1976 280Z Restoration Project

[calvinhg]

Though I do wonder, that seems like a mighty big amount of work... Why not just get another hatch? Are they that hard to find?

[wheee!]

It’s numbers matching....

[wheee!]

[emoji38]

[wheee!]

So the work is going slow. I am disappointed in the green paint stripper from Eastwood. It is plastic bristle embedded with steel wire for the abrasive. It has worn down to about 1/4” height and does very little but throw sparks now. It has cleared the underside of the hood poorly due to the concavity of the metal. I have ordered more of the EZ Strip plastic wheels that I used for the body of the car. Hopefully that will work better.

I also have been removing all the heavy coat of undercoating from the underside of the hood. What a mess. This stuff is like glue and requires scraping and cleaning with paint thinner to remove. So many angles and hiding spots under there. No pics yet because I’m wearing gloves and a respirator for most of the work. Hope to have it all off by the weekend so I can start working on removing the old paint.

Still the remainder of the hatch, doors and fender to do! Looking forward to never seeing that puke green colour again!

 

[zKars]

I've used many cans of propane with a soldering torch to help remove that glue like undercoat. Just a little heat goes a long way to softening it and making it easy to scrap off with a flat blade putty knife. Then a final wash with Acetone or paint thinner to wash off the residue. Nothing like slabs of hot goo falling on your head while scraping it off the bottom.....

 

[wheee!]

Oh yeah.... I still have a little PTSD from doing the underside of the car a few years ago! This is a lot harder in places due to the curved surface of the hood and all the folds and edges. I have scraped off most of the thick stuff already, but the going is slow with the paint thinner. I small flat tip screwdriver ended up being the best tool. I am really not wanting to heat the hood and the thin metal any more than I have to! Still the paint and corrosion to remove.

[wheee!]

Minor victory... all the undercoating is off the hood!

[EuroDat]

On 10/26/2018 at 4:35 AM, wheee! said:

Minor victory... all the undercoating is off the hood!

Mark, Sorry, but that photo looks like your half done.;)

 

Edit: Now I get it. You mean undercoat on top side. Me thinking ; coating on underside. Just woke-up, need coffee.....

Edited October 27, 2018 by EuroDat
Need coffee

[EuroDat]

Btw, Your project is looking great, as usual.

[wheee!]

12 hours ago, EuroDat said:

Mark, Sorry, but that photo looks like your half done.;)

 

Edit: Now I get it. You mean undercoat on top side. Me thinking ; coating on underside. Just woke-up, need coffee.....

Half done indeed.... More than half the work was getting the undercoating off. The hood was almost completely black with tar when I started...!

I will get it down to bare metal soon enough!

[EuroDat]

17 hours ago, wheee! said:

Half done indeed.... More than half the work was getting the undercoating off. The hood was almost completely black with tar when I started...!

I will get it down to bare metal soon enough!

Yeah, They often use that tar as a form of sound deadening and spray it everwhere.

[zKars]

I'm properly inspired to go scrape some undercoating off the bottom of a nice clean 510 shell. 

Jack it up, slip under with some foam padding, get that torch out, melt some tar, eat some molten tar, peel some hot tar off of burnt skin. What could be better?