drive it on a regular basis anytime soon. I've heard the guy who runs the Z Barn will be retiring since his wife passed away, but I don't know any specific details. Have a good week!

Robert S.

[Bojanglez280]

Alright, well I know I am putting a ton of pictures on here but I had a somewhat productive day and thought you may want to see. I managed to get the front end of the car off. This was kind of a "why am I doing this?" type of job. And the answer I gave myself was "Why not?". In the end, I really wanted to see the condition of the "body" underneath the panels. I didn't know if I had a rust bucket or something safely salvageable. I was very pleased with what I found, aside from the remnants of a birds nest inside the cowl and rust chips from inside the fenders falling off. I vacuumed it all up and liked the end result. I will be replacing every bolt, screw, and washer whenever I put things back together. I probably had 40% of the heads of bolts snap off in the process, but nonetheless it is off.

Enjoy,

Jamie

[grantf]

shop vac time! The more I look at you're car the more it reminds me of mine when I got it. I payed $300. Not even expecting it to go as far as it has come. I have been lucky in that I have access to a MIG welder and have had some practice with it before I started. I will say this though, don't give up on the car and don't think you cannot weld or do body work. It is a skill like any other and can be learned. Not try to put down the pros by any means, but it can be done.